Heui Jae Pahk

Heui Jae Pahk (; born 1961) is an engineer, academic, and entrepreneur. He is a full professor of mechanical engineering and an SNU-HD Infra-core Endowed Professor at Seoul National University.

Pahk's research is centered on engineering, where he has worked on advanced manufacturing, precision engineering, metrology, mechatronics, and ultraprecision measurement systems. He is a recipient of the Order of Industrial Merit from the President of the Republic of Korea in 2004 and the IR52 Jang Young Sil Awards from the Korean Minister of Science and Technology in 2005 and 2013.

Education Pahk completed his Bachelor's and Master's in Mechanical Design and Production Engineering at Seoul National University in 1983 and 1985, respectively. Following this, he completed his Ph.D. in 1990 and subsequently a D.Eng. from the University of Manchester in 2019.

Career Pahk's career began as an assistant professor at the Pohang University of Science and Technology from 1991 to 1993. Afterwards, he joined the Seoul National University, where he was appointed assistant professor in 1993, later becoming associate professor in 1997 and full professor in 2002. In 2022, he was appointed an SNU-HD Infra-core Endowed Professor. He has also held administrative roles at Seoul National University, where he founded SNU Precision, and was its CEO until 2017. and the president of the Office of Strategic R&D Planning of the Korean Government from 2013 to 2017. and has also donated stocks to the College of Engineering at SNU.

Research Pahk's research and patents center on advanced manufacturing, particularly precision engineering, metrology, mechatronics, and ultraprecision measurement systems. His work has addressed ultra-precision positioning, and has contributed to the development of high-accuracy positioning systems, and measurement approaches that improve thin-film thickness estimation through combined interferometric and spectroscopic analysis. His research has also extended to modeling thermal errors in machine spindles and designing micro-positioning stages and hybrid vibration-isolation systems.

In optical and measurement science, Pahk has developed methods that integrate interferometry and reflectometry for improved characterization of thin films and surface profiles, as well as approaches that enhance depth measurement accuracy in white-light interferometry. He has created inspection systems for semiconductor structures such as through-silicon vias and designed imaging frameworks that simplify defect detection through coordinated multi-camera acquisition. He commercialized

Awards and honors 2004 – Order of Industrial Merit, President of the Republic of Korea 2005 – IR52 Jang Young Sil Award, Minister of Science and Technology 2008 – Certificate of World Top Class Products, Minister of Industry & Energy 2013 – IR52 Jang Young Sil Award, Minister of Science and Technology 2014 – Global CEO Award, Forbes Korea 2014 – Full Member, National Academy of Engineering of Korea 2014 – Tower of US$70 Million Export, President of the Republic of Korea 2020 – Award of Development and Contribution, Seoul National University

Selected articles