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Soyeon's Odyssey by Space Travel, Feb. 1, 2011
Soyeon Yi, an alumna of KAIST who joined the Soyuz TMA-12 mission to the International Space Station in 2008 and successfully returned to the Earth after completion of her mission. She is often cited as the first Korean astronaut who had spaceflight. She recently had an interview with an Australian based online newspaper that publishes space related news stories. For the interview, please go to the link.
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/Soyeon_Odyssey_999.html
2011.02.02 View 10339 -
Korean researchers reveal new sea defense model by EurekAlert
The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation, a peer review journal devoted to advancing the practice, science and art of modeling and simulation that relate to military and defense purposes.
The SAGE Publication that issues the journal released a press release on January 18, 2011, announcing that KAIST researchers in collaboration with other intuitions in Korea devised “improved methods to model underwater warfare, which could aid future decisions about weapons and defense purchases.” Details of the article follow below: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-01/sp-krr011811.php
2011.01.19 View 9832
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Success in differentiating Functional Vascular Progenitor Cells (VPC)
KAIST’s Professor Han Yong Man successfully differentiated vascular progenitor cells from human embryonic stem cells and reversed differentiated stem cells.
The research went beyond the current method of synthesis of embryonic body or mice cell ball culture and used the careful alteration of signal transmission system of the human embryonic stem cells to differentiate the formation of vascular progenitor cells.
The team controlled the MEK/ERK and BMP signal transmission system that serves an important role in the self replication of human embryonic stem cells and successfully differentiated 20% of the cells experimented on to vascular progenitor cells.
The vascular progenitor cells produced with such a method successfully differentiated into cells forming the endodermis of the blood vessel, vascular smooth muscle cells and hematopoietic cells in an environment outside of the human body and also successfully differentiated into blood vessels in nude mice.
In addition, the vascular progenitor cell derived from human embryonic cells successfully formed blood vessels or secreted vascular growth factors and increased the blood flow and the necrosis of blood vessels when injected into an animal with limb ischemic illness.
The research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, 21st Century Frontier Research and Development Institution’s Cell Application Research Department and Professor Ko Kyu Young (KAIST), Professor Choi Chul Hee (KAIST), Professor Jeong Hyung Min (Cha Medical School) and Doctor Jo Lee Sook (Researcher in Korea Bio Engineering Institute) participated in it.
The results of the research was published as the cover paper of the September edition of “Blood (IF:10.55)”, the American Blood Journal and has been patented domestically and has finished registration of foreign PCT.
The results of the experiment opened the possibility of providing a patient specific cure using stem cells in the field of blood vessel illness.
2011.01.18 View 14787 -
Explanation for the polymerized nucleic acid enzyme's abnormal activation found
KAIST’s Professor Park Hyun Kyu of the Department of Bio Chemical Engineering revealed on the 23rd of December 2010 that his team had successfully developed the technology that uses the metal ions to control the abnormal activation of nucleic acids’ enzymes and using this, created a logic gate, which is a core technology in the field of future bio electrons.
The polymerized nucleic acid enzyme works to increase the synthesis of DNA and kicks into action only when the target DNA and primers form complimentary pairs (A and T, C and G).
Professor Park broke the common conception and found that it is possible for none complimentary pairs like T-T and C-C to initiate the activation of the enzyme and thus increase the nucleic acid production, given that there are certain metal ions present.
What Professor Park realized is that the enzymes mistake the uncomplimentary T-T and C-C pairs (with stabilized structures due to the bonding with mercury and silver ions) as being complimentary base pairs. Professor Park described this phenomenon as the “illusionary polymerase activity.”
The research team developed a logic gate based on the “illusionary polymerase activity’ phenomenon.” The logic gate paves the way to the development of future bio electron needed for bio computers and high performance memories.
Professor Park commented, “The research is an advancement of the previous research carried on about metal ions and nucleic acid synthesis. Our research is the first attempt at merging the concepts of the two previously separately carried out researches and can be adapted for testing presence of metal ions and development of a new single nucleotide polymorphic gene analysis technology.”
Professor Park added that, “Our research is a great stride in the field of nano scale electron element research as the results made possible the formation of accurate logic gates through relatively cost efficient and simple system designs.”
On a side note, the research was funded by Korea Research Foundation (Chairman: Park Chan Mo) and was selected as the cover paper for the December issue of ‘Angewandte Chemie International Edition’.
2011.01.18 View 12070 -
Korea should find niche in space race, Korea Herald, December 20, 2010
A proud alumna of KAIST, Dr. Yi So-Yeon, who went to the International Space Station in the outer space for the first time as a Korean in 2009, had an interview with the Korea Herald. In the interview, she talks about her experience in working at the space station and her personal plans for the future as a researcher and astronaut. For the article, please click the link:
http://www.koreaherald.com/lifestyle/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20101220000999
2010.12.21 View 11049
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The KAIST & GIT team developed a power generation technology using bendable thin film nano-materials.
Figure description: Flexible thin film nanomaterials produce electricity.
Can a heart implanted micro robot operate permanently?
Can cell phones and tiny robots implanted in the heart operate permanently without having their batteries charged?
It might sound like science fiction, but these things seem to be possible in the near future. The team of Prof. Keon Jae Lee (KAIST, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering) and Prof. Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering) has developed new forms of highly efficient, flexible nanogenerator technology using the freely bendable piezoelectric ceramic thin film nano-materials that can convert tiny movements of the human body (such as heart beats and blood flow) into electrical energy.
The piezoelectric effect refers to voltage generation when pressure or bending strength is applied to piezoelectric materials. The ceramics, containing a perovskite structure, have a high piezoelectric efficiency. Until now, it has been very difficult to use these ceramic materials to fabricate flexible electronic systems due to their brittle property.
The research team, however, has succeeded in developing a bio-eco-friendly ceramic thin film nanogenerator that is freely bendable without breakdown.
Nanogenerator technology, a power generating system without wires or batteries, combines nanotechnology with piezoelectrics that can be used not only in personal mobile electronics but also in bio-implantable sensors or as an energy source for micro robots. Energy sources in nature (wind, vibration, and sound) and biomechanical forces produced by the human body (heart beats, blood flow, and muscle contraction/relaxation) can infinitely produce nonpolluting energy. (Nanogenerator produces electricity by external forces: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvj0SsBqpBw)
Prof. Keon Jae Lee (KAIST) was involved in the first co-invention of “High Performance Flexible Single Crystal Electronics” during his PhD course at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This nanogenerator technology, based on the previous invention, utilized the similar protocol of transferring ceramic thin film nano-materials on flexible substrates and produced voltage generation between electrodes.
Prof. Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Tech, inventor of the nanogenerator) said, “This technology can be used to turn on an LED by slightly modifying circuits and operate touchable flexible displays. In addition, thin film nano-materials (‘barium titanate’) of this research have the property of both high efficiency and lead-free bio compatibility, which can be used in future medical applications.” This result is published in November online issue of ‘Nano Letters’ ACS journal.
<Video>
Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvj0SsBqpBw
Thin Film Nanogenerator produces electricity by external forces.
2010.11.23 View 15955 -
2010 International Presidential Forum was held successfully.
On October 11th, the 2010 International Presidential Forum on “The Role of the Research University in an S&T Dominated Era: Expectation & Delivery” was held successfully at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul. The third International Presidential Forum to be held, participants of the 2010 Presidential Forum engaged in an in-depth discussion about the direction that research universities should take in the 21st Century.
On its opening, President Nam Pyo Suh delivered a congratulatory message saying, “This forum is a meaningful gathering where research universities will suggest role models and find ways research universities can contribute to the progress of mankind in this century.”
Following, Lee Ki Jun, CEO of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies said, “The common goal of the world’s research universities is to solve the problems mankind is facing together. I believe that the discussion we will hold today at the forum will point to the future direction of research universities.”
“To produce next generation engineers meeting global standards, exchange and dual degree programs between universities must be strengthened,” said Lars Pallesen, President of the Technical University of Denmark. “Research universities must support the exchange between students beyond cultural and national borders to adapt to the global market.”
Ichiro Okura, Vice President of Tokyo Institute of Technology, presented on the “Asian Science and Technology Pioneering Institutes of Research and Education, ASPIRE.” ASPIRE is a community created by the coalition between science and technology universities in the Far East. Its purpose is to contribute to sustainable global growth by educating high-quality human resources and lead Asia’s technology innovation based on science and technology development.
“For research universities to solve today’s global issues, universities must create new ideas by performing fundamental studies and developing innovative technology. The financial resources of universities must be focused with choices based on results,” remarked President Suh.
Zaini Ujang, Vice-President of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia stated that “the Malaysian government is planning on converting from a ‘labor-intensive economy’ to an ‘innovative leading economy’ with the goal of joining the advanced countries by 2020. In today’s science and technology era where innovative technology is necessary, research universities have an important role of developing the knowledge environmental system to lead the world economy.” Vice-President Ujang then explained what strategies Malaysian research universities devised in the innovative leading economy era to create research universities that bring creativity and innovation.
Tod A. Laursen, President of KUSTAR, said that “KUSTAR has a leading role in bringing science and technology and manpower necessary in converting the oil-centered economy of UAE to a knowledge-based economy. KUSTAR will continuously strengthen international cooperation to become not only the best engineering university in the Arab region but in the world.”
At this year’s forum, thirty international presidents and vice presidents from 24 universities in 15 countries including Georgia Tech, Technical University of Denmark, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, University of Queensland, Tokyo University, Nanyang Technological University, University Teknologi Malaysia and Hong Kong Institute of Science and Technology along with forty national figures such as the presidents of Hanyang University and Handong Global University, governmental bureaucrats and representatives from national business and institutions participated.
2010.10.20 View 17108 -
The 5th KAIST President's Advisory Council Held
The 5th KAIST President’s Advisory Council (PAC) was held on October 13 at KAIST. At PAC, President Suh reported important present conditions and achievements of KAIST and introduced the ‘KAIST Vision 2025’ to members of the council which includes top national and international professionals of the Industry-University-Institute collaboration.
Additionally, six latest research assignments of KAIST were selected and presented to the PAC. President Suh also presented the Freshman Design Course, Renaissance Ph.D. Program, KAIST-KUSTAR Cooperation Program, and the visions of Neil Pappalardo Medical Center and received advice from the council.
Through PAC, KAIST receives various strategic advices to develop KAIST into a global science and technology university, direct and indirect support on the KAIST development fund collection, and support to create, maintain and develop cooperation relationships with national and international distinguished institutes linked to advisory council members.
International PAC council members include Donald C. W. Kim, CEO of AMKOR A&E; Neil Pappalardo, former MEDITECH CEO; John R. Holzrichter, President of the Fannie and John Hertz Foundation; Papken Der Torossian, CEO of Vistec Semiconductor Systems Group; Adnan Akay, Vice President of Bilkent University; Arden Bement, Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF); Tod Laursen, President of KUSTAR in the UAE; Lars Pallesen, President of the Technical University of Denmark and Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, former President of the University of Tokyo.
National PAC council members include Kim Woo Sik, President of the Creativity Engineering Institute; Jin Hyun Kim, Chairman of the Committee for the Establishment of the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History; Myung Ja Kim, President of the Green Korea 21 Forum; Lee Hee Gook, President of LG Siltron; Lyu keun Chul, Professor of Bauman Moscow State Technical University; Bo-Young Kang, President of Andong Medical Group; Kwon Oh-Gap, former Vice Minister of Science and Technology; Sang chun Lee, President of Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials; and Bae Soo Hoon, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Korea.
2010.10.20 View 14739 -
International Workshop on EEWS 2010 was held.
On October 7 and 8th at Fusion Hall of KI Building, KAIST, the 2010 International Workshop on EEWS (Energy, Environment, Water, and Sustainability) was held.
The third to be held, forty national and international academic professionals including Mark Shannon, professor at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Domen Kazunari, Tokyo University professor, Dong Sub Kim, CTO of SK Energy and Doyoung Seung, Senior Vice President of GS Caltex, participated at this year’s workshop.
In twelve sessions, themes including Artificial Photosynthesis, Wireless Power Transfer, Green Aviation, Safe Nuclear Fuel Reuse, Fuel Cells in Action, LED 2.0, Foundation of Energy-Water Nexus, and Flexible Battery & Solar Cell were presented and discussed.
“Through this workshop, current EEWS policy and research progress from different countries and the future of related technologies will be foreseen,” said Jae Kyu Lee, Dean of KAIST EEWS Initiative. “I hope it became an opportunity to create cooperative relationships with leading researchers.”
EEWS is a research project conducted by KAIST to solve global issues that mankind faces today such as depletion of energy, environmental pollution, water shortage, and sustainability.
2010.10.15 View 17415
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The 9th International Conference on Entertainment Computing Held, Sep 8-11, 2010
The cyber world is no longer an unrealistic place for a contemporary man who spends most of his time in front of a computer nowadays. The entertainment contents industry, which materializes the cyber world, leads the new knowledge economy and is emerging as a new growth engine for high value-added industry.
Professionals in entertainment computing gathered to discuss how to make the cyber space more elaborate and entertaining. The 9th 2010 International Conference on Entertainment Computing (ICEC) was held from September 8 to September 11 at Seoul COEX by KAIST and International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).
This year’s theme is “Creative and Innovative Science, Computing and Design for Digital and Entertainment Contents in 21C”, with fifteen global leaders of industry-university-institute collaboration speakers including George Joblove (Executive VP of Sony Pictures Technologies), Massimiliano Gasparri (VP of Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services), Don Marinelli (Executive Producer of Entertainment Technology Center at University of Carnegie Mellon), Keith Devlin (Founding Executive Director of Stanford Media-X and Executive Director of Stanford H-STAR), Roy Ascott (President of Planetary Collegium).
Speeches, paper sessions, workshops, exhibitions on the high-tech digital entertainment industry including computer graphics, cyber reality, telepresence, 3D/4D, mobile games, animation, special effects, robot design, content production and distribution, media art were held at the conference this year.
This event was sponsored by IEEE, ACM, IPS, ADADA, Elsevier, ETRI, SK Telecom, KIISE, KMMS, HCI Korea, KCGS and KCGS.
2010.09.17 View 14373
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International Center was built to promote greater exchanges and collaborations between the international community and KAIST.
On July 9, 2010, KAIST held an opening ceremony for the construction of International Center. The Center will serve as an internal and external liaison for the university, providing a source of assistance to faculty, administrators, and students on matters related to international activities and initiatives. It will also pursue greater exchanges and collaborations between the international community and KAIST.
The facility accommodates various meetings, exhibitions, library, language services, and other amenities. The International Cooperation Team of KAIST will be moved into this building and provide a variety of services, such as immigration regulations, cultural adjustment, employment, to assist international students, scholars, faculty, and staff at KAIST, as well as Korean students seeking opportunities to study, work, or travel abroad. An international nursery school will also be inside the building so that foreign faculty and students with children can have convenience and quality child care while they are teaching or studying.
At the center will be held many different kinds of international event—one among them is KAIST-ONE, a festival held twice a year in spring and fall to introduce and share culture, education, and food of the global community at KAIST.
2010.07.19 View 12249 -
The 8th International Conference on Metabolic Engineering was held on June 13-18, 2010 in Jeju Island, South Korea.
From left to right, top row: Distinguished Professor and the conference chair Sang Yup Lee, Sang-Hyup Kim - Secretary to the President of Korea, Dr. Jay Keasling, Dr. Greg Stephanopoulos. Left to right, bottom row: Dr. William Provine, Dr. Terry Papoutsakis, Dr, Jens Nielsen, Dr. Lars Nielsen.
The importance of industrial biotechnology that produces chemicals and materials from renewable biomass is increasing due to climate change and the dearth of natural resources. Industrial biotechnology refers to a technology that allows sustainable bio-based production of chemicals and materials that could enrich human"s lives using microorganisms. This is where metabolic engineering comes into play for successful application of microorganisms, in which they are engineered in our intended way for improved production capability.
The 8th International Conference on Metabolic Engineering, the longest running conference of its kind, was held on June 13-18, 2010 at the International Convention Center in Jeju Island, South Korea. Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of KAIST, Dean of College of Life Science and Bioengineering and Co-Director of Institute for the BioCentury, chaired the conference with the main theme of "metabolic engineering for green growth."
With 300 delegates selected by the committee, papers on production of biofuels, chemicals, biopolymers, and pharmaceutics and the development of fundamental metabolic engineering techniques were presented at the conference along with examples of successful commercialization of products developed by several global companies.
Sang Hyup Kim, Secretary to the President of Korea, gave an opening plenary lecture entitled "Korean green growth initiative," to inform experts from around the globe of the leadership on green growth in Korea. Young Hoon Park, President of Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB, Korea) delivered his congratulatory address.
Sang Hyup Kim said, "Hosting an international conference in Korea on metabolic engineering, which forms a core technology necessary for the development of environmentally friendly processes for producing chemicals and biofuels from renewable biomass, is very meaningful as green growth is a big issue around the globe. This is a great chance to show the excellence of Korea"s green growth associated technology to experts in metabolic engineering and industrial biotechnology."
A total of 47 invited lectures in this conference included recent and important topics, for instance, "Synthetic biology for synthetic fuels" by Dr. Jay Keasling from the Joint BioEnergy Institute (USA), "Microbial oil production from renewable feedstocks" by Dr. Greg Stephanopoulos from MIT (USA), "Yeast as a platform cell factory for production of fuels and chemicals" by Dr. Jens Nielsen from Chalmers University (Sweden), "Mammalian synthetic biology - from tools to therapies" by Dr. Martin Fussengger from ETH (Switzerland), "Building, modeling, and applications of metabolic and transcriptional regulatory networks at a genome-scale" by Dr. Bernhard Palsson from the University of California - San Diego (USA), "Genome analysis and engineering Eschericha coli for sucrose utilization" by Dr. Lars Nielsen from the University of Queensland (Australia), "Artificial microorganisms by synthetic biology" by Dr. Daniel Gibson from JCVI (USA), and "Metabolomics and its applications" by Dr. Masaru Tomita from Keio University (Japan). From Korea, Dr. Jin Hwan Park from the research group of Dr. Sang Yup Lee at KAIST presented "Systems metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for amino acid production," and Dr. Ji Hyun Kim from KRIBB presented "Genome sequencing and omics systems analysis of the protein cell factory of Escherichia coli".
Global companies involved in biorefinery presented their recent research outcomes with emphasis on commercialized technologies. They included "Metabolic and process engineering for commercial outcomes" by Dr. William Provine from DuPont (USA), "Direct production of 1,4-butanediol from renewable feedstocks" by Dr. Mark Burk from Genomatica (USA), "Development of an economically sustainable bioprocess for the production of bio 1,2-propanediol" by Dr. Francis Voelker from Metabolic Explorer (France), "Biotechnology to the bottom-line: low pH lactic acid production at industrial scale" by Dr. Pirkko Suominen from Cargill (USA), "Bioisoprene™: traditional monomer, traditional chemistry, sustainable source" by Dr. Gregg Whited from Danisco (USA) and "Efficient production of pharmaceuticals by engineered fungi" by Dr. Roel Bovenberg from DSM (Netherlands).
This biennial conference also presented the International Metabolic Engineering Award (expanded version of the previous Merck Metabolic Engineering Award) to the best metabolic engineer in the world. The 2010 International Metabolic Engineering Award went to Dr. E. Terry Papoutsakis from the University of Delaware (USA) who has contributed to the production of biobutanol through the metabolic engineering of Clostridia in the last three decades, and he gave an award lecture. Dr. Sang Yup Lee, the current chair of the upcoming conference, was the previous recipient of this award at the last metabolic engineering conference in 2008.
In addition to the invited lectures, a total of 156 carefully selected poster papers were chosen for presentation, and awards were presented to the best posters after rigorous review by the committee members. Such awards included "The 2010 Metabolic Engineering Best Poster Award" and the "2010 Young Metabolic Engineer Award" from the Metabolic Engineering conference, and prestigious international journal awards, including "Wiley Biotechnology Journal Best Poster Award", "Wiley Biotechnology and Bioengineering Best Poster Award" and "Elsevier Metabolic Engineering Best Paper Award." Dr. Catherine Goodman, a senior editor of Nature Chemical Biology, also presented the "Nature Chemical Biology Best Poster Award on Metabolic Engineering."
Regarding this conference, Dr. Sang Yup Lee, the conference chair, said, "This conference is the best international conference in the field of metabolic engineering, which is held every two years, and Korea is the first Asian country to host it. All the experts and students spend time together from early breakfast to late poster sessions, which is a distinct feature of this conference. Although the number of delegates had typically been limited to 200, around 300 delegates were selected this year to accept more attendees from many people who have been interested in metabolic engineering. Also, it is very fitting that "green growth" is the main topic of this conference because Korea is playing a key role in this field. I"m grateful to the Lotte Scholarship Foundation, COFCO, GS Caltex, Bioneer, US DOE, US NSF, Daesang, CJ Cheiljedang, Genomatica and DuPont who provided us with generous financial support that allowed the successful organization of this conference."
The conference was organized by the Systems Biology Research Project Team supported by the Ministry of Eduction, Science and Technology (MEST), Microbial Frontier Research Project Group, World Class University Project Group at KAIST, Institute for the BioCentury at KAIST, Korean Society for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, and the Engineering Conference International (ECI) of the United States.
Inquiries: Professor Sang Yup Lee (+82-42-350-3930), industrialbio@gmail.com
2010.06.25 View 20202