Students from the Department of Advanced Materials Engineering at Kookmin University (President Jeong Seung Ryul) achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award (Grand Prize)—the highest honor—for the second consecutive year at the “2nd Advanced Industry Standardization Competition,” held at the SKY31 Convention Center on Friday, July 24.

▲ The “HOT POTATO” team from the Department of New Materials Engineering at Kookmin University

Co-hosted by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards and the Korean Standards Association, this competition was organized to provide college students with educational and research opportunities that integrate their major-specific technologies with standards, and to cultivate professionals specializing in standards. Now in its second year, the competition saw participating teams engage in fierce competition on topics such as theoretical and case studies combining their major-specific technologies with standards, as well as analyses of standards and certifications.

The “HOT POTATO” team from the Department of Advanced Materials Engineering at Kookmin University (Choi Jun-hyuk, Yang Seo-yun, Seo Han-i, Seong Yeon-seung, Han Seon-gu / Advisor: Professor Hong Seung-hyun(HONG JOHN)) presented on the topic “Development of a Draft Standard for Composite Quality Evaluation of Perovskite VIPV (Photo-Thermal-Vibration, PHV) for Future Mobility Applications.” VIPV, which drew the students’ attention, is a technology that integrates solar panels directly into vehicles and future mobility systems to generate electricity while driving. While “perovskite” solar panels—a next-generation material set to replace conventional silicon—require a high level of reliability for VIPV applications, they have traditionally been vulnerable to complex environmental stresses inherent in mobility settings. In response, the student team proposed a draft evaluation standard that realistically simulates these complex environments and received outstanding evaluations from a panel of judges composed of industry representatives and standardization experts.

This achievement is particularly significant because it demonstrates how field-oriented education—which integrates major-specific knowledge with standardization strategies through the “Engineering Design” course (taught by Professor Hong Seung-hyun(HONG JOHN)) in the Department of New Materials Engineering—has led to tangible research results. As a prize, the “HOT POTATO” team will receive an overseas exchange training opportunity in 2026, and Kookmin University plans to use this as a foundation to focus its efforts on cultivating specialized talent in standardization who will lead future cutting-edge industries.