Prof. Kim Yoon-Young Becomes First Korean to Receive APACM Valliappan Medal
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2025-12-12
Prof. Kim Yoon-Young, Distinguished Chair Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical Systems Engineering, has become the first Korean to receive the Valliappan Medal at the Asia–Pacific Congress on Computational Mechanics, held on December 8 in Brisbane, Australia.
The Valliappan Medal is the highest honor awarded by the conference’s organizing body, the Asian-Pacific Association for Computational Mechanics (APACM). It is presented to researchers who have made outstanding academic achievements and contributed significantly to the advancement of the field of computational mechanics through international scholarly activities.
The medal is named after Somasundaram Valliappan, a founding member of APACM and a scholar who left a profound legacy in computational mechanics. APACM confers the award only once every three years, and only when a suitable candidate is identified.
Prof. Kim said, “I am grateful that my journey as a scholar has been recognized by the international academic community. This award is a collective achievement made possible by the students and collaborators with whom I have worked over the past decades. I will continue to contribute to the advancement of computational mechanics and support future generations so they can grow and thrive on the global stage.”
Prof. Kim is a leading authority who has driven innovative research in structural and multidisciplinary optimization worldwide. He has achieved pioneering results in the topology optimization of rigid-body mechanisms and has played a key role in fostering the growth of optimization design communities in Asia and around the world, demonstrating both innovation and academic excellence.
Last year, he received the ‘National Academy of Sciences Award of Korea’ (대한민국학술원상), the longest-standing and most prestigious academic award in Korea. In 2023, he became the first Asian scholar to receive the ‘Rayleigh Lecture Award’ from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). This year, he was selected as an inaugural ‘Fellow of the World Society of Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization’ and is currently serving as Vice President of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, the nation’s foremost organization of leading scientists and engineers.