Dr. Myungseok Ko of Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), Department of Mechanical Engineering, advised by Professor Jae-Hyuk Im, recently received the Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award at the Reliability Division 2024 Spring Conference of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers held in Yeosu.

The award was conferred in recognition of the originality of Dr. Ko's 2023 doctoral dissertation and its contributions to scholarly and technical advancement. The decision was made upon the recommendation of the Reliability Division (Chair Nam-Soo Heo).

The dissertation, titled "Physics-Informed Neural Network-Based Surrogate Model for Virtual Temperature Sensors and Virtual Strain Sensors Enabling Real-Time Simulation," proposed a Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN)-based surrogate model to implement a virtual sensor technique that predicts values at locations without attached sensors by using data measured from a small number of physical sensors.

The surrogate model overcomes the limitations of conventional data-driven models. It achieves accurate predictions using only a small number of physical sensor measurements, reducing sensor maintenance costs and opening up the possibility of application in environments where sensor installation is difficult. 

Dr. Ko's research significantly expands the potential applications in digital twins, automation, and smart manufacturing. It was particularly recognized for proposing a new direction in real-time system monitoring.

Dr. Ko completed his master's and doctoral degrees in five years and six months based on outstanding research ability. During his degree period, he published a total of seven papers in SCIE-indexed journals, including six as the first author (four in the top 10%, one in the top 15%, and one in the top 50%) and one as a co-author (one in the top 10%). 

He also received the President's Award for his doctoral degree within the university, further demonstrating that his research passion and excellent achievements are highly regarded in domestic and international academia.

Dr. Myungseok Ko said, "I am very pleased that this recognition shows that my research has important value not only academically but also industrially," and added, "I will use this award as an opportunity to conduct even more innovative research and become a researcher who contributes to the nation's technological advancement."