The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS, President Lee Jeong-hwan), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, has taken the first step toward establishing a national materials commercialization base to realize manufacturing innovation based on materials technology.

On November 9, the Korea Materials Research Institute held the '1st Phase Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Advanced Materials Demonstration Research Complex' at the 2nd Materials Research Institute site in Yeojwa-dong, Jinhae-gu, Changwon-si, with the goal of establishing infrastructure for materials demonstration research, promoting cooperation between academia, industry, and research, and developing local industries based on this.

About 100 people including Gyeongsangnam-do Economic Vice Governor Kim Byeong-gyu, Changwon City Second Vice Mayor Jo Myeong-rae, and local government officials, major related organizations, and corporate officials attended the event that day.

Since 2020, the Korea Materials Research Institute has been working with the government (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Science and ICT) and local governments (Gyeongsangnam-do, Changwon City) to establish a 'Advanced Materials Demonstration Research Complex'.

This includes reflecting the plan to build a materials verification infrastructure in the government's small business policy and establishing a long-term materials verification plan that can support material commercialization and quality certification.

There are frequent cases where excellent basic research results in the field of materials fail to lead to practical application and fail at the commercialization stage. Therefore, the goal is to provide one-stop support from practical application to quality certification so that companies in demand can use them by strengthening the verification stage.

The establishment of the 'Advanced Materials Demonstration Research Complex' is a project to establish a foundation for demonstration research on (Stage 1) metal materials, (Stage 2) extreme materials, and (Stage 3) functional materials.

The total project cost by 2030 is 462.95 billion won (370.3 billion won from the national government, 61.4 billion won from local government, 23 billion won from the private sector, etc.).

This first phase is the 'Metal Material Verification Research Base Creation Project', and its main content is to establish a verification research base for the technological independence of key metal material items for major industries such as electric vehicles, defense, and nuclear power plants. To this end, the Korea Institute of Materials Science plans to build a 'Metal Material Verification Test Bed' and a 'Power Unit Smart Manufacturing Center' by 2024.

The purpose of the metal material verification testbed is to build a semi-mass production-scale process infrastructure to support metal material verification. The total project cost is KRW 44.75 billion (KRW 29.25 billion from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, KRW 4.975 billion from Gyeongnam Province, KRW 4.975 billion from Changwon City, and KRW 5.55 billion from the Korea Materials Research Institute) over three years (2021-2024). The total floor area is 3,998㎡, the building area is 2,845㎡, and the building structure is 1 underground floor and 2 above-ground floors.

The Power Unit Smart Manufacturing Center aims to establish a foundation for supporting the verification of manufacturing of power unit (turbine, motor, engine) materials and parts. The total project cost is KRW 33.55 billion (KRW 8 billion from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, KRW 9.13 billion from Gyeongnam Province, KRW 13.7 billion from Changwon City, and KRW 2.72 billion from the Korea Materials Research Institute) over four years (2020-2024). The total floor area is 2,487㎡, the building area is 1,812㎡, and the building structure is 1 basement floor and 2 above-ground floors.

The Korea Materials Research Institute believes that by establishing a 'Advanced Materials Demonstration Research Complex', it will be possible to build a cluster-type material demonstration complex where large demand companies, material component suppliers, and material-specialized public institutions in the Changwon area are concentrated.

In addition, through accelerating activities such as discovering entrepreneurs, incubating startups, and mentoring technology management, it is expected that it will not only activate prospective entrepreneurs and startups, but also contribute to revitalizing the local technology-based economy, creating jobs, and attracting population by securing a regional network hub.

Director Lee Jeong-hwan of the Materials Research Institute said, “Next year is the 50th anniversary of Changwon National Industrial Complex, so it is a time when a great leap forward into new industries is needed.” He added, “I sincerely hope that this first phase of the Advanced Materials Demonstration Research Complex construction project will become a great catalyst for the future of Changwon National Industrial Complex in areas such as smart mobility, next-generation nuclear power plants, hydrogen energy, and aerospace.”