- E-STAR II to support design education, product exhibition and marketing for individuals with ASD  
- Aimed at creating a social enterprise model that covers training, product manufacturing and profit generation
- ‘With Line, Color and Love’ exhibition to be held until April 20 at Hyundai Department Store Mokdong

Seoul, Korea, April 12, 2013—SK Planet today announced the start of E-STAR II (Ewha-SK Planet Autism Talents
and Rehabilitation Project), which aims to support social enterprises with a mission to serve public good. The scale
has been expanded from the previous year building on the success of the first E-STAR Project.    
 
SK Planet and Ewha Womans University signed the partnership agreement for E-STAR II (Project Manager: Dr. Lee So-hyun,
Professor, Department of Special Education). With Lee Jin-woo, Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Cooperation
Office of SK Planet and Kim Yong-pyo, President of Ewha Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation in attendance,
the ceremony kicked off a one-year project consisting of a design school program, product development and marketing,
which will be supported by SK Planet.
 
E-STAR was first launched last year as a CSR program for training individuals with ASD to be self-reliant. The E-STAR
designer school provides design education to participants, whose works are exhibited and incorporated into various products
that are marketed by the social enterprise, Autista. The aim is to create an economically viable system that enables people
with ASD to become self-reliant.   
 
E-STAR I was completed by twenty trainees two of whom now work at Autista as designers.
 
E-STAR II is an improvement on the first with stronger education and training component. A larger number of professional
designers have joined as instructors and the curricula have been diversified into varying levels in accordance with the
divergent student profile.
 
Lee Jin-woo, Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Cooperation Office of SK Planet said, “We have seen a ray of hope
through our program last year that people with ASD can meaningfully engage in society. With E-STAR II we are going to focus
on stabilizing the system throughout the lifecycle from training to manufacturing and ultimately to making profits.”   
 
Dr. Lee So-hyun, Professor of the Department of Special Education at Ewha has coordinated the E-STAR program since launch
last year. She notes “E-STAR is not about delivering help one-way to people with ASD but about finding their potential. We will
continue to develop educational programs for people with ASD so that they may live as proud members of our society.”
 
On April 5 an exhibition opened at Hyundai Department Store showcasing artworks and products featuring designs by the
E-STAR students. The show titled ‘With Lines, Colors and Love’ will continue until April 20.