Korea Institute of Design Promotion: “KDM Plus Wins Two Top Honors at Red Dot Design Award”

Achievements of Industry-Academia Collaboration Projects

The Korea Institute of Design Promotion announced on August 26, 2026, that its next-generation design talent development program, “Korea Design Membership Plus (KDM+),” has won both the Grand Prize and the Winner’s Award in the Design Concept category at the Red Dot Design Award 2026.

KDM+ is a design talent development program that selects promising design students from across the country and provides them with opportunities to participate in industry-academia collaboration projects, practical training, and global projects.

KDM+ is the result of the “2030 Mobile Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scenario” industry-academia collaboration project jointly conducted last year by the Korea Institute of Design Promotion and Hankook Tire & Technology. Since 2023, the two organizations have been collaborating to discover innovative ideas in the field of future mobility.

Image of 'Medi Buddy,' selected as the Grand Prize winner. Korea Institute of Design Promotion

“Medi Buddy,” which was awarded the Grand Prize, is a smart IV drip design that helps hospitalized children achieve psychological stability by interacting with them using autonomous driving and AI technologies. The project was developed by Yein Kwon (Korea University), Kyuhong Kim (University of Seoul), Areum Seo (Sejong University), Dabin Won (Hongik University), and Jaeyun Lee (Hongik University).

“Bloom,” which received the Winner’s Award, is a smart urban canopy designed to address the challenges of abnormal weather in urban areas. The team included Yujin Song (Sookmyung Women’s University), Gijin An (Hongik University), Youngjun Yoon (Hongik University), and Yongwoo Cho (Seoul National University of Science and Technology).

Younju Kang, President of the Korea Institute of Design Promotion, stated, “We will continue to expand industry-academia cooperation, taking the lead in nurturing design innovation talents at a global level that the industry needs.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.