Jinwoo Kim, a student in a combined master’s and Ph.D. program in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology, won the 2024 Talent Award of Korea from Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education.

The Talent Award of Korea, presented by the Ministry of Education and Korea Student Aid Foundation, is designed to discover talented individuals who will create value for the future of society because of their own creativity and passion.

Further, they will contribute to the development of the community through care and compassion. In 2024, 100 awardees were selected: 50 high school students and 50 college students. One awardee received the Prime Minister Award with a cash prize of KRW 3 million, and the other 99 received a cash prize of KRW 2 million from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education.

Jinwoo Kim, a student in a combined master’s and Ph.D. program (advisor: Jinho Chang), was recognized for his research in developing disease treatment and diagnosis technologies based on combined ultrasound and laser (light) energy. Kim joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and began research in 2020. He was recognized for his academic excellence, publishing a paper as a co-first author in Advanced Optical Materials (JCR top 8%), one of the most renowned international journals in the field.

Moreover, he filed applications for six patents (including one successful technology transfer) for related technologies in Korea and abroad. His research has been recognized in the academic community, as he has won awards for outstanding presentations at a variety of academic conferences. Notably, DGIST was the recipient of the 30th Grand Prize, Samsung Human Tech Paper Award (the largest one in Korea), which boosted the institute’s academic reputation.

Kim said, “I would like to thank Professor Jinho Chang for guiding me through research, my family for providing their unwavering support, and many others for helping me out along the way. As an awardee of the Talent Award of Korea, I will fully dedicate myself to growing into a researcher who contributes to the development of biomedical engineering and the country.”