Professor Wonbin Hong’s research team from POSTECH’s Department of Electrical Engineering won 1st Prize in the 2026 IEEE AP-S/URSI Industry Paper Competition (IPC), becoming the first Korean research team to win the competition. Sumin Kim participated as the first author and Jung-Hyo Lee as the second author, and the research was conducted through an industry-academia collaboration between POSTECH and KCC Glass.

The IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society (AP-S), founded in 1949, is one of the world’s largest professional societies in the field of antennas and electromagnetic waves and has played a leading role in advancing research and technology in the field. The IPC focuses on antenna and electromagnetic-wave technologies with practical applications in industry rather than purely fundamental research. Entries are evaluated with particular emphasis on practical design and measurement methods, system integration technologies, and technologies that improve product performance and reliability. This year, only 10 papers out of 135 submissions were selected as finalists, with the final rankings determined through presentations and judging at the conference.

The award-winning paper, “Suppression of Surface-Wave Interference in Vehicle-Integrated V2X Antenna-on-Glass Using Mode-Symmetry Technique,” proposes a mode-symmetry technique to reduce surface-wave interference in vehicle-integrated V2X antenna-on-glass systems. Beyond design and analysis, the research team fabricated an actual automotive glass prototype, measured its antenna performance, and validated the technology in a vehicle environment, demonstrating its practical applicability. The research was conducted by Jung-Hyo Lee, Sumin Kim, and Professor Wonbin Hong of POSTECH, together with Sangjin Park, Sungdae Cho, Kyungmin Kim, and Minkyung Kim of KCC Glass.

The two students also competed as Team Gamma in the 2026 IEEE AP-S Student Design Contest (SDC), placing third and becoming the first Korean team to receive an award in the competition. In addition, Jung-Hyo Lee was selected for the 2026 IEEE AP-S John Volakis Travel Grant, while Sumin Kim was selected for the 2026 IEEE AP-S Mojgan Daneshmand Grant.

As a result, both students received recognition in all three categories in the same year: the IPC in the paper category, the SDC in the team project category, and individual research grants. This marks the first time in the nearly 80-year history of IEEE AP-S that two researchers have achieved recognition together across all three categories in the same year, setting a new milestone in the history of IEEE AP-S.

Microwave, Antenna, Device and Systems (MADs Lab) @ POSTECH