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KAIST placed the 5th in top 50 global universities for international patent applications
New York Times released an article, dated March 19, 2012, on the statistics of international patent applications filed by global universities during 2011, and with 103 applications published, KAIST was listed the fifth among the top 50 universities, right behind four US universities: University of California (277), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (179), the University of Texas System (127), and Johns Hopkins University (111). A total of seven Korean universities including KAIST made the top 50 list. For the article, please check the link below:
New York Times, March 19, 2012
“U.S. Universities Retain Lead in Patent Applications”
By Christopher F. Schuetze
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/world/asia/us-universities-retain-lead-in-patent-applications.html
In addition, for the press release by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the UN agency responsible for the Patent Cooperation Treaty, on international patent filings in 2011, please click the following link:
“International Patent Filings Set new Record in 2011”
http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2012/article_0001.html
2012.03.21 View 9076 -
2012 Reputation Rankings of World Universities by Times Higher Education--KAIST in 81-90
KAIST listed among the world’s most reputable 100 universities
Ranked in the 81st to 90th
The Times Higher Education (THE), a weekly magazine headquartered in London reporting news and issues related to higher education and publishing annually its “World University Rankings,” released on March 15, 2012 the rankings of global universities’ academic reputation, called “2012 World Reputation Rankings.”
KAIST was listed the 81st-90th group, moving up from the 91st to 100th last year. From Korea, only two universities, KAIST and Seoul National University (SNU), were included in the 100 most reputable universities in the world. SNU was in the 51st to 60th band of the list.
The World Reputation Rankings are based on the results of an academic reputation survey carried out by Thompson Reuters. 17,554 respondents from the global academic community from 137 countries participated in the survey of “2012 World Reputation Rankings” that was distributed in April –May 2011.
For the full list of the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings 2012, please visit the link, http://bit.ly/thewur.
2012.03.20 View 9612
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Distinguished Professor Sang-Yeop Lee gave keynote speech in '2011 China Bio-Refinery Summit'
Distinguished Professor Sang-Yeop Lee gave keynote speech in ‘2011 China Bio-Refinery Summit’ held in Chang’an, Beijing
Professor Lee gave a lecture on the vitalization strategy of ‘Bio-Refinery’, which is ‘A bio-based chemical industry to replace fossil fuel-based petro chemistry.
Professor Lee, insisted that for the successful construction of ‘Bio-Refinery’, there should be innovation in all value chain of biomass; biomass producer, bio-refinery business, consumer, government, etc. ▲Securement and distribution of Biomass ▲Development of strain and process for fermentation separation to effectively change biomass into chemical substance and fuel ▲Optimization of transportation and marketing.
During this summit, high-ranking government officials in politics and economics, executives of multicultural and Chinese business participated. From Korea, Do-Young Seung of Manager of technology research of GS and Hang-Deok Roh of laboratory chief of SK Chemical participated as panelist.
World Economy Forum, the gathering of leaders and experts in politics, economics, and policy created a ‘Global Agenda Council’ to find solutions on the issue of ‘sustainable growth of environment of the Earth and humanity’. Professor Lee is the chairperson of ‘Emerging Technologies Global Agenda Council (GAC)’ of Word Economy Forum.
Professor Lee, founder of ‘Systems Metabolic Engineering’, has made remarkable achievements world-wide, including a technology that manipulates metabolic circuit of microorganisms to purify various crude-originated chemical substances into environmentally friendly substances.
Currently, he is working on Systems biology research business in Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Global Frontier Biomass business, Global Frontier Intelligent Bio-system construction and composition, to make progress in metabolic engineering which is essential for the bio-chemical industry.
2012.03.06 View 10862
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KAIST Ocean Technology Center
The KAIST Ocean Technology Center was established and opened in Eureka hall.
The founding Center Director was given to Professor Han Soon Heung (department of Marine System and Engineering).
The newly found Center will be under the KAIST Mechanical Technology Research Center and will be actively developing ideas like deep sea marine plant, impact resistance to underwater explosion, and etc. and work to commercialize these technologies and contribute to the development of the Shipbuilding industry.
2012.01.31 View 7731
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Seeing Inside Cells with Fiber Optics
Professor Jiho Park’s research team was successful in receiving minute optical signals from inside the cell using optical nano fibers.
Through the invention of this technology, we can now look inside cells in high resolution without the use of equipment such as endoscopes that damage cells. We will be able to study the biological phenomena within cells, and thus cure diseases more effectively.
Recently, ultra high resolution microscopes have been used to analyze incubated cells. However, because of the need for a very complex and large system, it had been impossible to monitor cells in the less transparent areas of the body in real time.
The research team created the wire with a semiconductor created with tin oxides to be only 100 nanometers in diameter (1nanometer= 1/1billion meters).
The nanowire is connected to the end of the optical fiber, and the light that comes through the optical fiber is transmitted to particular spots in the cell, and the optical signals from the cell are retrieved back from the cell as well
Together with this, based on the fact that nanowires do not damage cells, the research team covered the end of the wire with a photo reactive material and entered this into the cell. They were able to check that the material reacted to light and entered the cell when they transmitted light
Accordingly, this showed the possibilities of the use of this technology as a method of treatment to effectively transfer the medication into the cells.
Prof. Jiho Park stated that “in this research, we only used cells incubated outside the human body, but soon we will use this technology to stimulate and control cells within the body in a minute scale” as well as that “soon, we will be able to study the biological phenomena inside a cell to study diseases and apply this to cure them more effectively”.
This research result has been published in the online publication of ‘Nature Nanotechnology’ on December 18.
This study was done through the cooperation of various schools. Besides Prof. Jiho Park, Prof. Seungman Yang from the Biochemistry department, and Doctor Chuljoon Huh from KAIST, Prof. Yeonho Choi from Biomedical Science department of Korea University, Professor Peidon Yang and Doctor Ruoxue Yan from UC Berkeley’s chemistry department, and Luke Lee from UC Berkeley’s bioengineering department participated in the project.
2012.01.31 View 9092
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'Scientist-Engineer of the Month' for December: Professor Choi Joon Ho
Professor Choi Joon Ho (department of Biological Sciences) was made ‘Scientist-Engineer of December’ for his discovery of new gene (twenty-four) that helps biorhythm and proving that this gene helps control biorhythm.
Professor Choi published 100 dissertations over the past 25 years and made significant advancements in the field of molecular virus and neurobiology.
In 1995 Professor Choi uncovered the fact that the NS3 protein in C type hepatitis function as RNA helicase thereby opening the path to developing a cure for C type hepatitis; this is an international patent with Chiron corporation. The result was published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications Journal and was the most domestically referred to dissertation in biological sciences in 1999.
In addition Professor Choi published in Nature magazine in 1999, a dissertation that uncovered the fact that the DNA of papillomar virus has another protein (hSNF5) that direct it apart from ordinary proteins.
In 2000~2005 Professor Choi published many dissertations in journals like Immunity, Cancer Research, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Oncogene, Journal of Virology, and etc.
Professor Choi screened over 10,000 species of pomace fly mutations and discovered the twenty-four gene that affects the biorhythm of pomace flies. He analyzed this gene further and found a new function that was different from known biorhythm mechanisms.
This research allowed a better understanding of biological clock of pomace flies and therefore was another step towards better understanding the control mechanism of human biological clock.
2012.01.31 View 8801
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Information Sharing Webzine "You'reKA"
KAIST will be opening “You’reKA” to improve communication between staff members and between KAIST family members. “You’reKA” will primarily deal with school policies, research successes, news of KAIST family members, opinions, and other on, off campus news.
“You’reKA” is a shortened form of “You are KAIST” and is a homonym of ‘Eureka’ an expression used for scientific discovery and is supposed to instill pride as KAISTians.
The webzine is set to be opened in January of this year and will showcase 5 menus: “We Ask KAIST the Way”, “KAIST Report”, “Issue Briefing”, “Opinion” and “You”.
“We Ask KAIST the Way” introduces messages from the President and Vice President of KAIST and is a corner where honest opinions regarding the university’s vision and leadership are shared. It will be run as a Q&A corner that includes major publications and comments along with interviews, external experts, and staff members.
Under the “KAIST Report” menu, there will be ‘KAIST Today’ section where up to date research and experiment successes are posted, and a ‘KAIST Yard’ where various event information and news of KAIST members are shared.
“Issue Briefing” will introduce an overall assessment of various university management policies and issues and provide a complete scan of information. “Opinion” will allow visitors to the webzine to read up on various perspectives and comments from Professors and experts on Science and Technology.
The “You” menu will introduce various stories, activities, and expertise of KAIST staff members and their families.
“You’reKA” is expected to bring the campus closer together and provide an agora of sorts where ideas can be exchanged and bring down the differences between each member of KAIST.
2012.01.31 View 7254
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Bio Pharmaceutical Business Center: Now Open
The Signboard Hanging Ceremony for the Bio Pharmaceutical Business Center for the Integrated Research for the field of Bio Pharmaceutics. 150 representatives from various bio pharmaceutics related businesses and institutes were present for this ceremony.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology placed the Molecular Process research team, Personalized Drug Delivery Medium research team, and the newly formed Cancer Cell Detection using Blood research team at the Bio Pharmaceutical Business Center at KAIST.
2012.01.31 View 7979
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Ten Breakthroughs of the Year 2011 by Science
Porous Zeolite Crytals
Science, an internationally renowned scientific journal based in the US, has recently released a special issue of “Breakthrough of the Year, 2011,” dated December 23, 2011. In the issue, the journal introduces ten most important research breakthroughs made this year, and Professor Ryong Ryoo, Department of Chemistry at KAIST, was one of the scientists behind such notable advancements in 2011. Professor Ryoo has been highly regarded internationally for his research on the development of synthetic version of zeolites, a family of porous minerals that is widely used for products such as laundry detergents, cat litters, etc. Below is the article from Science, stating the zeolite research:
For Science’s “Breakthrough of the Year, 2011”, please go to:
http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/btoy2011/
[Excerpt from the December 23, 2011 Issue of Science]
Industrial Molecules, Tailor-Made
If you ever doubt that chemistry is still a creative endeavor, just look at zeolites. This family of porous minerals was first discovered in 1756. They"re formed from different arrangements of aluminum, silicon, and oxygen atoms that crystallize into holey structures pocked with a perfect arrangement of pores. Over the past 250 years, 40 natural zeolites have been discovered, and chemists have chipped in roughly 150 more synthetic versions.
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Porous zeolite crystals are widely used as filters and catalysts. This year, researchers found new ways to tailor the size of their pores and create thinner, cheaper membranes.
CREDIT: K. VAROON ET AL., SCIENCE334, 6052 (7 OCTOBER 2001)
This abundance isn"t just for show. Three million tons of zeolites are produced every year for use in laundry detergents, cat litter, and many other products. But zeolites really strut their stuff in two uses: as catalysts and molecular sieves. Oil refineries use zeolite catalysts to break down long hydrocarbon chains in oil into the shorter, volatile hydrocarbons in gasoline. And the minerals" small, regularly arranged pores make them ideal filters for purifying everything from the air on spaceships to the contaminated water around the nuclear reactors destroyed earlier this year in Fukushima, Japan.
Zeolites have their limitations, though. Their pores are almost universally tiny, making it tough to use them as catalysts for large molecules. And they"re difficult to form into ultrathin membranes, which researchers would like to do to enable cheaper separations. But progress by numerous teams on zeolite synthesis this year gave this “mature” area of chemistry new life.
Researchers in South Korea crafted a family of zeolites in which the usual network of small pores is surrounded by walls holed with larger voids. That combination of large and small pores should lead to catalysts for numerous large organic molecules.
Labs in Spain and China produced related large- and small-pore zeolites by using a combination of inorganic and organic materials to guide the structures as they formed.
Meanwhile, researchers in France and Germany discovered that, by carefully controlling growth conditions, they could form a large-pore zeolite without the need for the expensive organic compounds typically used to guide their architecture as they grow. The advance opens the way for cheaper catalysts. In yet another lab, researchers in Minnesota came up with a new route for making ultrathin zeolite membranes, which are likely to be useful as a wide variety of chemically selective filters.
This surge of molecular wizardry provides a vivid reminder that the creativity of chemists keeps their field ever young.
Related References and Web Sites
2011.12.23 View 11374 -
Honorary Doctorate Presented to President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
KAIST presented to Dr. Svante Lindqvist, President of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Marshal of the Realm to the Swedish Royal Court, an honorary doctorate in science and technology on the 21st of November at Fusion Hall, KI Building.
Dr. Lindqvist, a pioneer in the field of history of science and technology, showed how science and technology have affected the development of human civilization. His work in explaining the relationship between science and history made it easier to the public to understand the importance of science in our society, upon which he was conferred the honorary doctorate.
Director Lindqvist obtained a doctorate from the Uppsala University of Sweden in 1984 with the dissertation, “Introduction of Steam Locomotive in 18th century Sweden.” This single dissertation won him three awards, which has been regarded even today as an introductory reading text to readers in the field of science history.
Dr. Lindqvist established the Department of History of Science and Technology in Sweden Royal Institute of Technology in 1989 and was the department chair for nine years until 1997. He then became the founding director of the Nobel Museum from 1998 to 2009 and developed the museum from a mere display venue of Nobel’s legacy to a multifunctional research oriented institute that supports and holds various outreach activities such as seminars and public lectures.
From the visit of Dr. Lindqvist to KAIST, students had a wonderful opportunity to engage with an internationally renowned scholar and, once more, to remind the university"s vision and mission, whereby they make contributions to the development of science, and ultimately, to the advancement of humanity.
2011.12.13 View 9612 -
The Hindu, "Use of microalgae helps in controlling pollution," December 8, 2011
The Hindu, an Indian newspaper, reported on December 8, 2011 a research work by Professor Ji-Won Yang from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. For the news article, please go to the link at http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article2695634.ece?homepage=true.
The Hindu, December 8, 2011
Use of microalgae helps in controlling pollution
By N. Gopal Raj
2011.12.12 View 9079
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New York Times, "First, Catch Your Faculty-A Recipe for Excellence"
The World Bank has recently published a new book entitled “The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World Class Research Universities.” The report (book) examined the recent experience of 11 universities in 9 countries (for Korea, it sampled Pohang University of Science and Technology, established in 1986) that have undergone transformations in order to become world-class universities. The book has received a wide coverage from the media all around the world since its publication in late September, among others, the latest article by New York Times (NYT), dated October 16, 2011. The gist of the book, i.e., what elements are required should a research university to become “truly prestigious” in the global scene, is well introduced by the NYT article, and here’s the link:
New York Times, “First, Catch Your Faculty-A Recipe for Excellence”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/world/americas/17iht-educLede17.html
2011.10.17 View 10239