Top Honor in the Field of Civil Engineering
This year, the highest honor in the civil engineering field, the Songsan Civil Engineering Culture Award, was awarded to the late Professor Kim Dong-su of KAIST, Son Seong-yeon, CEO of CNC General Construction, and Kang Gap-saeng, reporter of JoongAng Ilbo.
The Korean Society of Civil Engineers announced on the 15th that the 23rd Songsan Civil Engineering Culture Award ceremony will be held simultaneously with the Korean Society of Civil Engineers Convention at 6:30 PM on the 17th at the Jeju International Convention Center.
The 23rd Songsan Civil Engineering Culture Award Recipient. [Provided by the Korean Society of Civil Engineers]
The Songsan Civil Engineering Culture Award was established with a fund donated by the late Songsan Kim Hyung-joo, a senior figure in the civil engineering community. It is the most prestigious award in the civil engineering field, given to individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of civil engineering technology, media, and culture.
This year’s awardees are the late Professor Kim Dong-su of KAIST in the academic category, Son Seong-yeon, CEO of CNC General Construction in the technical category, and Kang Gap-saeng, reporter of JoongAng Ilbo in the media category.
Professor Kim, the academic award recipient, passed away in 2020 but served at KAIST for over 25 years. From a time when public interest in earthquakes was low, he devoted great effort to advancing domestic seismic design standards. He pointed out problems with the domestic seismic design standards that directly adopted foreign criteria without modification, developed a ground classification system and amplification factors reflecting domestic ground conditions, and led the drafting of Korea’s seismic design standards under the Ministry of Public Safety and Security.
The liquefaction phenomenon that occurred during the 2017 Pohang earthquake was analyzed through collaboration among domestic geotechnical engineers, who emphasized the need to prepare for future risks and unified the previously fragmented domestic liquefaction standards. Despite battling illness, he continued his research to modernize Korea’s seismic design standards until the end. On his last working day, July 28, 2020, he chaired a liquefaction advisory meeting with colleagues and students in the field of geodynamics, greatly contributing to the enhancement and development of civil engineering, which led to his selection as the academic award recipient.
CEO Son is a professional technician and manager who has worked in the construction industry for the past 40 years. As Korea’s first female civil engineer, she founded her company in 2000 in the male-dominated civil engineering field and has operated a construction company on the front lines of management for over 25 years. In 2006, as the first female company to enter the Kaesong Industrial Complex, she was approved by the Ministry of Unification as a Kaesong Industrial Complex cooperation business operator and successfully carried out projects in the Kaesong Industrial Complex. She also contributed to national industrial development by participating in large-scale national projects and private investment projects (BTL, BTO) in cooperation with major corporations for national land development and infrastructure construction.
Reporter Kang joined JoongAng Ilbo in 1993 and worked in the social affairs, sports, and investigative reporting teams. In 2000, he began covering the Ministry of Construction and Transportation (now Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport), marking his first connection to the transportation sector. Over more than 20 years, he has provided diverse and in-depth coverage of the entire construction and transportation field, including railroads, roads, and aviation, objectively assessing the merits and demerits of transportation policies. His contributions to enhancing public understanding of transportation earned him the media category award.
Jung Choong-ki, president of the Korean Society of Civil Engineers, said, "The Songsan Civil Engineering Culture Award is the most prestigious award in the construction field, beyond the Korean Society of Civil Engineers. We hold this ceremony hoping that it will foster rich discussions on the innovation of civil engineering and the future of construction, reflecting on the achievements and value of civil engineering both inside and outside the society."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
