Hyundai Motor Company engineer and global R&D expert conducts research with CEEE

Jae Yeon Kim is a senior research engineer and global R&D expert from Hyundai Motor Company’s research and development Division, who is working with Center for Environmental Energy Engineering (CEEE) students and faculty for one year on the project Efficient architecture designs of vehicle thermal management system (VTMS) for Eco friendly vehicles using numerical simulations. Hyundai is a charter CEEE research sponsor. He can’t divulge too many details of his work here, but Kim lauds CEEE associate director, Dr. Yunho Hwang’s support and his various experience in his advance research.

He also admires the ‘beautiful environment’ of the University of Maryland campus.

He recently attended the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Thermal Management Systems Symposium (TMSS) in Detroit to gain some more technical insight into current automotive thermal systems technologies, and Kim had presented a paper at 2014 SAE Congress, and plans on submitting a paper for the 2016 SAE Congress.

Kim, who has worked for Hyundai for 19 years, has more than 140 Korea patents and 23 awards to his credit. He also has gotten a TRIZ level 4 specialist certification as 109^th in the world. TRIZ (Theory of Inventive Problem Solving) is a premier disruptive technology for innovation that can be used throughout many industries and sciences.

Kim grew up in Seoul, and graduated from Kookmin University in 1996 with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. After he had entered in Hyundai Motors, He personally chose cooling and air conditioning system for his job. “I like fluid & thermal dynamics and Refreshing air and sweet wind against the body is so very attractive to enhance his heart rate and mind,” he says.

His wife, Sohyun Jang, and daughters Haemin Kim (age 12), and Haebean Kim (age 9) are in the USA with him. Jang is a homemaker and TESOL English teacher. The girls are enrolled in the 5^th and 2^nd grades in American elementary school and are quickly developing their English skills. Both are avid jump ropers. The entire family is looking forward to going to Disney World for a vacation this winter.

In his spare time (and there is not much of that, he takes Hunyadi conference calls with company co-worker most evenings from 8 p.m.), Kim is good at playing doubles tennis, and cooking. He hopes to learn golf while here.

Published October 8, 2015