Seunghwan Lee, a PhD student in the Department of Electrical Engineering (advisor: Professor Rock-Hyun Baek), was named an Outstanding Student Researcher at the 4th K-CHIPS (Korea Collaborative & High-tech Initiative for Prospective Semiconductor research) Awards, receiving KRW 2 million.

He carried out the project “Proposal and Performance Optimization of a 3D-IC Structure Using Gate-All-Around Devices and TSVs for Sub-5 nm Nodes” under the Future Semiconductor Device Core Technology Development Program, which began in June 2013 and is administered by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT), and the Consortium of Semiconductor Advanced Research (COSAR).

The awards aim to strengthen the capabilities and motivation of student researchers participating in the program. Recipients are selected through a comprehensive evaluation of their research achievements and contributions to the program.

This year, awards went to 12 institutions with outstanding results among the 95 research institutions currently conducting projects under the program. Professor Baek’s team won for the second consecutive year.

Because of COVID-19, no award ceremony was held. Scholarship certificates and funds were delivered without an in-person ceremony.