An Award Supporting Young Innovators Under 40
The PonyJeong Foundation announced on the 18th that the recipients of the 4th ‘PonyJeong Young Leader Award,’ given to young innovators in our society, are Professor Baek Min-kyung of the Department of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University and Professor Yoon Hyo-sang of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
The PonyJeong Foundation awards the PonyJeong Young Leader Award to support young innovators under the age of 40 who drive positive change and growth in our society. Last year, the 3rd awardees were Kim Hye-yeon, CEO of the startup ‘N.Thing,’ and pianist Son Yeol-eum.
The reason for selecting this year’s recipients is that Professors Baek Min-kyung and Yoon Hyo-sang are leading fundamental academic research that forms the basis of innovation in the fields of life sciences and aerospace, respectively, which are recognized as key future industries. The award ceremony is scheduled to be held on September 20 at PonyJeong Hall in I-Park Tower, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
Professor Baek Min-kyung is a domestic talent who completed her bachelor's degree and Ph.D. in computational chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Seoul National University. She is a computational biologist who designs life phenomena at the molecular and cellular levels through computer simulations. In 2019, she moved to the United States and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington. Later, she led research as a core developer of ‘RoseTTAFold,’ an artificial intelligence (AI) program for protein structure prediction released in 2021. This research was selected as the ‘Best Research Achievement of 2021’ by the international journal Science, marking the first time a Korean researcher received this honor. ‘RoseTTAFold’ is a program expected to revolutionize drug development speed by achieving over 90% accuracy in protein structure analysis. Afterward, Professor Baek joined the Department of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University in 2022 and is recognized as a future talent in Korean life sciences.
Professor Hyosang Yoon, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Professor Yoon Hyo-sang graduated with a master’s degree from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at KAIST in 2010 and earned his Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2017. He then worked as an attitude control researcher at the domestic aerospace company ‘Satrec Initiative’ and as a guidance and navigation control engineer at ‘Planet Labs,’ a leading U.S. company in the small satellite sector, growing into an expert in satellite attitude control technology. With his extensive field engineering experience, Professor Yoon joined KAIST’s Department of Aerospace Engineering as an assistant professor in 2019. He wrote the satellite attitude control code for the Nuri rocket within six months, contributing to the success of the Nuri rocket’s second launch in 2022. He is recognized as an expert in space laser communication, expected to lead advancements in the aerospace industry.
Meanwhile, the PonyJeong Young Leader Award is the second PonyJeong Innovation Award established in 2020 to support young innovators. To continue the innovative and challenging spirit of the late Chung Se-young, founder of Hyundai Motor Company and Honorary Chairman of HDC Group (formerly Hyundai Development Company), two innovators under the age of 40 who have brought positive change to society with a progressive spirit are selected each year and awarded a prize of 50 million KRW and a plaque.
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