Professor Jinah Park of the School of Computing received the Prime Minister’s Citation Ribbon on April 21. The prize was awarded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and the Korea Communications Commission. The award ceremony took place in the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul during the 2017 Science and ICT Day Celebration. The event was hosted by the Korea Federation of ICT Organizations and the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies.

The awardee was chosen from a pool of researchers, from both industry and academia, who have contributed to the development of science and technology, information and communications technology (ICT), and ICT convergence. The recipients of the award were first nominated by related organizations and recommendation committees and had to then go through interviews and specialist reviews.

Professor Park currently leads the Computer Graphics and Visualization (CGV) research laboratory. Her team focuses on combining computer graphics and haptics — the recreation of tactile sensations — to aid in visualization and interaction in fields such as medicine, virtual reality (VR) simulations, and 3D interfaces. The award recognizes her research and development of a VR simulation system for dental surgery and care, which provides users with haptic feedback, such as the force reflected when a drill comes in contact with the surface of teeth. Among other of her major research contributions are the development of a computational system that analyzes cardiac motion from tagging data and the morphometric study of aging brain structures through the development of deformable models.

Regarding her award, Professor Park expressed delight at the fact that her research and effort throughout more than 20 years on the development of technologies in computing to aid the medical fields has finally been recognized. She also thanked all the students who have previously been or are currently part of her CGV research lab. She credited her achievements to those students being able to quickly familiarize themselves with medical terms and concepts, although their passions laid in computing and programming, and being able to use that newly-learnt knowledge to communicate