Interview with the winning team

We had an interview with the two members of the winning team, Archineer from Yonsei University. It is interesting to hear their story from the preparation stage to the final build day!

Q. British Council(BC): Why do you think your team won this competition?

Sangwoo Kim(Sangwoo): I believe our team was able to win the competition because our teamwork was effective and we had faith in each other. We divided the project into a number of smaller tasks and each team member had a task to manage. We trusted each other, so there was no unnecessary interference and this lead to the completion of the tasks within a reasonable timescale. In addition, we were assigned a planning room that we could use as we see fit by the engineering department, so almost all our work was carried out in one room.  This meant we could immediately update our work with all the team members present.  Another big factor is that this competition was held during our summer vacation.

HyunSeok Youn(Hyunseok): The main reason we won was because of perfect ‘Team work’ as we have worked closely together. Secondly, we assigned members of the team a task that fit with their strengths, and changing tasks flexibly, allowed us to deal with new situations. Also, we put the competition and the team first over personal matters.

Lastly, we tried to reach a consensus of opinion through a wide range of discussions, and made the model better through the manual shaking table experiments over 10 times.

Q. BC: Was there any special know how / preparation method for the competition?

Sangwoo: There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary in terms our preparation methods for this competition. Our team stayed up a few nights preparing for the competition. If anything, personally I believe that images communicate more than words and the judges are also humans, so in our presentation material I minimized the number of words and maximized the use of pictures and images.

We also put in extra effort in the 3D building image, but the image didn’t turn out as we hoped it would. Next time, I’d work harder on the 3D image of the building.

Q. BC: What was the most memorable experience from the final build day?

Sangwoo: The first day was very well organised, I’m sure all the teams had fun that day. The accommodation and the food were great, even the sandwiches prepared were tasty. The Earthquake experimenting lab was amazing. This competition was very impressive overall, I’m sure all the teams had a lot of fun, tonnes of aspects of this competition are memorable, but I’ll cut it short due to the limited space.

Hyunseok: Facilities from the British Council and Pusan National university(dormitory, meals and snacks ), Getting along with other teams, and not just competing with them. The final test on the shaking-table and finally there were some fantastic ideas from other teams.

Q. BC: What would you say this competition would do for your future career?

Sangwoo: Delivering our presentation was a good experience. Experiencing teamwork, identification of problems and the problem solving process would definitely add to my assets. The certificate received and the news articles which received a great amount of publicity by The British Council would also add to my resume as well.

Hyunseok: We gained confidence that we could participate in international competitions. We can use this experience to provide evidence of our abilities after graduation – either for our Graduate school or job. We broadened our view of structure, design, construction and business. With a ‘can do’ spirit!

Q. BC: What would you advise those students who are preparing for a similar competition?

Sangwoo: When researching, local students have a tendency to look for local journals only. The problem is that there are limited local journals. Therefore, I would like to advice the students to look for journals from all over the world. That way many different perspectives of the same issue can be obtained. Also, while searching on-line for information, if you come across an e-mail of a seemingly professional individual in the field of research, or an e-mail address of a professional organization, don’t hesitate, just contact them. You’ll be surprised at the quality of answers you may sometimes receive.

Hyunseok: Work together as a team. Put the team first over personal matters. Don’t forget the importance of experiments. Enjoy!

Q. BC: Any comments for British Council or the University of Bristol?

Hyunseok: We really appreciate the unprecedented competition in Korea. We’d like this kind of competition to be held every year so that Korean students can demonstrate their great abilities.  If this competition was held every year, works from past years could be open to public.  

Sangwoo: I think the British Council officials did an amazing job in preparing and running this competition. Especially considering the fact that this was the first time Dynamic Designs was held in Korea, it was very well organized and executed.  I would like to thank the British Council officials for all their efforts. I would also like to thank the professors from the University of Bristol for their interest and prompt response via the discussion forum. It involves a lot of effort, and I’d like to thank them for their efforts too.