"A challenge transformed into an opportunity…’ 151 experts who led advances in science, technology, and ICT are awarded by the government"

Professor Kwang Ho Kim of Pusan National University was awarded the Order of Science and Technology Merit Yellow Stripes, the highest honor during the ‘2021 Science and ICT Day’ ceremony. Professor Sang-Heon Lee of Korea University Anam Hospital was honored with the Order of Service Merit Yellow Stripes in the field of ICT.

 

The Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea Communications Commission, the Korea Federation of ICT Organizations, the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies held the ‘2021 Day of Science and ICT’ ceremony on the 21st at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and conferred awards to those with contributions in the field of science, technology, and ICT.

 

There ceremony, celebrating the 54th Day of Science (April 21st) and the 66th Day of ICT (April 22nd), served as a gathering to cement the determination to aim for ‘resilience, tolerance, and a new leap’ based on science, technology, and ICT and to honor with government awards those of merit in performance evaluations in national R&D or those who contributed to science, technology, and ICT.

 

The ceremony, in accordance with social distancing policies, was attended in person by 37 representatives out of the 151 with contributions according to the performance evaluations of advances in science, technology, and ICT or national R&D. Other award recipients participated online.

 

It is the second instance of the ‘Science and ICT Day’ ceremony being held both online and off-line; Last year was the first.

 

In the field of advances in science and technology, 26 Orders of Merit, 9 Medals of Merit, 20 Presidential Citation, and 24 Prime Minister’s Citation were conferred, making a total of 79.

 

The highest honor in the field of science and technology, the Changjo Medal (1), was conferred upon Professor Kwang Ho Kim of Pusan National University, who is recognized for his noteworthy accomplishments in advanced materials that spanned over 40 years. The Hyeoksin Medal (2) was given to Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Senior Researcher Byoung-Gwon Lee for his role in raising KIST to the world’s 6th innovative research institute through proposals policies regarding science and technology and through collaborative research. A total of 26 were awarded.

 

The Medals of Honor in science and technology were awarded to 9 people including Professor Suk-Kyeong Lee of the Catholic University of Korea, who contributed to the advance of oncovirus research and trained experts of the field, Seon-Sun Kim (김선순), Vice President of SK Hynix, who successfully developed and manufactured innovative semiconductor products such as DDR5 and HBM2E.

 

The presidential citation was awarded to 20 people including Bong-Gi Kim, Senior Researcher of Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, who helped secure the technology for Korea to independently build submarines, and Professor Sun Yung Lee of Chungnam National University, who has taken the leading role of training and supporting women in science and technology.

 

The Prime Minister’s Citation was conferred upon 24 award recipients including Yong Chul Kim, Professor at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, who contributed to the training of experts and the birth of startups that develop drugs through academy-industry collaborative research, and Hyojoong Kim(김효중), CEO of Life Science Publishing Co.

 

In the field of national R&D performance evaluation, a total of 22 awards were conferred, including 2 Orders of Merit, 5 Medals of Honor, 6 Presidential Citations, and 9 Prime Minister’s Citations.

 

The Ungbi Medal(3) was awarded to Tae-Won Lee(이태원), Senior Researcher of Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, who developed the exterior wall system that secures both an international level of insulation and fire safety performance. The Doyak Medal(4) was given to Ki-Ho Lee(이기호), Vice President of SK Biopharmaceuticals, who conducted the research starting from the discovery of candidate chemicals for cenobamate, an innovative novel drug, to the clinical development.

 

Five were selected for Medals of Honor in science and technology, including Byong-Teak Lee, Professor at Soon Chun Hyang University, who developed the foundational technology for implantable artificial organs such as injectable bone graft material fore the treatment of intractable fractures and antithrombotic artificial blood vessels for cardiovascular vessels.

 

The President’s Citation was awarded to 6 people including Jeon-Sun Yang(양전선), Health Researcher of National Institute of Health, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, for accomplishments in papers, patents, and technology transfer through research on coronavirus diagnosis and research platform.

 

Six people including Seong-Ho Cho(조성호), Research Fellow at Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning and three research institutes including the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, and the National Security Research Institute were awarded the Prime Minister’s Citation. They were recognized for their contribution to supporting the smooth management of specific evaluation of R&D projects in the fields of materials, parts, and equipment and to stabilizing and improving the preliminary feasibility survey for national R&D projects.

 

In the field of ICT, 50 awards (including 5 to organizations) were bestowed: 5 Orders of Merit, 6 Medals of Honor, 17 Presidential Citations, and 22 Prime Minister’s Citations.

 

Professor Sang-Heon Lee of Korea University Anam Hospital was honored with the Order of Service Merit Yellow Stripes (2) for his role in creating an environment for precision medicine through the development of a cloud-based hospital information system and its application to medical institutions. The Order of Service Merit Red Stripes (3) was awarded to 5 people including Professor Hyuk-Jae Lee of Seoul National University, for his work in the advance of the domestic AI industry through the commercialization of optimization technology in AI image processing.

 

The Service Merit Medal was bestowed upon Soojung Ryu, former professor at Seoul National University, who helped strengthen Korea’s hold in AI both in the industry and academy as an expert in computers and processors. Two individuals including CEO of Crowdworks, Minu Park, who contributed to constructing the industrial environment by being the first in Korea to adopt crowd sourcing methods in the data labeling market earned the Industrial Service Medal.

 

The Presidential Citation was received by 15 individuals and 2 organizations including Donguk Seok(석동욱), CEO of Samwha Electricity and Information Communication Contractor (삼화전기정보통신공사), for his involvement in constructing the information and communication infrastructure such as 5G, and the Korea Information and Communication Contractors Association.

 

The Prime Minister’s Citations were given to 19 individuals and 3 organizations including Nam-Jun Park (박남준), who took the lead in volunteer work while working at the Guri Post Office, and ONE store, which aided in creating a healthy app market in Korea by lowering commissions and reducing fees for SMEs.

 

The ceremony was attended by key figures in science, technology, and ICT including Minister of Science and ICT Kiyoung Choi, Wonwook Lee, Chair of the National Assembly Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee, Vice Chair of Korea Communications Commission Hyun Kim, Soo-Kyung Park, Scientific Advisor of the Office of the President, President of the Korea Federation of ICT Organizations Kye-Cheol Lee, and President of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Woo Il Lee.

 

Minister of Science and ICT Kiyoung Choi said, “I sincerely congratulate the award recipients who have contributed significantly to science technology and ICT even through hard times. As Korea’s growth has been accompanied by advances in science technology and ICT, we will invest all of our science, technology, and ICT capabilities to create new industries and growth opportunities in the era of digital transformation.”

<< Science and technology 79 (Orders of Merit 26, Medals of Honor 9, Presidential Citations 20, Prime Minister’s Citations 24) >>

<< National R&D Performance Evaluation 22 (Orders of Merit 2, Medals of Honor 5, Presidential Citations 6, Prime Minister’s Citations 9) >>

<< ICT 50 (Orders of Merit 5, Medals of Honor 6, Presidential Citations 17, Prime Minister’s Citations 22) >>

 

Source: http://ee.snu.ac.kr/community/news?bm=v&bbsidx=51255

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