Student Team of Kim Minjae, Park Junhyuk, and Lee Kyungjun
Daegu Il Science High School's second-year student team consisting of Kim Minjae, Park Junhyuk, and Lee Kyungjun (advised by teacher Jeong Gyu-han) won the Gold Prize in the Chemistry category of the "30th Samsung Human Tech Thesis Award," a science and technology paper competition hosted by Samsung Electronics and jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Science and ICT and JoongAng Ilbo.
The Samsung Human Tech Thesis Award was established by Samsung Electronics in 1994 to discover and nurture outstanding emerging scientists in the field of science and technology.
In the high school division, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Encouragement prizes are awarded through evaluation of research results in various fields such as biology, chemistry, physics/earth science, mathematics/computer science, and environment/food/hygiene.
The student team that won the Gold Prize this time prepared for the competition by conducting joint research for over a year under the theme "Low-Temperature Hydrogen Reduction of Iron Oxide using Non-Reducible Support (NRS) and Palladium."
In this study, the students introduced a mechanism that enables hydrogen reduction of iron oxide at low temperatures by using a non-reducible support in the hydrogen reduction reaction of iron oxide, and obtained results showing superior cost and energy efficiency compared to conventional iron oxide reduction methods.
Additionally, this method is significant in that it facilitates In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) in space development, allowing direct use of iron oxide resources outside Earth.
Moreover, unlike the conventional reduction method using coke, this approach does not cause high carbon emissions or air pollution, and it is expected to contribute to the development of efficient and eco-friendly processes in the energy sector through follow-up research.
The Gold Prize winners Kim Minjae, Park Junhyuk, and Lee Kyungjun said, "Although there were difficulties in concretizing ideas and advancing research through questions over the past year, we were able to grow a lot and are proud that it led to good results. We want to further study the industrial application of our research and strive to develop other chemical technologies that can solve environmental problems."
Jang Miok, principal of Daegu Il Science High School, said, "I believe our students were able to achieve good results thanks to their relentless inquiry and effort to satisfy their curiosity over the long period of one year. We will continue to actively support students so that they can devote themselves to research activities."
In addition to prize money, the Gold Prize-winning students are granted the opportunity to experience special programs such as tours of Samsung Group business sites and receive preferential treatment in document screening when applying to Samsung Group after graduating from undergraduate or master's programs.
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