Masashi Kashiwagi, Professor Emeritus at Osaka University
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Hyundai Engineering & Construction is recruiting a global expert in the field of 'floating infrastructure' and is gearing up for full-scale business operations.
On the 1st, Hyundai Engineering & Construction announced that it has recruited Professor KASHIWAGI Masashi, Emeritus Professor at Osaka University and Kyushu University.
Professor Masashi Kashiwagi, Honorary Professor at Osaka University, recruited by Hyundai Engineering & Construction
Professor Kashiwagi served as a professor in the Department of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering at Osaka University and Kyushu University in Japan for 36 years and is a world-renowned scholar who served as the president of the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction expects to utilize not only Professor Kashiwagi's expertise in floating structures accumulated through long-term research but also his extensive field experience and Japan's technical network. Japan, which has been researching floating structures since the 1970s, conducted the Mega-Float demonstration project for constructing a massive offshore city in the waters off Yokosuka at the entrance of Tokyo Bay until 2000. Professor Kashiwagi participated in this project, leading design and technology development.
The floating infrastructure market is rapidly growing recently due to the increasing need to overcome the crisis of rising sea levels, preserve the marine environment, and develop marine spaces. Saudi Arabia included a 48㎢ offshore floating industrial complex in its NEOM City construction plan. South Korea is also considering building a new airport in Busan that combines reclamation and floating structures.
In response, Hyundai Engineering & Construction has been steadily conducting industry-academia-research activities related to floating structures together with institutions such as Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and in 2018, completed the country's largest 200m-long floating pier (a bridge-like structure floating on water where ships dock for passengers and cargo to board and disembark) at the Incheon Port international passenger terminal.
A Hyundai Engineering & Construction official said, "Through this recruitment, we plan to focus our capabilities on expanding marine development projects," adding, "We will create synergy effects with the marine infrastructure construction technology the company possesses and further expand our influence in the floating infrastructure market, including offshore airports, offshore cities, and wind power generation."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
