Korea
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Professor Hwang Kyu Young and Professor Yang Dong Yeol Receives Engineer of Korea Award
Emeritus Professor Hwang Kyu Young (Department of Computer Sciences) and Professor Yang Dong Yeol (Department of Mechanical Engineering) were named as the 2012 Engineer of Korea by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology and Korea Science Foundation.
The Engineer of Korea Award is awarded biannually to scientists and engineers that have contributed to the development of Korea’s science and technology and national economy.
Professor Hwang’s work with DBMS and close coupling architecture of information search and overall new theories and application technology development in the field of database system has aided the opening and expansion of IT software industry development and the advent of internet information culture era.
Professor Yang is a word renowned scholar in the field of net shape manufacturing and is considered to have opened a new page in the field of nano-molding technique.
In addition, Professor Eum Sang Il (Department of Mathematical Science) has been selected as the 2012 Young Scientist Award.
2013.01.22 View 10072 -
KAIST Alumni Association Selects 'Proud Alums'
KAIST Alumni Association selected ‘Proud Alums’ who have contributed to the development of Korea and society and brought honor to KAIST.
The Alums selected were: CEO of Hyundai Heavy Industry Lee Jae Seong, Vice President of SK Hynix Park Sang Hoon, President of Samsung Display Kim Ki Nam, Director of Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science Kang Dae Lim, and President of Dawonsys Park Sun Soon.
Lee Jae Song (Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, M.S. 3rd) has led Hyundai Heavy Industries through innovation and had contributed in the development of Korea and oversaw the growth of Hyundai Heavy Industries to number 1 in Shipbuilding.
Park Sang Hoon (Biological and Chemical Engineering, M.S. 5th) has led SK Hynix in the fields of energy, chemical and biological medicine and oversaw the development of world class R&D and production technologies to aid the development of Korea.
Kim Ki Nam (Electrical and Electronic Engineering, M.S. 9th) has led the development of innovative semiconductor technologies thereby helping strengthening the competitiveness of Korean semiconductor industry.
Kang Dae Lim (Mechanical Engineering, Ph.D. 1994 graduate) has helped in the development of Korean science and technology by leading the field of measurement standardization as Chairman of International Measurement Confederation and Chairman of Korea Association of Standards & Testing Organizations.
Park Sun Soon (Electrical and Electronic Engineering, M.S. 12th) has succeeded in advancing the field of electronics by pioneering the field of creative technology.
2013.01.22 View 8703
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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.
2012.12.26 View 11577 -
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.
2012.12.21 View 8630
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2012 Intellectual Property Rights Award Ceremony Held
The 2012 Intellectual Property Rights Award Ceremony was held at Seoul KAIST Campus.
Recipients of the award included former congressmen Kim Young Sun and Lee Jeong Hyuk, and Kim Boo Kyung researcher at Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute also representing Vooz Ltd. that created the character POOCA.
The Intellectual Property Rights Award is given to an individual or a group that succeeded in utilizing, protecting, creating, and establishment of its foundation including patent, copyright, and brand. Intellectual Property Rights is viewed as of importance for future national competitiveness.
The Award is organized by the Korea Patent Attorneys Association, the Korea Association of Intellectual Property Services, and KAIST and are respectively core institutions in the training of Intellectual Property Rights Experts and the creation, utilization, and the protection of intellectual property.
In addition the Award is also co-organized by the KAIST Graduate School of Intellectual Property Rights (established in cooperation with KAIST and the Korean Intellectual Property Office) and the total 20 million Won of prize money is funded by Korea Institute of Intellectual Strategy and Kim Ok Lan Foundation.
The Award Ceremony was held with a special lecture by the recipients.
It was stressed that the evaluation process was carried out with that the decision is a silent message to the society and is also a type of market signal.
Director Ko Gi Seok (Presidential Council on Intellectual Property) revealed that the candidates’ impact on the strength of national intellectual property rights was thoroughly scrutinized.
In the criteria of Creation of Intellectual Property, ETRI received the award in recognition of the institution’s successful patenting and commercializing of products of Korean R&D.
ETRI created a total of 251 International Patents in cooperation with ITU, ISO, IEE, etc. and also participated in a total of 9 International Standard Patent Pool, showing its active Intellectual Property management.
Such efforts ranked ETRI 1st in the United States Patent Evaluation performed by the US Patent Board in 2011 out of 237 institutions.
In addition Recipient of the Intellectual Property Utilization criteria, VOOZ ltd.’s Kim Boo Kyung promised the free use of their character POOCA in ETRI’s automated Korean-English translator. Researcher Kim Boo Kyung was rewarded with the award in recognition of his contribution to the domestic economy and realization of the commercialization of a copy right through licensing.
Former congressman Kim Young Son received an Award in the Foundation criteria in recognition of his efforts in the establishment of the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property and the Basic Blueprints for the Intellectual Property Law.
Former congressman Lee Jeong Hyuk received the same award in recognition of standardization and streamlining Intellectual Property Rights Policies. His realization and pursuit of the establishment of a balanced growth based on law for the competitiveness of businesses was the driving force behind his accomplishments.
2012.10.16 View 10062
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1st Korean Certified Fund Raising Executive
Ms. Kim Hyun Soo (KAIST Development Foundation) has become the 1st Korean Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE).
Ms. Kim received an email from International Certified Fund Raising Committee indicating that she had passed the CFRE program and that she was the 1st Korean to do so.
CFRE is an internationally certified fund raising expert and there are 5,322 members worldwide working in various universities, hospitals, and non-profit organizations.
Ms. Kim majored in Science of Public Administration (Yonsei University) as B.A. and International Cooperation (Seoul National University) as Masters. She passed the Accounting Exam in the United States and tried to do something worthwhile rather than blindly chasing higher pay.
Ms. Kim played a crucial part in raising record funds in KAIST history since she started in 2006. She commented that she always was interested in non-profit organizations and their role in society and that KAIST allowed her to fulfill both of her two dreams.
2012.10.16 View 7063
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Distinguished Professor Lee Sang Yeop Appointed as Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Professor Lee Sang Yeop (Dean of the Department of Biological Sciences) has become the first Korea Scientist to be appointed as the Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers was founded in 1908 and boasts a 100 year history. It is composed of 43,000 members over 90 countries and is the largest international Academic Institute in the field of Chemical Engineering.
The Institute appoints Fellows after a rigorous procedure of recommendation and evaluation and Professor Lee is the first Korean to become a Fellow.
Professor Lee’s expertise is the field of Metabolic Engineering and successfully applied the system design method and optimization strategy of chemical engineering to biological systems thereby developing numerous core technologies for the biology based chemical industries.
Professor Lee is the founder of the System Metabolic Engineering and enabled the medical application of microorganisms by manipulating the metabolic pathways on a systems level in addition to making great progress in synthesizing various oil originated chemical materials using biology based, environmentally friends methods.
Professor Lee received the Marvin J. Johnson Award, Charles Thom Award, and has been appointed by the first Chairman of the Biotech Global Agenda Counsel of the World Economic Forum.
2012.09.22 View 8198
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Professor Yoon Dong Ki becomes first Korean to Receive the Michi Nakata Prize
Professor Yoon Dong Ki (Graduate School of Nano Science and Technology) became the first Korean to receive the Michi Nakata Prize from the International Liquid Crystal Society.
The Awards Ceremony was held on the 23rd of August in Mainz, Germany in the 24th Annual International Liquid Crystal Conference.
The Michi Nakata Prize was initiated in 2008 and is rewarded every two years to a young scientist that made a ground breaking discovery or experimental result in the field of liquid crystal. Professor Yoon is the first Korean recipient of the Michi Nakata Prize.
Professor Yoon is the founder of the patterning field that utilizes the defect structure formed by smectic displays. He succeeded in large scale patterning complex chiral nano structures that make up bent-core molecules.
Professor Yoon’s experimental accomplishment was published in the Advanced Materials magazine and the Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. and also as the cover dissertation of Liquid Crystals magazine.
Professor Yoon is currently working on Three Dimensional Nano Patterning of Supermolecular Liquid Crystal and is part of the World Class University organization.
2012.09.11 View 11137
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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.
2012.08.21 View 8134
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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.
2012.07.06 View 10330
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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)
2012.05.23 View 11524
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KAIST hosts the first Can Satellite (Cansat) competition
Figure: The cansat is sent up into the air using a balloon and then separated at a certain height. The cansat slowly descends and sends terrestrial observation or atmospheric information back to earth.
KAIST will host the first ever Cansat Competition Korea, in which students from different age groups can participate in building and testing the performance of their custom satellites.
The Satellite Technology Research Center (SaTReC) at KAIST announced that it will take applications for the Cansat Competition Korea until May 25th. A cansat is a can-sized educational satellite that contains the basic elements of a real satellite. It is fired up to a few hundred meters in the air using balloons or small rockets and then separated like a real satellite, collecting data and sending the information back to earth. Cansat competitions are regularly held in the United States or Europe, where they have advanced space development programs, but this is the first time this competition will be held in Korea.
The competition caters to different age groups through a cansat experience science camp for elementary and middle school students and a cansat competition for high school and college students.
The science camp will be held from August 7th to 9th at KAIST and Sejong City and will include satellite education, visits to space development centers (KAIST Satellite Technology Research Center and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute), hand-on experience with basic cansat kits, and other various programs.
The science camp will consist of a maximum of 20 teams comprised of students from fifth to ninth grade. Each team will have an advisory teacher and 3 to 4 students and can apply for the competition at no cost.
The cansat competition will test high school and college students on their personally designed and built can satellites along with the creativity of their mission and developmental outcome.
The preliminary review will choose a maximum of 15 teams, while the secondary review will select the 5 teams that will make the final competition based on their design presentation. On August 9th, these 5 teams will be evaluated on their technical ability, mission capacity and presentation skills. The winning team will be given the KAIST presidential award along with a trophy and prize money.
Doctor Park from KAIST SaTReC explained that countries with advanced space technology actively support cansat competitions to expand the base of the field. He emphasized Korea’s need for regular cansat competitions to actively promote potential space researchers.
More information on the competition can be found on the homepage (http://cansat.kaist.ac.kr) or at the KAIST SaTReC (042-350-8613~4)
2012.05.14 View 11354