On Sept. 11, Lee Joo-Hyuk (GIFT) of Professor Kim Youn-Bae’s Clean Steel Laboratory were awarded the 2019 Sawamura Award by the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan (ISIJ) for the excellency of their paper “Oxidation of Ti added ULC Steel by CO Gas Stimulating Interfacial Reaction between the Steel and SEN during Continuous Casting”, published on ISIJ International on 2018.
The paper focuses on the elucidation of the mechanism which causes the nozzle clogging during the continuous casting of Ultra Low C steel. Using thermodynamic analysis and validation through a series of experiments as support, the article points out a chemical reaction that occurs at the interface between the CO gas from the nozzle refractory and liquid steel induces the formation of liquid oxide along with solid alumina, a likely clog material within nozzles. 
The paper received praise for raising a feasible and concrete solution applicable in many industrial fields. The ISIJ mentioned along with their ‘reason for award’ that “although various mechanisms have been proposed as reasons of nozzle clogging, its consensus has not been achieved. Establishment of the efficient production technology is desired” and complimented that Lee Joo-hyuk’s paper “…reports the excellent findings which can provide fundamental and concrete countermeasures to prevent nozzle clogging. The achievement is highly evaluated from both academic and practical aspects. This paper is worthy of the Sawamura Award.”