● SK chemicals Announces the Researcher of the Year in Celebration of the Invention Day
SK chemicals announced on May 19 that it selected "the Researcher of the Year" among in-house researchers who have contributed to the company＇s research and development by developing differentiated technologies in celebration of the 53rd Invention Day.
The winner of this year is Senior Researcher Seho Lee (the Advanced Materials Lab, SK chemicals R&D Center). Seho Lee has been selected as the Researcher of the Year in recognition of his development of a processing technology for high-performance polymers based on differentiated functionalities and his contribution to expanding the company’s new markets.
Since he joined SK chemicals in 2007, Seho Lee has been responsible for the research on the polymerization and processing of polymers and successfully developed this technology based on the idea of “the technology that differentiates functionalities,” which is also his area of interest.
"It＇s a very rewarding experience to a researcher that the products he developed become a contribution to people’s daily life and the advancement of the industry," he said in his acceptance speech for the reward and added that "taking the award as an opportunity, I will continue to do my best for the development of technologies that are most needed in our society."
SK chemicals planned this Researcher of the Year award to encourage more active research and development within the company. Unlike the existing "SUPEX Award", the Researcher of the Year award is given to an individual researcher based on the assessment of the value and result of their research project.
This year＇s winner was selected among the eight final candidates recommended by leaders and executives in the R&D center after a rigorous evaluation based on the five assessment criteria including creativeness, difficulty, influence, completeness, and spirit of the invention.
"Innovative accomplishments in the R&D Center directly lead to the growth of the company." The Director of the SK chemicals R&D Center Jongryang Kim said. “We are planning to continuously create opportunities to motivate researchers in the future,” he added.
The winner of the Researcher of the Year award will be given a commemorative plaque and additional prizes including flight tickets and hotel vouchers for the family. According to the source from the company, the flight tickets and hotel vouchers are intended to encourage researchers, who spend less time with his/her family due to hard work, to have a memorable time with their family.
