The Korea Nano Technology Institute said on Sunday that Byun Dae-seok (변대석), a former professor at Samsung Electronics' Samsung Institute of Technology (SSIT), has taken office as its eighth president. His term is 3 years, through June 8, 2029.

Byun, born in 1968, graduated from Seoul National University's Department of Electrical Engineering and earned master's and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering at the same graduate school. He then worked at Samsung Electronics for 26 years, serving as a principal researcher, a senior researcher and a technology executive (master). He also served as a professor at the Samsung Institute of Technology and as an adjunct professor in Sungkyunkwan University's Department of Semiconductor Display.

He has also remained active in academic societies. He participated as a standing director of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers and as a director of the Semiconductor Society, and last year served as chair of the program committee for the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers' autumn conference.

Byun said, "I will apply the know-how in semiconductor technology I have built up in the field to advanced process infrastructure and foster the Korea Nano Technology Institute into a hub institution that leads national strategic technologies."

The Korea Nano Technology Institute was designated for the first time in May by the Ministry of Science and ICT as a public nano-fab center under the Nano Technology Development Promotion Act. It plans to expand support for semiconductor research by using the research facilities and specialist workforce it holds.