The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS, President Lee Jeong-hwan), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, emphasized research to achieve carbon neutrality on the occasion of its 14th anniversary.

On the 23rd, the Korea Institute of Materials Science held a '14th Anniversary Ceremony' in the auditorium of the Korea Institute of Materials Science's main building in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, with the attendance of Director Lee Jeong-hwan, executives above the level of director, and major award recipients.

The ceremony on this day, like last year, was live-streamed on YouTube to ensure social distancing due to COVID-19, and employees who were unable to attend the ceremony watched it on the YouTube channel from their respective seats.

At the event, the Materials Research Institute awarded the Prime Minister's Award, the Minister of Science and ICT Award, the National Research Council for Science and Technology Chairman's Award, and the Korea Institute of Materials Science President's Award to individuals and organizations that demonstrated excellent research activities and work capabilities.

The Prime Minister's Award goes to Kim Hyung-wook, Senior Researcher at the Metal Materials Research Center, and Yang Cheol-nam, Book of the Materials Digital Platform Research CenterThe Minister of Science and ICT Award was presented to Research Fellow Lim and Senior Administrative Officer Jeong In-seok of the Administrative Headquarters, and the National Research Council of Science and Technology Chairman Award was presented to Research Fellow Lee Jeong-gu of the Powder Materials Research Headquarters and Research Fellow Kang Seong-hun of the Materials Digital Platform Research Headquarters.

In addition, the Excellence in Research Award was presented to Senior Researcher Kyung-Tae Kim of the Powder Materials Research Division, the Industrial Property Award was presented to the Metal Powder Research Laboratory of the Powder Materials Research Division, and the Academic Award was presented to the Aluminum Research Laboratory of the Metal Materials Research Division.

In addition to this, a total of 8 teams and 40 people received awards on this day.

On this day, the Korea Institute of Materials Science announced its tenth world-class technology at its 14th anniversary ceremony. It is the 'technology to simultaneously improve strength, ductility, and conductivity of precipitation alloys through interface control' developed by the research team led by Dr. Seung-Jeon Han of the Special Alloy Research Lab of the Metal Materials Research Division.

This technology is capable of manufacturing cast and wrought aluminum alloys with the world's highest strength and ductility combination using only alloy design and existing manufacturing equipment and processes using low-cost elements. By utilizing this, it is possible to dramatically improve strength and other properties simply by changing the alloy composition.

Since 2012, the Korea Institute of Materials Science has been selecting ‘world’s best technologies’ through a strict screening process by external experts, targeting technologies that have a track record of overseas or domestic patent registration, technology transfer in related industries, or technology utilization.

△New commercialization technology for nano-structured super-property titanium and titanium alloys △Molecular sensing 3D plasmonic material △Multiple ceramic laminated manufacturing technology △Highly corrosion-resistant and flame-retardant magnesium alloy △High-sensitivity flexible metal △Magnetic field filtering arc source and hydrogen-free, high-hardness DLC coating process technology using the same △Composite wind power blade biaxial fatigue testing technology, etc. A total of 10 excellent world-class technologies have been selected and are currently in possession of them as of this year.

In his commemorative speech, Director Lee Jeong-hwan of the Korea Institute of Materials Science said, “In the era of carbon neutrality, the institute is planning in-depth research and wide-ranging support ranging from solar, wind, fuel cell, and hydrogen turbine power generation to hydrogen production, transportation, storage, and utilization.” He added, “I would like to ask for the public’s continued interest and support so that the institute can play a central role in improving the quality of life of the people and supporting government policies.”