Conferment ceremony of certificate of academic-industrial research fund payment by MS Autotech Co., Ltd. took place 

On January 9 at 3 pm, a conferment ceremony of certificate of payment took place in the Inchon Chamber at Korea University’s Main Hall in order to commemorate the payment of an academic-industrial research fund by MS Autotech Co., Ltd.

MS Autotech and Korea University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on April 19, 2016, which stipulated a business partnership between the two parties in order to promote academic-industrial cooperation. Since early 2014, the motor vehicle parts manufacturer has cooperated with individual researchers at the university. After the deal was closed, the industry-university cooperation began receiving more systematic support from the university, allowing both parties to maintain close ties.

Currently, the university has the MS Autotech Research Center on campus where a total of five joint research projects are currently conducting research on field troubleshooting technology, academic-industrial convergence technology, and other promising technologies.

 
To fund these research projects, the auto parts company pledged to donate KRW 500 million every year until August 2022 for a total of KRW 3 billion. In addition to the research fund, it will also grant KRW 50 million annually over the same period of time for a total of KRW 300 million as part of the operating expenses of the center.

At the conferment ceremony, MS Autotech CEO Tae-kyu Lee (’90, Department of Mechanical Engineering) expressed his strong dedication to the industry-university cooperation and partnership. “We will expand the spectrum of our cooperation. We will do our best to have KRW 30 billion worth of benefit from the three billion won research projects,” he said.

MS Autotech Co., Ltd. is an auto parts manufacturing company established by Chairman Yang-sup Lee (’57, then Department of Commercial Science), who worked as the 30th president of the Korea University Alumni Association from November 2010 to March 2013. Chairman Lee always emphasized that a company should be an advocate for creativity and changes and should make contributions to society. Thanks to his management philosophy, the company has become one of the leading companies in the global automobile industry by continuing its efforts to develop innovative auto parts technologies.
 
It was told that Lee decided to donate the research fund to the university after he attended “KU-The Future 2016,” a vision declaration ceremony held in commemoration of the 111th anniversary of the university. “On January 11, last year, he was at the ceremony and was deeply moved by KU President Jaeho Yeom, who emphasized the importance of academic-industrial cooperation and its growth potential,” commented an individual related to the company. As a result of his commitment, the cooperation model between MS Autotech and Korea University has evolved into an exemplary partnership.

In addition to the research fund donated at this time, the manufacturing company and its president have already made great contributions to the development of the university by offering approximately KRW 1.7 billion as part of the scholarship fund for KU’s College of Engineering and the construction fund for the new Business Hall at KU.