The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS, President Lee Jeong-hwan), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, celebrated its 16th anniversary by emphasizing the importance of establishing a foundation for empirical research on extreme materials and revealing the institute’s ambition to become a materials powerhouse.

On the 25th, the Korea Materials Research Institute held its '16th Anniversary Ceremony' with all employees in attendance at the auditorium of the main building of the Korea Materials Research Institute located in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do.

At the event, the Korea Materials Research Institute awarded awards such as the President's Award from the National Research Council for Science and Technology and the President's Award from the Korea Institute of Materials Science to individuals and organizations that demonstrated excellent research activities and work capabilities.

The National Research Council of Science and Technology Chairman’s Award was presented to Won-Soon Ho, Senior Researcher at the Materials Safety Evaluation Division, and Seung-Hoon Lee, Senior Researcher at the Nano-Surface Materials Research Division, the Excellent Research Award was presented to the Magnetic Materials Research Lab at the Powder Materials Research Division, the Industrial Property Award was presented to the Iron and Steel Materials Research Lab at the Metal Materials Research Division, and the Academic Award was presented to the Special Alloy Research Lab at the Extreme Materials Research Institute.

In addition, the Industrial Property Rights Award was given to Hee-Sook Yoon, Senior Researcher at the Bionics Materials Research Lab of the Ceramic Materials Research Division, and the Academic Award was given to Jong-Moon Jang, Senior Researcher at the Functional Ceramics Research Lab of the Ceramic Materials Research Division. In addition to this, a total of 6 teams and 33 people were selected as award recipients at the ceremony that day.

At the 16th anniversary ceremony held on this day, Materials Research Institute also announced its eleventh world-class technology.

This is the 'MgO heat-radiating filler material technology' of Dr. Cheol-Woo Ahn's research team at the Functional Ceramics Research Lab of the Ceramic Materials Research Center.

This technology is a new low-cost, high-thermal conductivity, heat-dissipating ceramic material technology that can effectively dissipate heat not only in electric vehicle batteries but also in the latest electronic components that are rapidly becoming smaller and more multifunctional. In 2021, Soul Material Co., Ltd., a research institute company, was established and successfully commercialized.

In his commemorative speech that day, Director Lee Jeong-hwan of the Materials Research Institute said, “When talking to the artificial intelligence ChatGPT, which has recently emerged rapidly, I often got a more accurate answer when I asked the right question first.” He continued, “Since verification is the process of examining truth and falsehood against facts by asking the right questions, the Materials Research Institute will always recognize the importance of the verification process and do its best to establish a foundation for verification research on extreme materials. Through this, we will do our best to realize a true materials powerhouse.”