- Dr. Song-Yu Hong for the Science Award; Ran-joo Yi, Director of Solidarity for Asian Human Rights and Culture for the Community Development & Philanthropy Award; Youm Huh, CEO of Silicon Mitus for the Technology Award
 

- Award ceremony to be held April 8 (Wed.) at the POSCO Center 

 

 

The POSCO TJ Park Foundation (chairperson Sunuk Kim) held its Board of Directors meeting on March 19th and has selected Dr. Song-Yu Hong (Director of the Korea Institute of Atmospheric Prediction Systems) for the Science Award; Donbosco Vocational Training School for the Education Award; Ran-joo Yi, Director of Solidarity for Asian Human Rights and Culture for the Community Development & Philanthropy Award; and Youm Huh, CEO of Silicon Mitus for the Technology Award.

 

Dr. Song-Yu Hong, selected for the Science Award, is one of the world's foremost experts on atmospheric modeling. He has served as the director of Korea Institute of Atmospheric Prediction Systems (KIAPS) since 2014 and has led the independent development of a predictive model optimized for Korean weather conditions, contributing significantly to bringing Korea into the top 5 weather predicting countries worldwide. His predictive model is a key piece of software that predicts weather conditions by using computer science to process huge amounts of weather data. KIAPS, led by Dr. Hong, successfully developed the “Numerical Weather Prediction Model” independently, which will be used officially by the Korea Meteorological Administration to predict weather starting in the first half of this year. The weather algorithm developed independently by Dr. Hong as a US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration while teaching at a university is actively used for worldwide weather/climate research and implementation. It is highly evaluated and has been cited over 16,600 times in some 150 relevant papers.

 

Donbosco Vocational Training School, selected for the Education Award, was founded by the Korean Catholic Salesian religious order. For the past 55 years, it has fostered some 3000 out-of-school youth and youth who have dropped out of school due to life circumstances to train them as skilled manpower in machine processing/assembly at the nation's highest level. In particular, its slogan of “It is enough that you are young that I can love you so much” summarizes its educational philosophy and character education based on human dignity. Youths who complete a 10-month curriculum acquire technical skills along with a firm foundation of the value of life and work, supporting their growth as financially independent citizens. As a result of this effort, 95% of Donbosco Vocational Training School graduates in the past 10 years are successfully employed and actively working as competitively competent workers.

 

Ran-joo Yi, Director of Solidarity for Asian Human Rights and Culture who won the Community Development & Philanthropy Award, joined Bucheon Immigrant Workers’ Home in 1995 and Solidarity for Asian Human Rights and Culture in 2004, constantly have made efforts to promote the inhumane treatment of foreign migrant workers in our society and improve their treatment and quality of life. Ran-joo Yi has worked especially hard to provide multicultural training and Korean language education to promote harmony between foreign migrant workers and their local communities and also takes a leading role in revising and enacting human rights legislation and anti-discrimination laws to create a society that welcomes foreign migrant workers. Ran-joo Yi also offers various programs to aid in the development of the countries these workers come from, such as human rights protection, alleviation of poverty, overcoming disease, and improving education for foreign migrant workers who return to home countries such as Nepal and Myanmar. Ran-joo Yi has increased many people's understanding of foreign migrant workers through books and movies on their lives to play an important role in changing social awareness

 

 

Youm Huh, CEO of Silicon Mitus and winner of the Technology Award, is Korea’s top expert on semiconductors, having developed the first power management integrated circuit (PMIC), an essential semiconductor for smart device power supply, in Korea in 2007 and bringing technical skill in system semiconductors to a global level. The PMIC developed for the first time in Korea by CEO Huh is an absolutely essential component to increase smart device performance and efficiency in this era of shrinking devices thorough a non-memory semiconductor chip that controls the power supply of electronic devices such as smartphones and displays. CEO Huh invests over 20% of annual sales into R&D to improve technical competence and successfully developing new technology for the 4th industrial revolution, such as audio chips, and anticipating a second leap forward.

 

The POSCO TJ Park Foundation aims to expand national interest and participation in creativity, fostering talent, sacrifice, and volunteering and established the POSCO TJ Park Awards in 2006 to take the lead in becoming a corporate citizen who develops together with people. The POSCO TJ Park Awards have four categories: Science, Education, Community Development & Philanthropy, and Technology. The Science Prize is awarded to a Korean scientist with activities based in Korea who has contributed to the development of science and raised Korea’s status through creative achievements in the natural sciences and engineering. The Education Prize is given to a person or group who has systematically implemented creative educational programs and expanded the educational sphere and the Community Development & Philanthropy Prize to a dedicated person or group which has practiced love and sharing to improve the quality of life for society. These are linked to the POSCO Asia Fellowship, the Foundation's core work, expanding award winners to the whole of Asia. The Technology Prize goes to a person who has contributed to the development of national industry by developing and commercializing technology at a global level in various fields of industrial/academic collaboration.

 

The selection committee have independent rights during winner selection and choose candidates through a fair, transparent process based on recommendation standards and screening methods. Trust in the awards is high since they are based on objective, rigorous verification such as site visits and evaluation by relevant experts.

 

The 2020 POSCO TJ Park Awards Ceremony was held on April 8th at the Seoul POSCO Center and each winner was given a trophy and 200 million won in prize money.