More than 400 people from the robot industry, academia and stakeholders gathered together at the "2010 The Night of Robot Industry" was held successfully on December 2.
At the event, Kim Young-Hwan, Member of the National Assembly and Chairman of the Knowledge Economy Committee and Kwak Seung Jun, Chairman of Presidential Council for Future and Vision graced the occasion with their presence.
Chairman Kim delivered a congratulatory address stating, "Korea is the best at making semiconductors, automobiles, ships and displays, and we have entered as the playing field as manufacturing powerhouse with a quickness. Now, base on these achievements, it is time to go after the Robot Industry." He also said, "This year the government invested KRW 180 billion toward the Robot Industry, but I will continue to find more funds which could be earmarked for the Robot Industry."
Later, Chairman Kwak stressed the importance of the robotics industry as a convergence industry. He stated, "In the midst of the recent global financial crisis, our robot industry grew 20% from the previous year and has reached KRW 1.2 trillion on the scale. If we combine our world-leading information technology, mechanical engineering technology, and quick acceptance for new products to the market, the Robot Industry will grow at a rapid pace and will be Korea's new representative industry."
Cho Seok, Deputy Minister for Industry in the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said that next year will be the leap year for the Robot Industry.
In the event, 8 outstanding contributors who have contributed to the creation of market and competitiveness strengthening received the award. Also, six companies received the award for the development of the robot industry.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy bestowed the Honorable Industry Award to Oh Changsuk, President and CEO of Samsung Techwin. It has been well known that Samsung Techwin completed the construction of a surveillance robot test bed. Samsung Techwin signed a $50 million contract with Algiers, the capital of Algeria, to run a traffic surveillance robot system on a pilot basis. The Seosan surveillance robot system has been well received by the world, so the oil storage base is inundated with inquiries concerning field trips to the base in Seosan.
President Awards went to Youm Youngil, Chairman and Professor of Ulsan National Insititue of Science and Technology and Han Chang-soo, Professor of the Department of Mechanical Eng. in Hanyang University received the Prime Minister Awards. At the selection of 'best product of year', Min Keh-sik, Chairman and CEO of Hyundai Heavy Industries won for welding and handling robots.
