Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin is continuing efforts to promote industry-academia cooperation and future technology research.

Chairman Shin attended the completion ceremony of the 'Lotte x KAIST R&D Center' held at the KAIST main campus in Daejeon on the 11th, expressing Lotte's commitment to supporting researchers and students so they can freely pursue research and take on challenges.

■ "Lotte Stands With Challenges That Do Not Fear Failure"

According to Lotte Group's newsroom, Chairman Shin said at the ceremony, "I hope the R&D Center will establish itself as a hub for industry-academia cooperation that creates greater possibilities beyond the boundaries between school and business," adding, "Lotte will stand as a reliable partner so that professors and students can research freely and take on challenges without fearing failure."

On this day, Chairman Shin also received a commendation from KAIST in recognition of his contributions to building research infrastructure and advancing industry-academia cooperation.

■ 10 Billion Won Donation... From Basic Research to Commercialization 'in One Space'

The newly opened 'Lotte x KAIST R&D Center' is a research facility established with a 10 billion won donation from Lotte. Its distinguishing feature is that it is built to allow everything from basic research to experimentation, prototype production, and commercialization to be carried out in a single space.

Chairman Shin has long emphasized industry-academia cooperation as a key axis for securing future competitiveness. Cooperation between Lotte and KAIST has also continued over a long period. Starting with commissioned master's and doctoral training programs in 2012, Lotte expanded the scope of cooperation to include technology transfer and personnel exchanges, and in 2022 established the 'Lotte Chemical-KAIST Carbon Neutrality Research Center' to fully launch joint research.

The Carbon Neutrality Research Center carried out eight research projects in the carbon neutrality field and secured 15 patents. This means the industry-academia cooperation linking research and commercialization has produced tangible intellectual property outcomes.

The completion of this R&D Center can be seen as an example of Chairman Shin expanding his emphasized industry-academia cooperation strategy to the level of research infrastructure. It is significant in that it establishes a structure that can connect everything from basic technology development to experimentation, prototype production, and commercialization, going beyond simple research support.

Chairman Shin has recently been consistently prioritizing future growth drivers and strengthening R&D competitiveness. This R&D Center is expected to serve as a hub that connects universities' research capabilities with companies' commercialization capabilities to discover new technologies and business opportunities.

■ 4th Place in September Netizen Awards Business Leader Category

Meanwhile, as of the afternoon of the 29th, Chairman Shin ranked 4th in the business leader category of the September Netizen Awards. As the Netizen Awards head toward their final stretch, attention is focused on the ranking competition in the business leader category.

It remains to be seen what ranking changes Chairman Shin, currently in 4th place, will show in the remaining period. Alongside Chairman Shin's moves to strengthen Lotte's growth foundation through future technology investment and expanded industry-academia cooperation, attention is on how netizens' support will be reflected in the final ranking.

[This article was written based on public materials including those from Lotte Group, and AI was used for some sentences and data compilation.]