Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) announced that Professor Im Chun-taek of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 'Milan Jovanović Award' from the Power Electronics Society (PELS) under the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). With this award, Professor Im becomes the first recipient in Korea and the seventh in the world.
The IEEE Power Electronics Society is regarded as the most prestigious academic organization globally in the field of wireless power transfer. The Milan Jovanović Award is presented annually to only one researcher who has developed leading technology and achieved outstanding results in the field.
This award results from a comprehensive evaluation of the key technological achievements that Professor Im has made in the power electronics field. Professor Im has developed wireless charging technology for electric vehicles and mobile devices. He holds the world record for the longest wireless power transmission, having developed magnetic induction-based wireless charging technology that can reliably deliver power over a distance of 12 meters.
In addition, he developed the 'OLEV (On-Line Electric Vehicle)' technology, which can wirelessly supply 100 kW of power with 85% efficiency at a distance of 20 cm between the ground and vehicles, facilitating Korea's successful practical implementation as the world's first. He also developed '6-DoF (6 Degrees of Freedom) wireless charging technology' that can charge devices stably even in environments where the position and orientation continuously change, presenting the potential for next-generation electronic devices.
Moreover, the 'Dynamic Phasor' theory, which Professor Im first developed and published in an IEEE paper in 1990, is a key technique that allows the characteristics of complex AC circuits to be interpreted as simply as direct current, significantly contributing to the expansion of the academic foundation in the field of power electronics.
To date, Professor Im has published 205 papers in renowned academic journals and has filed over 170 patents. He has also consistently achieved excellent research results, winning the best paper awards from the IEEE-affiliated society (PELS) and the international journal (JESTPE). Last year, he was selected as one of the top 0.38% researchers globally in the field of electrical engineering by the global academic information analysis agency Elsevier, and he is currently active as a Fellow of IEEE.
Professor Im noted, "The wireless power market is expected to reach approximately $27.2 billion (about 37 trillion won) this year, with a rapid annual growth rate of 13-21%, making it a promising industry." He emphasized that, "Korea, with its strengths in semiconductor and circuit technology, can lead the global market," adding, "I will continue to contribute to industrial development as well as the improvement of human quality of life through the development of practical and impactful technologies."
The award ceremony is set to take place at the IEEE Energy Conference (ECCE 2025) in Philadelphia, U.S., in October.