Professor Kang-joo Lee

Professor Kang-joo Lee of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Incheon National University has been selected for a government-wide Advanced Medical Device Research and Development Program supported by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The project, titled “Development of High-Performance and Cost-Competitive Medical Devices for Large-Area Skin Regeneration Treatment Based on Marine-Derived Biomaterials,” will receive a total of KRW 3.8 billion in research funding over the next five years.

The project will be carried out through a multidisciplinary consortium involving four industry–academia–hospital research teams, including CG Bio Co., Ltd., Incheon National University, Asan Medical Center, and Soonchunhyang University Hospital. The consortium aims to develop advanced wound dressings and skin regeneration medical devices using marine-derived biomaterials, with objectives spanning from raw material production and process optimization to regulatory approval and final product commercialization.

As a principal investigator of a sub-project, Professor Kang-joo Lee will conduct research connecting core mechanical engineering competencies—including precision manufacturing, structure–function optimization, and materials processing technologies—with biomaterial production, functional enhancement, and the implementation of high-value-added medical devices for skin regeneration.

Professor Kang-joo Lee stated, “This project represents an important example of recognition that mechanical engineering technologies can address critical challenges in bioengineering and biomedical engineering,” adding, “We plan to further expand research so that mechanical engineering can serve as a core platform technology in the advanced biohealth sector, which is emerging as a future growth industry.”

This achievement is expected to become a representative example of how mechanical engineering can expand beyond the medical device industry into broader national future industries, including aging society response technologies, regenerative medicine, precision medicine, and sustainable bioindustries.