The International Union for Vacuum Science, Technique and Applications (IUVSTA) selected Professor HYEON Taeg-Hwan, director of the IBS Center for Nanoparticle Research and distinguished professor of School of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU), as the first Korean winner of the prestigious IUVSTA ‘Prize for Technology’.

The IUVSTA, an international federation of 33 national vacuum organizations, holds the International Vacuum Congress (IVC) every 3 years since its inception in 1958. It awards the IUVSTA ‘Prize for Technology’ and ‘Prize for Science’ to outstanding scientists and engineers in the fields of vacuum science and technology since its 14th congress, which was held in Birmingham, the UK in 1998. Dr. Albert Fert who received the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics for the discovery of giant magnetoresistance was awarded the IUVSTA Prize for Science earlier during the same year.

▲ Director HYEON Taeghwan of the IBS Center for Nanoparticle Research

Director HYEON was selected as the awardee in the recognition of his innovative and exceptional research outcomes in the areas of fundamental mechanism of nanocrystals formation, uniform-sized nanoparticle manufacturing and nanoparticle design for medical application. His winning reaffirms that director HYEON is a globally-recognized scientist in vacuum and nanoscience and technology. He will be given the prize at the 20th congress, co-hosted by the IUVSTA and the Korean Vacuum Society.

"I couldn’t be happier to receive such a noble prize by doing what I enjoy most. This honor was possible thanks to my students and co-researchers with whom I have been working closely. I’d also like to express my gratitude to IBS, SNU and National Research Foundation of Korea for their wholehearted support," said director HYEON.

The award ceremony will be held at the 20th congress at BEXCO in Busan, in August. Director HYEON will deliver a keynote lecture along with Jean-Marie Dubois, professor at the University of Lorraine, France and this year’s winner of the IUVSTA ‘Prize for Science’. The upcoming event will bring together nearly 2,000 distinguished scholars and experts from 33 IUVSTA member countries to discuss the present and future of the vacuum industry. Distinguished participants include Erwin Neher, the 1991 Nobel Prize winner in Physiology or Medicine and director of Max Planck Institute for Biophysical and KIM Ki-Nam, president and GM of the Semiconductor Business of Samsung Electronics.

More information on the 20^th IVC congress and the IUVSTA ‘Prize for Technology’ is available on their respective websites: www.ivc20.com and www.iuvsta.org.