Contributed to strengthening electric and electronic industry

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 31st that it selected SNU ECE Professor Seungyong Hahn(46, photo) as the April winner of the ‘Scientist of the Month’

Professor Hahn was recognized for his contribution to raising the international status of Korea’s superconducting magnet research and strengthening the electric and electronic industry by developing ‘high-temperature superconducting magnets’ of high performance.

High-temperature superconductivity is a phenomenon in which electrical resistance becomes 0 at high temperatures, allowing current to be transmitted without loss. The application of this phenomenon is of great help to the electric and electronic industries, but it does not last long due to the influence of the external environment. High-temperature superconducting magnets block external influences and allows this phenomenon to last longer.

Professor Hahn was the first in the world to develop ‘ultra-small, light-weight, non-insulated’ high-temperature superconducting magnets for which the size and weight was reduced to one hundredth of conventional superconducting magnets and the insulation was removed. The strength of the DC magnetic field, a measure of performance, broke the previous record. The research results were published in the international journal Nature in 2019.

Professor Hahn said, “As this is a foundational technology that can be applied to a wide range of electric devices, I expect this to be applied to various application fields such as biology, medicine, energy, transportation, environment, and defense.”

For the Scientist of the Month, one researcher or developer who contributed to the advance of science and technology with notable R&D results is selected and offered 10 million won and an award presented by the Minister of Science and ICT.

Source: http://ee.snu.ac.kr/community/news?bm=v&bbsidx=51178

Translated by: Jee Hyun Lee, English Editor of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, jlee621@snu.ac.kr