College education curriculum of automation- mechatronics in the Republic of Korea

To respond to the social demand for professional workforce development for the optimized industrial workforce, college education in Korea is adapting the National Competency Standards (NCS). Education and training based on NCS is different from the existing structure in that the focus has shifted from understanding, knowledge and skills related to a particular job; to the enhancement of capabilities toward an application level. This study introduced the status of vocational education found in Korean colleges and the status of education in the automation and mechatronics fields in Korea. Also it developed a mechatronics curriculum based on the needs of industry and consumers, using the NCS classification system. We can expect that education of automation-mechatronics can be integrated with the industrial field more deeply by cultivating a professional workforce trained and educated using the NCS curriculum.