IFOST

I just got back from the First International Forum on Strategic Technologies (IFOST) in Ulsan, South Korea, where I spent a few days with a student. Sadly, I don't have any pictures, but I thought I'd give a brief summary of the trip anyhow…

IFOST arose out of an earlier forum called Chorus or somesuch about which I cannot find any online information. The hosts were the University of Ulsan, and the participants were from Universities in Siberia and Russia, China, Mongolia, Malaysia and probably other places I am forgetting. My student and I were the only non-Asians present.

Everyone at IFOST and in Korea in general was wonderful to us. We managed to find our way around in spite of not sharing a spoken or written language with anyone other than the conference attendees. There was spectacular food and entertainment from the IFOST folks.

Ulsan is known as the "Detroit of South Korea". It doesn't have Detroit's crime problem, but it is a smoggy industrial city of about 1M people whose chief industries are Hyundai Motors, shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries, and the CK Petroleum Refinery. IFOST, as the name implies, was about technologies relevant to transportation and related industries. We were there to talk about what we're doing with police cars; more on that some other time.

We got to tour the "Auto Valley" Parts Industry Center, Hyundai, and Hyundai Heavy Industries. All were quite fascinating. We had lunch that day at a beautiful hilltop resort, and dinner outdoors at the University President's house. The hosts seemed amused that I had a prior acquaintance with, and great fondness for, be-bim-bop and bulgogi; they seemed somewhat alarmed, however, at the amount of "bim" red chili sauce I consumed.

I learned a lot from the participants and from the trip, my first to Asia. The travel was long but smooth, and except for being bullied by the US travel Nazis, I'd do it again in a minute. I owe my hosts a debt of thanks, and hope to someday repay them for their kindness. (B)