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Kinetic Lighting, Dlight, Dominates World Renowned Design Awards
Professor Sang-Min Bae
“D’light,” a lamp that transforms its lampshade shape, developed by a team led by KAIST Department of Industrial Design’s Professor Sang-Min Bae, won Japan’s Good Design Awards on October the 2nd, soon after winning the internationally renowned 2013 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) in August.
IDEA, sponsored by the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) and BusinessWeek, awards the best work from over 6,000 exhibits from 50 countries. Japan’s Good Design Awards, founded by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP) in 1957, is the most prestigious and one of the World’s four major design awards.
“D’light” combines “donative” and “light.” Its meaning originates from the meaning of “delight” which means “giving great joy.” The shape and the brightness of the lamp can be transformed by turning the end of the heart-shaped lampshade. The team states that the lamp carries a figurative meaning of generous hearts lighting the neglected of the world by designing the lamp to be the brightest when it takes the shape of a heart. D’light developed as the 5th product of “the Nanum” project that started in 2006. Professor Bae first participated in the project in developing the 2nd product, “Cross Cube” in 2007. The he designed and launched the environmentally friendly humidifier “Lovepot” in 2008 and interactive tumbler “Hearty” in 2009.
The “Nanum” project aims to develop innovative products for charity to create a humane social circulatory system. The project, led by the international relief and development organisation, World Vision and KAIST’s ID+IM laboratory run by Professor Bae, donates all profits to educate the children of low-income families. The project raised a total of 1.7 billion Korean won from 2007 this year to provide scholarships to 240 children in need.
Professor Bae’s team has undertaken seed and “Nanum” projects with the theme of philanthropy design helping people in need by creating innovative designs. The project has produced four excellent and authentic products which received 44 world renowned design awards.
Professor Bae said, “’The Nanum’ project consists of planning, designing, producing and selling for charity and donates all profit to children in need through education and scholarship.” He continued, “The consumers can purchase products that are aesthetically pleasing and convenient as well as gaining an opportunity to donate to children in need.”
Figure1 Kinetic lighting D’light
Figure 2. Characteristics of “Nanum” D’light
The shape of the lampshade can be transformed. The lamp sheds the brightest light when it takes the shape of a heart, hence showing the figurative meaning of brightening the neglected parts of the world with generous hearts.
Figure 3. Detailed Images of D’light
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Observation of a water strider led to a new method of measuring properties of Nano films
Even the mechanical properties of Nano films of a few nanometers thick can be measured
Posted online Nature Communications on the 3rd of October
The joint research team of KAIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering’s Professor Taek-Soo Kim and Doctor Seung-Min Hyun of the Nano mechanics laboratory of Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials has developed a new method to evaluate mechanical properties of Nano films using the characteristics of water surfaces.
The research findings have been posted on the online edition of Nature Communications on the 3rd of October. The technology can obtain accurate results by directly measuring the mechanical properties such as the strength and elasticity of Nano films. Academia and the industry expect the simplicity of the technology to present a new paradigm in the evaluation of mechanical properties of Nano films.
Evaluation of the mechanical properties of Nano films is essential not only in predicting the reliability of semiconductors and displays, but also in finding new phenomena in the Nano world. However, mechanical strength was difficult to test since the test demands the falling of objects to the ground to measure their strength, and nano films can easily break in the process.
The research team observed insects such as water striders freely floating on the surface of the water. The team used the properties of water, large surface tension and low viscosity, to float a 55 nanometers (nm) gold Nano film to successfully measure its mechanical properties without damaging it. The technology could be used to measure the mechanical properties of not only various types of Nano films but also films only a few nm thick.
Professor Taek-Soo Kim said, “We effectively performed an evaluation of the mechanical characteristics of Nano films, which was difficult in the past, by developing a new strength test using the properties of water.” He continued to say, “The team plans to discover the mechanical properties of 2D Nano films such as graphene that could not have been measured with the existing strength test methods.”
The research by KAIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering’s graduate student Jae-Han Kim (lead author) under the supervision of Professor Taek-Soo Kim and Doctor Seung-Min Hyun of Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials was sponsored by the National Research Foundation of Korea.
Evaluation process of mechanical properties of Nano films by using the characteristics of water surfaces
Dr Seung-Min Hyun, Jae-Han Kim, and Professor Taek-Soo Kim from left to right
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The World Economic Forum Invites KAIST to 2014 Davos Forum
President Steve Kang and Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee have been invited by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to attend its annual meeting slated for January 22-25, 2014 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland.
The president will also join the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) to be held during the annual meeting. The GULF consists of leading research universities throughout the world, at which President Kang will address agenda related to higher education and research.
From September 11th to 13th, KAIST was invited to the WEF’s 2013 Summer Davos Forum held in Dalian, China. The Summer Davos Forum is recognized as a barometer of the world economy, and KAIST hosted three sessions there.
In a session titled “Smart Regulations,” Professor Sang Yup Lee hosted presentations and discussions under the topic of “How regulation models can strengthen technical innovation and expansion.” President Steve Kang, Peter Sands, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Group, Mark Weinberger, CEO of Ernest & Young, and Peter Terium, CEO of RWE, participated in the discussions.
The KAIST delegates also presented and participated in a session titled “From Trade Center to Innovative Hub” to discuss how to lead innovations in Asia, as well as “Marine Resources: Finding New Frontier” to address issues of how to develop and manage oceanic resources for potential growth.
President Kang said, “The World Economic Forum allows us to introduce the results of our innovative and creative research to global leaders and to demonstrate that our global position continues to grow.”
The WEF has been hosting Summer Davos Forum in China since 2007. About 1,500 participants from over 90 countries joined in this year’s summer forum under the theme of “Innovation: Inevitable Mainstream.” New strategies for innovations and solutions for global threats were suggested through presentations and discussions in 125 sessions.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an independent, international, and non-profit organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. It is committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and government leaders to shape global, regional and industry agenda.
Among the meetings and forums organized by the WEF, its annual meeting held each January in Davos, a.k.a. the Davos Forum, has been the best known gathering. The Davos Forum brings together some 2,500 top business leaders, international political leaders, selected intellectuals and journalists to discuss the most pressing issues facing the world including health and environment.
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KAIST graduate appointed as professor at Southeast University in China
Dr. Yoon-Kyu Ahn has been appointed as a professor in the civil engineering department at Southeast University in Nanjing, China.
Dr. Ahn earned his Master’s and Ph.D. in civil & environmental engineering at KAIST, under the guidance of Professor Hoon Sohn, following his undergraduate studies at Korea University.His appointment is considered quite exceptional since most of top Chinese universities are likely hiring professors from the US and EU as a general trend.Ranked third in the field of civil engineering in China, Southeast University has been among the top ten universities in the nation. The university has 27,000 students with 1,300 faculty members in 34 schools.
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Professor Jae-Hyung Lee appointed as AIChE fellow
Professor Jae-Hyung Lee from the Department of Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering at KAIST was appointed as a fellow in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
Established in 1908, AIChE is the largest association of chemical engineers worldwide, which now boasts more than 40,000 members from 90 countries.
Following Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the same department at KAIST, Professor Jae-Hyung Lee is the second Korean appointed as a fellow by the organization.
He has been acknowledged for his innovative research on the improvement of model predictive control of industrial processes.
Professor Lee is the director of the Saudi Armaco-KAIST CO2 Management Center at KAIST, a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), and a member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.
He received the Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1994 and the Computing in Chemical Engineering Award from AIChE in 2013.
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Metabolically engineered E. coli producing phenol
Many chemicals we use in everyday life are derived from fossil resources. Due to the increasing concerns on the use of fossil resources, there has been much interest in producing chemicals from renewable resources through biotechnology.
Phenol is an important commodity chemical, and is a starting material for the production of numerous industrial chemicals and polymers, including bisphenol A and phenolic resins, and others. At present, the production of phenol entirely depends on the chemical synthesis from benzene, and its annual production exceeds 8 million tons worldwide. Microbial production of phenol seems to be a non-viable process considering the high toxicity of phenol to the cell.
In the paper published online in Biotechnology Journal, a Korean research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) reported the successful development of an engineered Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain which can produce phenol from glucose. E. coli has been a workhorse for biological production of various value-added compounds such as succinic acid and 1,4-butanediol in industrial scale. However, due to its low tolerance to phenol, E. coli was not considered a viable host strain for the biological production of phenol.
Professor Lee"s team, a leading research group in metabolic engineering, noted the genetic and physiological differences of various E. coli strains and investigated 18 different E. coli strains with respect to phenol tolerance and engineered all of the 18 strains simultaneously. If the traditional genetic engineering methods were used, this work would have taken years to do. To overcome this challenge, the research team used synthetic small RNA (sRNA) technology they recently developed (Nature Biotechnology, vol 31, pp 170-174, 2013). The sRNA technology allowed the team to screen 18 E. coli strains with respect to the phenol tolerance, and the activities of the metabolic pathway and enzyme involved in the production of phenol. The research team also metabolically engineered the E. coli strains to increase carbon flux toward phenol and finally generated an engineered E. coli strain which can produce phenol from glucose.
Furthermore, the team developed a biphasic extractive fermentation process to minimize the toxicity of phenol to E. coli cells. Glycerol tributyrate was found to have low toxicity to E. coli and allowed efficient extraction of phenol from the culture broth. Through the biphasic fed-batch fermentation using glycerol tributyrate as an in situ extractant, the final engineered E. coli strain produced phenol to the highest titer and productivity reported (3.8 g/L and 0.18 g/L/h, respectively). The strategy used for the strain development and the fermentation process will serve as a framework for metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the production of toxic chemicals from renewable resources.
This work was supported by the Intelligent Synthetic Biology Center through the Global Frontier Project (2011-0031963) of the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning through the National Research Foundation of Korea.
Process of Phenol Production
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KAIST announced a novel technology to produce gasoline by a metabolically engineered microorganism
A major scientific breakthrough in the development of renewable energy sources and other important chemicals; The research team succeeded in producing 580 mg of gasoline per liter of cultured broth by converting in vivo generated fatty acids
For many decades, we have been relying on fossil resources to produce liquid fuels such as gasoline, diesel, and many industrial and consumer chemicals for daily use. However, increasing strains on natural resources as well as environmental issues including global warming have triggered a strong interest in developing sustainable ways to obtain fuels and chemicals.
Gasoline, the petroleum-derived product that is most widely used as a fuel for transportation, is a mixture of hydrocarbons, additives, and blending agents. The hydrocarbons, called alkanes, consist only of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Gasoline has a combination of straight-chain and branched-chain alkanes (hydrocarbons) consisted of 4-12 carbon atoms linked by direct carbon-carbon bonds.
Previously, through metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli (E. coli), there have been a few research results on the production of long-chain alkanes, which consist of 13-17 carbon atoms, suitable for replacing diesel. However, there has been no report on the microbial production of short-chain alkanes, a possible substitute for gasoline.
In the paper (entitled "Microbial Production of Short-chain Alkanes") published online in Nature on September 29, a Korean research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) reported, for the first time, the development of a novel strategy for microbial gasoline production through metabolic engineering of E. coli.
The research team engineered the fatty acid metabolism to provide the fatty acid derivatives that are shorter than normal intracellular fatty acid metabolites, and introduced a novel synthetic pathway for the biosynthesis of short-chain alkanes. This allowed the development of platform E. coli strain capable of producing gasoline for the first time. Furthermore, this platform strain, if desired, can be modified to produce other products such as short-chain fatty esters and short-chain fatty alcohols.
In this paper, the Korean researchers described detailed strategies for 1) screening of enzymes associated with the production of fatty acids, 2) engineering of enzymes and fatty acid biosynthetic pathways to concentrate carbon flux towards the short-chain fatty acid production, and 3) converting short-chain fatty acids to their corresponding alkanes (gasoline) by introducing a novel synthetic pathway and optimization of culture conditions. Furthermore, the research team showed the possibility of producing fatty esters and alcohols by introducing responsible enzymes into the same platform strain.
Professor Sang Yup Lee said, "It is only the beginning of the work towards sustainable production of gasoline. The titer is rather low due to the low metabolic flux towards the formation of short-chain fatty acids and their derivatives. We are currently working on increasing the titer, yield and productivity of bio-gasoline. Nonetheless, we are pleased to report, for the first time, the production of gasoline through the metabolic engineering of E. coli, which we hope will serve as a basis for the metabolic engineering of microorganisms to produce fuels and chemicals from renewable resources."
This research was supported by the Advanced Biomass Research and Development Center of Korea (ABC-2010-0029799) through the Global Frontier Research Program of the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) through the National Research Foundation (NRF), Republic of Korea. Systems metabolic engineering work was supported by the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes on Systems Metabolic Engineering for Biorefineries (NRF-2012-C1AAA001-2012M1A2A2026556) by MSIP through NRF.
Short-Chain Alkanes Generated from Renewable Biomass
This diagram shows the metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of short-chain alkanes (gasoline) from renewable biomass.
Nature Cover Page (September 29th, 2013)
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Artist in residence program at KAIST
A new and innovative program to support artists’ creative activities was launched by KAIST for the first time in Korean college history.
The artist in residence program is an unusual collaboration between engineers and artists. Out of hundreds of applicants for the program, three writers were selected: a novelist, web-based cartoonist, and screen writer. In late October, they became the residents of KAIST.
Housing and an office are provided for the writers in addition to a monthly cash stipend of 800,000 won for up to six months. A variety of programs will be available as well including a tour of laboratories to help the writers get ideas and inspiration.
KAIST’s Vice President Jun-Ho Oh, the founder of the program, said, “Artists can freshen their imagination, and KAIST members can benefit from them to promote creative and innovative ideas through exchange and collaboration.”
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KAIST ranked 60th in the 2013 QS World University Rankings
KAST achieved the highest ranking in its history in the QS World University Rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds.
The British company, which specializes in education, has ranked KAIST 60th in the world in its 2013 QS World University Rankings, as announced on its homepage on September 10th. KAIST was ranked 198th in 2006 and was promoted to 63rd in 2012.
This year, MIT was first, followed by Harvard in second, Cambridge in third, University College of London in fourth, and Imperial College in fifth.
Seoul National University, in 35th place, was ranked the highest among Korean universities. Six other Korean universities were included in the top 200, including KAIST, POSTECH which ranked 107th, Yonsei University in 114th place, Korea University in 145th, and Sungkyunkwan University in 162nd.
QS World University Rankings are assessed based on six different criteria: academic reputation (40%), citations per faculty (20%), student-to-faculty ratio (20%), employer reputation (10%), international student ratio (5%), and foreign faculty ratio (5%).
KAIST improved over 10 points from last year in the areas of employer reputation and citations per faculty.
“This has been accomplished through the challenging spirit and passion of the KAIST family including the students and the faculty. All possible support will be provided for them to excel in research and education”, said the president, Steve Kang.
KAIST also ranked sixth in the 2013 Chosun Daily Newspaper Asian University Rankings and first in the Chungang Daily Newspaper University Rankings for five years from 2008 to 2012.
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A beginner's book for engineering co-published by KAIST professors
A group of KAIST professors published a book (Korean) to draw public attention to engineering.
The book, titled ‘What is Engineering?’, was co-published by 19 KAIST engineering professors for future engineering students and readers interested in exploring what engineering is about.
The co-authors wish to show talented students how important, fun, and helpful engineering is in improving our everyday life even though it is still not a very popular major in Korea.The book contains general knowledge in a wide array of engieering fields such as mechanics, civil, electrical & electronics, materials, chemistry, aerospace, marine systems, nuclear, industrial design, knowledge service, and bio and brain.One of the co-authors who planned for the publication of this book, Pung-Hyun Sung, a professor of nuclear and quantum engineering, said, “Various information, including the history, roles and future prospects of engineering, is contained in this book. It will be a precious guide for future engineers and members of the general public who are interested in understanding why engineering is so important.”
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Collaboration with Korea Institute of Energy Research
KAIST and the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) agreed on September 4th to further collaboration on energy research such as the development of nano-based hybrid solar cells, bio-fuels, artificial photosynthesis, and carbon dioxide reduction.
The two institutions will select 11 research projects to focus on their cooperation. President Steve Kang (in the right) stood with Jooho Whang, the president of KIER (in the left), holding the signed memorandum of understanding.
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KAIST's classes now available to take from all around the world
Signed a partnership agreement with Coursera to provide millions of people with online courses in science and technology.
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a world-leading research university focusing on science, engineering and technology, joined a new, online platform for open access that serves the needs of Korean and global learners.
KAIST and Coursera, the world"s largest provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs), agreed on October 14th, 2013 to partner for the provision of internet-based open learning, through which the university expects to reinforce its current education initiative, Education 3.0.Steve Kang, president of KAIST, was upbeat about the partnership."We know the benefits and importance of online education that will significantly impact the landscape of today"s higher education. Hopefully, our partnership with Coursera will expand our initiative to continuously provide quality education globally."
With its network of 107 prestigious partner universities and public institutions worldwide, Coursera offers 482 free online courses across a wide field of humanities, science, engineering, and business to 5 million students around the globe.
KAIST will be able to utilize top-notch online courses and lecture contents available on the company"s website. The university can also supply its online courses to the global community, allowing the faculty"s top quality lectures to reach hundreds and thousands of students and adult learners throughout the world.Incorporating advanced information and communications technology, KAIST has implemented a new, smart education program, Education 3.0, since 2012 to effectively meet the growing demands of creating a better and more interactive learning and teaching environment for students and faculty. Under Education 3.0, students study online and meet in groups with a professor for discussions and problem solving.
Tae-Eog Lee, Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning & Teaching at KAIST, said:"We received a phenomenal response from students and professors to the courses made available under Education 3.0. For this year alone, we are offering 60 courses, such classes as calculus, general biology, basic programming, design and communication, bioengineering fundamentals, and logic and artificial intelligence."
Professor Lee added:"It has turned out that our education initiative is not only useful to our students but also quite popular among learners outside the university and Korea. It"s a great thing that KAIST can contribute to the world"s concerted efforts to provide equal opportunities for learning. At the same time, we look forward to seeing the benefits of MOOC-based content being used in our classrooms."
Founded in 2012 by two eminent Stanford University professors, Coursera has held a strong lead in MOOCs. Unlike the traditional online education model, open courseware (OCW), designed for simply sharing lecture materials including videos, slides, and data through the internet, MOOCs develop and evaluate courses, lecture contents, and delivery quality to meet high academic standards—In order to earn credits, subscribers (universities and students) are required to submit course registration, specification, and description; student attendance roster; homework and assignments; and assessment.
Daphne Koller, co-founder of Coursera, commented on the partnership agreement with KAIST:"We are honored to have so many brilliant minds working together to expand educational opportunities globally. To be able to offer courses from professors at the forefront of their fields to millions of people is truly remarkable, and our students remind us daily of the value of spreading this knowledge globally."
Among the partner universities and institutions are Stanford University, California Institute of Technology, Columbia University, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, the National University of Singapore, the University of Tokyo, the World Bank, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
President Steve Kang (in the left) singed a partnership agreement with Dr. Daphne Koller (in the right), president and CEO of Coursera.
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