Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) Industry–University Cooperation Focused Project Group (Director: Professor Je-ho Song)'s Engineering Consulting Center was selected as the Best Center in the first half of the 2022 Customized Technology Partner Support Program supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

This program matches excellent experts from universities and research institutes with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that lack technical personnel to support research and development aimed at resolving technical difficulties. It operates as nine centers across five national regions, including JBNU, Chonnam National University, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, Changwon National University, Hanbat National University, and Daegu University.

The JBNU Engineering Consulting Center was selected in 2018 as the operating institution for the Honam–Jeju region. It has signed MOUs with 28 universities, including Seoul National University, Chosun National University, and Jeju National University, and currently has 622 technical experts active. Over the past four years, it has supported a total of 83 projects.

The center has implemented an expert-matching process suitable for solving SMEs' technical difficulties and has promoted the discovery of excellent projects through an SME cooperation network. This year, with approximately KRW 1 billion in government funding, the Engineering Consulting Center will tackle companies' technical challenges through one-to-one matching between the center's technical experts and firms. In particular, additional support will be provided this year for technology commercialization and for companies' successful commercialization.

Director Je-ho Song said, "Through the Customized Technology Partner Support Program, we were assigned 15 projects in the first half of the year alone and achieved results by providing technology development and technical difficulty consulting to SMEs within the region. In 2022, we will expand non-R&D support programs for participating SMEs—such as meetings with overseas buyers and participation in overseas exhibitions—to enhance commercialization outcomes for SMEs."

The Customized Technology Partner Support Program has now closed applications for second-half projects and plans to begin supporting the resolution of SME technical difficulties through the selection of new operating institutions and project recruitment in January, 2023.