The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Ryu Seok-hyun) under the Ministry of Science and ICT held an event to gather domestic gear train-related industries and research institutes in one place and expand the technological base.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, in collaboration with the Gear Train Research Group of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers, held the '2024 KIMM Gear Train Conference' on August 13th and 14th.

Gear trains are a fundamental and core element in a variety of industries, including electric vehicle reducers, aircraft gearboxes, and tractor transmissions.

The conference was voluntarily started in 2022 by researchers from the Korea Institute of Machinery and related companies due to the increasing need for gear train research and human resource exchange.

Since then, as interest in and participation in the conference has increased, the foundation has been expanded to co-host with the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers since last year, and 250 people participated this year.

LS Mtron Senior Researcher Hyung-Jong Ahn, a participant in this conference, said, “It is difficult to find research trends related to gear trains in existing academic societies, but this conference, which covers all related topics, is closely related to my work.”

He also said, “We are receiving a lot of help from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials in the field of gear train technology, such as utilizing the gear design software developed by the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, gear optimization, and verification and analysis of transmissions.”

Another participant, gearbox manufacturer Kim Co., Ltd. Lee Kang-hee, head of the Technology Research Institute, said, “We have been successfully carrying out projects in collaboration with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials since 2010,” and “In the past, the industrial field focused on designing and manufacturing gearboxes in-house, but after we started collaborating with the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials in the theoretical part, we have been receiving a lot of academic help, such as analyzing and interpreting problems that arise during manufacturing.”

“Ohio State University’s GearLab has a world-class reputation in the field of gearbox research and is widely utilized by companies,” said Ryu Seok-hyun, president of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials. “In Korea, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials will continue to provide helpful technologies to companies by performing a similar role to the GearLab.”