Three government research institutes appoint new directors

Three government-funded research institutes — the Korea Basic Science Institute, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and the Korea Institute of Energy Research — have appointed new directors.

The National Research Council of Science and Technology held its 248th extraordinary board meeting Monday and named Park Sung-kyun, a physics professor at Pusan National University, as director of the Korea Basic Science Institute; Son Ung-hee, a senior adviser at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, as director of that institute; and Jeong Hak-geun, a principal researcher at the Korea Institute of Energy Research, as its director. All three will serve three-year terms beginning Tuesday.

Park earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in physics from Pusan National University and his doctorate in physics from the University of Arizona. After working as a senior researcher at the Korea Basic Science Institute, he joined Pusan National University's physics department as a professor in 2008. He previously served as chairman of the steering committee for the Ministry of Science and ICT's multipurpose synchrotron radiation accelerator construction project and as vice president of the Korean Physical Society.

Son graduated from Seoul National University of Science and Technology with a degree in mechanical design and earned a master's degree in mechanical design and a doctorate in mechatronics engineering from Hanyang University. He joined the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology in 1990 and went on to serve as head of its convergence technology research institute and as deputy director. He also served as president of the Korea Robot Industry Promotion Agency and as an adviser to the Korea Artificial Intelligence Technology Industry Association.

Jeong graduated from Chonnam National University with a degree in electrical engineering and earned a master's degree in mechatronics engineering from the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology and a doctorate in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Seoul National University.

After joining the Korea Institute of Energy Research in 1998, he served as head of the energy efficiency research division and director of the energy ICT and energy storage system research laboratory. He has also served as a deliberation committee member for New Excellent Technology certification and as a planning committee member for the Ministry of Science and ICT's Frontier Challenge R&D Committee.