Senior Vice President Choi Young-kyo at Hyosung R&D Business Labs wins July Engineer's Award.

- Credited for development of NDA as material for PEN

Executive director Choi Young-kyo at Hyosung Technology Institute has been honored as the winner of the “Engineer of the Month Award” for July, which is presented by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Industrial Technology Association.

Choi is an expert who has devoted his career to research and development of materials and processes for poly resin and chemical materials, and catalysts. He won the award as he was credited for his contributions to the development of production technology for 2, 6-NDA (naphthalene dicarboxylic acid), a raw material for polyethylene naphthalate, a material for high-performance polyester. Choi developed a technology that significantly reduces production costs by developing a production method that allows for direct purification of 2, 6-NDA, and thus drastically expanded the utility of PEN, which has faced limitation in applicability due to high material costs.

PEN is a polymer which is the combination of benzene and naphthalene chains. It is considered a next-generation, high performance material, since it boasts superior physical characteristics, including strong heat-resistance, strength, measurement stability, and gas isolation. The technology was picked as one of Korea’s 10 best new technologies by the government last year.

The Engineer of the Month Award selects a winner every month to generate a culture that values field site engineers. The winner is awarded with the prize from the Minister of Education, Science and Technology, and 10 million won in prize money.