The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Industrial Technology Association announced on the 7th that they selected LG Electronics Senior Researcher Lee Hyuk-soo and Curiosys Director Park Min-seop as the recipients of the 2025 April Korea Engineer Award.

The 'Republic of Korea Engineer Award' is held to encourage technological innovation in industrial settings and create an atmosphere that favors engineers. Each month, one engineer from a large company and one engineer from a small and medium-sized company are selected and awarded the Minister of Science and ICT Award and a cash prize of 5 million won.

Senior Researcher Lee Hyuk-soo was selected as the winner in recognition of his contribution to improving the competitiveness of the home appliance export industry by developing the world's first direct drive (DD) dryer and 6-motion shrinkage relief drying technology.

Direct Drive (DD) dryers are evaluated as leading products in the innovation of clothes dryers, as they meet the needs of customers who want to minimize damage to clothes by incorporating artificial intelligence and various sensing technologies, and also contribute to reducing carbon emissions and preventing environmental pollution with energy-saving technology.

Researcher Lee Hyuk-soo devised the 6 drying motions of acceleration, deceleration, and direction change based on the action of shaking clothes taken out of the washing machine or pulling them before hanging them on a drying rack, and commercialized it for the first time in the world, winning the CES Innovation Award and UL. We have received the Deep Learning Artificial Intelligence certification. Through this, we have established a patent network for the core technology of direct drive (DD) dryers and secured cost competitiveness, thereby laying the foundation for entering the global market.
In his acceptance speech, Chief Researcher Lee Hyuk-soo said, “We will continue to develop innovative technologies that resolve customer inconveniences,” and “We will contribute not only to the development of our country’s home appliance industry, but also to our social role in energy conservation.”

Park Min-seop, Director of Curiosys, is an expert in the field of life science device manufacturing and led the development of the domestically produced medical device, the digital pathology system MSP, which was the first in Korea to receive approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and successfully commercialized. The digital pathology slide scanner system is a device that scans multiple tissue and cell specimen slides and converts and manages them into high-resolution digital images. MSP products are internationally competitive in terms of ultra-high speed, ultra-resolution, and ease of use.

The MSP series developed by Director Park Min-seop was selected as one of the '10 representative projects of inter-ministerial full-cycle medical devices' through systematic development and cooperation with various experts, and its technological prowess was recognized domestically and internationally by obtaining New Product (NEP) certification and winning awards at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in the United States.
Director Park Min-seop said in his acceptance speech, “I feel great encouragement and a sense of responsibility as a researcher through this award,” and added, “I will continue to strive to solidify our country’s position in bio-research labs and the global medical market through the development of innovative technologies and products.”