SUSTAINABLE MOVE
2024.08.29
Hyundai Mobis Youth Engineering Leaders
Designing Future Mobility in the Classroom,
Youth Engineering Leaders
In cities, cars may still be driving on the same roads as before, but the technologies behind those roads are accelerating into an entirely new era. With electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and vast amounts of data converging, cars are no longer just machines on wheels—they are evolving into platforms that think, communicate with their surroundings, and grow a little smarter every day.
As future mobility technologies advance at a rapid pace, the need for experts who can understand these changes and help shape new directions is growing more important than ever. Future technologies require more than basic knowledge—they hinge on the ability to analyze real-world environments, define problems, and develop effective solutions. The front line of these changes is the classroom. And at the center of this transformation stands the Hyundai Mobis Youth Engineering Leaders program, nurturing the next generation of future-technology talent.
As future mobility technologies advance at a rapid pace, the need for experts who can understand these changes and help shape new directions is growing more important than ever. Future technologies require more than basic knowledge—they hinge on the ability to analyze real-world environments, define problems, and develop effective solutions. The front line of these changes is the classroom. And at the center of this transformation stands the Hyundai Mobis Youth Engineering Leaders program, nurturing the next generation of future-technology talent.
From Classrooms to Festivals: Building Engineering Platforms for the Future
In November 2025, the “2025 Youth Engineering Leaders Festival” was held at Hana High School in Seoul. The venue buzzed with energy, resembling a miniature engineering fair. Students from 11 schools— Hana High School Seoul, Sunduck High School, Seoul National University High School, Soongsil High School, Paichai High School, Mirim Girls’ High School, Dongsan High School, Songdo High School, Tongjin High School, Samsan High School (Incheon), and Sangsan High School (Jeonju)—gathered in one place. Drawing on what they had learned throughout the year, students participated in autonomous driving car competitions, engineering debates, engineering journal poster presentations, and more. Their presentations, which analyzed everyday technological challenges and proposed autonomous-driving-based solutions, captured the full attention of fellow students, teachers, parents, and mentors.
From the 2018 launch to the 2025 Festival, award highlights from nearly a decade of Youth Engineering Leaders
Since 2018, Hyundai Mobis has operated the Youth Engineering Leaders program with the goal of nurturing future engineering talent. This program goes beyond simple experience-based activities—it is an industry–academia-linked education model jointly run with universities and high schools. The program systematically supports students’ learning journeys through an engineering festival featuring an autonomous vehicle competition, as well as academic journal publications, mentoring, and even integration into the regular school curriculum.
A First in Korea: Mobis-Developed Engineering Curriculum Adopted in General High Schools
Hyundai Mobis has developed two courses—"Engineering Communication” and “Exploring AI Autonomous Vehicles”—which have been approved by the Office of Education and are now offered as part of regular high school classes. Hyundai Mobis has also published the corresponding textbooks for these courses.
After a pilot run in 2024, the textbooks are being introduced to general high schools nationwide starting in 2025. The program is recognized as reshaping the landscape of engineering education within the classroom. It is also noteworthy that corporate support for education has evolved from short-term events into a long-term, structured system that now serves as a meaningful part of school learning.
The depth of this educational approach was evident at the 2025 Engineering Leaders Festival as well. Students applied the autonomous-driving algorithms they had developed directly to driving. In the engineering debates, they examined the balance among technology, regulation, and safety required to permit Level 3 and higher autonomous driving. And in the poster presentations, they structured and shared their full research process, demonstrating how they had genuinely strengthened their problem-solving abilities.
The depth of this educational approach was evident at the 2025 Engineering Leaders Festival as well. Students applied the autonomous-driving algorithms they had developed directly to driving. In the engineering debates, they examined the balance among technology, regulation, and safety required to permit Level 3 and higher autonomous driving. And in the poster presentations, they structured and shared their full research process, demonstrating how they had genuinely strengthened their problem-solving abilities.
Nurturing Future Talent from Elementary to High School
Hyundai Mobis’s efforts to cultivate future talent are expanding the educational ecosystem by connecting classroom learning with real-world experience. In particular, the “Junior Engineering Classroom,” launched in 2005, is one of the company’s flagship programs and serves as the first gateway for future engineers. Through hands-on, experiment-based science education, the program helps elementary students engage with science in an accessible way, discover principles for themselves, and develop genuine interest. The program is offered in various formats, including the Mobile Junior Engineering Classroom, which travels to remote or underserved regions and education welfare priority schools, and the Junior Engineering Classroom which is linked to regular science classes in elementary schools. Through these diverse approaches, Hyundai Mobis is also helping to address educational blind spots.
At the youth level, the Youth Engineering Leaders program helps deepen engineering thinking and problem-solving abilities. Through a step-by-step learning process that includes regular classes, projects, and festivals, students gain experience applying future technologies to real-world contexts. This educational journey—from elementary school through high school—creates a natural pathway for students to encounter science in a meaningful way and grow into engineering exploration.