The Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS), a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, marked its 16th anniversary, stressing the importance of the project for establishing facilities and equipment for demonstrating extreme materials to become a material powerhouse. On April 25th, KIMS celebrated its 16th anniversary with all its employees at the main auditorium in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do.

At the event, awards were presented to individuals and organizations who exhibited exemplary research activities and professional skills, including commendations from the National Research Council of Science and Technology Chairperson and the Korea Institute of Materials Science President.

The Chairperson's Award from the National Research Council of Science and Technology was awarded to a principal researcher Soon-ho Won of the Materials Testing & Reliability Division, and a principal researcher Seung-hoon Lee of the Surface & Nano Materials Division. In addition, the Outstanding Research Award was presented to the Department of Magnetic Materials in the Powder Materials Division, the Industrial Property Rights Award to the Department of Steels in the Advanced Metals Division, and the Academic Award to the Department of Special Alloys in the Extreme Materials Institute. At the same event, the Industrial Property Rights Outstanding Achievement Award was given to Hui-suk Yun, a principal researcher at the Department of Advanced Biomaterials Research in the Ceramic Materials Division, and the Academic Outstanding Achievement Award was presented to Jong-moon Jang, a senior researcher at the Department of Functional Ceramics in the Ceramic Materials Division. Furthermore, six teams and 33 individuals were chosen as awardees at the event.

At its 16th-anniversary event, KIMS announced its 11th world-best technology, which is "KIMS MgO(Magnesia), new heat-dissipation material technology,” developed by Dr. Cheol-woo Ahn's research team at the Department of Functional Ceramics in the Ceramic Materials Division. It is a low-cost, high-thermal conductivity heat dissipation ceramic material technology capable of effectively dissipating heat in electric vehicle batteries and the latest electronic components rapidly becoming smaller and more functional. In 2021, KIMS established its R&D spin-off company, Soul Material Ltd., and successfully commercialized the technology.

"When interacting with the rapidly emerging AI ChatGPT, I have often realized that asking the right questions guarantees more appropriate answers," said President Lee of KIMS. "Since empirical study involves examining facts through asking the right questions, KIMS has always emphasized the importance of the empirical process and will do all it can to establish facilities and equipment for demonstrating extreme materials. Through these efforts, we will pull out all the stops to become a genuine material powerhouse," he added.