Professor Hong-June Park, a specially appointed professor in the POSTECH Department of Electrical Engineering, has been selected for the 2026 Dawon Kahng Award in recognition of his research contributions to semiconductor circuits and systems.

A world-renowned scholar who has led research in analog integrated circuits and high-speed memory interface circuits for more than 30 years, Professor Park has again been recognized for his academic and industrial contributions.

The Dawon Kahng Award was established to honor the late Dr. Dawon Kahng, whose achievements laid the foundations of modern semiconductor technology. It recognizes researchers who have contributed to semiconductor advances in circuits and systems or devices and processes.

Professor Park has led research on high-speed chip-to-chip memory interface circuits. In particular, he was the first to propose equalization technology to compensate for signal loss in memory interfaces and enable high-speed data transmission, contributing to faster and more energy-efficient next-generation DRAM and system-on-chip (SoC) devices. These achievements provided an important technical foundation for memory semiconductor companies, including Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, to strengthen their interface technology competitiveness.

The award ceremony took place during the opening of the 33rd Korean Conference on Semiconductors (KCS 2026), jointly hosted by the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association, the Korea Semiconductor Research Consortium, and Seoul National University. Held over four days beginning January 27, the conference brought together approximately 4,500 participants, including representatives of Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, experts from industry, academia, and research institutes, and students, including those in semiconductor-specialized university support programs. Approximately 2,000 papers—a record number—were presented at Korea’s largest semiconductor academic event.

Beyond Professor Park’s individual achievements, the award demonstrates the POSTECH Department of Electrical Engineering’s sustained development of world-class research capabilities in circuits and systems. It illustrates the recognition of the department’s research for both academic depth and industrial impact within the international semiconductor research community.

January 2026