Altair Names Winners of 2023 Altair Optimization Contest

Altair has named the winners of the 2023 Altair Optimization Contest (AOC). The first place winner was the Kookmin University team of Sungtaek Kim and Euichan Hwang. The Altair Optimization Contest is a software competition that has been held since 2008 to strengthen the software capabilities of Korean university students and discover talents, Altair says.

This year, 125 applicants (81 teams) from 40 universities across the country applied, and a total of five teams made it to the final round after a fierce competition. Altair selected the final five winners based on their rationality, practicality, originality, applicability and optimization results.

In this contest, students of the Department of Automotive Engineering at Kookmin University, won first place. The team presented a case of optimizing a battery pack, a key part of an eco-friendly car. The team said they optimized the battery pack to provide an alternative to battery thermal runaway, a major cause of fires within electric vehicle (EV) industry.

“It was great that while preparing for the contest, we were able to freely use FEM (Finite Element Method) software, which is fundamental to engineering, with the license provided by Altair,” says the Kookmin University team. “In particular, by studying a lot about optimization, I was able to learn more than what I learned at school, so I hope many students will take on the challenge.”

Altair awarded a total of $2.4 million in prize money and certificates to the five teams that advanced to the finals, including a gold prize of $1 million, a silver prize of $500,000, and a bronze prize of $200,000.

“We are happy to see a bright outlook for the future in the innovative proposals created by the students' passion and creativity,” says Songsoo Moon, senior vice president, Asia Pacific, Altair. “Altair supports students who proactively solve problems and realize innovative ideas.”

The complete list of winners is below:

1st prize (GOLD)

• Kookmin University: Sungtack Kim, Euichan Hwang

2nd prize (SILVER)

• Konkuk University: Jaekyung Ko, Youngwoo Jang
• Konkuk University: Byungho Kang, Cheonha Park

3rd prize (BRONZE)

• Dongguk University: Jinho Kim, Younghoon Lee
• Changwon National University: Minseong Cho

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.

More Altair Coverage