Selecting Leads

Samsung Electronics’ 44-story headquarters building in Samsung Town, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea. (Photo courtesy of Oskar Alexanderson/Wikimedia Commons)
Samsung Electronics’ 44-story headquarters building in Samsung Town, Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea. (Photo courtesy of Oskar Alexanderson/Wikimedia Commons)

 

The Samsung Group selected ten candidate technologies that are expected to lead the Internet of Things (IoT) era. They are about new techs that can connect to smart sensors and mobile devices, which are essential for continued growth of Korean industry, including Samsung.

On July 13, Samsung announced this year's 10 support projects to nurture future technology. Smart sensors and system software were designated as two major themes for this year, and five projects were selected for each theme. The company is going to throw its full support behind 10 projects through the Samsung Science & Technology Foundation and the Future’s Technology Nurturing Center inside Samsung Electronics.

A project headed by Professor Lee Ji-sung from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology to develop a 3D smart tactile sensor using a nanocrystal compound was chosen as one of the 10 projects. Another selected project is being led by Professor Kim Jang-woo from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), about developing a software system that makes online communications between devices possible. They are the core IoT techs that Samsung focuses on as future growth engines. A Samsung associate explained, “Our choice is not based on the possibility of turning techs into money-making ventures right away. Rather, we choose techs among projects proposed by academic circles, depending on whether or not they are worth investing for the national interest.”

In the software field, a method capable of increasing the power efficiency of mobile devices up to 30 percent developed by Professor Jun Byung-gon from Seoul National University, a tech to improve data communication capabilities of NVMe SSDs by Professor Kim Jin-soo from Sungkyunkwan University, a technique for collecting and storing a large amount of data by Professor Kim Yong-gon from Seoul National University, and a method to develop a next-generation engine for data processing by Professor Park Sung-woo from POSTECH were all selected as support projects.

As for the censor category, selected projects include tactile sensors using complex nanomaterials developed by Professor Lee Kyu-cheol from Seoul National University, conductive polymers to make a next-generation sensor for disease diagnosis on the spot by Professor Yang Hae-sik from Pusan National University, a disease-warning sensor using bodily fluids by Professor Kim Young-pil from Hanyang University, and an artificial inorganic light- emitting antibody that can be used to detect pathogens by Professor Kim Jong-ho from Hanyang University.

Since 2013, Samsung has conducted a 10-year project to nurture future technology with a 1.5 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) investment. It announces dozens of support projects in the fields of basic science, materials tech, and ICT every half year. From last year, it has also designated themes and selected support projects related to areas that are believed to be urgently needed, in addition to these three categories. Last year, energy storage and collection and IoT security were the designated themes. To date, 160 projects have been chosen. The company is scheduled to announce the results of its project selection for the latter half on Oct. 8.

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