Three SNU Engineering Professors Selected for Korea’s “Top 100 National R&D Achievements of 2025”
Professors Seung-Kyun Kang, Tae-Woo Lee, and Woo Young Choi Recognized for Outstanding Research Contributions


▲ (From left) Prof. Seung-Kyun Kang, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University; Prof. Tae-Woo Lee, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Seoul National University; Prof. Woo Young Choi, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University

Seoul National University College of Engineering announced that the research achievements of Prof. Seung-Kyun Kang, Prof. Tae-Woo Lee, and Prof. Woo Young Choi (listed alphabetically) have been selected for the “2025 Top 100 National Research and Development Achievements,” a program administered by Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT).

The Top 100 National R&D Achievements program recognizes research outcomes supported by government funding that demonstrate exceptional academic excellence and economic impact. Each year, outstanding projects are selected from among research achievements recommended by ministries overseeing national R&D programs. In 2025, a total of 970 candidate projects underwent expert evaluation and a nationwide public review process, from which 100 final achievements were selected.

In the mechanical and materials engineering category, the selected achievement was “A Full-Life-Cycle Minimally Invasive Brain Interface Platform Implemented with an Injectable Electronic Tent Based on Shape-Memory Biodegradable Polymers,” developed by Prof. Seung-Kyun Kang of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

To overcome the structural limitations of conventional brain–machine interface technologies—which typically require extensive surgical incisions, fixation procedures, and removal surgeries—Prof. Kang’s team proposed a new approach based on a shape-memory, biodegradable electronic device platform. The technology features an electronic tent that is folded to a diameter of less than 5 millimeters, inserted into the body through a syringe, and then automatically deployed to approximately 200 times its original size in response to body temperature (36–37°C). After use, the device naturally degrades within the body, enabling what is described as the world’s first full-life-cycle minimally invasive brain interface. The core technology recognized in the Top 100 selection is the electronic tent platform, which integrates PLCL–PLGA-based shape-memory polymers with a radially deployable mechanical structure. This design minimizes tissue damage during insertion while enabling large-area neural signal acquisition.

The research was published in 2024 in the internationally prestigious journal Nature Electronics, where its technological excellence gained global recognition. By integrating shape-memory polymers, biodegradable electronic devices, and flexible wireless circuits, the platform introduces a new paradigm for biointerfaces. It is expected to find broad applications in the diagnosis and intervention of neurological disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, and stroke, as well as in interfaces for curved organs including the spinal cord, heart, and gastrointestinal tract, and in next-generation brain–machine interface (BMI) technologies.

Prof. Kang commented, “This achievement is significant in that it substantially lowers invasiveness and psychological barriers—long considered the greatest obstacles to the practical deployment of brain–machine interfaces. I hope it will serve as a major turning point in moving BMI technologies beyond the research stage into widespread clinical and societal use.”

In the information and electronics engineering category, two additional research achievements were selected: the “Next-Generation High-Efficiency, High-Color-Purity Hybrid Tandem Perovskite Light-Emitting Diode,” developed by Prof. Tae-Woo Lee of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the “Highly Durable, Ultra-Low-Power Three-Dimensional Integrated Nanoelectromechanical Nonvolatile Memory Device and Circuit Employing a Torsional Via Structure,” developed by Prof. Woo Young Choi of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Focusing on perovskite materials as a next-generation solution to overcome the limitations of existing display technologies, Prof. Lee’s team introduced a breakthrough expected to reshape the global display market. Conventional organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) suffer from intrinsic limitations in color purity, preventing them from fully meeting the Rec.2020 color standard, which defines the next generation of color reproduction. To address this challenge, the team designed a hybrid tandem perovskite LED (PeLED) architecture in which a high-color-purity perovskite LED is vertically stacked with a commercially validated OLED. This strategy simultaneously resolves the longstanding issues of low efficiency and short operational lifetime associated with standalone PeLEDs and is regarded as a highly innovative research approach.

The study demonstrated world-record performance, achieving an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 37% and an operational lifetime of approximately 5,600 hours, representing an improvement of several hundred times compared to conventional single-layer PeLEDs. In recognition of its originality and excellence, the work was published as a cover article in the prestigious journal Nature Nanotechnology. The technology is expected to establish a design platform for the commercialization of perovskite light-emitting devices, stimulate follow-up interdisciplinary research, and contribute to securing early leadership in the rapidly growing extended reality (XR) and ultra-high-definition display markets, which are projected to grow at an annual rate of approximately 40%. It is also anticipated to strengthen Korea’s global leadership in the display industry.

Prof. Lee stated, “It is deeply moving and encouraging to see a technology that originated in our laboratory advance to the brink of commercialization. I hope that continued interest and investment from government and industry will enable this technology to be realized as products that lead the global market.”

Prof. Woo Young Choi and his team proposed a new approach that directly integrates nanoelectromechanical (NEM) memory devices into CMOS interconnect layers that had previously been used only passively. This approach preserves the inherent advantages of NEM technology—ultra-low power consumption, zero leakage current, and abrupt switching behavior—while overcoming long-standing reliability challenges that have hindered practical adoption. The core technology recognized in the Top 100 selection is a torsional-via-assisted (TVA) NEM memory device, which allows controlled torsional motion at via anchors. By effectively dispersing mechanical stress concentration during repeated operation, the team demonstrated approximately fivefold improvements in durability along with stable device operation.

This research was recognized for its academic and technological value when it was selected as a cover article in the December 2024 issue of IEEE Electron Device Letters. In addition, the team published further studies implementing physical unclonable functions and associative memory using NEM devices as cover articles in the July and September 2025 issues of Advanced Intelligent Systems. By presenting a new three-dimensional integration paradigm that expands CMOS interconnect layers into active device spaces, this technology is expected to find wide-ranging applications in ultra-low-power memory, AI and edge-computing semiconductors, and high-energy-efficiency system-on-chip platforms.

Prof. Choi remarked, “This research was an extremely challenging endeavor that required the development and integration of entirely new semiconductor devices, processes, design methodologies, and modeling techniques, while making maximum use of existing semiconductor technology assets. I am deeply grateful to the students and collaborators who persevered through many trials and errors and carried out this work with dedication.”


[Contact Information]
Jang-Yoon Bae, Office of Public Relations, College of Engineering, Seoul National University / +82-2-880-9147 / jybae311@snu.ac.kr