News
KIST Celebrates Its 56th Anniversary (February 10, 2022)
- Date : 2022-03-15
- Views : 1323
-
Writer
International Cooperation Team
-
Att.
KIST Celebrates Its 56th Anniversary
On February 10 at 10:40 a.m., the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST; President: Dr. Seok-Jin Yoon) kicked off its 56th anniversary ceremony at its headquarters in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.
This year’s ceremony was held via video conference and live
online broadcast in compliance with COVID-19 quarantine rules, and the Contact
Tracing System (CTS) developed by KIST was implemented. With this technology,
if a confirmed case is discovered among the event participants, it is possible
to check who had contact with the confirmed case within 10 minutes.
For the pre-ceremony event, a video on the 2021 7 Hot KIST
News Items, as selected by KIST employees, was played. Three items in the major
policy and issue categories were selected, including "System Innovations
for a Fearless Research Institute," and four cases in the research
performance category were selected, including "Phase 2 Clinical Trials Proving
the Effectiveness of the K-Vaccine with Immune-Enhancing Technology."
Following that event, an awards ceremony was held, with 13
different awards being given out, including the KIST Grand Prize and the Songgok
Science and Technology Award. The KIST Grand Prize was awarded to Dr. Chansoo
Kim of the KIST Computational Science Research Center for his research on predicting
the spread of COVID-19 and the evaluation of policies and economic analysis related
to the virus, as well as the safety and economic benefits his research on optimizing
quarantine policy design have provided. Meanwhile, the Songgok Science and
Technology Award in the field of new materials development went to Prof. Sei
Kwang Hahn of Pohang University of Science and Technology for his contributions
to the academic and industrial development of the next-generation smart
wearable medical devices field through his development of smart contact lenses which
can diagnose and deliver treatments for diabetes.
In his commemorative speech, KIST President Dr. Yoon said,
"We will support policies and systems which allow KIST researchers to
overcome the pressure of failure and freely challenge the most difficult
research topics,” and stressed, “To mark our 56th anniversary, KIST
will abandon the inertia built up by its past pursuits and take a leap into the
unknown to become ‘The Great Research Institute, GRaND KIST.’”
Mr. Hongtaek Yong, the 1st Vice Minister of the
Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, Dr. Bok Chul Kim, Chairman of the National
Research Council of Science and Technology, Mr. Won-wook Lee and Mr. Seong Rae
Cho, congressmen from the Korean Democratic Party, and Mr. Park Seongjoong, the
Assistant Administrator for the Democratic Party and People Power Party, sent
congratulatory messages to KIST. In addition, the President of KIST’s Yeonwoo Party,
Mr. Ho Gun Park, said, “The longer the COVID-19 situation lasts, the more we
will reflect on the spirit of the scientists and engineers from the early days
of KIST and continue to fulfill our roles as researchers.”
Since its establishment 56 years ago, KIST has focused on pursuing research with the aim of developing national S&T, and has strived to achieve this by serving as a think tank for national industrialization, making efforts to catch up with advanced technologies, and pioneering original technologies.