LG Innotek, SK On win Edison Awards with innovative products

Kim Sang-jin, right, head of platform research at SK On, poses with Rob Manes, vice president of Edison Universe, after the company won an award at the 2024 Edison Awards at Caloosa Sound Convention in Fort Myers, Florida, Thursday (local time). Courtesy of SK On

LG Innotek and SK On won Edison Awards, named after renowned U.S. inventor Thomas Edison, for two consecutive years with their innovative products, the two Korean companies said Sunday.

LG Innotek won silver with its ultra-thin optical telephoto zoom camera module for mobile devices and SK On received the bronze award in the Smart Transportation category with its cobalt-free batteries.

The Edison Awards were established in 1987 to honor inventor Thomas Edison. More than 7,000 products are submitted for consideration every year, and a panel of judges consisting of business executives, scholars and engineers pick winners after about seven months of evaluation process.

The awards target outstanding innovative products, services and individuals representing various industry sectors such as education, transportation, energy, aviation, manufacturing and communications. Global companies like Apple, Nvidia, SpaceX, IBM and Boeing have also been among the recipients of the award.

LG Innotek, which won the bronze award last year, won silver this year in the Commercial Technology category for its camera module.

"The zoom camera module is an ultra-small product that, for the first time, applies the optical zoom technology previously used in professional cameras to mobile devices," the awards organizer said. "This allows for continuous optical zoom within a focal length range of 85-125 millimeters, ensuring no loss in image quality even when enlarging an image after a photo has been taken."

The ultra-thin optical telephoto zoom camera module submitted for this award is the world's first commercialized product by LG Innotek in 2022.

Previously, multiple fixed-zoom modules were required to achieve optical zoom, but LG Innotek's optical telephoto zoom camera module enables high-quality optical photography on smartphones that is possible with digital single-lens reflex cameras.

"With LG Innotek's modules, smartphone makers can get more space inside their smartphones and improve battery efficiency," a company spokesperson said.

LG Innotek has continuously improved its optical telephoto zoom camera module since the first mass production and in the second half of 2022, the company succeeded in developing a module capable of optical filming in the high-magnification of between four and nine times section. For this product, the company won the Innovation Award at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2023.

LG Innotek’s ultra-thin optical telephoto zoom camera module for mobile devices. The company said Sunday that it won the silver award at the 2024 Edison Awards with the camera module. Courtesy of LG Innotek

Following its previous year's win of bronze for its high-performance high-nickel battery NCM9, SK On won the award for two consecutive years. The company is the only global battery maker to be recognized at the awards.

SK On's cobalt-free battery differs from the traditional batteries that consist of nickel, cobalt and manganese.

"Our cobalt-free battery is considered a breakthrough in EV battery technologies, overcoming technological barriers in cobalt-free cathode material compositions," the company said.

Normally, removing cobalt would lead to structural instability and reduced battery life, but SK On ironed out these challenges with single-crystal cathode materials and doping technologies. It also addressed the energy density issue with its unique high-voltage cell design solutions.

Given cobalt's high cost due to limited availability as well as association with ethical concerns during the extraction process, SK On said its cobalt-free batteries can also contribute to addressing ethical and environmental issues.