The CCEI (hereinafter referred to as the Ulsan Center, led by CEO Kim Heon-sung) announced that it held the awards ceremony for the '2026 Smart Shipbuilding & Marine Technology Contest' at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, the 23rd. The event aims to discover and nurture creative, innovative technologies that will shift the paradigm of the future shipbuilding and marine industry. This contest was organized to discover startups in the shipbuilding and maritime sectors and to build a win-win cooperative ecosystem between large, small, and medium-sized enterprises. Jointly hosted with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries since the establishment of the Ulsan Center in 2015, the contest marked its 12th anniversary this year.

This year's competition focused heavily on digital transformation (DX) and advanced Information and Communications Technology (ICT) convergence, which are currently major challenges for the global shipbuilding industry. A total of 67 companies and teams from across the nation, including Ulsan, participated in sectors such as eco-friendly vessel technology, smart manufacturing/production technology, and industrial safety-related technology.

An expert group from the Ulsan Center and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries evaluated the entries primarily on technological viability and marketability, ultimately selecting four innovative companies.

The selected companies and their projects are:

• Enabler Co., Ltd. (CEO Yang Hee-jong) for 'Weld Guard,' an AI-based monitoring system for welding anomalies and safety.

• Doit Planet Co., Ltd. (CEO Yoo Byung-ki) for an AI-based blueprint-sharing platform between field workers and manufacturers.

• Vueron Technology Co., Ltd. (CEO Kim Jae-kwang) for a LiDAR-based smart traffic control system within shipyards.

• MyMeta Co., Ltd. (CEO Jin Dong-hwan) for an 'HR AI Assistant'.

The chosen projects were highly rated as DX and AI-powered technologies with high potential for immediate field application, covering safety management at shipyards, design collaboration, shipyard logistics, traffic control, and human resources efficiency.

The four selected companies will be granted the opportunity to utilize HD Hyundai Heavy Industries' actual shipbuilding production sites as testbeds. Furthermore, through Proof of Concept (PoC) funding support, the center plans to help validate startup ideas in a conglomerate’s production environment, driving them toward commercialization and revenue generation.

In addition, based on a partnership with the Korea Institute of Marine Science & Technology Promotion (KIMST) under the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, follow-up support essential for business growth, such as investment matching and global networking, will also be provided.

Over the past 11 years, the Ulsan Center and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have discovered and nurtured 88 outstanding startups through this contest in areas including DX/AI, automated equipment, industrial robots, production/safety technology, and hydrogen/eco-friendly sectors.

Meanwhile, separate from the technology contest, the Ulsan Center and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries have been upgrading and running the 'Deep Tech Value-Up Program' initialized by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups since last year. Through this, they are also actively fostering promising companies in core material, component, and equipment sectors to support the new shipbuilding and marine industry, while establishing a sustainable model for mutual cooperation.

Source: ksilbo (https://www.ksilbo.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=1060365)