Heewon Kang is a second-year master's student in the SRP laboratory. She graduated from Hanyang University with a major in Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering and a double major in Materials Science and Engineering. Heewon developed a keen interest in creating materials from primary resources during her studies in Resource and Environmental Engineering and pursued deeper knowledge in this area by taking courses such as Materials Science and Materials Thermodynamics in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
During her undergraduate years, Heewon was passionate about inspiring other STEM students to take an interest in engineering. She participated in the "Ladder Project" mentoring program, where she assisted high school students with water purification research. Additionally, through her involvement in the "Community Child Center Supporters" program, she conducted interviews with domestic energy companies and published these interviews. These experiences fueled her interest in energy and resource development for the environment.
Heewon's interest in the field further expanded during her internship at KIST, where she conducted research on enhancing the performance of next-generation solar cells. This experience sparked her curiosity about secondary resource development and highlighted the importance of not only resource development but also recycling for sustainable development. Currently, in the SRP Lab, Heewon is conducting research on recycling processes to recover valuable minerals from both primary and secondary resources.