KAIST Professors win 2012 Korea Engineering Award
Distinguished Professor Hwang Gyu Young (Department of Computer Science) and Professor Yang Dong Yol (Department of Mechanical Engineering) from KAIST received the 2012 ‘Korea Engineering Award’ hosted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Research Foundation.
The ‘Korea Engineering Award’ is given biennially to researchers who have accomplished world class research and have contributed greatly to Korea’s development in the field of Science and Technology. The award started in 1994 and a total of 24 recipients were recognized in various fields such as electronics, mechanics, chemistry, construction, etc. The recipients of the award areawarded the Presidential award as well as 50million won as prize money.
Professor Hwang was recognized for his research on DBMS close-coupling architecture as well as other new data base system theories, contributing to the development of the IT software industry in Korea. Professor Yang was praised for his work in precision shape creation and manufacturing, especially for his work in the nano-stereolithography process.
In addition, Professor Oum Sang-il from the Deparment of Mathematical Science received the 2012 ‘Young Scientist Award’ hosted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.
The ceremony for ‘Korea Engineering Award’ and the ‘Young Scientist Award’ was held in Seoul Press Center Press Club on the 21st of December.
Professor Cho Young-ho wins 'E2 Star' award
Professor Cho Young-ho from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST was chosen as the ‘E2 Star’ at the ‘2012 Engineering Education Festa’ in academics. The ‘2012 Engineering Education Festa’ hosted by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology was held to display outstanding research results and to conceptualize the future of science education.
The ‘E2 star’ award is given to renowned figures in industry, academia and society. A total of 35 candidates were recommended for the 3 fields and Professor Cho received the first place in the online voting.
Professor Cho received high marks for his work in engineering education, research development and increasing the communication between academia and industry, as well as the commercialization of science and technology. Professor Cho was especially praised for the specialization of engineering education in integrated fields and the joint research with US and Swiss universities.
Professor Cho Young-ho(Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST)
Midam Scholarship Society Receives Minister of Education, Science, and Technology Prize for Education Donation
Midam Scholarship Society, consisting of KAIST students, has been awarded the First Korea Education Donation Grand Prize from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
The Education Donation Prize has been created in order to encourage those university clubs that have been increasing awareness of education donation and at the same time donating educational services themselves.
Midam Scholarship Society was established by KAIST students in 2009 to provide educational services to those students from low income families. Currently over 200 students from six different universities (KAIST, UNIST, Pusan University, Chonnam University, Kyungpook National University, Kumoh Engineering University) are involved in the Midam Scholarship Society.
Approximately 70 students participate in the KAIST Midam Scholarship Society. The classes take place in the classrooms every week for three hours over a period of three months. The classes are offered to over 1,000 high school students in and near DaeJeon.
Education 3.0: a change from teaching to learning
On October 16th, educationalists and Presidents from research-oriented universities around the world gathered in Seoul to attend the 2012 International Presidential Forum on Global Research Universities, where KAIST introduced its new smart learning model ‘Education 3.0’.
Smart learning ‘Education 3.0’ allows students to learn from lectures given by renowned scholars through the internet and encouraged student to professor discussion. This technology was created to deal with the ever-changing classroom dynamics due to the advancement of IT technology.‘Education 3.0’ differs from the traditional teaching-based lectures in that it offers a platform for self-directed learning. KAIST is working to spread ‘Education 3.0’ by providing specialized classrooms and running an online learning platform that complements it.
This spring, KAIST adopted ‘Education 3.0’ in 3 courses and received high praise from students (a rating of 4.4 out of 5.0). Hence, the number of courses was extended to 10 this fall.
Through this gathering, KAIST hopes to develop cooperative connections between foreign universities to share learning platforms and contents. On October 16th, KAIST signed a MOU with Denmark’s Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) to provide a cyber-dual degree program using ‘Education 3.0’. Hence, students studying Web science and Digital Media in either KAIST or DTU can receive degrees from both schools without physically visiting them.
President Suh said that “‘Education 3.0’ provides a new paradigm of learning which moves from the tradition cramming method of teaching to self-directed learning” and that this model will help the globalization of KAIST by initiating global cooperation with foreign universities.
Over 60 Universities from 27 different countries attended the forum, including ULCA and Caltech from the United States, DTU from Denmark, University of Southampton and University of York from England, University of Queensland from Australia, Nanyang Technological University from Singapore and Tokyo Institute of Technology from Japan. Members from Korean Universities such as Hanyang University, Handong Global University, Sogang University and Sookmyung Women"s University also attended.
2012 Times Higher Education Ranks KAIST a Record High of 68th
KAIST was evaluated as the 68th best university by the Times Higher Education, a English University Evaluation Body.
The 2012 evaluation is 29 places higher than the 2011 evaluation.
As a side note, KAIST was ranked a record high of 63rd in the world by Quacquarelli Symonds’ 2012 QS World University Evaluation.
Lee Su Young President of Gwang Won Industries Donates Real Estate worth 7 Million USD
On the 14th of September Lee Su Young President of Gwang Won Industries (since 1988) donated her entire personal real estate in Los Angeles worth 7 million USD.
President Lee commented that “the strength of Science and Technology is the strength behind the development of Korea and I am certain that KAIST is the driving force” and the she “wishes to help out on the nurture of excellent intellectuals”.
“I have led a frugal life, working hard and buying real estate in America. Wealth is not something that you can take beyond death so I always spent rationally in order to return my accumulated wealth back to society. I pondered what would be best for the development of Korea and without a moment’s hesitation I chose KAIST.”
President Lee was touched by the drive for innovation by President Seo and the members of KAIST working day and night for the development of KAIST.
“It was very moving to see a world renowned scholar like President Seo working tirelessly for the past six years to resurrect and develop KAIST. If KAIST continues to develop at such a pace then I am sure that KAIST will become a world class university. Donating to KAIST was sure to be equivalent to donating the Korea.”
President Lee led a life more frugal and most and yet she did not have even a moment’s hesitation in donating her entire fortune.
“My only wish is to see my donation help the students of KAIST with their studies. What more could I expect from them if they become outstanding servants of Korea.”
President Lee graduated from Gyungi Girl’s High School and majored Law in Seoul National University and worked as a newspaper reporter from 1963 to 1980.
She is the President of Gwang Won Industries which began as Gwang Won Ranch in 1971, and is also the Head Board Member at Seoul National University’s Scholarship Foundation for the College of Law.
The donation will be used to fund the ‘KAIST-Lee Su Young International Education Program’ which encompasses the currently under test Education 3.0 program which will allow for the next generation student led education system using multimedia services.
Jellyfish removal robot developed
Professor Myung Hyun’s research team from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at KAIST has developed a jellyfish removal robot named ‘JEROS’ (JEROS: Jellyfish Elimination RObotic Swarm).
With jellyfish attacks around the south-west coast of Korea becoming a serious problem, causing deaths and operational losses (around 3 billion won a year), Professor Myung’s team started the development of this unmanned automatic jellyfish removal system 3 years ago.
JEROS floats on the surface of the water using two long cylindrical bodies. Motors are attached to the bodies such that the robot can move back and forth as well as rotate on water. A camera and GPS system allows the JEROS to detect jellyfish swarm as well as plan and calculate its work path relative to its position.
The jellyfish are removed by a submerged net that sucks them up using the velocity created by the unmanned sailing. Once caught, the jellyfish are pulverized using a special propeller.
JEROS is estimated to be 3 times more economical than manual removal. Upon experimentation, it showed a removal rate of 400kg per hour at 6 knots. To reach similar effectiveness as manual net removal, which removes up to 1 ton per hour, the research team designed the robot such that 3 or more individual robots could be grouped together and controlled as one.
The research team has finished conducting removal tests in Gunsan and Masan and plan to commercialize the robot next April after improving the removal technology. JEROS technology can also be used for a wide range of purposes such as patrolling and guarding, preventing oil spills or removing floating waste. This research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology since 2010.
First Annual CanSat Idea Exhibition held
The Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology held the ‘CanSat’ Exhibition in order to increase interest and understanding of satellites in primary, secondary, and high school level students.
The exhibition, hosted by KAIST Satellite Research Center and funded by Korea Aerospace Institute, was held in SaeJeong City.
90 primary, secondary school teams, 57 high school teams, and 14 university teams submitted their applications for participation. Of these teams 20 primary, secondary school teams, 5 high school teams, and 5 university teams were selected after thorough document valuation and presentation assessment.
The 20 primary, secondary school teams participated in the science camp to gain firsthand experience in the construction and launch of a simple satellite system.
The high school and university teams were evaluated by the level of completion of the task given and the level of creativity involved.
The CanSat Exhibition has been held in aerospace powerhouses and this was the first time such an exhibition was held in Korea.
Systems biology demystifies the resistance mechanism of targeted cancer medication
Korean researchers have found the fundamental resistance mechanism of the MEK inhibitor, a recently highlighted chemotherapy method, laying the foundation for future research on overcoming cancer drug resistance and improving cancer survival rates. This research is meaningful because it was conducted through systems biology, a fusion of IT and biotechnology.
The research was conducted by Professor Gwang hyun Cho’s team from the Department of Biology at KAIST and was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation of Korea.
The research was published as the cover paper for the June edition of the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology (Title: The cross regulation between ERK and PI3K signaling pathways determines the tumoricidal efficacy of MEK inhibitor).
Targeted anticancer medication targets certain molecules in the signaling pathway of the tumor cell and not only has fewer side effects than pre-existing anticancer medication, but also has high clinical efficacy. The technology also allows the creation of personalized medication and has been widely praised by scientists worldwide.
However, resistances to the targeted medication have often been found before or during the clinical stage, eventually causing the medications to fail to reach the drug development stage. Moreover, even if the drug is effective, the survival rate is low and the redevelopment rate is high.
An active pathway in most tumor cells is the ERK (Extracellular signal-regulated kinases) signaling pathway. This pathway is especially important in the development of skin cancer or thyroid cancer, which are developed by the mutation of the BRAF gene inside the path. In these cases, the MEK (Extracellular signal-regulated kinases) inhibitor is an effective treatment because it targets the pathway itself. However, the built-up resistance to the inhibitor commonly leads to the redevelopment of cancer.
Professor Cho’s research team used large scale computer simulations to analyze the fundamental resistance mechanism of the MEK inhibitor and used molecular cell biological experiments as well as bio-imaging* techniques to verify the results.
* Bio-imaging: Checking biological phenomena at the cellular and molecular levels using imagery
The research team used different mutational variables, which revealed that the use of the MEK inhibitor reduced the transmission of the ERK signal but led to the activation of another signaling pathway (the PI3K signaling pathway), reducing the effectiveness of the medication. Professor Cho’s team also found that this response originated from the complex interaction between the signaling matter as well as the feedback network structure, suggesting that the mix of the MEK inhibitor with other drugs could improve the effects of the targeted anticancer medication.
Professor Cho stated that this research was the first of its kind to examine the drug resistivity against the MEK inhibitor at the systematic dimension and showed how the effects of drugs on the signaling pathways of cells could be predicted using computer simulation. It also showed how basic research on signaling networks can be applied to clinical drug use, successfully suggesting a new research platform on overcoming resistance to targeting medication using its fundamental mechanism.
The hereditary factor of autism revealed
Korean researchers have successfully investigated the causes and hereditary factors for autistic behavior and proposed a new treatment method with fewer side effects.
This research was jointly supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation as part of the Leading Researcher and Science Research Center Program
The research findings were publishing in the June edition of Nature magazine and will also be introduced in the July edition of Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, under the title ‘Autistic-like social behavior in Shank2-mutant mice improved by restoring NMDA receptor function’.
The research team found that lack of Shank2 genes in mice, which are responsible for the production of synapse proteins, caused autistic-like behavior. The results strongly suggested that the Shank2 gene was linked to autistic behavior and that Shank2 deficiency induced autistic behaviors.
Autism is a neural development disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, repetitive behavior, mental retardation, anxiety and hyperactivity. Around 100 million people worldwide display symptoms of autistic behavior. Recent studies conducted by the University of Washington revealed that 1 out of 3 young adults who display autistic behavior do not fit into the workplace or get accepted to college, a much higher rate than any other disorder. However, an effective cure has not yet been developed and current treatments are limited to reducing repetitive behavior.
The research team confirmed autistic-like social behavior in mice without the Shank2 genes and that the mice had decreased levels of neurotransmission in the NMDA receptor. The mice also showed damaged synaptic plasticity* in the hippocampus**.
* Plasticity: ability of the connectionbetween two neurons to change in strength in response to transmission of information
**Hippocampus: part of the brain responsible for short-term and long-term memory as well as spatial navigation.
The research team also found out that, to restore the function of the NMDA receptor, the passive stimulation of certain receptors, such as the mGLuR5, yielded better treatment results than the direct stimulation of the NMDA. This greatly reduces the side effects associated with the direct stimulation of receptors, resulting in a more effective treatment method.
This research successfully investigated the function of the Shank2 gene in the nerve tissue and showed how the reduced function of the NMDA receptor, due to the lack of the gene, resulted in autistic behavior. It also provided new possibilities for the treatment of autistic behavior and impaired social interaction
Production of chemicals without petroleum
Systems metabolic engineering of microorganisms allows efficient production of natural and non-natural chemicals from renewable non-food biomass
In our everyday life, we use gasoline, diesel, plastics, rubbers, and numerous chemicals that are derived from fossil oil through petrochemical refinery processes. However, this is not sustainable due to the limited nature of fossil resources. Furthermore, our world is facing problems associated with climate change and other environmental problems due to the increasing use of fossil resources. One solution to address above problems is the use of renewable non-food biomass for the production of chemicals, fuels and materials through biorefineries. Microorganisms are used as biocatalysts for converting biomass to the products of interest. However, when microorganisms are isolated from nature, their efficiencies of producing our desired chemicals and materials are rather low. Metabolic engineering is thus performed to improve cellular characteristics to desired levels. Over the last decade, much advances have been made in systems biology that allows system-wide characterization of cellular networks, both qualitatively and quantitatively, followed by whole-cell level engineering based on these findings. Furthermore, rapid advances in synthetic biology allow design and synthesis of fine controlled metabolic and gene regulatory circuits. The strategies and methods of systems biology and synthetic biology are rapidly integrated with metabolic engineering, thus resulting in "systems metabolic engineering".
In the paper published online in Nature Chemical Biology on May 17, Professor Sang Yup Lee and his colleagues at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea present new general strategies of systems metabolic engineering for developing microorganisms for the production of natural and non-natural chemicals from renewable biomass. They first classified the chemicals to be produced into four categories based on whether they have thus far been identified to exist in nature (natural vs. nonnatural) and whether they can be produced by inherent pathways of microorganisms (inherent, noninherent, or created): natural-inherent, natural-noninherent, non-natural-noninherent, and non-natural-created ones. General strategies for systems metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the production of these chemicals using various tools and methods based on omics, genome-scale metabolic modeling and simulation, evolutionary engineering, synthetic biology are suggested with relevant examples. For the production of non-natural chemicals, strategies for the construction of synthetic metabolic pathways are also suggested. Having collected diverse tools and methods for systems metabolic engineering, authors also suggest how to use them and their possible limitations.
Professor Sang Yup Lee said "It is expected that increasing number of chemicals and materials will be produced through biorefineries. We are now equipped with new strategies for developing microbial strains that can produce our desired products at very high efficiencies, thus allowing cost competitiveness to those produced by petrochemical refineries."
Editor of Nature Chemical Biology, Dr. Catherine Goodman, said "It is exciting to see how quickly science is progressing in this field – ideas that used to be science fiction are taking shape in research labs and biorefineries. The article by Professor Lee and his colleagues not only highlights the most advanced techniques and strategies available, but offers critical advice to progress the field as a whole."
The works of Professor Lee have been supported by the Advanced Biomass Center and Intelligent Synthetic Biology Center of Global Frontier Program from the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology through National Research Foundation.
Contact: Dr. Sang Yup Lee, Distinguished Professor and Dean, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea (leesy@kaist.ac.kr, +82-42-350-3930)
KAIST College of Business ranks no.1 in Asia for executive education
KAIST College of Business ranked 28th in the world and 1st in Asia in the UK Financial Times (FT) 2012 Executive Education open ranking, making it the only school in Korea to be included.
The FT ranking selects the world’s top 65 business graduate schools based on executive education course design, teaching methods & materials, faculty, new skills & learning, quality of participants, and several other criteria. Last year, the KAIST executive education program ranked 29th in the world and 2nd in Asia. This year, it surpassed China’s CEIBS to rank 1st in Asia and has now been included in the ranking for three consecutive years.
Looking at the individual criteria, KAIST ranked highly in course preparation (11th), international location (11th), facilities (12th), and follow-up (5th) and saw increases in aims achieved (31st) and course design (29th).
KAIST attributed its success to the differentiation and specialization of education courses based on position, industry, and enterprise. KAIST College of Business operates an integrative course that fuses business management with science & technology, information media, medicine and innovation. The school runs both a chief and junior executive program to cater to different positional needs and provides specialized lectures that consider a company’s industry and size.
The ‘international location’ criteria saw a huge leap from 23rd to 11th due to the use of both long term and short term overseas exchange programs. The ‘Global Leader’ course created in 2011 is taught only in English and allows students to study abroad in a partner school in the second semester. The college’s knowhow in the MBA program also achieved recognition with high rankings in new skills & learning (18th) as well as in teaching methods & materials (24th).
College of Business President Lee Byung Tae said that the school’s success was achieved through a specialized curriculum that considers the market and explained that the ranking reflects the school’s competitiveness. He also said that KAIST will continue to provide the best educational services appropriate for KAIST’s outstanding reputation.
In the overall ranking, Swiss IMD was ranked number 1, followed by the Harvard Business School. In Asia, China’s CEIBS (29th), Singapore’s Aalto University (42nd), and the National University of Singapore Business School (64th) followed suit.