Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) (President Yang O-bong) held the "2023 JBNU Industry–University–Research Collaboration Festival" on December 21, 2023 to share its industry–university–research collaboration achievements from the past year.

This event was organized by the JBNU LINC 3.0 Project Group (Leaders in INdustry-university Cooperation 3.0; hereinafter the Project Group) to exhibit and promote the outstanding industry–university–research collaboration achievements carried out over the year. The program began with an exhibition of industry–university collaboration technology development outcomes, followed by the Capstone Design competition awards ceremony and a Partner Company Biz Day.

In particular, throughout 2023 the Project Group provided commercialization and marketing support to display the university’s outstanding technologies at CES 2024, the world’s largest consumer electronics show to be held in Las Vegas in January 2024. As a result of that support, the research team led by Professor Song Cheol-gyu of the Division of Electronic Engineering developed a real-time thrombus imaging device that won a CES 2024 Innovation Award — the first-ever such award for the Jeonbuk region — producing an excellent outcome.

Accordingly, the Project Group exhibited four products in advance of CES 2024, including the award-winning device and three products scheduled for display at Eureka Park at CES 2024.

The festival also included the Capstone Design competition, which recognizes outstanding outcomes in industry-linked curricula. The Grand Prize (President’s Award) was presented to the PCD team from the Department of Electrical Engineering for developing a device that prevents foreign matter from accumulating inside and around drains.

The Project Group focuses on supporting the development of public-sector procurement channels to achieve tangible sales increases for participating companies through its corporate support programs. To this end, it hosted a Partner Company Biz Day consisting of a briefing on the public procurement system and public procurement consultation sessions. Thirty companies participated and are preparing for a new leap forward through development of public procurement channels. For example, Company C, based in Gimje, Jeonbuk, which received support from the Project Group this year, recorded a sales increase of KRW 1.4 billion.

In addition, to address the longstanding issue of securing excellent talent for local companies, the Project Group operated a job fair program for partner companies, where graduating students could hear directly from participating companies and receive counseling that could lead to actual employment. Despite the severe cold, more than 100 students participated across six companies, adding energy to the event.

Jaewook Lee, a student in the Department of Electrical Engineering who participated in the program, commented, "It was a very meaningful event because I could see at a glance the various outcomes of the university’s research and company-partnership programs. Through the job fair, I learned about new companies and occupations I had not known about before. I am grateful to the Project Group for organizing the event."

Song Cheol-gyu, Director of the LINC 3.0 Project Group, which organized the event, said, "We always do our best to build a virtuous cycle of industry–university–research cooperation in which the university, companies, and the region innovate technologies and solve problems together. As a glocal university, JBNU will fulfill its role so that the university can expand globally from its regional base."