2 Korean display researchers win Merck awards

From left, Jeong Jae-kyung, a Hanyang University professor and a 2023 Merck Award winner; Yun Yong-kuk, country lead of Display Solutions Business at Merck Korea, and Kwak Jeong-hun, a Seoul National University professor pose during the Merck 2023 Award ceremony at BEXCO convention center in Busan, Aug. 24. Courtesy of Merck Korea

By Baek Byung-yeul

Two Korean researchers won awards, including the top prize, at the award ceremony put on by German IT company Merck, for their excellence in the display sector, Merck Korea said Monday. The company said Jeong Jae-kyung, a Hanyang University professor, won the top honor Merck Award, being recognized for his research including his contribution to the mass production of AMOLED products and successfully implementing oxide thin-film transition technology.

Kwak Jeong-hun, a Seoul National University professor, also won the Merck Young Scientist Award, for contributions to improving the efficiency and lifetime of QLEDs based on the first development of the inverted QLED structure.

The Merck Award, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, is an award established at the International Meeting on Information Display (IMID) in 2004 to commemorate outstanding achievements in the display sector.

Merck presented the awards and celebrated the winners at the IMID 2023 event in Busan held from Aug. 22 to 25.

Jeong, the top prize winner, has published 194 research papers related to oxide semiconductors and has registered 200 international patents.

Commenting on his win, Jeong said, “It is a tremendous honor for me to receive the prestigious Merck Award, recognized as the highest accolade in the display field. Moving forward, my dedication remains steadfast in researching future display backplane technologies. By doing so, I aim to ensure the sustained prosperity of our domestic display industry.”

Kwak, a winner of the Young Scientist Award, said, “I am very pleased and honored to receive the Merck Young Scientist Award, one of the most prestigious awards in the display field. It seemed like a technology of the distant future, but it seems that the day when it will become a reality is not far away. I will continue to do what I can to advance display technology in Korea.”

WooKyu Kim, managing director of Merck Korea, said he expects the display industry to converge with other industries to create even more new markets, and the company will continue to look for collaboration opportunities with other researchers and companies.

“Displays will be even more embedded in our daily lives than it is today, optimizing spaces and objects. In particular, convergence with other industries will accelerate the creation of new display markets,” Kim said.