The Ocean Thermal Energy Association is pleased to announce that Dr. Hyeon-Ju Kim of Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering (KRISO) was awarded the 2021 Uehara Prize at the OTEA General Meeting on February 20, 2022. The Uehara Prize is awarded by the OTEA in memory of Professor UEHARA Haruo, known as the “father of Japanese Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC),” and inventor of the Uehara Cycle. He passed August 11, 2017.
Dr. Kim has spearheaded OTEC development in Korea, beginning his professional efforts at KRISO in 1995. He has published 16 books, 45 international papers, 95 domestic papers, and has registered 93 patents. He initiated the first “International OTEC Symposium” in 2013, and completed several OTEC pilot projects, leading to the 1MW barge-mounted test that holds the world record for OTEC power production of 338kW. The Korean OTEC team continues to work towards establishment of an onshore 1MW-scale OTEC facility in Kiribati, through use of the equipment tested on the barge-mounted at-sea experiment in 2019.
About the Uehara Prize
The Uehara Prize was first awarded in 2018 as an annual award by the international ocean thermal community to recognize long-term contributions to the development of OTEC through technology development, research, or promotion of public awareness in memory of UEHARA Haruo. Dr. UEHARA led OTEC development at Saga University in Japan. In 1994, he invented the “Uehara Cycle,” and adaptation of the Kalina Cycle to decrease the load for condensers by extraction of vapor from the turbine. Previous recipients of the Uehara Prize are Dr. Luis Vega (2018), Dr. Purnima Jalihal (2019), and Dr. Tom Daniel (2020).
About OTEA
The Ocean Thermal Energy Association (OTEA) is a volunteer organization providing a means for collection, coordination, and dissemination of information for Ocean Thermal (OTEC, Desalination, Seawater Air-conditioning, Deep Ocean Water Use) stakeholders. The Association is transnational, non-political, and dedicated to the realization and future growth of commercial OTEC deployment.
For more information please visit: http://ocean-thermal.org