The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Industrial Technology Association said on the 14th that they selected Lee Hu-man, CEO of ExoSystems, and Jeon Chang-hoon, manager at LG Display, as the September winners of the Korea Engineer Award this year.
The Korea Engineer Award is a commendation program created to discover engineers who have contributed to technological innovation in the industrial field. The winners receive the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Award and 5 million won in prize money.
CEO Lee was recognized for developing technology that can streamline the assessment and diagnosis procedures for sarcopenia. Traditional sarcopenia assessments require measuring muscle mass, muscle strength, and gait speed separately, which takes time and has limitations in applying the assessments to patients with limited mobility. Lee developed a solution that measures "evoked surface EMG," a muscle response to frequency stimulation, analyzes it with artificial intelligence (AI), and turns it into an index. The technology was designated as an innovative medical device by the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety in 2024 and received New Excellent Technology (NET) certification in 2025.
Lee said, "I hope technology that can easily and objectively measure neuromuscular function will be practically used in rehabilitation settings," and added, "We will continue to advance the related technology."
Jeon Chang-hoon, a manager at the LG Display Paju Research Center, was recognized for developing AI-based picture-quality calibration technology that improves picture-quality variation in organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels.
In the OLED production process, picture-quality variation can occur by panel due to differences such as the performance of electrical switches. Jeon developed technology that uses AI to predict the original image and calibrate it, improving picture-quality uniformity and reducing calibration time. The Ministry of Science and ICT said this technology improved picture-quality uniformity by 100% compared with the past and shortened picture-quality calibration time by 75% in ultra-low-luminance environments.
Jeon said, "Based on the innovation capabilities and experience we have accumulated, we will continue to do our best so that the domestic OLED industry can lead the global market and strengthen future technological competitiveness."