e4ds News Presents 2019 Technologist of the Year Awards
Evaluation of development leadership, global capabilities, and technology diffusion


The eventful year of 2019 is drawing to a close, marked by the advancement of new technologies like 5G, AI, IoT, and autonomous driving, the US-China trade dispute, and the escalating trade conflict between Korea and Japan.

Ahead of 2020, e4ds News conducted the '2019 Engineer of the Year Evaluation' targeting electronic engineers across eight categories, including development leadership, global capabilities, and technology diffusion. As a result, five people were selected in five fields and awarded the '2019 Technician of the Year Award'.


The winners are ▲ CEO Yoo Myeong-hwan of Access Lab in the Embedded Software category ▲ CEO Park Gyeong-jin of Cracka in the Hardware Design category ▲ Professor Jo Seong-jae of Shinhan University in the High-Efficiency Power Design category ▲ CEO Bae Ju-sik of iWells in the High-Speed PCB Design category ▲ CEO Kim Hak-yong of IoT Strategy Research Institute in the IoT Research category.

e4ds News asked the winners for their thoughts and took the time to reflect on 2019 and look forward to 2020.

I wasn't expecting it, but I'm delighted to receive it. Receiving an award is always a great feeling. Access Labs is a company that makes Arm servers. This year, cloud native and edge computing were the hot topics. I hope that next year will see increased use of Arm servers in both areas, marking the first year of Arm server adoption in Korea. We are planning to build our own inexpensive Arm-based dual-bootable Ubuntu PCs to provide coding education to students and employees.


I am honored to receive this award. While noise has always been a major issue in hardware design, its importance is growing even more with the rise of 5G and the practical implementation of IoT services. This is because data transmission speeds and frequency bands are increasing. Consequently, demand for related components is expected to increase next year. Furthermore, methodologies for noise reduction will advance, and the use of simulators and the development of new components will soon become more active.


It's been over ten years since I began giving lectures to industry professionals, drawing on my 36 years of experience and knowledge in both industry and academia. I'm delighted that this award recognizes my contributions to the lectures I've given. The continued miniaturization of electronic devices is driving demand for compact, efficient, yet high-switching-frequency SMPS power supplies, and CPU clock frequencies are also increasing. Therefore, noise reduction measures will continue to emerge, and through this process, electronic technology will become more mature.


I'm delighted and grateful that my high-speed PCB design experience has been helpful to someone, and that it led to this award. The biggest issue of the year was 5G. 2019 was a year in which domestic 5G equipment companies were able to make great strides. With the world's first 5G commercialization, Korea established itself as a 5G testbed, drawing global attention. However, 5G coverage is still limited, so demand for small equipment like repeaters is expected to increase, along with PCB demand.
I was surprised to receive this unexpected award. I feel a sense of responsibility to continue working hard next year. This year, digital transformation has emerged as a hot topic, and IoT has begun to be applied in earnest across individual fields. Interest in connecting IoT devices and services, or in servicing devices, is also growing. We expect 2020 to bring more opportunities for IoT companies.