Aerial view of HMG Construction & Engineering Research Institute’s Mabuk research complex. Photo courtesy of Hyundai E&C
Hyundai Engineering & Construction (000720.KS) and Hyundai Engineering have merged their research and development (R&D) organizations to launch the largest integrated research institute in Korea’s construction industry.
The two companies officially launched the “HMG Construction Technology Research Institute,” which combines Hyundai E&C’s Technology Research Institute and Hyundai Engineering’s Future Technology Promotion Division, on Monday. With more than 200 research personnel assigned to it, the institute is the largest R&D operation among Korean construction firms. It will operate as an organization reporting directly to the chief executive officers (CEOs) of both companies.
Kim Jae-young, who took office as head of Hyundai E&C’s Technology Research Institute last year after serving as Vice President for Research at Seoul National University, has been appointed as the institute’s inaugural director.
The integration is a preemptive move to respond to the energy transition and the spread of smart construction. The companies plan to combine their research personnel, technology assets, and project execution experience to enhance their future technological competitiveness.
The HMG Construction Technology Research Institute has been reorganized around four core research areas: energy, future housing, smart construction, and infrastructure. Securing next-generation energy source technologies such as small modular reactors (SMR), hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and offshore wind is at the heart of the initiative. The institute will also pursue construction automation using artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, as well as the development of new housing methods.
Tangible results are emerging in the hydrogen sector in particular. To expand Hyundai Motor Group’s hydrogen ecosystem, the two companies are jointly participating in the development of a “5 MW plant-type PEM water electrolysis system” and a large-scale demonstration project on Jeju Island. Hyundai E&C completed Korea’s first water electrolysis-based hydrogen production base in Buan, North Jeolla Province, last year, and Hyundai Engineering has also broken ground on a hydrogen production base of the same scale in Boryeong, South Chungcheong Province.
The two companies plan to boost the utilization of their flagship technologies, including inter-floor noise reduction and precast concrete (PC), and to jointly invest in construction automation research such as robotics, thereby improving R&D efficiency.
“The launch of this large-scale research organization makes it possible to develop and demonstrate technologies that would be difficult to carry out at the level of individual companies,” an HMG Construction Technology Research Institute official said. “We will focus on supporting the strategic infrastructure needed to strengthen Hyundai Motor Group’s future competitiveness.”