□ DGIST President Kunwoo Lee has been named Korea’s Mechanical Professional of the Year at the 2024 Korea Machinery Day event held at Eltower in Seoul on Wednesday, November 13.
□ The Korea Machinery Day event, now in its 23rd year, has been held annually since 2002 to explore industrial development strategies in mechanical engineering in collaboration with industry, academia, and research and to inspire and celebrate pride among mechanical engineers. The event honors those who have contributed to the development of Korea's machinery industry by recognizing one industrialist, academic, and researcher as well as awarding one mister the title of Korea’s Mechanical Professional of the Year. This year, President Lee received the award on behalf of academia.
□ President Lee has served as a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, dean of the College of Engineering, and the first president of the Graduate School of Engineering at Seoul National University. He has also served as president of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME), vice president of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), and president of the Korean Society of Engineering Education (KSEE). Currently, he is a member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) and a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). President Lee has continuously contributed to developing talent in the mechanical engineering industry. In December 2023, he was appointed the president of DGIST, where he is working to create an immersive educational and research environment to foster top science and technology talent.
□ “It is a great honor to have been selected as Korea’s Mechanical Professional of the Year at the Machinery Day event, which is a meaningful occasion to promote Korea's mechanical engineering industry,” said President Lee. ”I will strive to foster excellent scientific and technological talent to support Korea’s bid to become a global leader in mechanical engineering and other key industries in the future.”
□ Korea’s Mechanical Professional of the Year is selected by the Korean Federation of Mechanical Engineering Societies (KFMES), an organization comprising 24 academic societies, including the KSME. The federation supports academic activities, industry-academia cooperation, talent training, and policy development. Since 2013, it has also selected and announced the Top 10 Mechanical Technologies of the Year in Korea annually, thus contributing to developing and disseminating mechanical technology throughout Korea.
