Campus/People
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KAIST 2019 Commencement at a Glance
(KAIST 2019 Commencement Ceremony)
This year, KAIST awarded a total of 2,705 degrees: 654 PhD degrees, 1,255 master’s degrees, and 796 bachelor’s degrees. Including this year’s numbers, KAIST has conferred a total of 63,830 degrees since its foundation in 1971.
Parents, family, and friends came to campus to congratulate the graduates with big smiles and hugs. Faculty and staff members also attended the ceremony to celebrate their graduation. This year, distinguished guests including National Assembly Member Kyung-Jin Kim and Vice Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Dae-sik came to celebrate the day with the KAIST community.
During the commencement, KAIST also announced the recipients of its undergraduate academic awards. The Minister of Science and ICT Award was won by Do-Yoon Kim from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, the KAIST Board of Trustee Chairperson Award went to Se-rin Lee from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the KAIST Presidential Award was won by Hee-Ju Kim from the Department of Physics, the KAIST Alumni Association President Award went to Hyeon-Seong Park from the School of Electrical Engineering, and finally the KAIST Development Foundation Chairperson Award was won by Gyeong-Hoon Lee from the Department of Mathematical Sciences.
This year’s valedictorian Eun-Seok Jeong from the School of Computing said, “I believe that we are able to stand here today because we challenged ourselves to confront our shortcomings and our uncertainty. If we continue to develop, we will become a better person than we were yesterday.”
(KAIST President Sung-Chul Shin and Woo-Seok Jeong, '19 PhD in Aerospace Engineering)
As a KAIST alumnus and fellow scientist, President Sung-Chul Shin offered his congratulations and emphasized that graduates should continue to pursue the C³ spirit. “In this age of great transformation, embrace challenges and exercise creativity as you have learnt through your education and research at KAIST. And keep in mind the importance of caring for others. Please remember that challenge and creativity will have more meaning if rendered with a caring spirit,” he said.
2019.02.15 View 8403 -
The First Award for Concept Cars, Future Mobility of the Year
KAIST will host an award to recognize the most visionary and inspiring concept cars of the year.
The ‘Future Mobility of the Year (FMOTY)’ Awards recognize concept cars that have made outstanding contributions to future mobility. The first awards ceremony will take place in Korea in March 2019.
The awards will be given to concept cars that exhibit innovative services and practical transportation technology in three categories: private mobility, public and commercial mobility, and personal mobility.
To ensure a fair judging process, the contest invited influential and eminent journalists in the automotive field. They will evaluate the social values and innovative contributions of the concept cars that will pave the way for next-generation transportation.
Concept cars have been neglected in existing automobile awards, such as the ‘Car of the Year’ because they have been considered experimental prototypes only built for showcasing a new vision for the quite far future.
The FMOTY Awards will brings concept cars back into the spotlight and showcase the best ideas and social values of mind-blowing concept cars.
Among 45 concept cars, fifteen candidates were selected as finalists after the initial screening that took place over the last three months: including models from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. The winners will be announced and awarded in Seoul on March 28th.
Kyung-soo Kim, Dean of the Cho Chun Shik Graduate School of Green Transportation which organizes the award said, “As the automobile industry undergoes an era of transformation, it is crucial to recognize the efforts of automobile companies who are making attempts to create novel forms of mobility. That is why we launched the FMOTY Awards, hoping to add a future-oriented spirit to the existing awards that consider finished vehicles only. By selecting the best concept car, the FMOTY Awards will expand public attention from the present to the future.”
Details can be found on the official website of FMOTY ( www.fmoty.org), where photos of the finalists are also available for download ( http://bitly.kr/JTUUp).
Figure 1. Finalists for the 'Future Mobility of the Year'
2019.02.13 View 6084 -
Kenya-KAIST Kicks off with a 95-Million USD Funding from the Korean Government
KAIST, founded through a six-million USD loan from USAID in 1971, to provide turnkey-based education consultancy for Kenya’s first advanced science and technology institute.
KAIST and the Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) announced the official establishment of Kenya-KAIST by 2021 during a kickoff ceremony on February 12 in Kenya. The KAIST delegation headed by President Sung-Chul Shin and Kenyan cabinet members and dignitaries including Minister of Education Amina Mohamed, the Chairman of the KoTDA Reuben Mutiso, and the CEO of KoTDA John Tanui attended the ceremony.
With this kickoff held at Konza Technopolis Malili, KAIST, the first and top science and technology university in Korea, will participate in Kenya’s strategic economic development plan with the provision of a turnkey-based science and technology education consultancy for the establishment of Kenya’s first advanced institute of science and technology. KAIST, which won preferred bidder status in consortium with Samwoo and Sunjin architecture and engineering companies, signed the contract with the KoTDA last November.
Korea Eximbank will offer a 95-million USD economic development cooperation fund loan to the Kenyan government. The campus will be constructed in the Konza Techno City located near Nairobi by 2021, with the first batch of 200 graduate students starting classes in 2022.
KAIST will develop academic curricula for six initial departments (Mechanical Engineering, Electrical/Electronic Engineering, ICT Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, and Agricultural Biotechnology), which will lay the groundwork for engineering research and education in Kenya to meet emerging socioeconomic demands. In addition, KAIST will provide education in the basic science areas of math, physics, chemistry, and biology for students.
The Kenyan government plans to transform Kenya into a middle-income country under Vision 2030 through the promotion of science, technology, and innovation for national economic growth. Nicknamed Africa’s Silicon Savannah, Konza Techno City is a strategic science and technology hub constructed to realize this vision. To this end, the medium-term plan set a goal to provide specialized research and training in various cutting-edge engineering and advanced science fields.
It is also notable that the Kenyan government asked to develop an industry-academy cooperation program in the Konza Techno City. This reflects the high expectations for Kenya-KAIST and its role as a growth engine in the center of the Konza Technopolis. It is anticipated that the technopolis will create 16,675 jobs in the medium term and over 200,000 upon completion, positioning Kenya as an ICT hub within the region.
Saying that the partnership through Kenya-KAIST will bring a new future to Kenya as well as KAIST at the ceremony, President Shin reflected that the project will be a significant milestone for KAIST’s history and global competitiveness. He added, “With this Kenya project, we come to share the past, present, and future of KAIST. And I am very pleased to celebrate our shared vision: the empowerment of science, technology, and education.”
In particular, President Shin was accompanied by Dr. Kun-Mo Chung, a founding provost who served as the Minister of Science and Technology in Korea twice. He now serves as an advisor to Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Dr. Chung had played a crucial role in securing a six-million USD loan from US AID to the Korean government to establish KAIST in 1971. He proposed the idea to establish an advanced science and technology institute in Korea to Dr. John Hannah, then the director of US AID.
The seed that was sowed five decades ago in Korea by Dr. Chung has now fully bloomed in Kenya. In only a half century, KAIST has become a donor institution that passes on science and technology education systems including the construction of campuses to developing countries.
KAIST has been acclaimed as US AID’s most successful foreign aid project. A report from the National Academy of Sciences in the US described KAIST as an exemplary case in which a former recipient of international aid has grown to become a science, technology and innovation leader.
The kickoff of Kenya-KAIST drew the attention of both media and local universities in Kenya, attesting to their strong interest to drive economic growth through advanced science and technology.
The University of Nairobi also hosted a special lecture by President Shin, asking him to share the recipe for the success of KAIST in Korea. In a lecture titled “A Crucial Engine for Rapid National Development,” President Shin presented the vision, innovation, and passion of the Korean people that led to the phenomenal results we can see today.
The successful case of KAIST has been benchmarked by many countries for years. For instance, KAIST set up the curriculum for the nuclear engineering program at the Khalifa University of Science and Technology in UAE in 2010. Since 2015, Chongquing University of Technology in China has been running its electrical engineering and computer science programs based on the educational systems and curricula offered by KAIST.
Last October, KAIST also signed an MOU with the Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College of Cyber Security, AI, and Advanced Technologies in Saudi Arabia to provide the undergraduate program for robotics.
Among all these programs benchmarking KAIST, Kenya-KAIST clearly stands out, as it carries out a turnkey-based project that encompasses every aspect of institution building, ranging from educational curricular development to campus construction and supervision.
Figure 1. KAIST President Sung-Chul Shin and Principal Secretary of Ministry of Education Collette A. Suda
Figure 2. Kickoff Ceremony of Kenya-KAIST
Figure 3. Conceptual image of Kenya KAIST
2019.02.13 View 6755 -
KAIST Earns AACSB Business School Accreditation
The KAIST College of Business re-earned business school accreditation from the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) International. The school first earned the accreditation in 2003, and has continued to receive the accreditation four consecutive times. Currently only 5% of the 16,000 business schools around the world have earned AACSB accreditation. KAIST received a good evaluation for the competitive research of its faculty, its executive education programs based on strong industry-academia ties, and specialized MBA and master’s program, which includes programs such as social entrepreneurship and green business and policy.Alexander Triantis, dean of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and a judge for AACSB Accreditation said, “I was impressed to see students from KAIST have a high standard of knowledge. A number of its graduates continue to be appointed as professors of top universities abroad, which shows its strong global competence”. AACSB was founded in 1916 by deans of business colleges from prestigious universities such as Harvard University, Stanford University and Columbia University, to provide business and accounting accreditation to universities. Evaluation for AACSB accreditation takes place every five years. Schools are evaluated based on fifteen standards, including student admission and graduation requirements, student-faculty ratios, faculty’s intellectual contributions, research infrastructure, global cooperation, and industry-academia programs. They can be eligible for re-accreditation if they satisfy the conditions offered by AACSB International and are committed to continuous improvement every five years. KAIST also earned the accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) three consecutive times since 2010. In 2013, it earned membership into the Partnership in International Management (PIM). Membership is only possible for those who have AACSB and EQUIS accreditation and they can be listed as a candidate school through voting. The candidate schools can finally earn membership after one year of strict screening. As of January 2019, there are 65 prestigious graduate schools of business, including KAIST, listed as PIM members.
2019.02.01 View 4835 -
KAIST and LG Electronics Team up for 6G Wireless Communications
(LG Electronics CTO Il-Pyung Park (left) and Dean of KAIST Institute Sang Yup Lee)
KAIST and LG Electronics are working together to take the lead in next-generation wireless communications and launched the LG-KAIST 6G Research Center on January 28, 2019.
KAIST Institute has been focusing on developing a new growth engine for the national economy through interdisciplinary research. In particular, its research work in the field of next-generation wireless communication was listed in the National Research and Development Excellence 100 in 2016 and 2017.
LG Electronics has been a global leader in this field for many years. According to TechIPM, the company had the most 4G LTE/LTE-A patents from 2012 to 2016. Also, it first standardized the Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything, which is the core technology for autonomous vehicles.
The new head of the research center, Professor Dong Ho Cho from the School of Electrical Engineering said, “We will work on developing source technology for sixth generation mobile communications, which will enhance national competence and prepare for the future industries.”
CTO of LG Electronics Il-Pyung Park said, “We are hoping to take the lead in the global standardization of sixth generation wireless communications and secure new business opportunities.”
2019.01.29 View 2180 -
President Shin Speaks on Closing the Skills Gap at the WEF
(President Shin poses (far right) with the National University of Singapore President Tan Eng Chye (center) along with Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee in Davos last week.)
President Sung-Chul Shin shared his ideas on how reskilling is a critical element of growth, dynamism, and competitiveness for countries during a session titled “Closing the Skills Gap: Creating a Reskilling Revolution” at the World Economic Forum on January 24 in Davos.
While discussing a reskilling imperative alongside French Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud, he presented how the Korean government and KAIST are responding to the socio-economic transformation of workforces in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. After their presentation, Minister of Economy and Enterprise of Spain Nadia Calvirno Santamaria, Minister of Commerce and Industry of Oman Ali bin Masoud bin Ali Al Sunaidy, and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship of India Dharmendra Pradhan shared their views on the course of decision making regarding the proactive practices and policies they have applied for closing the gaps from their countries’ perspectives.
President Shin presented how to upskill and reskill SMEs and startups, the real players who will jumpstart the economy in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He explained that the government is striving to change the existing structure of the economy, which is dominated by a few giant conglomerates. He added that the Korean government is trying to support SMEs and startups in terms of both funding and technology reskilling in order to rejuvenate the economy.
To better align itself with the government’s efforts, KAIST has introduced SME 4.0. SME 4.0 proposes to innovate the production process through the creation of a partnered platform between KAIST and SMEs across the country. With this platform, KAIST assists local SMEs for standardizing and systemizing all their processes of production, delivery, and management with enterprise resources planning (ERP) and manufacturing execution systems (MES). In addition, SME 4.0 offers retraining and re-tooling programs by linking the data generated through this platform in real time to better facilitate SMEs’ smart business.
(President Shin shakes hands with H.E.Mohammed Al-Tuwairi, Minister of Economy and Planning of Saudi Arabia before holding a bilaterla meeting in Davos.)
President Shin also explained about upskilling the leading corporations’ technological competitiveness, partnering with major leading corporations for upskilling their advanced technologies.
He also held a series of bilateral meetings with dignitaries attending the WEF annual meeting to discuss partnerships and collaborations. He also attended the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF), a community composed of 28 presidents from the world’s top universities on January 23. President Shin, who is on the advisory board of the Center for Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), also participated in the board meeting and discussed the upcoming launching of the Korea C4IR, which will open at KAIST in March.
2019.01.28 View 6049 -
First Korean Member of OceanObs' Organizing Committee
Professor Sung Yong Kim from the Department of Mechanical Engineering became the first Korean to be elected as an organizing committee member of the international conference OceanObs’19’, specializing in the ocean observing field.
Professor Kim has been actively engaged in advisory panels, technical committees, and working groups for the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES). Through numerous activities, he was recognized for his professionalism and academic achievements, which led him to be appointed as a member of the organizing committee.
The organizing committee is comprised of leading scholars and researchers from 20 countries, and Professor Kim will be the first Korean scientist to participate on the committee.
Since 1999, the conference has been held every decade. Global experts specializing in oceanic observation gather to discuss research directions for the next ten years by monitoring physical, biological, and chemical variables in regional, national, and global oceans and applying marine engineering.
This year, approximately 20 institutes including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the National Science Foundation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the European Space Agency will support funds as well as high-tech equipment to the conference.
This year’s conference theme is the governance of global ocean observing systems such as underwater gliders, unmanned vehicles, remote sensing, and observatories. The conference will hold discussions on monitoring technology and information systems to ensure human safety as well as to develop and preserve food resources. Additionally, participants will explore ways to expand observational infrastructures and carry out multidisciplinary approaches.
There will also be collaborations with the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Oceans (POGO) to organize ocean observing programs and discuss priorities.
Finally, they will set a long-term plan for solving major scientific issues, such as climate change, ocean acidification, energy, and marine pollution.
Professor Kim said, “Based on the outcomes drawn from the conference, I will carry out research on natural disasters and climate change monitoring by using unmanned observing systems. I will also encourage more multidisciplinary research in this field.”
2019.01.25 View 8842 -
New Members of KAST and Y-KAST 2019
(Professor Eui-Cheol Shin from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering)
Professor Eui-Cheol Shin from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering became a new fellow of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) along with 25 other scientists in Korea. He is one of the top virus immunologists in Korea and has published a review article in Nature Reviews Immunology.
Meanwhile KAST selected and announced 26 young scientists under the age 43 who have shown great potential and the creativity to carry out next-generation research. The list of Y-KAST (Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology) includes six KAIST professors: Professor Ji Oon Lee from the Department of Mathematical Sciences, Professor Mi Hee Lim from the Department of Chemistry, Professor Shin-Hyun Kim from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Professor Jung-Ryul Lee from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, Professor Hyunjoo Jenny Lee from the School of Electrical Engineering, and Professor Yeon Sik Jung from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
KAST conferred their fellowships and Y-KAST membership during the New Year Reception.
2019.01.22 View 7416 -
Main Cast Member of Drama KAIST Returns as KAIST Ambassador
(KAIST New Year Alumni Reception)
KAIST appointed Korean actor Min-woo Lee as KAIST Ambassador during the New Year Alumni Reception held on January 19.
Lee was one of the main characters in a popular Korean drama named KAIST, which aired from 1999 to 2000. It drew on a campus story of the top brains at KAIST and he was casted as a student studying electrical engineering. Along with the drama, he was recognized for building the positive image of KAIST.
As KAIST Ambassador, Lee will play various roles involved the promotion of Korea’s science and technology. For one year, he will be participating in major events and giving lectures to students.
Lee said that he still has strong affection for this drama. He added, “It is my great honor to be appointed as KAIST Ambassador and I will do my best to promote KAIST, the global value-creative leading university.”
(From left: Min-woo Lee and KAIST President Sung-Chul Shin)
2019.01.21 View 2756 -
Distinguished Alumni Awardees 2018
The KAIST Alumni Association (KAA) announced four recipients of the Distinguished Alumni Awards 2018. The Distinguished Alumni Awards recognize graduates who have achieved outstanding accomplishments in their professional and personal lives, and who have been an inspiration to fellow alumni and students in Korea and around the globe. Since the establishment of the award in 1992, a total of 99 alumni at home and abroad have been honored as recipients. The awards ceremony will take place during the New Year Alumni Reception on January 19 in Seoul.
Yeungnam University President Gil-Soo Sur (’75 MS, ’78 PhD in Chemistry) has demonstrated leadership in higher education and gained trust in academia for playing a leading role in educational innovation as well as serving as an educator who has fostered outstanding research talents for decades.
Professor Kwang-Soo Kim (’77 MS, ’79 PhD in Life Science) is the director of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory at McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School. He has more than 20 years of experience investigating molecular and developmental neurobiology of the midbrain dopamine neuronal system. He has contributed to developing cell replacement therapy for Parkinson’s disease and has pioneered a generation of safe human-induced pluripotent stem cells through the direct delivery of reprogrammed proteins.
Young-Hwan Moon (’82 MS, ’87 PhD in Chemistry and Biomolecular Engineering) is the CEO of Coretech, which specializes in producing specialty gases and environmental catalysts required for chemical processes. He was recognized for enhancing national competence by securing competitive technology for manufacturing products.
Young-Hyun Jun (’84 MS, ’86 PhD in Electrical Engineering), the CEO of Samsung SDI, is a globally renowned expert in memory semiconductors. By bringing about innovative technology to enhance productivity and processes, he led Samsung Electronics to become the number one company at the global level in the field of semiconductors.
2019.01.14 View 3717 -
KAIST Presents Innovations at CES 2019
Ten of the most innovative technologies spun off from KAIST made a debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2019, the world’s largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition being held in Las Vegas from January 8 to 11. The KAIST booth at the CES featured technologies made by KAIST research teams and five startup companies including LiBEST, Memslux, and Green Power. In particular, the KAIST Alumni Association invited 33 aspiring alumni entrepreneurs selected from the KAIST Startup Competition to the show.
At the exhibition, KAIST is presenting innovations in the fields of AI and Bio-IT convergence for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. These include real-time upscaling from Full HD to 4K UHD using AI deep learning-based convolutional neural networks (Professor Munchurl Kim, School of Electrical Engineering) and an AI conversation agent that responds to user’s emotions (Professor Soo-Young Lee, School of Electrical Engineering).
Other technologies include optimal drug target identification by cancer cell type through drug response prediction to be used in personalized cancer treatments (Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho, Department of Bio and Brain Engineering), a nanofiber-based color changing gas sensor with greater sensitivity than conventional paper-based color changing sensors (Professor Il-Doo Kim, Department of Materials Science and Engineering), and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) for brain imaging and muscle fatigue measurement (Professor Hyeonmin Bae, School of Electrical Engineering).
The KAIST booth also features startups founded by KAIST alumni including LiBEST with a flexible lithium polymer secondary cell optimized for smart wearable devices and Rempus with a high-performance lithium ion cell packaging technology for outstanding safety, high capacity, long life, and fast charging.
Green Power and Smart Radar Systems are also joining the booth with a highly efficient and eco-friendly wireless charging system for electrical cars, and a 4D image radar sensor that detects 3D images and speed in real time for applications in self-driving cars, drones, and security systems respectively.
Faculty-founded startup Memslux (CEO Jun-Bo Yoon, School of Electrical Engineering) is presenting a transparent surface light source solution for next-generation display devices.
Associate Vice President of Office of University-Industry Cooperation Kyung Cheol Choi said, “I believe that universities should play a role in connecting technological innovations to business startups for creating value at a global level. In that sense, it is a great opportunity to present innovative technologies from KAIST and promote outstanding KAIST startups at CES 2019. Hopefully, this experience will lead to joint R&D, investment, cooperation, and international technology transfer contracts with leading companies from around the world.”
Here are the five key technologies presented by KAIST at CES 2019.
2019.01.10 View 6897 -
President Shin to be Honored from Northwestern University
(KAIST President Sung-Chul Shin)
President Sung-Chul Shin has been named the recipient of the Distinguished Career Achievement Award 2019 for Alumni of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University.
The awards committee announced last month that the committee decided to award President Shin in recognition of his significant contribution toward materials research, particularly in the field of magnetic materials, and also for the leadership he has demonstrated in higher education. The awards ceremony will take place on May 16 at Northwestern University.
President Shin earned his PhD in material physics at Northwestern in 1984 after completing his MS in condensed matter physics at KAIST in 1977. He is also a graduate of applied physics from Seoul National University.
President Shin, an accomplished scholar in the field of nanoscience and a pioneer of research in nanospinics, has held numerous fellowships including the American Physical Society and received scholarly honor from the Asian Union Magnetics Societies. His research focuses on the artificial synthesis and characterization of nonmagnetic materials, magnetic anisotropy, and magneto-optical phenomena. While studying at Northwestern, he produced novel superlattice multilayer thin film structures with bismuth and lead telluride, noting that they have similar structures.
With his expertise, he joined KAIST in 1989 to dedicate himself to academic contributions. During his professorship in the Department of Physics, he produced about 300 journal papers and 37 patents while fostering 80 graduate students. He served as the first president in Daegu-Gyeongbuk Scientific Technology Research Institute (DGIST) for six years from 2011.
2019.01.09 View 3035