The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (President Sang-jin Park) selected its industrial plasma source technology as the best research achievement of 2021.

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) selected the industrial plasma source technology of Director Daehoon Lee of the Plasma Research Lab of the Environmental Systems Research Division as the best research achievement of 2021 and presented the award at the KIMM's 45th anniversary ceremony on the 22nd.

Daehoon Lee, head of the Plasma Research Lab, was recognized for his contributions to solving social problems in the environmental and energy fields by developing industrial plasma source technology. This research center successfully applied industrial plasma source technology to various special vehicles, including military special vehicles, snow removal vehicles, and garbage trucks, and demonstrated the effectiveness of reducing fine dust.

In addition, the NOx (nitrogen oxide) reduction effect of low-temperature SCR and plasma vaporizer was demonstrated at a combined cycle power plant, and plasma scrubber technology was transferred to the semiconductor production process of a domestic company, contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, plasma ignition technology was applied to thermal power plants to shorten the ignition time and reduce factors of uncertainty such as ignition failure and emergency shutdown, enabling stable operation.

“We have been working hard to maintain the two values of curiosity for new challenges and feasibility for practical application,” said Daehoon Lee, head of the Plasma Research Lab. “I am grateful to my fellow researchers who have worked with us until the day comes when our technology reduces pollutants generated from special vehicles, construction equipment, and semiconductor factories.”

Since 1993, the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials has been awarding the Best Research Award to researchers who have achieved outstanding research results, contributed to the scientific and technological communities and industry, and enhanced the reputation of the institute.

Meanwhile, KIMM celebrated its 45th anniversary by unveiling its official font, "KIMM Font," and its official character, "Eddie and Friends." KIMM is the first research institute to develop an official font.

The official typeface of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials preserves the unique form of the existing Hangul logo. It emphasizes the basic elements of the letter's structure with straight lines and uses curved strokes to create straight, clean lines and clean curves. This unique yet stable image lends itself to a variety of media. Anyone who wants to use it can download it from the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials website (https://www.kimm.re.kr/webfont) and use it freely.

The Machinery Research Institute's character "Eddie and Friends" was selected through a national character contest. Comprised of the main characters "Eddie," "Honey," and "Koby," the characters represent environmentally conscious machine technology, robotics, and artificial intelligence, respectively.

Prior to this, over 100 works were submitted from all over the country to the Machinery Research Institute character contest, and the final character was selected through online voting by the public and expert review.

Park Sang-jin, president of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, said, “In celebration of our 45th anniversary, we wanted to provide not only excellent research results but also various opportunities for people to become more familiar with our researchers and mechanical technology in their daily lives.” He added, “Going forward, we will work hard to expand the foundation of scientific culture along with research and development that will change our future, and to fulfill our social responsibilities as a public institution.”