EWHA WOMANS UNIVERSITY | Research

126
A Study by an Undergraduate Student Team from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering Published in IEEE Inter

The results of an undergraduate students’ capstone design from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering were recently published in a top-level international academic journal. Over the past year, Ki Soo-min (double majoring in the Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering) and Byun Gyu-ri (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) conducted a capstone design project researching reducing battery consumption with satisfying the deadline conditions of mobile real-time systems. They succeeded in reducing battery consumption by 71.5 percent and the study results were published in IEEE Internet of Things Journal, a renowned academic journal within the top two percent of journals in the computer science field. This Ewha undergraduate research team presented modelling of techniques studied in different system layers, including dynamic voltage control to manage the processing speed of a CPU, task placement using low-power memory, and task offloading to distant edge servers, as a unified measure. They then optimized their association ‒ i.e., optimized the three techniques across different system layers. The research team elaborately modeled the correlation between runtime and energy effect throughout the entire system path encompassing the CPU, memory, and network subsystems under the condition of the application of the three techniques together. They then developed a scheduling technique to minimize power consumption while meeting all task-level deadlines. In addition, the team designed an algorithm that allows the immediate reflection of scheduling fit for changes in network environments and computing resource conditions. Ki Soo-min and Byun Gyu-ri, co-authors of the paper “Co-optimizing CPU Voltage, Memory Placement, and Task Offloading for Energy-Efficient Mobile Systems” presenting their research, related, “If this technology is commercialized, available hours of battery use in real-time systems, including remotely piloted aerial systems, are expected to be greatly increased.” Professor Hyokyung Bahn, who supervised the research as the corresponding author, remarked, “It is an exceptional result in terms of an outcome by undergraduate students. The research was conducted as an open-source project to ensure transparency of research, which was why it seemed to be more or less easy for the research results to be recognized in academic circles.”
- No.125
- Writer
- Date2023.03.03
- Views9248
124
Ewha Leads Startup Culture

In line with Ewha’s endeavor to serve as “A Creative and Innovative Platform Leading to a Sustainable Society” through creative research and educational innovation based on the “Ewha Vision 2030+” development strategy, the Office of Research and the Ewha University-Industry Collaboration Foundation (EUICF) is consolidating its efforts to establish a creative research ecosystem, by enhancing the value of the university’s research and technologies through industry-academy-research collaboration and innovative growth. Ewha expands and reorganizes the “Support Corps for Business Startups” to provide customized support for startups throughout the education, support, and incubation phases Ewha reorganized the Business Incubator under the EUICF and expanded it into the “Support Corps for Business Startups (SCBS),” with the aim to increase the efficiency of startup support and promote the startup culture on campus. Recently, “technology commercialization” has become a buzzword in the startup market. Laboratory business startups, which are focused on technical capabilities based on tangible research achievements and patents, are producing outstanding outcomes in terms of job creation and corporate viability compared to idea-based business startups. In line with this trend, the SCBS, which has been expanded and reorganized this year, will respond more effectively to existing and future demand for startups and need for startup support, enhance customized support for startups throughout each phase of education, support, and incubation, and establish a collaborative system for identifying internal, external startup institutions and technology-based startups and supporting their technology commercialization. Meanwhile, Ewha is providing systematic education on business startups through various programs including curricular and extracurricular courses and leading the expansion of the campus startup culture. Ewha has offered courses on entrepreneurship and business startups, and endeavored to establish startup-related courses to keep up with the increasing significance of related education and achievements at universities. As a result, the number of courses on business startups rose from 29 in 2021 to 60 in 2022, with a total of 2,561 students enrolled, recording a significant year-to-year increase. In addition, Ewha is responding quickly to changing trends, by establishing the “AI Convergence Startup Track” as part of a new 2022 TELOS Track system, with the aim to foster entrepreneurship and startup capabilities based on AI technologies. The rapid growth in the participation rate of various extracurricular courses in addition to the regular curriculum was also a notable accomplishment. Ewha aims to expand startup infrastructure following its selection for various projects Since its selection as a member of “Korean I-Corps” program by the Ministry of Science and ICT in May 2021, Ewha has actively supported laboratory business startups by leveraging public research outcomes, and operated various programs specialized for women, such as a mentor group comprised of female startup experts, education for technology startups, phased commercialization support, and a female technology forum for business startups. Through various support activities for the enhancement of youth business startup capabilities, Ewha received the highest S-grade from the “2022 Business Incubator Management Evaluation” by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, thereby earning recognition for its institutional and project management performance. In particular, with Ewha’s selection for the “Integrated Seoul Campus Town Project,” the SCBS’s capabilities in identifying and cultivating outstanding startups are expected to play a major role in helping the school grow into a hub for youth startup clusters in northwestern Seoul. Robust startup achievements by students and faculty members contribute to expanding startup culture As Ewha’s control tower for startup support, the SCBS has expanded startup education, industry-academia collaboration, and startup infrastructure, while also providing systematic support for the commercialization of outstanding technologies, with the aim to support startups based on Ewha-specific university-industry collaboration. As a result, startups launched by faculty members and students are gradually beginning to bear fruit. VasThera Co, Ltd., a startup founded by Professor Sang Won Kang of the Department of Life Sciences, successfully attracted 18 billion KRW in investments thanks to the development of a new drug for the treatment of vascular diseases and reaffirmed its potential by receiving the Minister of SMEs and Startups Award for the “deep-tech” startup category. Meanwhile, startups by Ewha students are also producing meaningful outcomes by attracting investments. For example, teams comprised of Ewha students won the first prize, excellence prize, and participation prize at the “2022 Industry-Academia Collaboration EXPO,” which was hosted by the Ministry of Education and the National Research Foundation of Korea. This is the result of Ewha’s active support to nurture laboratory business startups by leveraging public research outcomes under the Korean I-Corps program.
- No.123
- Writer
- Date2023.01.17
- Views28718
122
Professor Hyukjin Lee at the College of Pharmacy Selected for “Top 100 Excellent Achievements in National Research...

Professor Hyukjin Lee at the College of Pharmacy Selected for “Top 100 Excellent Achievements in National Research and Development” in 2022 Professor Hyukjin Lee of the College of Pharmacy at Ewha Womans University was selected as one of the top 12 in the “100 Excellence Achievements in National Research and Development” promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT in 2022. “High-Efficiency Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) Drug Carrier Capable of Targeted Delivery to the Cell” developed by Professor Hyukjin Lee is a technology that enables lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) to effectively deliver messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) substances into the body to treat various infectious and incurable diseases, including COVID-19. Global pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Moderna have created vaccines for COVID-19 using mRNA technology in the short space of a year, demonstrating the safety and efficacy of the technology across the globe. Professor Lee succeeded in discovering ionizable lipids and commercializing LNPs for the first time in Korea, thereby securing a cell-targeting RNA drug delivery platform using LNPs that can be applied as mRNA vaccine carriers. The research results are expected to contribute to the development of RNA treatments and mRNA vaccines in the future and secure an mRNA-LNP platform that quickly responds to unknown diseases as well as existing infectious diseases. In addition, the findings of the study are highly significant in that it secured Korea’s treatment sovereignty through the localization of the LNP platform. Professor Lee won the Scientist and Engineer Award of the Month and the Young Investigator Award from the Lim Seong-gi Investigator Awards for his contribution toward developing a drug carrier that safely delivers mRNA drugs into the body. In addition, he has greatly contributed to the development of mRNA treatments for hemophilia and siRNA anticancer drugs through joint research and technology transfer with various companies and institutions, and continued to develop new drugs based on mRNA. Meanwhile, the College of Pharmacy established the Center for Infectious Disease Treatment & Control with Professor Lee as the director of the project and was selected as a leading project group in the “Ewha Frontier 10-10 project.” Under the slogan of “convergence pharmacology in response to infectious diseases in the post-COVID-19 era,” the project group has been conducting the following studies: developing vaccines for infectious diseases; developing treatments for infectious diseases; evaluating the diagnosis, toxicity, and efficacy of treatments; researching the targets and mechanisms of infectious diseases; and addressing the entire cycle of infectious diseases including clinical analysis and statistical science. Upon the team’s selection for the Excellent Achievements in National Research and Development, further spotlight has been directed to Ewha’s efforts in intensively nurturing pioneering research fields with global competitiveness.
- No.121
- Writer
- Date2022.11.11
- Views9639
120
Research Team of Professor Taeyoung Choi Selected for the Quantum Technology Cooperation Project

A research team led by Professor Taeyoung Choi at the Department of Physics has been selected for the “Quantum Technology Cooperation Project” supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). The team will receive funding of approximately KRW 4.7 billion for five years until 2027, and carry out the “International Collaborative Research Developing Multi-Qubit and Individually Controllable Trapped-Ion Based Quantum Computer” with Duke University in the U.S. In recent years, the trapped-ion based quantum system has been one of the leading quantum computing platforms and many international research groups have been actively conducting relevant researches toward building a practical and universal quantum computer. Professor Choi’s team plans to introduce world-class technological capacity for quantum computing into Korea in order for the country to secure essential and original quantum technology through international joint research with the world-leading Duke Quantum Center (DQC). This research effort will lead to develop quantum computers in Korea as well as to promote domestic quantum technologies and related industries. Quantum computing technology represents one of the key next-generation ICT that utilizes the principles of quantum mechanics. In a conventional computer, the basic information unit is a binary digit, or bit, which can be either 0 or 1 but not both at the same time. However, the basic unit in quantum information, the so-called qubit, can exist 0 and 1 state at the same time as a form of linear superposition of two states. This superposition state allows us to apply multiple inputs and perform logic gates simultaneously. Such advantages promise that a quantum computer can calculate specific tasks exponentially faster than any conventional computers and solve problems that might not be solvable otherwise. The research team plans to build a 10-qubit quantum computer by developing the quantum technology for multi-ion qubit traps and optimization toward the best-performing ion qubits. In addition, the team will conduct various research activities such as the development of optical systems to achieve scalable and high-fidelity quantum gates and development of multi-frequency, phase, amplitude modulation technique to successfully demonstrate quantum entanglement for the 10-qubit system. Moreover, the team will continue performing researches toward building a beyond 10-qubit system through the development of new and scalable multi-qubit trap technology. The principal investigator Professor Choi commented, “We expect that the project will greatly contribute to nurturing quantum experts, developing related industries, producing new jobs, and strengthening national competitiveness in the fields of quantum computing and quantum technologies” and added, “In particular, this may allow us to achieve technological and industrial advancement across our society and economy by utilizing quantum computers in areas including artificial intelligence, decryption, new material development, prediction of various variables, and high-capacity information processing technology.” The research team, which was selected again after its selection for the “2021 Quantum Computing Development Project” organized by the MSIT and NRF, will strive to develop and implement fundamental technology for quantum computers.
- No.119
- Writer
- Date2022.10.12
- Views8751
118
2022 Female Technology Startup Forum Held under the Theme of ‘‘Women, Technology, and the Future’’

An event for students interested in startup culture and aspiring founders of technology-based startups Talks with Vice President Michael W. Punke of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and a talk concert sharing visions of businesswomen and female startup founders The 2022 Female Technology Startup Forum under the theme of ‘‘Women, Technology, and the Future’’ was successfully held at the LG Convention Hall on September 29 (Thu.). As part of the ‘‘Korean I-Corps” program, the forum was organized for companies in Korea and abroad that offer various on-demand services to share the processes and innovative results through which they realized their ideas and created new value with Ewha students who dream of starting their own business. The Korean I-Corps refers to an innovation startup education program launched by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) in 2015 upon benchmarking the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program in line with Korea’s situation. Ewha was selected in May as a women-specific institution of the Korea Innovation Technology Startup Center (KITS), the host organization of the Korean I-Corps program. The forum was simultaneously held offline and online via livestreaming through the YouTube channel and began with opening remarks by President Hyang Sook Lee of the Ewha University-Industry Collaboration Foundation (EUICF), a congratulatory address by Director Bong-soo Kim of the Commercializations Promotion Agency for R&D Outcomes (COMPA), and a welcome speech by Executive Vice President for External Affairs Kyung Shik Shin. Part 1 of the forum featured talks with Michael W. Punke, Vice President of Global Public Policy (GPP) at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Meanwhile, Part 2 featured a talk concert titled ‘‘Talks about the Future Technology and Women’s Entrepreneurship” for sharing experiences and know-how of technology businesswomen. Part 1 consisted of a conversation between AWS Vice President Michael W. Punke and Quint Simon, Head of Public Policy, APAC at AWS, under the theme of ‘‘An Encounter between Cloud-Based Advanced Technologies and Entrepreneurship.” In the conversation, Vice President Punke remarked on Amazon’s corporate culture of respecting diversity, women’s entrepreneurship in the cloud era, and anecdotes and know-how related to his career as a writer, a diplomat, and an executive member of a global IT company. This was followed by a Q&A session, during which students asked a range of questions including how he overcame difficulties while working for the IT company as a policy expert and what a background in liberal arts meant in engineering fields. In particular, the conversation drew attention as it marked Vice President Punke’s first visit to Korea with the hope of meeting the students of Ewha Womans University, an educational institution that embodies the values of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as shared by AWS. In Part 2, Soo-jung Lee, Head of Education and Healthcare at AWS, presented a special lecture under the theme of ‘‘Women@IT.” Subsequently, Soo-won Eom, CEO of Adriel, a company offering customized digital marketing solutions, shared her startup experience under the theme of ‘‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) Digital Marketing Service,” while Ji-young Kang, CEO of Robo Arete, an innovative company developing a cooking robot and AI, shared her startup case under the theme of ‘‘Robot Food Tech Robert Chicken.” Part 2 was presided by CEO Na-ree Lee of Hey Joyce and wrapped up with practical and candid conversations among female entrepreneurs on women’s technology startups and plans to facilitate such startups under the theme of ‘‘Talking about Future Technology and Women’s Entrepreneurship.”
- No.117
- Writer
- Date2022.10.04
- Views21248
116
Research Paper by Professor Chang-Hyeon Ji Published in World-Renowned Academic Journal Additive Manufacturing

Expectations for the application of 3D printing technology in fabricating microactuators and commercial application of LiDAR system as an essential technology for fully autonomous driving and smart factories A research team led by Professor Chang-Hyeon Ji at the Dept. of Electronic and Electrical Engineering developed an electromagnetically-actuated scanning micromirror device for LiDAR systems using three-dimensional (3D) printing and published the results in Additive Manufacturing (IF: 11.632), a prestigious top 1% journal in engineering and manufacturing. A LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) system refers to a remote sensor that measures the distance to a target by shining a light onto the target’s surface using near-infrared light and then detecting the reflective light emitted from the surface with an optical sensor. This allows the system to accurately detect not only the distance to a target but also location and morphology of the target, attracting attention as an essential technology to achieve a fully autonomous vehicle. The research team of Professor Chang-Hyeon Ji devised a LiDAR scanning micromirror device capable of 360-degree scanning and fabricated the device by multi-jet fusion(MJF) 3D printing, a powder bed fusion process. The device developed by the Ewha research team was fabricated through the 3D printing process while a conventional scanning micromirror was made of silicon wafers using the microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. This is a pioneering outcome in fabricating microactuators using 3D printing technology, which is conventionally used for the construction of macro-scale structures. In addition, compared with motor-based scanners applied to mechanical LiDAR systems or scanning micromirrors fabricated using the MEMS technology, it has the capacity to achieve high performance with short production time and low production cost, leading to expectations of the commercial application of LiDAR systems. The team led by Professor Chang-Hyeon Ji at the Dept. of Electronic and Electrical Engineering drew attention by publishing the research paper, titled “Electromagnetic Omnidirectional Scanning Micromirror with Multi Jet Fusion Printed Structures for Smart Factory Applications,” marking the outcome of the project conducted with support from the Phase 4 Brain Korea 21 (BK21) project, in a renowned journal in the relevant field. In October last year, Ewha was selected for the smart factory sub-field under the “new industry” category of the innovative talent training program in the BK21 project hosted by the Ministry of Education (MOE). The ‘‘Education and Research Group for training intelligent IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) convergent talents for human-centric smart factories” (led by Professor Jeong Tae Kim) is composed of ten professors from the Dept. of Electronic and Electrical Engineering and three professors from the Division of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at ELTEC College of Engineering, and is carrying out several studies focused on the five core areas of smart factories: smart network, AI & big data, smart sensors, human-centric systems, and cyber physical systems.
- No.115
- Writer
- Date2022.09.27
- Views21880
114
Ewha Becomes a Hub for Youth Startup Clusters in Northwestern Seoul

Ewha Becomes a Hub for Youth Startup Clusters in Northwestern Seoul The Ewha Campus Town Project Team was selected for the 2023 Integrated Seoul Campus Town Project. The project team is now expected to receive around KRW 8 billion to run the project over the next four years starting from 2023 to 2026 and will serve as a hub for the Sinchon Youth Startup Valley and youth startup clusters in northwestern Seoul. The Seoul Campus Town Project is designed to facilitate the mutual development of universities and local communities by enabling them to develop and operate a startup and startup personnel accelerator program in addition to a regional revitalization program through a university-regional district consortium. After being selected for the Unit-type Seoul Campus Town Project for three years since 2019, Ewha cultivated around 50 startup teams and provided practical training for future entrepreneurs. Ewha also offered various programs for mutually benefiting local communities, including consultation and mentorship for local small businesses and a network-building program. Under this project, Ewha set the goals of fostering youth startups and future professionals with the capacity to lead innovative technologies and building a regional revitalization model. Reflecting the needs of the era on changes in the startup ecosystem, Ewha will boost startups like bio-healthcare businesses that are based on expertise in lab work and innovative technologies and contribute to the revitalization of local economies by renewing the Sinchon commercial district and traditional markets. Kyung Shik Shin, Ewha’s Executive Vice President for External Affairs and the research director for this project, commented, “The Seoul Campus Town Project will allow Ewha to play a more pivotal role as a hub for startup clusters in northwestern Seoul in connection with the Sinchon Youth Startup Valley established in partnership with Seodaemun-gu, Ewha Womans University Medical Center, and the Seoul Magok District Industrial Complex.” Ewha established “Ewha Vision 2030+” and “Medium-to-long-term Development Plan for University-Industry Collaboration” and is promoting various new projects to foster creative individuals who can create innovative value according to the needs of society, establish a total platform for the commercialization of creative and convergent technology, and build a hub for startups that can expand with future technology. As a result, Ewha has been selected for the so-called “Korean I-Corps program” of the Korea Innovation Technology Startup Center (KITS) under the Ministry of Science and ICT in May 2021 and designated as the best Business Incubator (BI) by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups this year, thereby winning recognition as the nation’s top institution for fostering startups and startup professionals.
- No.113
- Writer
- Date2022.08.22
- Views8482
112
Ewha Signs a Business Agreement with the KSIF to Attract and Support Excellent Foreign Nationals

Ewha Signs a Business Agreement with the KSIF to Attract and Support Excellent Foreign Nationals Ewha signed a business agreement with the King Sejong Institute Foundation (KSIF) on August 17 (Wed.) and agreed to provide high-quality Korean language education for international students and attract more talented foreign nationals. Under the agreement with the KSIF, Ewha will operate an online King Sejong Institute tailored to international students and utilize the Sejong Korean Language Assessment (SKA), the KSIF’s Korean language proficiency test for assessing foreign nationals’ communication skills. Ewha and the KSIF also agreed to cooperate to attract talented foreign nationals through King Sejong Institutes located around the world and discover joint projects to spread the Korean language and culture, while providing mutual support. The cooperation between Ewha, which provides a professional, systematic education system and environment for international students, and the KSIF, which aims to promote the Korean language and culture around the world, is expected to offer a wider range of opportunities and support for international students who wish to improve their Korean language skills. In particular, from the 2022 fall semester, Ewha will provide high-quality Korean language education for international students via the “Ewha Online King Sejong Institute.” President Eun Mee Kim commented, “This will be a new opportunity to explore ways to strengthen the overall influence of the Korean language and culture based on our shared pioneering spirit and experiences of rapid growth. I hope that this agreement serves to create momentum for Ewha and the KSIF to become highly-respected organizations that lead the global trend of Korean culture.” Ewha has played a leading role in Korean language education, establishing Teaching Korean as Second Language as a major for the first time in Korea in 1982 and starting Korean language education for foreigners at the Ewha Language Center in 1988. The agreement with the KSIF is expected to enable Ewha to further strengthen its status as a leading institution for cultivating global leaders by attracting more talented foreign nationals and developing a support system for international students.
- No.111
- Writer
- Date2022.08.19
- Views4764
110
The IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience Receives the Highest Grade in its Fifth-Year Performance Evaluation

The IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS) at Ewha Womans University received the highest grade in its performance evaluation, which is conducted on IBS research centers that have been in operation for five years since their inception. The Institute for Basic Science (IBS), a government-funded research institute established to conduct world-class basic science research and now operates a total of 33 research centers including the QNS at Ewha Womans University, conducted the first performance evaluation for research centers that had been active over five years since their foundation. This performance evaluation is an essential process that determines whether each research center continues to be operated, and is based on qualitative assessment of scientific excellence, talent acquisition and cultivation, organizational management, etc. The evaluation committee, comprised of distinguished global scholars in basic science, recognized the world-class scientific excellence of the QNS in this evaluation. During the evaluation, the QNS presented outstanding research results, suggesting the potential of the world’s smallest storage medium and successfully performing the world’s smallest magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), based on its research environment including world-class, low vibration laboratories, and ideal research culture. The QNS was also highly acclaimed for its cultural diversity with a high proportion of foreign researchers, as well as for nurturing next-generation talents, especially women leaders. Indeed, women account for 45 percent of the researchers at the QNS. Ewha launched the QNS on January 1, 2017, under the agreement with the IBS. Andreas Heinrich, Director of the QNS, joined the university as a distinguished professor of the Department of Physics and the first director of the QNS in 2016 after leading research at IBM in the United States for 18 years, and has laid the foundation for the research center by not only designing the low vibration laboratories, but also establishing the state-of-the-art research facilities. With his unique leadership and professionalism, he has brought unprecedented achievements in the short span of five years. The QNS’s research focuses on designing qubits (quantum bits), the basic unit of information in a quantum computer, by using quantum spins on surfaces. Heinrich said, “So far, the QNS has gone through big challenges and I am proud that it has grown to this level in a short span of time with its host Ewha Womans University,” and he added, “The evaluation standard in Korea is so high that we are all making our best effort to meet that standard.”
- No.109
- Writer
- Date2022.08.05
- Views7755
108
Three Research Teams at Ewha Selected for the 2022 Original Technology Development Project

Three Research Teams at Ewha Selected for the 2022 Original Technology Development Project As original technologies are increasingly important for promising industries in the future, three research teams of the College of Pharmacy and the ELTEC College of Engineering at Ewha Womans University were selected for the “Original Technology Development Project” organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea to secure technological competitiveness and growth potential. (From left) Professor Sun Choi, Professor Jin-Byung Park, Professor Si Jae Park The research team of the Global AI Drug Discovery Center (Director: Professor Sun Choi) at the College of Pharmacy was selected for the “2022 AI-Driven Innovative Drug Discovery Project” to lead the new drug development field using big data and artificial intelligence (AI). The College of Pharmacy at Ewha was the only one that was chosen as a research institute to lead the “AI-Driven Drug Development Platform Project” and received the grade “S” (excellent) by successfully establishing the AI-driven drug development platform for the past three years and achieving excellent results through active convergence research. Thanks to these accomplishments, the team from the College of Pharmacy has been recently selected as the only Korean university research team to lead the “AI-Driven Innovative Drug Discovery Project.” The College of Pharmacy at Ewha, the leader of this project, and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Seoul National University, AI company AITRICS, AIGENDRUG, MediaZen, and Txinno Bioscience will receive a total of around KRW 4.1 billion for the next three years and seven months to conduct the task titled “Advancement of AI-Driven Drug Development Platform and Discovery of Innovative Drug Candidates.” The Ewha research team, led by Professors Sun Choi, Soosung Kang, and Jinha Yu, and the other five participants are expected to make great contribution to the development of new drugs and the pharmaceutical industry through their continuous joint industry-academic convergence research. The research team from the Institute of Molecular Microbiology and Biosystems Engineering (Director: Professor Jin-Byung Park) of the Food Science and Biotechnology major at the ELTEC College of Engineering was selected for the “2022 Biomass-based Carbon-Neutral Bioplastic Product Technology Development Project,” which is designed to develop a technology to produce carbon-neutral biodegradable plastic. The research team will receive a total of around KRW 4.6 billion for the next three years and six months and carry out a task titled the “Bio-Lactone Technology Development for the Production of Biodegradable Plastic” in collaboration with Kookmin University, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, the Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology, and the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology. Bio-lactone is a polyester-based polymer fiber that is widely used as surgical sutures or food industrial packages, and is expected to contribute to addressing the existing problems related to plastic as it can be used as a key material for plastic production. Professor Jin-Byung Park of the Food Science and Biotechnology major, who is in charge of this research project, said, “Bio-lactone-based biodegradable plastic production technology will make great contribution to the production of biodegradable materials and plastics as well as development of new and renewable material production technology.” The Biochemical Engineering Laboratory (Director: Professor Si Jae Park) from the Chemical Engineering and Materials Science major at the ELTEC College of Engineering was selected for the Production Process Development part of the “Biomass-based Carbon-Neutral Bioplastic Product Technology Development Project.” The laboratory will receive a total of around KRW 4.6 billion for the next three years and six months and conduct a task titled “Development of Original Technology of Synthetic Microorganism Platform for the Production of One-Step-and-One-Pot-based Next-Generation Biodegradable Bioplastic” in collaboration with Kyungpook National University, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and Konkuk University. The research team will focus on the development of high-performance microbial strains that can produce everything in a single process from biomass and the raw material, to the final target product, that is property-tailored next-generation biodegradable bioplastics containing new monomers. Professor Si Jae Park, who is in charge of this project, said, “The Chemical Engineering and Materials Science major is focusing on the study on carbon neutrality to respond to climate change, and was recently selected for the ‘Low-Carbon Green Energy Chemical Process Research Project’ (Director: Professor Woo-Jae Kim), a part of the Ewha Frontier 10-10 Project. The task is related to biomass-based eco-friendly bioplastic production, which can contribute to carbon neutrality, and is expected to increase the possibility of commercialization of bioplastic through the development of process that enables the production of raw materials to the final products in a single process, thus playing an important role in the construction and vitalization of the carbon-neutral bioplastic industry ecosystem.”
- No.107
- Writer
- Date2022.07.15
- Views8481

Research News