Vice Minister Chung Man-ki of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) delivers a commemorative speech at an opening ceremony of the R&D Korea 2016 fair.

Dignitaries, including MOTIE Vice Minister Chung Man-ki, KEIT Chairman & President Seong Si-heon, and KIAT President Chung Jae-hoon, participate in a ceremony to open the R&D Korea 2016 fair in COEX, Seooul, from Nov. 17 to 19.

The R&D Korea 2016 fair served as an opportunity to take a look at robots, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality and other representative technologies of the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution.

The fair took place in COEX, Seoul, from Nov. 17 to 19.

The exhibition, held under the theme “Welcoming Together Change Waves,” was hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE); the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT); Korean Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT); and Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP).

Kim Hong-ju, director in charge of industrial technology development at the MOTIE, said the exhibition attracted 313 exhibitors from Korean industry, academia and research circles, the most ever.

The R&D Korea 2016 fair coincided with sessions designed to help the general public experience and test-operate R&D projects supported by the MOTIE and facilitate technology exchanges among industry, academia and research circles, a job fair and other side events. 

MOTIE Vice Minister Chung and other notables take a look at one of the exhibits on display at the R&D Korea 2016 fair.

The 22nd rendition of R&D Korea displayed a combined 472 products and technologies, particularly those in such new industries as ICT convergence and biohealth, to prepare for the new industrial paradigm shift, also known as the 4th Industrial Revolution. 

Among the eye-catching exhibits were self-driving and IoT-based logistics robots designed to deliver a variety of items in hospitals; a hybrid engine for a vertical take-off and landing; an unmanned vehicle; a combination of a gasoline engine and an electric batteries to redouble aerial endurance to eight hours; a virtual reality training simulator for operating a variety of construction equipment and machineries as well as robots with both arms for packing and assembling processes; software for analyzing the big data of next-generation science information technology; and an\ augmented reality navigation for improving motorists’ concentration.

Also on display were new drug candidate agents for treating acute leukemia, which a Canadian company has already agreed to buy for 350 billion won, and “world firsts,” including a system for treating tumors using ultrasonic waves. 

Spectators ranging from primary school students to adults were given an opportunity to experience such things as a contest with artificial intelligence and those combined with gyro drop, virtual reality and other elements of the 4th Industrial Revolution. 

President Seong Si-heon of the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT), President Chung Jae-hoon of the Korean Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT), and President Hwang Jin-taek of Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) are among those on hand at an event of the R&D Korea 2016 fair.

The Order of Industrial Service, Gold Tower, the top honor of the 2016 Technology Awards, went to President Choi Chang-ho of Hana Micron Inc. He has been credited with his roles in contributing to the spearheading of semiconductor technologies and the development of the Korean electronics industry by commercializing a flexible semiconductor packaging, the world’s first, and expanding exports through the establishment of an overseas plant and exploring new emerging markets to make a feat of exporting products worth 202.8 billion won. Twenty-six others were presented with orders and government prizes. 

In his commemorative speech at the event, MOTIE Vice Minister Chung Man-ki said, “The government strives to provide such intensive support as regulatory reform and R&D to cope with the 4th Industrial Revolution and industry technology professionals are asked to play a part as a proactive leader of the 4th Industrial Revolution down the road.” The exhibition was also accompanied by a public hearing session on R&D tasks planned by the MOTIE in such areas as bio and automobiles during 2017 and the “R&D Shared Growth Forum” in which Korean major companies, including Samsung Electronics and POSCO, introduced the direction of investments on the development of the latest technologies and shared growth projects with SMEs and mid-size superstars.

An aerial view of the pavilions of f the R&D Korea 2016 fair. (Photos: MOTIE, KEIT)