Place of residence: Pohang, South Korea

Position: Student at Handong University, Winner at Apple Swift Student Challenge 2024

Can you give us a brief introduction about yourself?

Hi, I’m Lee Shin-won, a student majoring in computer engineering at Handong University in Pohang, South Korea. I am now in my last year and planning to graduate after finishing one more semester.

Please describe a day in your life

I spend most of my time at school as a student. During semesters, I tend to take morning classes and do whatever I would like to do in the afternoon. Until recently, I was working on my graduation project for the past two semesters at a lab provided for last-year students at the school. I used to spend my spare time there for the graduation project and personal studies.

Tell us more about your graduation project.

Pohang is where the headquarters of POSCO (the country’s leading steel manufacturer) is located. Many factories are around my school, including the manufacturer’s buildings. A team of eight students, including myself, wanted to make a programme that monitors their impact on the environment as our graduation project.

Beginning with problem analysis, we looked up a lot of research, met reporters, and inquired about the city hall to ensure this programme can be useful to people and learn what kind of service we can provide. It was a wild ride; we all worked hard to complete the service. We transferred the leadership of this project to another team now, but I do hope it becomes a good product that can help many people.

I heard that your academic background was in literary arts. What made you interested in studying computer engineering after entering your university?

When I entered university, I thought of pursuing a major in literary arts, but no subject interested me. During my first semester, I cancelled out the subjects that I didn’t want to study one by one. The last subject left for me was engineering.

Making something with creativity has been one of the things that I have loved to do since I was a kid. I considered quite a wide range of engineering subjects, including design, machinery, and architecture. Then, out of curiosity, I tried out the introductory course for C. It was so much more fun than expected, so I went with it.

What was the most challenging thing that you had to deal with during your study?

I felt anxious at the beginning. Some were completely new to the world of computer programming (just like me), while other students already had a good understanding of it, having learned a few different programming languages. I was concerned that I would fall behind others. Honestly, I didn’t get straight As during my study. Studying computer programming was not that easy.

Congratulations on your recent win at Apple Swift Student Challenge 2024. Can you give us a brief introduction to the competition?

Sure. The contest is for students around the world, challenging them to make an app with Swift, Apple’s programming language. This year, the competition chose 350 winners, and 50 of them were awarded as distinguished winners.

As a distinguished winner, you were invited to Apple Park and gave a demonstration of your app in June in front of Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook. How did people around you react to your achievement?

A lot of people told me that they’re very proud of me. The visit to Apple Park was actually a week before my school’s exam period. Whenever I told others that I felt worried about going to the United States (instead of staying and studying for the exams), they would say to me, “What are you talking about! It’s an event held by Apple, of course, you must go”. Their passionate reaction made me laugh.

Can you tell us more about your app submitted for the challenge?

Melody is an app where users can play music by making a pinch gesture with their thumb and other fingers. It plays eight different piano keys, starting with the pinch made with the left thumb and index fingers as the base Do sound.

The target audience of Melody is children and seniors. As for children, Melody can be a tool to learn how to play instruments more easily and intuitively. The app can improve older adults’s cognitive ability by playing a melody while following a score. The current plan is to launch the app as an educational tool for kids.

What inspired me to make this app was the previous Worldwide Developers Conference hosted by Apple, where the company shared the codes for body gesture detection. One of the codes was for recognising the pinch gesture, and I thought of making an app utilising that feature.

Are there any other projects that you are currently working on?

I am now done with my graduation project and currently preparing to officially launch Melody. There is one new project that I have in mind, but I started studying the necessary tools for it only recently.

In your opinion, who is the most influential person or company in the world of technology these days?

I say Apple mostly because of its newest project, Apple Intelligence. Of course, the project involves collaboration with many different companies, but Apple has influence over the public, especially as a brand that offers edge devices.

If you could say something to your younger self, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid, move forward while focusing on the new world that you’ll create. It’s a message that I would like to tell myself even now.

I am still unsure about what the future holds for me, but back then, I was feeling more impatient about what I was supposed to do. I struggled a lot over simple assignments, often staying late at night. I want to tell my younger self not to give up.

Which famous person would you like to have dinner with and why?

Not a person from the tech world, but 250, the producer behind K-pop band NewJeans’ hit songs. I think his career journey is inspirational. The musician’s early career was centred around trot music (a genre of Korean music popularised during the 20th century). As it is not a genre that many young Koreans listen to, some might have looked down on what he was producing, but he still pursued his passion. Then 250 met someone who appreciated his musical talent along the line. 

What is your next goal?

My expertise has been focused on developing web apps. In the future, I would like to learn more about graphics and extended reality, like the technologies used for Apple Vision Pro.

Any project or company that you have in mind?

I don’t have a specific name in mind, but it would be great if I could join an internationally renowned company. It would be an opportunity for me to learn its system and culture, shared by people known to be one of the best experts in their respective fields, experience the life of world-class developers, and gain inspiration from them.

I heard that you like to travel, too. Are you planning to visit somewhere after graduating from your university?

I didn’t get a chance to visit many countries in Southeast Asia. It’d be cool to experience the great nature there.

What tips do you have for people wanting to start in the tech world?

The tech world can seem overbearing, and I think all those courageous beginners who took the first step into the world are pioneers. Not only do I support them, but I also expect to see many great innovations for a better world created in their hands.