Merck honors KAIST, Samsung researchers for display technology development

Merck Korea Managing Director Kim Woo-kyu, center, poses with Yoo Seung-hyup, right, a KAIST professor and winner of the Merck Award, and Jeon Soon-ok, a Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology expert researcher and winner of the Merck Young Scientist Award, on the opening day of the International Meeting of Information Displays at COEX in southern Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Merck Korea

By Yi Whan-woo

Merck Korea presented its annual awards to one researcher from KAIST and one from Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT), for their outstanding achievements in the display industry.

Merck Korea said that KAIST Professor Yoo Seung-hyup won the Merck Award and SAIT Expert Researcher Jeon Soon-ok won the Merck Young Scientist Award on the occasion of the International Meeting of Information Displays (IMID) 2021 at the COEX Convention Center, southern Seoul. The event will run through Friday, both online and offline, with Merck Korea showcasing OLED, liquid crystal, patterning, quantum, coating and packaging materials and technologies that can be used to develop more advanced displays, such as smart windows.

The Merck Award recognizes seasoned scientists with exceptional achievements over their entire career, while the Merck Young Scientist Award is for promising scientists who perform noteworthy research early in their career.

Merck Korea was one of the participating companies at IMID, an annual exhibition of cutting-edge displays manufactured by global market players.

KAIST Professor Yoo has made achievements characterized by both academic depth and industrial impact in the area of displays and lighting based on organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), as well as in flexible and wearable electronics.

In particular, he has been noted for his systemic research aimed at enhancing the efficiency of OLEDs. He recently drew industry attention for pioneering the use of the technology in wearable, optoelectronic and medical devices, which integrate OLEDs and other displays for healthcare products.

Yoo has been an active member of academic associations in and outside Korea, such as the Korean Information Display Society (KIDS) and the Optical Society.

SAIT researcher Jeon has specialized in blue OLED materials and devices. At Samsung Electronics, Jeon applied for 81 domestic and 100 overseas patents, which helped to accelerate opportunities for the commercialization of materials technologies

Jeon has joined both academic and commercial research projects to develop innovative OLED technologies in cooperation with Sungkyunkwan University and others.

“Merck will continue to engage in internal innovations and collaborations with the scientific community to deliver scientific progress in business and beyond,” Merck Korea Managing Director Kim Woo-kyu was quoted as saying in a press release.