August 9, the South Korea Summer Annual Conference of the International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI) was grandly held at Korea University (ranked 52nd in the 2027 QS World University Rankings). Focusing on two cutting-edge topics—the "2026 14th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Sustainability and Technological Innovation (AISTI)" and the "2026 3rd International Conference on Intelligent Optimization and Big Data Management (IOBDM)"—the conference attracted over 100 top scholars from more than 30 countries globally, participating both online and offline.

The conference featured a distinguished lineup, including academicians, university presidents, and expert scholars from world-renowned universities, such as:

• South Korea: Seoul National University, Korea University, Yonsei University, KAIST, Hanyang University, Sejong University, Pusan National University, Seokyeong University, Seoul University of Foreign Studies

• China: Zhejiang University, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, City University of Hong Kong, Southeast University, Beihang University, Wuhan University of Technology, Shanghai University, Henan University, Shenzhen University

• United States: Carnegie Mellon University, University of Florida

• United Kingdom: University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London

• Australia: The University of Adelaide, University of Technology Sydney, Monash University

• Germany: Digital Engineering University, Heilbronn University

Delegates conducted in-depth discussions on interdisciplinary frontiers such as generative AI, systems metabolic engineering, polymer chemistry, autonomous driving, data security and education technology. The conference received over 100 high-quality submissions, with more than 40 selected for publication in the Springer-Nature conference proceedings.

The event not only presented several major academic honors—including the inaugural "IETI Krzysztof Matyjaszewski Prize in Chemical Sciences and Materials Engineering," Fellowship Medals, and Young Scientist Awards—but also established a high-level, interdisciplinary platform for international exchange, driving deep cooperation and knowledge transfer in artificial intelligence and sustainable technological innovation.

Conference Overview

Morning Session

1. Opening Phase:The morning session was chaired by Siyan Hu from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Opening welcome remarks were delivered by Xuesong Zhai, IETI Fellow, Researcher at the IETI China-Pakistan Joint International Institute of Artificial Intelligence, and Distinguished Researcher at Zhejiang University. Christoph Meinel, Member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering and President of German University of Digital Science, delivered an opening video address. Yin Zhan, Secretary-General of the IETI South Korea Branch and Assistant Professor at Yonsei University, presented the IETI Fellowship Medal (Elected 2026) to Professor Xuesong Zhai on behalf of the institute.

2. Distinguished Keynote Speaker Phase:

   • Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski (IETI Laureate Distinguished Fellow, Wolf Prize Laureate, Member of both the US National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University) presented "Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization: from Synthesis to Applications," highlighting the importance of AI and big data processing tools. Gabriel Yue, Executive Director of IETI, Academician of the Pakistan Academy of Engineering, and Vice Rector of Turon University, presented the Laureate Distinguished Fellow Medal (Elected 2024) to Academician Krzysztof Matyjaszewski on behalf of the institute.

   • Professor Brent S. Sumerlin (Laureate of the inaugural 2025 IETI Krzysztof Matyjaszewski Prize in Chemical Sciences and Materials Engineering [KM Prize], Sloan Research Fellow, University of Florida) presented "Decarboxylation for Polymer Deconstruction and Materials Design," responding to changes in the AI era. Academician Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, initiator of the KM Prize, presented the KM Prize Medal to Professor Brent S. Sumerlin on behalf of the institute.

   • Professor Tom Welton (Laureate of the inaugural 2025 IETI Krzysztof Matyjaszewski Prize in Chemical Sciences and Materials Engineering, former President of the Royal Society of Chemistry [RSC], Imperial College London) presented "The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste and Pollution Prevention (ISP-CWP)," expressing gratitude to IETI and the KM Prize Committee for awarding him the inaugural prize.

3. Keynote Speaker Phase:

   • Professor Mark H. Rümmeli (IETI Fellow, RSC Fellow, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava) presented "Toward Precision Manufacturing with Electron Microscopes" and received the Fellowship Medal (Elected 2026) awarded by the institute.

4. Special Keynote Speaker Phase:Distinguished professors from South Korean universities shared their insights and were presented with the IETI 10th Anniversary Friendship Commemorative Coins:

   • Professor Joona Bang (Korea University): "Self-Assembly Behavior of Bottlebrush Block Copolymer in Thin Film"

   • Professor Hyun-jong Paik (Pusan National University): "End-Functionalized Polymers via Reversible Deactivation Radical Polymerization"

   • Professor Byeong-Su Kim (Dean of the Global Leadership College, Yonsei University): "Bioinspired Peptidomimetic Polyethers (PEGtides): Harnessing Non-Covalent Interactions for Advanced Bio-Functional Materials"

   • Professor Jeung Gon Kim (Hanyang University): "Mechanochemical Polymer Synthesis Beyond Green Chemistry"

Afternoon Session

1. Distinguished Keynote Speaker Phase:The afternoon session was chaired by Yunrui Hu, Secretary-General of the IETI Law and Social Services Society, City University of Hong Kong.

   • Professor Sang Yup Lee (Vice President of IETI, Eni Award winner, Academician in China, the US, and South Korea, Senior Vice President of KAIST) presented "Systems Metabolic Engineering for the Bio-Based Production of Chemicals and Materials."

2. Keynote Speaker Phase:

   • Zhuoqi Zeng (IETI Member, Dean of the School of Engineering at Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences) presented "The Intelligent Evolution of Autonomous Driving: From Traditional Modular Design to End-to-End Frameworks" and was awarded the IETI 10th Anniversary Friendship Commemorative Coin.

   • Pinting Mao (Secretary-General of the IETI South Korea Branch, Special Professor at Seokyeong University) presented "Research on the Cognitive Subjectivity of Art Creators Assisted by Generative Artificial Intelligence" and was awarded the IETI 10th Anniversary Friendship Commemorative Coin.

   • Video Keynote Presentations were delivered by:

     • The team of Professor Jing Sun (President of the IETI Supervisory Board, University of Technology Sydney)

     • Wen-Pei Sung (IETI Fellow, Special Assistant to the President of Chin-Yi University of Technology)

     • MOHAMMED Aquil Mirza (IETI Member, Secretary-General of IDSAI, Senior Lecturer at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

     • Ana Vasques (Executive President of the IETI Artificial Intelligence and Creative Design Society, Researcher at the University of Lisbon, Professor at Jianghan University)

3. Presentation & Awarding Phase:During the presentation session, scholars from institutions in China, South Korea, India, Australia, Germany, the Philippines, and Saudi Arabia shared their insights, while scholars from Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Italy, Portugal, Romania, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Malaysia, the UK, and Switzerland attended as observers.

   Following evaluation by the organizing committee, awards were presented by Sadeghi-Niaraki Abolghasem (Vice President of the IETI South Korea Chapter, Professor at Sejong University) on behalf of the committee:

   • IOBDM Young Scientist Award: Yin Zhan (Yonsei University), Pinting Mao (Seokyeong University), Linyan Chen (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

   • IOBDM Best Paper Award:

     1. Beyond Retrospective Prediction: Time-Aware, Active-at-Cutoff Evaluation of Online-Learner Risk Models — MOHAMMED Aquil Mirza (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

     2. GCN-TrafficNet: A Weather-Aware Graph Convolutional Network for Urban Traffic Flow Prediction — Ahmad Ali, Long Junwei, Riaz Ali Ali, H.M Yasir Naeem, Zeng Zhouqi (Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences; Shenzhen University; King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia)

     3. HydroGenAI: Generative Digital Twin for Intelligent Water Infrastructure Optimization — Aruna Pavate, Gulmira Baenova, Madina Serikova, Zharlykassov Bakhtiyar Zhumalyevich, Riche Lou D. Cassion (Thakur College of Engineering and Technology, India; Turon University, Uzbekistan; The International Engineering and Technology Institute, Hong Kong; L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan; Kostanay Regional University, Kazakhstan; Surigao del Norte College of Agriculture and Technology, Philippines)

     4. Confidence-guided Graph Transformer for Intrusion Detection and Data Recovery Against Hybrid Cyber Attacks in Smart Grids — Yahui Cui, Ya Zhang, Yuping Tian (Southeast University)

   • IOBDM Best Presentation Award:

     1. From Awareness Shock to Technology Diffusion: Generative AI and Structural Changes in Graduate Hiring in China — Yuan Ding (Korea University)

     2. Prompt Sense: Sentiment-aware Mental Health Chatbot with Dynamic Prompting — Sugi Lee, Jianlong Zhou, Jing Sun (University of Technology Sydney)

     3. From Knowledge Deficit to Playful Reconstruction: A Spiraling Model for AI-Empowered Early STEM Education — Shu Xin (Guangdong AIB Polytechnic College)

   • AISTI Best Presentation Award:

     1. From AI Decisions to Human-AI Collaboration: Intelligent Credit Assessment and Risk Governance — Jiushu Han (Korea University)

   • AISTI Young Scientist Award: Jianlong Zhou (University of Technology Sydney), Aruna Pavate (Thakur College of Engineering and Technology; IETI Postdoc)

   • 2025 5th Michael E. Auer Young Scientist Award: Zhiyuan Wen (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

   • Best Service Award: Yalun Zhu (Hanyang University), Yuchan Wang (IETI Law and Social Services Society)