Jihun Ahn

Postdoctoral Researcher, DGIST
Ph.D. in Polymer Science and Engineering

Researcher working on polymer simulation, coarse-grained modeling, and machine learning methods for polymer property prediction and inverse design.

Public profile. Direct contact details and private address information are omitted.

Research interests

  • Coarse-grained models for kinetics and thermodynamics of polymer self-assembly.
  • Deep learning for polymer analysis, property prediction, and inverse design.
  • Computational physics and simulation of two-dimensional material behavior.
  • EUV lithography simulation for next-generation semiconductor patterning.

Experience and education

Postdoctoral Researcher

DGIST, under the supervision of Prof. Su-Mi Hur.

Ph.D. in Polymer Engineering

Chonnam National University, South Korea.

Dissertation: Hierarchically Abstracted rePeat unit of PolYmers (HAPPY) Representations for High-Performance Property Prediction and Inverse Design.

Master’s in Polymer Engineering

Chonnam National University, South Korea.

Thesis: A deep learning-based defect detection and inverse design of block copolymer system.

Bachelor’s in Polymer Engineering

Chonnam National University, South Korea.

Publications and manuscripts

  1. J. Ahn*, V. Thapar*, G. P. Irianti*, S. M. Hur Large Language Model-Driven Inverse Design of Polymers via the HAPPY Representation Submitted. First author.
  2. J. Ahn*, V. Thapar, L. A. Padilla, A. Ramírez-Hernández, S. J. Kwon, S. M. Hur Burgers Vector Analysis for Phase Characterization in Two-Dimensional Hard-Core Soft-Shell Colloidal Systems Manuscript in preparation.
  3. S. Yun*, J. Ahn*, V. Thapar, S. Lee, S. Li, S. M. Hur Defect Rectification in High-Density Patterns through Directed Self-Assembly of Advanced Block Copolymer Architectures Advanced Functional Materials, 2025. Co-first author.
  4. J. Ahn*, G. P. Irianti*, Y. Choe, S. M. Hur Enhancing Deep Learning Predictive Models with HAPPY Representation npj Computational Materials 10, 110, 2024. First author.
  5. J. Ahn*, Y. C. Kim, S. Y. Kim, S. M. Hur, V. Thapar Defect Recognition in Line-Space Patterns Aided by Deep Learning with Data Augmentation Journal of Micro/Nanopatterning, Materials, and Metrology 20, 041203, 2021.

Honors and awards

2026Innocore Fellowship, DGIST.
2025Student Committee Representative, The Polymer Society of Korea.
2025BK21 Fellowship, Chonnam National University.
2025HoeMyung Award for Excellence in Graduate Research, KIChE Spring Meeting.
2023Outstanding Presentation Award, Materials Research Society of Korea Fall Meeting.
2023Program Directors Award, Samsung Global Technology Symposium.
2023Excellence in Poster Award, Samsung Global Technology Symposium.
2023INSPIRE Award, Samsung Global Technology Symposium.
2023CONNECT Award, Samsung Global Technology Symposium.
2022Outstanding Poster Award, The Polymer Society of Korea Fall Meeting.
2021Outstanding Presentation Award, The Polymer Society of Korea Fall Meeting.
2021Outstanding Online Short Talk Award, IUPAC-MACRO 2020+.
2019Best Poster Presentation Award, International Conference on Molecular Simulation.

Presentations

Oral presentations

Apr 2025IM-HAPPY: AI-Driven Polymer Inverse Design for Targeted Polymer Properties. The Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers Spring Meeting, Daegu, South Korea.
Feb 2025IM-HAPPY: AI-Based Polymer Resist Design for Enhanced Patterning Performance. The 32nd Korean Conference on Semiconductors, Jeongseon, South Korea.
Mar 2024Understanding Melting Scenario of 2D Hard-Core Soft-Shell Colloidal System. APS March Meeting, Minnesota, USA.
Oct 2023Defect Distribution and Packing Structure of 2D Hard-Core Soft-Shell Nanoparticles. The Polymer Society of Korea Fall Meeting, Jeju, South Korea.
Aug 2023Structure Analysis of Polymeric Systems assisted by Deep Learning. Samsung Global Technology Symposium, Seoul, South Korea.
Mar 2023Deep Learning Approaches for Properties Prediction and Inverse Design of Polymers. APS March Meeting, Las Vegas, USA.
Oct 2021A Deep Learning-Based Defect Detection and Inverse Design of Block Copolymer System. The Polymer Society of Korea Fall Meeting, Gyeongju, South Korea.
May 2021Identification of Defects in Directed Self-Assembly of Block Copolymers based on Deep Learning. IUPAC-MACRO 2020+, Jeju and Online, South Korea.
Apr 2021Identification of defects in block copolymer films with deep learning network. ACS Spring Meeting, Online.

Poster presentations

Nov 2025Polymer Properties Prediction with HAPPY (Hierarchically Abstracted repeat unit of PolYmers) Representation. ICAE, Jeju, South Korea.
Jun 2025Two-step transition in 2D melting of Hard-Core Soft-Shell colloidal system. COINS, Bordeaux, France.
Nov 2023Enhancing Deep Learning Predictive Models with HAPPY (Hierarchically Abstracted rePeat unit of PolYmers). Materials Research Society of Korea, Gyeongju, South Korea.
Aug 2023Structure Analysis of Polymeric Systems assisted by Deep Learning. Samsung Global Technology Symposium, Seoul, South Korea.
Oct 2022Deep learning-based defect recognition in DSA. DSA Symposium 2022, Daejeon, South Korea.
Oct 2022Simplified polymer representation that enables learning with less. The Polymer Society of Korea Fall Meeting, Daegu, South Korea.
Nov 2019Detection and classification of defects in directed self-assembly of block copolymers using machine learning. ICMS, Jeju, South Korea.