Science Ministry selects Lee Jong-han for August scientist award

South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT announced on Aug. 5 that it had selected Inha University professor Lee Jong-han as August recipient of the Korea Scientist Award.

Lee developed the LIVE digital twin technology, which integrates material degradation, component damage and structural behavior to predict damage and performance deterioration in social infrastructure.

The ministry said conventional maintenance cannot fully analyze combined degradation or forecast future performance declines, even as climate change and facility ageing increase costs and safety-accident risks.

His team quantitatively examined nonlinear concrete deterioration under freeze-thaw, carbonation and salt damage, linking these variables with heavy-vehicle loads to predict damage locations and spread paths.

The team built an automated framework that converts Building Information Modeling, or BIM, into a Finite Element Method, or FEM, model for structural-safety analysis. That two-way system feeds analysis results into a virtual environment, allowing past, current and projected conditions to be managed across spatial and temporal dimensions.

The work was built with support from the ministry's Basic Research Laboratory, or BRL, program and appeared in international academic journals in 2025, including Reliability Engineering and System. Patent applications and software registration for the technology were also completed, according to the ministry's public announcement on Aug. 5.

The award recognizes one researcher each month for original research achievements over the past three years that contribute significantly to advances in science and technology. Recipients receive a deputy prime minister's award from the ministry, along with 10 million won in prize money under the monthly program. The ministry has operated it under the Korea Scientist Award name since 2026, replacing the former This Month's Science and Technology Award title.

Lee said the technology shifts maintenance from post-damage inspections toward a forecast-based preventive system, and he plans to extend it from bridges to tunnels, ports and other infrastructure.