Vinzenz Roth - South Korea
After finishing my master’s thesis within the Robotics, Systems and Control degree at ETH, I was looking for internships abroad. Compared to other initiatives, the program offered by the Leading House Asia seemed to be very well organized and offered partnerships with innovative companies. Eventually, I decided to apply for the program in South Korea as I have always been excited about the startup culture in Seoul. I read a good amount about the city beforehand. Nevertheless, I felt the need to experience the life in Korea on the spot.
Cochl, a research-based startup specialized in the emerging field of machine learning for sound recognition, attracted my attention. I was lucky enough to be accepted as a research assistant to support the team in the development of a context module for their current system. As the name suggests, the module captures the acoustic context and corrects the output of the sound recognition system if necessary. I got to know the company’s core algorithm and was able to prototype a context-aware model on top of the existing product.
“An exceptional way to gain work experience while exploring a foreign culture.”Vinzenz Roth
Initially, I was skeptical about communicating without knowing the Korean language, but after my first interview with the team members, my doubts vanished. Luckily, all colleagues – Korean or foreign – know how to speak English, and the company’s documents are also in English. Thus, communication works very well. Above all, the atmosphere at the company is especially friendly and I enjoyed having flexible working hours. The most memorable opportunity I had was to meet all of the founders of Cochl and to learn about the company’s origins and future plans. Knowing that they started Cochl right after finishing their doctoral studies showed me first-hand what can be achieved with an academic background.
Lastly, I really enjoyed experiencing the Korean work life which includes various activities with your colleagues (e.g. archery or ski day) and after-work dinners having Ssamgyeobsal. I can recommend the program to anyone who is looking for an exceptional way to gain working experience while exploring a foreign culture. Just make sure to bring really warm clothes for winter in South Korea, and get your Kakao & Naver apps ready so that you won’t get lost in the City.