Every year, the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) selects and announces the nation’s top 100 outstanding research performances to inspire an interest of the general public in science and technology.
Three R&D breakthroughs by UNIST Professors Kwanyong Seo (School of Energy and Chemical Engineering), Yoon-Kyoung Cho (School of Life Sciences), and Sang-Young Lee (School of Energy and Chemical Engineering) have been selected for the 2019 National Top 100 R&D Performance by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT).
From left are Professor Kwanyong Seo, Professor Yoon-Kyoung Cho, and Professor Sang-Young Lee.
Following is the list of the selected research breakthroughs for this year’s Top 100 R&D Performances that MSIT announced: ▲ Machinery & Materials (21) ▲ Life & Marine (23) ▲ Energy & Environment (17) ▲ Information & Electronic Engineering (19) ▲ Convergence Technology (10) ▲ Basic Science & Infrastructure (10). The list also included three UNIST R&D performances: One in the field of Life & Marine and two in the Energy & Environment field.
Professor Yoon-Kyoung Cho has also been named among the 2019 National Top 100 R&D Performances for her recent development of ‘Control system of fully automated lab-on-a-disc for point-of-care test’. This breakthrough can be applied to small devices that detect traces of cancer cells (Circulating tumor cells) in the blood or urine of patients. Being transferred to domestic companies, the technology has been applied to various commercial products.
A recent breakthrough by Professor Sang-Young Lee (School of Energy and Chemical Engineering) has once again been name among the 2019 National Top 100 R&D Performances. This is the second time since 2017, Professor Lee has been recognized. He received this honor in recognition of his recent development of ‘Flexible/shape-versatile, Bipolar All-solid-state Lithium-ion Batteries (LIBs) with Excellent Thermal Stability and Fire Resistance’.
Professor Kwanyoung Seo has also been named among the 2019 National Top 100 R&D Performances for his recent development of ‘Flexible Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells’. Currently, crystalline silicon solar cell is the dominant type in the market. However, due to its inflexibility, applying them to curved and moving surfaces has been challenging. Professor Seo solved this issue by developing a flexible silicon solar cell, which has a thin silicon thickness that bends smoothly and has high solar absorption.
Since 2006, MSIT has been nominating top 100 outstanding research performances every year to inspire an interest of the general public in science and technology. For this year, out of 63,000 latest breaking government-funded R&D projects, the selection committee has shortened the list to a total of 100 outstanding R&D performances.
Outcomes selected for excellence will be awarded with certificates and signboards from the Minister of Science and ICT (MSIT), thus will be given advantage points in the upcoming institutional/organizational performance assessment in accordance with the relevant regulations. Besides, these R&D breakthroughs will be published into a casebook and distributed, later on. The researchers of the selected R&D outcomes will be selected as the potential candidates for the National R&D Performance Awards and receive a merit award for outstanding work.
