Overview

Translating research into industrial application remains a central challenge in advancing carbon capture and wider decarbonisation technologies. Professor Lim from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology will share his experience in converting academic research into a commercial venture, including the establishment of Carbon Value. 

Key topics:

• Critical steps required to move from laboratory validation to commercialisation
• Technical challenges associated with scale-up, process validation, and system integration
• Non-technical factors such as intellectual property management, funding pathways, team development, and stakeholder engagement
• The role of institutional and governmental support, with particular reference to university-based innovation frameworks and national programmes in Korea
• The innovation ecosystems in Korea and Southeast Asia, highlighting structural enablers and constraints relevant to research translation

The webinar will conclude with key lessons learned and practical guidance for researchers, project leaders, and early-stage innovators seeking to translate their work into deployable technologies and commercial outcomes.

Speakers

Hankwon Lim, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)

Hankwon Lim is a Full Professor in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering and the Graduate School of Carbon Neutrality; a Director of Laboratory of Sustainable Process Analysis, Design, and Engineering (SPADE); and a Director of Carbon Neutrality Demonstration and Research Center at UNIST in Korea. He also has over five years of industrial R&D experience as a development specialist at Praxair.

His primary research areas are: process system design, economics, life cycle assessment, AI-based control, scale-up, plant design, process safety, and computational fluid dynamics with particular interests in carbon neutrality, H2 energy, CO2 capture and utilisation, ammonia synthesis / cracking, battery management, plastic recycling, and self-driving operation. His particular emphasis on marine applications includes OCCS (on-board carbon capture and storage), e-fuel, self-sustaining marine vehicles, and AI / machine learning-based marine applications. His research also aims at an integrative engineering approach for commercialisation of technologies of interest from laboratory to industrial scales through low, negative, and carbon neutral processes coupled with sustainability and ESG leading to 238 journal papers published so far.

He is a recipient of 2025 Hutchison Medal from IChemE and World’s Top 2% Scientists from 2022 to 2025.

The material presented has not been peer-reviewed. Any opinions are the presenter’s own and do not necessarily represent those of IChemE or the Research and Innovation Special Interest Group. The information is given in good faith but without any liability on the part of IChemE.

Time

10:00–11:00 BST.

Software

The presentation will be delivered via Microsoft Teams. We recommend downloading the app from the Microsoft website, rather than using the web portal.