The Ministry of Science and ICT (Minister Lee, Jong-ho, hereinafter referred as ‘Ministry of Science and ICT’) and the National Research Foundation of Korea (Chairman Lee, Kwang-bok, hereinafter ‘Research Foundation’) announced that Professor Seung Hwan Ko of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University was selected as the November winner of the Science and Technology Award of the Month.

‘Scientist of the Month’ is an award that selectse researcher every month who has contributed to the development of science and technology with excellent R&D achievements and awards 10 million won in prize money.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Research Foundation announced that Professor Seung Hwan Ko highly praised the development of a transparent silicon micro-patterning technology that can significantly reduce time and cost while overcoming the limitations of the existing organ-simulating chip manufacturing process. Organ-simulating chips have emerged as an important technology for new drug development that can replace animal experiments by reproducing physiological phenomena in the human body. The existing long-term simulation chip production method is a 'molding method' in which a silicon-based transparent elastomer (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) is poured into a prepared frame and hardened, which takes a lot of time and money, drawing attention to the "laser direct processing method" study to replace it.
Professor Seung Hwan Ko's research team developed the world's first 3D micro-patterning technology with high surface processing and precision by improving the 'laser direct processing method' that does not require a frame and can change the processed shape the spot.
Noting that opaque polydimethylsiloxane can absorb lasers more effectively than transparent polydimethylsiloxane, the research team developed a polydimethylsiloxane processing method that can easily and simply make the desired shape like a three-dimensional printer.
Through the new polydimethylsiloxane processing method, it presented the possibility of application to various biodevices, such as producing various organ-simulating chips that were difficult to make with conventional manufacturing methods. The research results were published in the international journal Nature Materials in January 2021.
Professor Seung Hwan Ko said, “I feel proud as a researcher to be recognized for my research results with this award of Science and Technology Award, and I will work harder research in the future.”

Below is the full text of the interview with Prof. Seung Hwan Ko

Imagination and engineering are the two wheels that shape the future. Set in the year 2054 A.D., the movie <Minority Report> is still considered a masterpiece of SiFi movies even after 20 years since its release. This is because various cutting-edge technologies such as future crime prevention system, touch screen, iris and fingerprint recognition in the movie are deeply appreciated and inspired by the audience. Professor Seung Hwan Ko, who won the November award, also said that while watching this film, he developed a dream of actualizing wearable electronic devices and electronic skin that existedly in his imagination. In addition to planned research, his efforts to develop the world's best and first technology by splitting weekends or spare time to try experiments that were not in the proposal and making it a habit to look closely at the results of failed experiments have now gone beyond movies to directly connect the brain and computer. We are now quenching beyond film to create a brain-machine interface that connects the brain and computer directly.

o Congratulations winning this month's Science and Technology Award. Please share your acceptance speech and how you have been doing.
- It is an honor to receive this month's Science and Technology Award for our research results recognized by other researchers. As the award is given to us to work harder in the future, we will do our best to further develop transparent silicon micropatterning research that can be applied to the long-term imitation chip, which is the background of this award. Furthermore, we will strive to lead the world with Korean technology by developing transparent electronic skin that can be applied to the human body.

o You majored in thermal engineering, which is recognized as a classic among mechanical engineering fields, and have conducted various researches that can be applied to the latest wearable electronic devices. Please introduce your main research topic.
- We are developing various wearable electronic devices and electronic skin. Future electronic devices are flexible and stretchable, and it is expected to be implemented with various materials such as plastic and cloth. In addition, electronic skin will be manufactured in the form of a bandage or tattoo and attached directly to the necessary areas to measure various user biological signals such as body temperature, heart rate, electromyogram, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation and transmit them by wireless connection. However, it is difficult to implement wearable electronic devices with fragile materials like glass and traditional high-temperature manufacturing processes. Therefore, we are striving to develop low-temperature processes through thermal control and mechanical research that allows flexible/stretchable devices to work well despite various deformations, and various new processes.

o Wearable electronic devices and electronic skin have become the talk of the high-tech future industry worldwide. What made you interested in related research?
- Watching the movie "Minority Report" released in 2002, I was fascinated by various wearable electronic devices and electronic skin technologies in the movie. In the hope of realizing a device that actually works, I discussed it with my advisor and selected it as a Ph.D. topic, and I am actively researching it 20 years later. The final goal of wearable electronic devices is to implement them in a form that can be worn directly by humans, attached to the skin, or implanted into the human body. Electronic skin is the most advanced form of wearable electronic devices. Since human skin is not just flexible, but has both stretchable and soft features, wearable electronic devices withly flexible elements feel different and uncomfortable when people actually wear them. I want to maximize the fit by making existing hard electronic devices similar to human skin.

o We succeeded in developing a technology for fine patterning of transparent and soft materials that had been difficult to process with lasers. Please introduce the main contents of the study.
- Polydimethylsiloxane is a biocompatible material that is transparent and rubber-like, so it is actively used in the development of micro devices used in biological and clinical trials. However, it requires expensive equipment to manufacture, and the process is complicated. Processing was possiblely in a limited shape. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a new process technology that uses a laser to make polydimethylsiloxane materials easily and simply into the desired shape like a 3D printer. When a laser is irradiated to a polydimethylsiloxane material, a black silicon carbide is producedly in the part where the laser passes, and by removing it, various 3D microstructures of polydimethylsiloxane can be obtained. Using this technology, we also succeeded in applying it to organ mimic chips, an artificial organ that plays a very important role in the development of new drugs.

o The results of this study are highly anticipated as it can be applied to various next-generation bio-applications such as microfluidic chips, cell culture chips, and organoids.
- As mentioned earlier, the manufacturing of micro devices using polydimethylsiloxane is difficult and expensive. The world's first selective laser pyrolysis process developed in this study is a three-dimensional micropatterning process based a new physical phenomenon. It is a new method that enables fine patterning production with amazing surface processing efficiency and precision by pyrolyzing light-transmitting materials with laser. In fact, microfluidic chips and lab-on-a-chip were implemented to confirm biocompatibility. It is expected that microfluidic channels, cell culture chips, and organoids will be developed faster and cheaper in the future, contributing greatly to the popularization and development of technology.

o How can the professor's various research achievements affect the development of high-tech industries and the improvement of people's quality of life?
- Transparent silicon micro-patterning technology is expected to speed up the development of more precise and effective devices and functional robots as it can be applied to various next-generation bio applications such as cell culture chips and organoids as well as soft robots. In addition, based the development of new techniques for 3D and 4D printing, which were limited to specific materials, the effect of leading global technology and technology in the field is expected. In particular, if it is possible to mass-produce organ simulating chips at low cost, which is a bio-applicable field, it is expected to drastically shorten the development time for treatments for incurable diseases, thereby contributing greatly to improving the health and quality of life of the people.

o In 2020, you started a startup program in the lab. Is there a reason you expanded the scope of your research from basic research to technology startups?
- Over the past 20 years, we have been striving for the world's first and best research to identify and apply new principles. In order for our research results to be applied in real life, many follow-up processes are required. However, as time passed, we often saw the basic technologies developed by other researchers being further developed. I also came to the idea that if our research does not end with thesis writing, but is connected to real life and can be used more meaningfully, it will become a more valuable challenge as a researcher. As part of that, two years ago, we started a startup with graduate students in the lab to develop and commercialize next-generation air purifiers and masks. In addition, in the past, graduate students all worked at schools, research institutes, or large corporations after graduation. Let's encourage graduate students who are interested in entrepreneurship to start a business Recently,e or two graduate students are starting a business every year.

o What was the most enjoyable moment or rewarding memory while conducting the research?
- Usually, universities submit research project plans to the government or companies to conduct research topics for which they have been awarded project fees. However, sometimes even without a research assignment, there are studies that are conducted in the evening or weekends by splitting the existing research time out of personal interest. In this case, you can try what you want to do without being bound by the plan, but in reality, there are many limitations of time and budget, and it often ends in fuss because you do not necessarily expect meaningful results. However, there were often cases where innovative results were born among studies carried out lightly like a hobby. At that time, I feel the most enjoyable and rewarding as a researcher.

o I’m also curious about your mindset when it comes to research.
- Even if you fail, if you can learn something new, you will use failure as a stepping stone to change your goals and explore new things. We don't always aim to be successful. Rather than the final goal you set at the beginning, the things you stumble upon as a side branch in the process of reaching that goal are also of great value. These accidental discoveries have nothing to do with the initial goal, but sometimes lead to bigger and more meaningful results. Therefore, it has become a habit to take a closer look at even a failed experiment if there is an interesting result. In fact, these results do not come frome or two experiments, but from numerous trials by chance, so I think it is very important to be persistent and patient in the research.

o As a researcher and faculty, I am also curious about what you usually emphasize to lab students.
- In our laboratory, we are developing various next-generation future electronic devices such as wearable electronic devices, bendable/stretchable electronic devices, electronic skin, soft robots, virtual/augmented reality devices, and functional filters. In order to develop technologies and devices that do not exist in reality, imagination and ingenuity that come from autonomy and freedom, as well as accurate mathematical calculation skills, are very important resources. For this reason, I ask students to imagine what technologies and products will be needed in the near future when choosing research topics. As I got a lot of ideas from SF movies, I encourage graduate students to have access to various media as well as books and movies that will help them unleash their imaginations. In addition, researchers are allowed to freely commute to and from work at the most optimal time they think so that they can conduct self-directed research in a free environment rather than living in a framework.

o What research goals do you ultimately want to challenge? Or, if there is a study that you really want to complete, please introduce it.
- In SF movies, the user's health status is checked just by wearing clothes, and electronic devices inserted into the brain can control computers or mechanical devices just by thinking. Wearable devices and devices that detect various vital signs and connect them to the outside of the body are called brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) or brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). It seems like a story that canly be imagined, but recently, a brain neuroscience sprout company, Neuralink, unveiled a game in which a monkey implanted with a computer chip in the brain moves a bar the screen to a desired position usingly brain activity. Although it is still in the animal experiment stage, it aims to treat incurable diseases such as dementia and spinal cord injury by implanting electronic chips into human brains, and ultimately to combine humankind and artificial intelligence. My goal is to develop wearable electronic devices and ultimately implement a brain-machine interface that directly connects the brain and computer. Through this, I would like to expand the scope of research so that paralyzed patients can live their daily lives and ordinary people can connect with artificial intelligence to overcome the limitations of cognitive and physical functions.

o You also served as a guide for studying young science gifted students at the National Academy of Sciences. Do you have any advice or advice for students who dream of becoming scientists in the future?
- What I would like to say to students who are working hard to become scientists is to find out what you really want to do and keep working hard instead of being dragged around by what is currently trending. All academic fields have periods of revival and decline, and no academic field can be infinitely revitalized. If a certain field is currently at the peak (it doesn't matter if you choose it because you like it), if you choose that field because of the trend, there is a high probability that the student will have already passed the peak and are going downhill by the time they graduate. Rather, if there is something that you really want to do that is not currently attracting attention, choosing it without paying attention to others will be the way to catch the two rabbits of success and aptitude.