LG Energy Solution Holds 1st Industry-Academia Cooperation Conference

Securing Next-Generation Battery Technology and Outstanding Talent

On the 17th, the "1st LG Energy Solution Industry-Academia Cooperation Conference 2023" was held at LG Energy Solution Daejeon Technology Research Institute. Photo by LG Energy Solution

LG Energy Solution held a large-scale industry-academia collaboration conference to create a platform for nurturing outstanding talent.

On the 17th, LG Energy Solution hosted the "1st LG Energy Solution Industry-Academia Collaboration Conference" at its Daejeon Technology Research Institute, attended by approximately 220 participants including professors, master's and doctoral students, and undergraduates from 17 major domestic universities such as Seoul National University and KAIST, which are conducting industry-academia projects. This is the first time such a large-scale industry-academia collaboration conference has been held in the domestic battery industry.

LG Energy Solution planned this industry-academia collaboration conference to build a research and development (R&D) ecosystem that can lead the next-generation battery market by sharing excellent achievements between academia and industry, and to nurture outstanding talent in the mid to long term.

At LG Energy Solution, key executives and top experts from various fields gathered, including CPO (Chief Production & Purchasing Officer) President Kim Myunghwan, CTO (Chief Technology Officer) Vice President Shin Youngjun, CDO (Chief Digital Officer) Executive Director Byun Kyungsuk, Small Battery Development Center Head Executive Director Noh Sewon, Automotive Development Center Head Executive Director Choi Seungdon, and Manufacturing Innovation Center Head Executive Director Jung Jaehan.

The event consisted of ▲ presentations of industry-academia collaboration research achievements by university professors ▲ poster presentations of graduate students' research achievements ▲ and recruitment briefings.

First, 60 industry-academia collaboration projects by major university professors were introduced on the themes of next-generation batteries and the latest secondary batteries. In the "Next-Generation Battery Session," presentations were made on lithium metal batteries, all-solid-state batteries, lithium-sulfur batteries, and more. Following this, in the "Latest Secondary Battery Session," topics such as materials like silicon anode materials and cobalt-free cathode materials, as well as digital transformation (DX) technology R&D including digital twin-based smart factories and manufacturing intelligence, were shared to present the latest technologies in the battery field.

Alongside this, a poster presentation session showcasing graduate students' research achievements from each university was also held. Over 100 submitted posters were displayed throughout the Daejeon Technology Research Institute, and through voting by LG Energy Solution employees, one Best Poster and eight Excellent Posters were selected.

One student who presented a poster said, "Through this event, I was able to directly hear about the battery R&D achievements being conducted by LG Energy Solution and learn about the latest technologies in various fields. I will do my best to contribute to the advancement of battery technology together with LG Energy Solution in the future."

A recruitment event was also actively conducted targeting master's and doctoral talents from major domestic universities who will be responsible for the future of the battery industry.

Through the recruitment briefing, LG Energy Solution introduced the company's vision, roles and duties of each business division, and talent growth programs. In particular, the presentation titled "LG Energy Solution & Why LG Ensol?" which introduced LG Energy Solution's high growth potential, advanced organizational culture, and various career development programs, received enthusiastic responses from attendees.

Additionally, many participants visited recruitment and job consultation booths staffed by employees from various roles such as development, BMS, and manufacturing intelligence, showing strong interest from future talents eager to experience the battery industry.

Shin Youngjun, Vice President and CTO of LG Energy Solution, stated, "Through this conference, we were able to reaffirm the future competitiveness of the Korean battery industry. Going forward, we will continue to strengthen fundamental battery technologies through mutual cooperation with academia and actively recruit outstanding talent to solidify our position as a global leading company."

Meanwhile, LG Energy Solution is actively engaging in open innovation activities and has established various industry-academia collaborations with prestigious domestic and international universities and research institutions.

In January of this year, LG Energy Solution signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish an industry-academia cooperation center with Seoul National University. In April and June, it held the "BTC (Battery Tech Conference)" events in the U.S. and domestically to recruit global outstanding R&D master's and doctoral talents. Additionally, in November last year, it signed an industry-academia cooperation agreement with POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology) for battery materials and process technology development, and in September, it signed an industry-academia cooperation MOU with Yonsei University to operate an automotive battery technology development program.

Contract departments are also actively operated. In June 2020, LG Energy Solution established Korea's first contract department in the battery industry, the Korea University "Battery-Smart Factory Department," and in October of the same year, it established the "Secondary Battery Convergence Engineering Cooperative Program" contract department with Yonsei University. Furthermore, in June last year, it signed a contract department establishment agreement with Hanyang University, continuing efforts to secure outstanding talent and expand research and development capabilities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.