Grand Opening Ceremony of the e-Chem Meditronic Systems Global Research Center Successfully Held
On Friday, November 22, our university hosted the grand opening ceremony for the e-Chem Meditronic Systems Global Research Center (Director: Professor Chan-Hwa Jung) at the Auditorium of the Samsung Library on the Natural Sciences Campus.
The event was attended by prominent figures, including Yoo Pil-jin, Vice President for Planning and Coordination; Kim Tae-sung, Dean of the College of Engineering; Park No-chul, Director of the Engineering Division at the National Research Foundation of Korea; and Ahn Tae-gyu, Director of the Natural Sciences Division. Representatives from leading companies such as Amorepacific, Shinsegae International, PharmaResearch, T&L, IC Bio, iCELL, and MIZON were also present.
The e-Chem Meditronic Systems Global Research Center was selected as a Global Frontier Research Center (ERC, Engineering Research Center) by the Ministry of Science and ICT in 2024. It will receive 13.5 billion KRW in funding over seven years, until April 2031. Led by Director Chan-Hwa Jung, the research will involve a collaborative team comprising professors from the Department of Chemical and Polymer Engineering (Baek Jong-uk, Kim Jin-woong, Yoo Pil-jin, Park Jae-hyung, Kim Tae-il, Bang Seok-ho, Kim Jung-kyu, Joshua Jackman) as well as faculty from Hanyang University, POSTECH, Ewha Womans University, and Harvard University in the U.S.
The center aims to develop core material technologies for bio-health devices, positioning electrochemical-based digital healthcare systems as a national strategic technology. Through the development of e-Chem hybrid materials, it plans to lead future industries.
Additionally, the center will foster global collaboration by exchanging equipment and facilities with institutions like Harvard University (USA), RIKEN (Japan), and Grenoble NIP-UGA (France). It will also engage in joint research with prestigious universities and institutes, including Stanford, Caltech, Georgia Tech, Emory, North Carolina State, Oklahoma, and Texas universities in the U.S.; Toyama University in Japan; and Jülich Research Center in Germany.
The center will focus on convergence research across fields such as electrochemical engineering, semiconductor flexible device technology, nano-bioengineering, and nanomedicine. It aims to secure foundational technologies, validate and standardize processes, and achieve technology transfers. Companies like Shinsegae International, PharmaResearch, T&L, IC Bio, iCELL, and MIZON will participate in commercialization R&D to develop prototype products.
President Ji-beom Yoo expressed his enthusiasm for the center's launch, stating, "We are delighted to see the establishment of a center that will lead innovative research in bio-health, particularly in drug delivery using electrochemical flexible thin-film devices. We anticipate that this advanced technology will significantly contribute to human health and welfare."
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