Merck Korea, the Korean subsidiary of Merck, a German multinational science and technology company, today announced that it has participated in the "International meeting of Information display (IMID) 2022" held under the theme of "Driving display to the future" in BEXCO, Busan from August 23 to 26, 2022.

At IMID on August 24, Merck Korea announced the awards ceremony for the winners of this year's 'Merck Award' and 'Merck Young Scientist Award', and Dr. Michael Heckmeier, EVP, Head of Display solutions of Electronics Business, Merck KGaA, gave a keynote address under the theme “Advancing display, Advancing Life.”

“As Merck is celebrating its 33rd year in Korea, the electronics industry, which is led by displays and semiconductors, is advancing rapidly around the globe due to the growing demands for digital devices and technologies,” emphasized Dr. WooKyu Kim, Managing Director of Merck Korea.  “Going forward, Merck will continue to engage in internal innovations and collaborations with the scientific community to deliver scientific progress in business and beyond, including in new fields such as healthcare and life science. These are the insights we hope to share at the Online Panel Discussion for Merck Science Connect at IMID 2022.” 

The Merck award was established in 2004, the 100th anniversary of Merck’s research on liquid crystal, and was expanded to the Merck Young Scientist Award in 2006. Since the 10th Merck Awards ceremony in 2013, which was the 125th anniversary of the discovery of liquid crystal, the awards have been changed from thesis to academic award, providing a turning point for the development of the Korean display industry. 

Professor Yong-Young Noh of POSTECH, the winner of Merck award, reported innovative research results on the development of semiconducting materials for backplane TFT technology of OLED displays. The development of high-performance p-type semiconductors and related TFTs is considered a technical challenge not only in the display industry but in the semiconductor industry due to the relative low hole mobility of most conventional semiconductors. 

He developed the world's first, high-performance p-type TFT by using tin-based metal halide perovskites and copper iodine-based metal halide transparent semiconductors. By further development this technology, it may contribute to the commercialization of backplane p-type TFTs for high-performance OLED displays and related driving circuits by replacing the existing LTPS TFTs with high process cost and low large-area yield. In addition, he has contributed a lot to the expanding information display research society through volunteer work at the Korea Information Display Society and IMID. 

Prof. Suk-Ju Kang of Sogang University, the winner of Merck young scientist award, is one of the leading experts in the fields of display image/video signal processing and artificial intelligence. Based on various experiences in related fields, he has been pursuing innovations in image quality enhancement and restoration, next-generation display systems, artificial intelligence lightweight technology, and real-time hardware implementation.

His representative achievement in the next-generation display system is the development of “deep learning-based image generation technology in virtual reality displays”. Although the virtual reality display system requires high-resolution image generation, there are problems such as limited bandwidth and high energy consumption. 

Also, there are problems such as lens distortion and low resolution in terms of the image quality. To solve these problems, he proposed a lightweight integrated deep learning system based on a new algorithm and hardware structure considering cognitive image quality, and developed the related technology as a commercial-level system for the first time in the world together with the display industry.

For more than 10 years, excellent research results related to display systems and artificial intelligence technologies were published in 73 SCI international journals, including the best journals in the field, such as IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. In addition, he applied for 42 patents, and his achievements were recognized externally, with the number of citations reaching 1,700. 

At Merck booth, Merck will showcase various display material portfolios that can help partners advance digital living in display field. In particular, participants can find flexible hard coating, that cover the top layer of flexible displays to ensure flexibility and durability, thin film encapsulation that give durability and flexibility to OLED layer which is vulnerable to humidity and oxygen. Also participants can find High-performance and High-purity OLED materials and various QD materials. 

Merck Science connect, which shares Merck’s story about display field, will be held from 4 pm to 5:30 pm on August 25, at Room 313, Bexco in Busan. Marking its 3rd anniversary this year, “Merck Science connect” will discuss Merck’s sustainability on Global strategy, products, process and printing technology. Registered participants can watch the recorded MSC video online for one month after IMID ends. Timetable, Topic and speakers of Merck Science connect are referred below:

Merck Science Connect @ Room 313, BEXCO, Busan, Korea (25 Aug., 16:00~17:30)  

1.   4:00 pm ~ 4:30 pm: “Objectives and strategies for the sustainability in display companies (Johannes Canisius, Global head of product development, Merck KGaA)

2.   4:30 pm ~ 4:50 pm: How to realize sustainable working environment (smart glass) and energy saving display with creative products (Heui-Seok Jin, Head of Product Development, Advanced Display Materials, Merck Korea)

3.   4:50 pm ~ 5:10 pm: Sustainability in manufacturing site (Jai-Jun Kim, Anseong Site Director, Merck Korea, Chang-hun Ju, Korea EHS Manager, Merck Korea)

4.   5:10 pm ~ 5:30 pm: How to create sustainability with printing technology of electrical inks for display manufacturing (Prof. Yong-Young Noh, POSTECH)  

There will be first “Merck booth talk” at Merck booth. At the Merck booth talk, nine speakers from diverse fields will talk about Merck’s diversity and flexibility from 24 to 26, August. The speaker, topic, and timetable are referred below. Participants who cannot attend Merck booth talk in-person, also watch Merck booth talk through Merck Korea youtube channel.  

Merck booth talk @ Merck booth, BEXCO, Busan, Korea (24~26 Aug.)  

1.   1:00 pm ~ 1:15 pm: Flexibility of Merck (Sophia Park, Head of Product Compliance)

2.   2:50 pm ~ 3:05 pm: New technology_Hard coatings (D.Eng. Dong-Mee Song, Merck Korea)

1.   10:35 am ~ 10:55 am: Sustainability (Prof. Yong-Young Noh, POSTECH, Jai-Jun Kim, Anseong site director, Merck Korea)

2.   1:35 pm ~ 1:55 pm: Sustainability in manufacturing field (Chang-hun Ju, Korea EHS manager, Merck Korea, Ki-sun Kwon, Cross-Tech Lab. & LC PJT Mgr.)

1.   10:35 am ~ 10:55 am: Discussion about purity (Yun-Jung Jin, Head of Quality Assurance)

2.   13:40 pm ~ 13:55 pm: Flexible ideas (Jae-Young Cho, LG Chem)