Korea Institute of Materials Science, a government-funded research institute under the Ministry of Science and ICT, hosts 2022 Materials Korea Forum (hereinafter MK Forum) to overlook future technologies and industries with distinguished speakers from various fields related to materials.

KIMS has held the MK Forum every year since 2019 to listen to the prominent figures in the field of future materials technology and to secure the competitiveness of materials, parts, and equipment (MPE). Over the last three years, a total of 31 speakers gave lectures on major social issues including 3D printing, tribology technology, power semiconductors, hydrogen energy, Personal Air Vehicle (PAV), microplastics, and 5G/6G.

This year’s forum started on February 22 by professor Kim Yeon-sang of Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University under the theme of problem-oriented convergence research and nano interface material research. In April, Bang Yoon-hyeok, the president of the Korea Carbon Industry Promotion Agency, will give a lecture on the solution for carbon neutrality through the carbon industry. In July, Lee Jeong-mo, the director of the Gwacheon National Science Museum, will cover a subject of the climate crisis and the future of humanity, and Alexander Mihailis, the Director of Fraunhofer IKTS, Germany, will introduce the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems and present the scheme of Korea-Germany Cooperation in September. By the end of the year, a total of 11 speakers will give lectures and have discussions on various topics related to materials technology including carbon neutrality, artificial intelligence (AI), defense R&D, climate crisis, hydrogen economy, and big data.

Jung-hwan Lee, the president of KIMS, said, "Various social crises such as Japan's export restrictions against Korea, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis, emphasize the importance of research on source technology for materials. The MK Forum for material technology discussion is expected to be the key to the answer.”