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Busan Metropolitan City, Pukyong National University, and KIMS Join Forces to Establish the Marine AI Materials Research Center, Advancing Busan as a Global Maritime Capital

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Busan Metropolitan City announced that it will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today (July 8) at 11:30 a.m. in the reception room on the third floor of the headquarters of Pukyong National University with Pukyong National University, led by President Bae Sang-hoon, and the Korea Institute of Materials Science, led by President Choi Cheol-jin, to establish the Marine AI Materials Research Center (hereinafter referred to as the “Research Center”), which will drive digital innovation in emerging marine industries.

The agreement has been promoted to discover next-generation marine industries by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) technologies into the traditional maritime, fisheries, and shipbuilding industries and their upstream and downstream sectors, while establishing a key hub that will lead paradigm shifts in the global smart and eco-friendly maritime mobility market.

Under the agreement, the Research Center will be established in Room 301 of the Advanced Laboratory Building on the Yongdang Campus of Pukyong National University. Remodeling is scheduled for completion by October, after which the facility will provide 615 square meters of laboratory and office space. Full-scale operations are planned to begin in 2027.

The Research Center will operate under a structure consisting of one center and three research laboratories staffed by leading researchers from Pukyong National University and the Korea Institute of Materials Science, with the goal of leading AI-driven digital transformation across the marine industry.

The Marine AI Energy Materials Laboratory will conduct AI-based design of eco-friendly marine energy materials and corrosion-resistant and antifouling materials specialized for marine applications.

The Marine AI Process Automation Laboratory will develop automated manufacturing processes by integrating hull-painting robots, smart maintenance technologies, and autonomous mobile systems.

The Marine AI Component Performance Evaluation Laboratory will pursue technologies for predicting the service life of smart components based on maintenance data and securing digital twin-based verification technologies.

Through this agreement, Busan Metropolitan City will provide administrative support for the stable establishment and operation of the Research Center while pursuing national government funding and interregional cooperative projects. Pukyong National University will provide research facilities and conduct government-industry-academia collaborative research. The Korea Institute of Materials Science will lead the development of core technologies in advanced marine materials and the planning of large-scale research and development (R&D) projects.

Busan Metropolitan City expects that the agreement will leverage the expertise and infrastructure of each participating institution to advance traditional strategic industries while establishing a government-industry-academia-research collaboration platform that will build the core value chain for future marine industries.

Mayor Chun Jae-soo said, “Today marks a meaningful step toward establishing Busan as a true global maritime capital through our partnership with Pukyong National University and the Korea Institute of Materials Science. The advanced core technologies and large-scale R&D achievements that will be generated by the Research Center will expand across a broad range of fields—from the design of eco-friendly energy materials to robotic manufacturing processes and digital twin-based verification—and will become a powerful catalyst for attracting advanced upstream and downstream industries to Busan.”