POSCO : The 2017 POSCO TJ Park Prize presentation ceremony was recently held

- The Science prize winner is Prof. Jong-heun Lee, Korea University, and the Education prize winner is Kyungpook National University's Attached Middle School, and the Community Development and Philanthropy prize winner is Jimmy Pham of Vietnam.

- The Technology prize, newly created to publicize the importance of technology industrialization, goes to Myeong-hwan Kim, head of the Battery Research Institute of LG Chem.

- POSCO TJ Park Prize celebrates its 11th anniversary this year···the awardees receive KRW 200 million each.

POSCO TJ Park Foundation awarded its '2017 POSCO TJ Park Prizes' at the POSCO Center on March 29.

POSCO TJ Park Foundation selected POSCO TJ Park Prize winners for this year: the Science prize winner is Prof. Jong-heun Lee, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea University; the Education prize winner is Kyungpook National University's Attached Middle School; the Community Development and Philanthropy prize winner is Jimmy Pham of Vietnam, CEO of KOTO; the Technology prize went to Myeong-hwan Kim, head of the Battery Research Institute, LG Chem. Each prize winner received a plaque and prize money of KRW 200 million.

The POSCO TJ Park Prize was established in 2006 with the aim of honoring the legacy of the late Chairman Tae-joon Park, founder of POSCO, who laid the foundation for the industrialization and modernization of Korea to repay the country by making steel, and contributing to national development by getting the general public to take interest and participate in POSCO's founding principles of creativity, talent development, sacrifice and volunteer spirit, and it celebrates its 11th anniversary this year.

In particular, the Technology prize was added this year for the purpose of publicizing the importance of technology industrialization in Korea and contributing to the rebirth of the Korean economy that has been dealing with sluggish growth, and will be given to persons or organizations that contributed to the development of new global markets and national development.

Chairman of POSCO TJ Park Foundation, Ohjoon Kwon, said at the presentation ceremony, 'Over the past 10 years, the POSCO TJ Park Prize has been awarded to those who tackle the never-ending challenges faced by humans, and has attained fame for being a prestigious prize and became a valuable social asset. In the next 10 years, we must evolve the POSCO TJ Park Prize into becoming an even more prestigious and honorable prize.'

Chang-hee Kang, former Chairman of the National Assembly, delivered a congratulatory address and said, 'I express my deepest gratitude to POSCO for contributing to not only the development of science and technology, but also for making the world a more beautiful place by awarding prizes to great scholars and citizens who brought honor to Korea and Asia.'

Prof. Jong-heun Lee of Korea University and winner of the TJ Park Science prize, pioneered a new research area, i.e. using the oxide nano hierarchical structure in which nano building blocks are regularly self-assembled, and the p-type oxide semiconductor with a high level of catalytic activity to detect gases super-sensitively, super-fast, and super-selectively. His achievements are expected to be widely utilized in various areas beyond the olfactory sense of humans, such as safety, environment, medical science, and Internet of Things.

Kyungpook National University's Attached Middle School, winner of the Education prize, is rated as having presented a model of creative public education. Despite the standardized environment, the school introduced in 2012 project-based learning, i.e. students cooperating with each other to solve the problems presented by teachers, and flipped learning in which the roles of teachers and students are switched.

Jimmy Pham, winner of the Community Development and Philanthropy prize, established KOTO (Know One, Teach One), the first social enterprise in Vietnam, and provided cooking and humanism education for Vietnamese children and youths who are suffering from drug trafficking, drug abuse and alcoholism, for 17 years to help them discover a new life and stand on their own feet.

Myung-hwan Kim, head of the Battery Research Institute of LG Chem, received the first Technology prize, and began to oversee battery R&D in 1996 in the early days of the secondary battery business, and developed and produced the first lithium-ion battery for electric vehicles notwithstanding having to endure trials and errors after 20 years of dedication to this field. He is considered to have greatly contributed to making Korea a powerhouse in secondary batteries.

Meanwhile, more than 290 people attended the presentation ceremony, including Ohjoon Kwon, Chairman of POSCO TJ Park Foundation, Chang-hee Kang, former chairman of the National Assembly, Hong-goo Lee and Deok-soo Han, former prime ministers, Gong-il Sa, chairman of the Institute for Global Economics, Nak-in Sung, president of Seoul National University, and former POSCO TJ Park Prize winners.