Yonsei team wins presidential prize at Korea semiconductor design contest

The industry ministry and the intellectual property office awarded the presidential prize to a Yonsei University graduate team on Thursday at the 27th Korea Semiconductor Design Contest, capping a competition that drew 73 entries from across the country.

Twenty-one works were selected for final awards after preliminary and main rounds of judging, the ministry said. The awards ceremony was held at a conference room on the fourth floor of COEX in Seoul. The contest, now in its 27th year, is held annually to improve design skills and surface creative ideas among semiconductor design students nationwide, and is organized by the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association.

Participants worked with semiconductor design software provided by the contest's sponsors to turn their ideas into working results, and demonstrated their projects to guests before the ceremony. This year's theme, "Innovate Today, Shape Tomorrow," highlighted the design talent and growth potential of Korean students amid the industry's technological innovation, the ministry said.

"The government will actively support students who will lead our country's semiconductor design industry so they can take on challenges and grow," said Choi Woo-hyuk, the ministry's director general for advanced industry policy, in his opening remarks.