KAIST student reaches runner-up at Merck Innovation Cup

Hwang Sunoo from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) poses next to a banner for Merck Innovation Cup during the competition that ran from July 19 to 25 in Germany. Courtesy of KAIST

A Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) student was named runner-up in this year’s Merck Innovation Cup after implementing eco-friendly chemistry principles into Merck’s chemistry designing software.

Hwang Sunoo, a combined master’s and doctoral program student studying civil and environmental engineering, along with his multinational team, achieved the outcome in the Green Chemistry category of the competition, according to KAIST Friday. The school said Hwang was the only Korean among the German science technology firm competition’s 42 finalists.

Hwang and his team designed an upgraded version of Merck’s Synthia by implementing the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry, a global framework for designing chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances in an effort to minimize environmental impact, promote sustainability and enhance safety in chemical practices.

Merck evaluated the work as a “practically effective alternative” for Synthia, allowing it to minimize harmful byproducts in the chemical industry, introduce sustainable chemical processes and induce improvements in environmental, social and corporate governance strategies and market competitiveness.

Willem Kools, head of technology at Merck’s American and Canadian subsidiary, MilliporeSigma Technology Pioneering Group, said the work by Hwang’s team was “impressive and would be a big help to Merck.”

“It was a valuable experience to collaborate with superb scientists from different countries as a team and come up with a possible solution to an actual problem in the industry in real life,” said Hwang. “What I learned at KAIST has been proven to work in a global setting for technological innovation.”

Hwang’s team included doctoral students from Free University of Berlin, Sofia University in Bulgaria, University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and Heidelberg University in Germany. Stacey Paiva, senior editor of Nature Chemistry, joined the team as alumni coach.

Merck Innovation Cup ran from July 19 to 24 at Lufthansa Seeheim Hotel in Germany and at Merck’s headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany, on July 25, the competition’s final day.