Pukyong National University

PKNU student invented an indoor kayak exercise machine and founded a company

- Kim Jin-Jae ... succeeded in localizing a kayak simulator and now pushes for the market

Starting with the idea of 'Everyone knows kayaking is a marine sport, but I want to enjoy it indoors too,' a graduate student is attracting public attention for inventing an indoor kayak exercise machine, succeeding in localization, and even starting a business.

This is a story about Kim Jin-Jae (Age 25), a 1st-year graduate student of the Department of Marine Sports at Pukyong National University in Busan (President Jang Young-Soo).

Kim founded a company called 'MarineX' by inventing the indoor simulators the 'Impactrak K-1' and the 'Impactrak S-1' last year. He recently sold six of these products and succeeded in sales for the first time.

These products, invented by Kim, are equipped with rolling seats and air fans to reproduce an exercise environment like the actual sea conditions, allowing you to enjoy marine sports indoors. The ‘Impactrak K-1’ was developed for kayaking, while the ‘Impactrak S-1’ was developed for paddle boarding.

There has been kayaking exercise equipment in the past, but most of them are high-cost products imported from the United States and Germany, so it was burdensome for fitness clubs or individuals to purchase them. The product invented by Mr. Kim costs KR 2 to 2.5 million won, which is half the price of existing products, and it has a higher sense of reality than existing products because it is equipped with a rolling seat to vividly replicate the shaking caused by waves or wind on the sea.

In particular, he not only developed exercise equipment, but also developed the 'Impactrak' application that can be used in connection with the product to provide a system that allows users to understand the amount and intensity of the exercise and share exercise records with other users.

Kim produced six prototypes with support from the 'Sports Industry Startup Support Project 2021', a start-up support project of the National Sports Promotion Agency, and kayak dealers who recognized the excellence of the product through a demonstration for kayak club members. Kim succeeded in selling all six products to marine sports companies. On the 17th of next month, he plans to participate in the 'Seoul International Sports and Leisure Industry Exhibition' held at COEX in Seoul to showcase the products.

'Marine sports lover' Kim, who majored in marine sports and holds various marine sports certifications such as lifesaving and engine water leisure crafts, said, "While experiencing kayaking with my father, who really loves it, I fell in love with kayaking and invented my own exercise equipment to enjoy indoor kayaking."

"Using this product, you can train or exercise indoors at any time and learn how to do the exercise movements before performing the actual exercise, so it is expected that it will contribute to the popularization of kayaking," he continued, "I hope more people will feel the charm of kayaking, so I plan to continue researching and inventing products while pushing for the domestic and overseas markets. <Pukyong Today>