Master's student Seong-jin Kim (Department of Carbon Composite Materials Engineering) recently received the Excellent Poster Presentation Award at the 2024 Spring Joint Conference of the Korean Fiber Society and the Korean Society of Dyeing and Finishing, held in Jeju Island.

At the conference, Kim presented his upcycling research aimed at reducing the environmental problems caused by more than 8 million tons of coffee grounds discarded annually. He presented under the title "Thermal Insulation Performance of Eco-Friendly Coffee Grounds–Based Composite Materials," and his work was recognized for its excellence.

Through this research, Kim fabricated eco-friendly insulating composite materials using coffee grounds to address environmental issues associated with discarded petroleum-based chemical insulation materials. He demonstrated superior thermal insulation performance and other properties, suggesting the material's practical applicability as insulation, which received favorable reviews.

Kim said, "I was able to actively engage in the research thanks to my advising professor's generous support and guidance, and I am very grateful to have achieved good results. I will continue to work diligently to apply eco-friendly composite technology to the textile industry."

Professor Seong-ryun Kim, the corresponding author, said, "I would like to applaud Seong-jin Kim for his perseverance and dedication over a long period to complete this research. This study could be completed thanks to the systematic support provided to Seong-jin Kim through the Carbon Composite Workforce Training Project (Director Oh Myung-jun) of the Korea Industrial Technology Promotion Agency (President Min Byung-ju), and I sincerely thank them for that."

Meanwhile, this research was conducted with support from the Korea Industrial Technology Promotion Agency (P0017002, 2021 Industrial Innovation Talent Growth Support Project), funded by the government (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) in 2024.