The Nano-Technology Research Center (Director: Prof. Han Jong-soo, the Dept. of Chemistry), a hub for CNU
s specialization project for nanotechnology development, has initiated a cooperative program for the industrialization of nanotechnology, which will be a key industry in Jangsung-gun. On March 12, Prof. Han Jong-soo, Director of the Nanotechnology Research Center, and the Jangsung-gun County Governor Kim Heung-sik signed an agreement for the
Cooperation for Nanotechnology Industrialization.
With this agreement, the Center will be in charge of nanotechnology development in Jangsung-gun including a policy-decision for nanotechnology industry of the county, the establishment of development strategies for the industrialization of nanotechnology. Currently nanotechnology is used for the atomic microscope and thin film technology. Every year the patent applications on nanotechnology are increasing noticeably in Korea. However, nanotechnological level stays in the early stage of development irrespective of its great potential power. Jangsung-gun, a rural county in South Cholla Province, will be transformed into a nanotechnology industrial cluster, when this cooperative project is successfully performed by the Center. Jangsung-gun has geographical merits, ideal to be a nanotechnology cluster. There are Gwangju photonic industrial site, Jeonju automobile industrial site, Gwangyang and Yeochon steel industrial site, Yongam shipbuilding site, Mokpo bioindustry site in the vicinity of Jangsung. Based on these merits and other aspects, Jangsung-gun will be a hub of nanotechnology in Korea, which has far-reaching economic effects. The Nanotechnology Research Center, composed of 46 researchers from physics, chemistry, pharmacy, medicine, and dentistry, has recently established a cooperative agreement with Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information for the exchanges of nanotechnology information. The Center has been accelerating its cooperation activities for a new technology development.