International Synergies for Software Engineering Automotive & Mobility Ecosystems (SEA:ME)

Our latest strategic partnership with Kookmin University (KMU) and Volkswagen Group Korea is a beacon of the value of interdisciplinary collaboration.

42 Wolfsburg/Berlin
3 min readJul 1, 2022

In times of crisis it is all the more evident that we have to say goodbye to narrow patterns of thought. We have to adopt a planetary mode of thinking, which overcomes the boundaries between disciplines and inhabits a perspective that perceives the world as being emergent, caught in a web of global interdependencies.

In such a world, technologically-enabled mobility and communication are at the forefront of progress — but a humanistic conception of technology is essential. Technology that augments the individual, generates and protects freedom while promoting social responsibility, diversity, good governance, and long term thinking.

At @42 Wolfsburg, we’ve managed to create a space where such qualities can be learned, lived and practised. Not only do we offer one of the world’s most effective and rigorous software engineering curricula, but we are also persistent in our commitment to moral character education, supporting interdisciplinary as well as cross-national collaboration on global challenges.

The latest collaboration of this kind was established with @Kookmin University (KMU) and supported by @Volkswagen Group Korea. Founded in 1946, KMU was and still remains a pioneering university with a long history of cutting-edge research and development initiatives in automotive engineering and mobility design, that has set new standards for higher education in Korea.

Only 3 months after the MOU signing, we were proud to welcome a delegation of KMU professors and Sujin Lee at 42 in Wolfsburg to plan the pilot of the exchange program for Korean students who want to pursue our SEA:ME program. Together we have initiated highly productive discussions on how to co-develop the learning content for the pilot program as well as the full exchange program planned to allow 13 Korean students per year to come to Wolfsburg for 1–1.5 years starting in 2023.

Next to the many opportunities for us to learn from each other and jointly innovate, we see two important strategic opportunities for us as contemporary pioneers:

  • Interoperability & Open Standards for Mobility
    In today’s hyper-complex world, we need technologies that are discoverable, interconnected or integrated and are able to work seamlessly together. Open Standards provide a trusted basis on top of which innovation can flourish.
  • SEA:ME as Open Educational Resource
    As student-centered and public interest organisations, we have a responsibility to help grow the educational materials that allow everybody on the planet to learn, pursue happiness and contribute their share.

We believe we are a powerful and complementary combination of partners and together we can generate significant impact for our students, for next generation education and next generation mobility.

Allow me to close with a BIG THANK YOU to our Korean partners.

한국 파트너들에게 감사합니다

Max Senges for the 42 Wolfsburg team

Express interest in SEA:ME

We are looking forward to hosting our first cohort of SEA:ME students which we plan to host in Q2 2023 (for 42 students we will offer a specialization branch 42 Mobility).

Please fill out this form to stay informed about our progress.

Join our Fellowship Program

We now invite automotive industry experts, engineers, software developers, and academic researchers to apply for our Fellowship Program. As a fellow you join a growing community of SEA:ME contributors. Send us your application by filling in this form.

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42 Wolfsburg/Berlin

42 is an innovative, higher education software engineering school, sponsored by Volkswagen