Muharram Muhammad Iqbal, a Master's student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at our university (supervised by Professor Lee Hyun Jin), and Gineesh Tiji, a PhD student (supervised by Professor Kim Jung Kyung), were each awarded the Outstanding Paper Award at the 2025 Korea Society of Automotive Engineers (KSAE) Autumn Academic Conference. The conference was held at the Busan Port International Exhibition and Convention Centre from 12 to 15 November. 'Modelling of Human Skin Temperature and Thermal Comfort in Vehicle Interiors During Cooling' and 'Prediction of Occupant Thermal Comfort for Electric Vehicle Cabin Thermal Environment Control Using Near-Infrared Imaging', respectively, and were awarded the Outstanding Presentation Paper Award.

Out of a total of 691 poster presentations at this conference, 18 papers were selected as outstanding. The two students achieved the distinction of being the only two international recipients among the 15 winners in the general category. Notably, student Gineesh Tiji achieved the remarkable feat of winning the Outstanding Paper Award consecutively, having also received it at this year's Spring Conference.

Meanwhile, the xEV Human Interactive Integrated Thermal Management Optimal Control Fundamental Research Laboratory at Kookmin University (Principal Investigator: Lee Hyun jin), to which both students and their supervisor belong, is developing heating and cooling technologies that engineer dynamic thermal comfort based on integrated thermal management technology utilising model predictive control. Through this, the laboratory is continuously conducting research to derive control strategies that optimise occupant thermal comfort in future mobility environments and quantitatively analyse their effectiveness.