Hyungsub Choi

The Boundaries of Industrial Research: Making Transistors at RCA, 1948–1960

As RCA made its initial foray into the field of solid-state electronics in the late 1940s, it deliberately broke down the boundary between the laboratory and the factory, showing extraordinary organizational flexibility in the early years of its transistor R&D program. By the end of the 1950s, however, RCA was utterly compartmentalized, as the laboratory moved into advanced research of cutting-edge devices and the operating divisions engaged in developmental work on automating the transistor assembly process. This article situates this transition within the context of the broader changes in the U.S. political economy. Political, economic, and technological factors—including postwar demobilization, rising military funding for industrial R&D, antitrust consent decrees, and rapid technical change—account for the rise and fall of organizational flexibility at RCA during the 1950s.

Hiroshi Wada: Pioneering Electronics and Computer Technologies in Postwar Japan

Presents a biography of Hiroshi Wada, who helped promote the electronics industry and computer technologies in postwar Japan.

The Social Construction of Imported Technologies: Reflections on the Social History of Technology in Modern Korea

ABSTRACT:Can imported technologies be socially constructed? Starting from this puzzling question, this essay reflects on the various methodologies with which one can narrate the stories of technology in modern Korea. A focus on technological innovations and how they have been shaped by their societal milieu forces one to leave out a large part of the technological experience, especially when the bulk of the technologies-in-use have been imported from abroad. This poses a serious problem for the history of technology in Korea, a nation that relied heavily on foreign technologies as it went through rapid economic growth in the latter twentieth century.

Emerging opportunities: nanoelectronics and engineering research in a South Korean university

The Seoul National University Nanoelectronics Institute (SNI) was established in 1996 by an interdisciplinary team of university researchers working together to develop a practical fabrication method for ‘tera-level’ single-electron semiconductor devices. The technical and organizational experiment of the SNI ended abruptly with the Asian financial crisis of 1997 as LG Semiconductor, SNIs patron, faced difficulties. This paper places this episode within the historical context of the development of science and technology in post-liberation South Korea as it coped with the overwhelming forces of globalization since the late 1970s. As the global high-tech trade war escalated in the 1980s, the South Korean government pursued the ‘technology drive policy,’ which emphasized the importance of directed basic research in university laboratories. The increased public and private support for university research transformed a few elite universities from teaching-oriented to research-focused institutions, especially in engineering and science. The new generation of research-intensive academics spearheaded the new national strategy of leapfrogging into the cutting-edge of global technology for the first time in the nation’s modern history.

Failure to Launch: Tarui Yasuo, the Quadrupole Transistor, and the Meanings of the IC in Postwar Japan

In 1957, Tarui Yasuo filed a patent application for the quadrupole transistor, which could be seen as an important step toward the integrated circuit. Likely, the financial and ideological need to develop indigenous devices in postwar Japan oriented Taruis vision into a particular direction, which in turn obstructed him from following up on this technological trajectory and realizing the significance of his achievement.

Imported machines in the garden: the kyŏngun’gi (power tiller) and agricultural mechanization in South Korea

ABSTRACT The power tiller was central to the modernization of agricultural practices in East Asia during the latter part of the twentieth century. The small-scale, two-wheeled, walking-type power tiller was adapted from the European garden tractors by Japanese farmer-inventors in the 1920s, and then imported to South Korea in the early 1960s. This article traces the global technology circuit for power tillers, as well as their troublesome entry into the South Korean socioeconomic landscape in the 1960s and 1970s. Once the South Korean manufacturing industry for power tillers established itself, the agricultural machine was embroiled in a controversial political debate over landownership structures, which had profound implications for the very place of agriculture in modern South Korea. In the process of this extended debate, the social meaning of the power tiller itself went through significant change.

History of Computing in East Asia

All four articles in this special issue cover stories of real-world implementations or applications of computing technology in East Asia. Each article adopts a unique approach and historiographical strategy, which demonstrates the diversity of this scholarly community.

Integrating global education program into engineering curriculum: Developing global engineering education program at GECE

This paper aims to detail a range of collaborative global education programs developed by Global Education Center for Engineers (GECE) hosted by Seoul National University. These schemes have been developed to cultivate global mindset of engineering students and to exploit synergies among partner universities. The paper describes the organization and delivery of GECE education programs since 2010. This scheme is original in its focus on aim of embracing global mindset of engineering students with diverse backgrounds, and operational models. It is believed that the paper presents a useful model for those seeking to implement similar collaborative global education programs. Since GECE has been offering courses from 2010, there are yet limited numbers of the participating students who have completed a considerable number of GECE courses at this stage. Thus, it has not, as yet, been possible to complete a longitudinal nor comparative survey to consider the impact of these programs on global mindset. These analyses will be reported in subsequent papers.

Rationalizing the Guerilla State: North Korean Factory Management Reform, 1953–61

This article examines the Taean Management System (TMS), a North Korean factory management reform program of 1961. Three factors explain why the TMS emerged at the time it did: first, influence from the Soviet Union and China since 1945 provided the knowledge of factory management; second, decreasing foreign aid since the mid‐1950s urged the North Koreans to search for ways to increase productivity; and third, the rise of an ideology of self‐reliance excluded the option of being integrated into the international economy. The resulting TMS, which arose at this juncture as an amalgam of rationalization and ideology, was the origin of modern management in North Korea.