Defense researcher awarded for work reducing aircraft weight

By Jun Ji-hye

Jun Seung-moon, a senior researcher at the Agency for Defense Development (ADD), has received awards for his research into reducing the weight of aircraft.

The ADD said that Jun was chosen as the Researcher of 2015, the most prestigious award in the defense research sector given for making the biggest contribution to developing and improving the nation’s defense science and technology for the year.

The awards ceremony took place on Dec. 31 at ADD headquarters in Daejeon.

The state-run defense research center has selected a recipient for the award annually since 2002 among those who have been working for the agency for more than 20 years.

Jun, who joined the ADD in 1988, has been in charge of research and development of airplane fuselage structure.

This year’s award was given to him because he successfully applied carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) in developing aircraft wings, which will contribute considerably to reducing the weight of the airplane while improving its performance.

CFRP is a strong and light composite material, which has many applications in the aerospace and automotive fields, as well as in sailboats and modern bicycles.

The ADD said that CFRP is 10 times stronger than steel, but the weight is only a quarter.

Jun’s team also contributed to successfully studying and applying the nation’s own structures, dubbed “Smart Structures,” to produce prototype aircraft, which will enable the agency to upgrade the performance of imported airplanes without the help of foreign defense contractors, the ADD said.

“We need to have our own design technology in developing aircraft in order to secure independence in aviation technologies,” Jun said. “I will continue my research to upgrade the performance of aircraft, and will do my best to sharpen the competitiveness of domestic products in an export market.”

Jun earned a bachelor’s degree in aviation engineering from Seoul National University in 1981, and his master’s and doctorate degrees in the same area from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) in 1983 and 1988, respectively.

He received the defense minister’s citation in 1999 and a presidential citation in 2007 for his excellent work, the ADD said.