Prof. Hongjun Park, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at POSTECH, has been selected as the recipient of the 2026 Kang Dae-Won Award in the Semiconductor Circuit and System Design category, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to semiconductor circuit research.

Prof. Park is a globally recognized scholar who has led pioneering research in analog integrated circuits and high-speed memory interface circuits for more than three decades. This award highlights his long-standing academic and industrial contributions to the semiconductor field.

The Kang Dae-Won Award was established in honor of Dr. Dawon Kahng, a pioneer of modern semiconductor technology and the inventor of the MOSFET. The award recognizes researchers who have made significant contributions to the advancement of semiconductor technology in the areas of circuits and systems, as well as devices and fabrication processes.

Prof. Park has been a leading researcher in the field of high-speed chip-to-chip memory interface circuits. In particular, he was the first to propose an equalization technique that compensates for signal loss in high-speed memory interfaces, enabling faster data transmission in next-generation DRAM and system-on-chip (SoC) platforms while reducing power consumption. His research has provided key technological foundations that helped memory semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix strengthen their competitiveness in interface technologies.

The award ceremony took place during the opening of the 33rd Korean Conference on Semiconductors (KCS 2026), jointly organized 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 industry professionals from companies such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, as well as academic and research experts and students from semiconductor-specialized universities. With around 2,000 papers presented, the event marked the largest semiconductor conference in Korea to date.

This recognition not only celebrates Prof. Park’s individual research achievements, but also demonstrates that POSTECH’s Department of Electrical Engineering continues to build world-class research capabilities in circuit and system design. It further reflects the department’s growing academic depth and industrial impact within the global semiconductor research community.