AT
-
Professor Il-Doo Kim Recevies the Song-gok Award
Professor Il-Doo Kim from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST received the 20th Song-gok Science and Technology Award from Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KSIT).
The Song-gok Science and Technology Award was established to praise the accomplishments of the first president, Hyung-seop Choi, whose penname is Song-gok. The award selects a recipient in the field of materials and technology every other year.
Professor Kim, in recognition of his outstanding research and contributions to materials science in Korea, received the award during the 52nd anniversary ceremony of KIST on February 9.
Professor Kim focuses on developing nanofiber gas sensors for diagnosing disease in advance by analyzing exhaled biomarkers with electrospinning technology.
He has published more than 211 papers and has recorded more than 9,650 citations and 50 h-index.
Professor Kim has registered 107 patents and applied 38 patents in Korea while registering 29 patents and applying 16 patents overseas. Also, he transferred four technologies in 2017.
Professor Kim is recognized as one of the researchers who is leading nanofiber technology. On January 17, he made a keynote speech at the 5th International Conference on Electrospinning, which was his fourth keynote speech at that conference.
Moreover, he received the Technology Innovation Award at the College of Engineering, KAIST on December 19, 2017.
Professor Kim said, “It is my great honor to receive the Song-gok Science and Technology Award. I would like to bring distinction to KAIST by taking the lead in the commercializing a nanofiber-based highly sensitive nanosensors, diversifying and commercializing technology using nanofiber.”
2018.02.13 View 7552 -
Professor Hojong Chang Wins the Best Paper Award at ISIITA 2018
Professor Hojong Chang from the KAIST Institute won the best paper award at the International Symposium on Innovation in Information Technology and Application (ISIITA) 2018.
ISIITA is a global networking symposium in which leading researchers in the field of information technology and applications gather to exchange knowledge on technological convergence.
Professor Chang won the prize for his paper, titled ‘A Study on the Measurement of Aptamer in Urine Using SiPM’.
This paper proposes using aptamer to measure and analyze the density of sodium and potassium contained in urine, allowing diseases to be diagnosed in advance.
Professor Chang said, “With a point-of-care test system that facilitates a quick diagnosis without extra processes, such as centrifugation, it is possible to get an early diagnosis and check infection in real time. Through generalizing this crucial technology, we expect to develop adequate technology for enhancing quality of life.
2018.02.12 View 6791 -
Finding Human Thermal Comfort with a Watch-type Sweat Rate Sensor
(from left: Professor Young-Ho Cho and Researcher SungHyun Yoon)
KAIST developed a watch-type sweat rate sensor. This subminiature device can detect human thermal comfort accurately and steadily by measuring an individual’s sweat rate.
It is natural to sweat more in the summer and less in the winter; however, an individual’s sweat rate may vary in a given environment. Therefore, sweat can be an excellent proxy for sensing core body temperature.
Conventional sweat rate sensors using natural ventilation require bulky external devices, such as pumps and ice condensers. They are usually for physiological experiments, hence they need a manual ventilation process or high power, bulky thermos-pneumatic actuators to lift sweat rate detection chambers above skin for continuous measurement. There is also a small sweat rate sensor, but it needs a long recovery period.
To overcome these problems, Professor Young-Ho Cho and his team from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering developed a lightweight, watch-type sweat sensor. The team integrated miniaturized thermos-pneumatic actuators for automatic natural ventilation, which allows sweat to be measured continuously.
This watch-type sensor measures sweat rate with the humidity rising rate when the chamber is closed during skin contact. Since the team integrated thermos-pneumatic actuators, the chamber no longer needs to be separated manually from skin after each measurement in order for the chamber to ventilate the collected humidity.
Moreover, this sensor is wind-resistant enough to be used for portable and wearable devices. The team identified that the sensor operates steadily with air velocity ranging up to 1.5m/s, equivalent to the average human walking speed.
Although this subminiature sensor (35mm x 25mm) only weighs 30 grams, it operates continuously for more than four hours using the conventional wrist watch batteries.
The team plans to utilize this technology for developing a new concept of cognitive air-conditioning systems recognizing Human thermal status directly; while the conventional air-conditioning systems measuring air temperature and humidity.
Professor Cho said, “Our sensor for human thermal comfort monitoring can be applied to customized or smart air conditioners. Furthermore, there will be more demands for both physical and mental healthcare, hence this technology will serve as a new platform for personalized emotional communion between humans and devices.”
This research, led by researchers Jai Kyoung Sim and SungHyun Yoon, was published in Scientific Reports on January 19, 2018.
Figure1. The fabricated watch-type sweat rate sensor for human thermal comfort monitoring
Figure 2. Views of the watch-type sweat rate sensor
Figure 3. Operation of the watch-type sweat rate sensor
2018.02.08 View 7824 -
KAIST to Host the THE Innovation & Impact Summit in 2019
KAIST and Times Higher Education (THE) agreed to co-host the THE Innovation & Impact Summit at KAIST from April 1 to 3, 2019.
Global leaders from higher education, government, and industry will gather at KAIST to discuss how universities can better innovate for creating a greater impact.
(from left: THE Managing Director Trevor Barratt and KAIST President Sung-Chul Shin)
President Sung-Chul Shin and Trevor Barratt, managing director at the THE, signed an agreement to host the 2019 THE Innovation & Impact Summit at KAIST next April. The agreement was signed on February 6 during the THE Asia Universities Summit held at SUSTech in Shenzhen in China. Phil Baty, editorial director at the THE was also present during the agreement.
By hosting the 2019 THE Innovation & Impact Summit, KAIST has a chance to introduce its innovative research and performance and its educational environment and startup ecosystem to the world. Having educational and industrial leaders meet at KAIST will add more power to the global status and capacity of KAIST.
The THE Innovation & Impact Summit, first held in 2017, is one in the seven presidential summit series held by THE. During the second summit at KAIST, THE will launch their world university innovation rankings for the first time.
As innovation at universities and its impact have been a crucial indicator in building an institutional brand and reputation, leading universities are gearing up to encourage startups and entrepreneurship education. Even more, innovation at universities is emerging as one of the growth engines of economies.
The innovation indicators of KAIST have been highly recognized by many global ranking institutions in terms of the volume of patents and the patents-to-article citation impact. Thomson Reuters has recognized KAIST for two consecutive years as the most innovative university in Asia, and sixth in the world.
President Shin has high expectations for the hosting of the Innovation & Impact Summit at KAIST. He explained, “Innovation makes up the DNA of KAIST and it has been our institutional mission from the start in 1971. KAIST was commissioned to make innovation for industrialization and economic development through education and research. I do not see any university more suitable than KAIST to host this innovation summit. I hope the summit at KAIST will serve as a global platform to provide very creative ideas for making innovation and collaboration among the leading universities for all the participants.”
Meanwhile, at the THE Asia Universities Summit in Shenzhen, how to respond to the implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution was the key agenda piercing the two-day sessions.
As a panelist, President Shin shared his experiences on innovative strategies viable for spearheading university reform for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, along with Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sheffield Sir Keith Burnett, President of Monash University Margaret Gardner, and President of Hong Kong Polytechnic University President Timothy W. Tong. He said that universities should foster young talents by equipping them with creativity, collaboration, and convergent minds. To swiftly respond to the new industrial environment, President Shin said that universities should remove the high barriers between departments and establish cross- and inter-disciplinary education systems, convergence research and technology commercialization.
2018.02.06 View 7892 -
Structural Insight into the Molecular Mechanism of PET Degradation
A KAIST metabolic engineering research team has newly suggested a molecular mechanism showing superior degradability of poly ethylene terephthalate (PET).
This is the first report to simultaneously determine the 3D crystal structure of Ideonella sakaiensis PETase and develop the new variant with enhanced PET degradation.
Recently, diverse research projects are working to address the non-degradability of materials. A poly ethylene terephthalate (PET)-degrading bacterium called Ideonella sakaiensis was recently identified for the possible degradation and recycling of PET by Japanese team in Science journal (Yoshida et al., 2016). However, the detailed molecular mechanism of PET degradation has not been yet identified.
The team under Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the team under Professor Kyung-Jin Kim of the Department of Biotechnology at Kyungpook National University conducted this research. The findings were published in Nature Communications on January 26.
This research predicts a special molecular mechanism based on the docking simulation between PETase and a PET alternative mimic substrate. Furthermore, they succeeded in constructing the variant for IsPETase with enhanced PET-degrading activity using structural-based protein engineering.
It is expected that the new approaches taken in this research can be background for further study of other enzymes capable of degrading not only PET but other plastics as well.
PET is very important source in our daily lives. However, PET after use causes tremendous contamination issues to our environment due to its non-biodegradability, which has been a major advantage of PET. Conventionally, PET is disposed of in landfills, using incineration, and sometimes recycling using chemical methods, which induces additional environmental pollution. Therefore, a new development for highly-efficient PET degrading enzymes is essential to degrade PET using bio-based eco-friendly methods.
Recently, a new bacterial species, Ideonella sakaiensis, which can use PET as a carbon source, was isolated. The PETase of I. sakaiensis (IsPETase) can degrade PET with relatively higher success than other PET-degrading enzymes. However, the detailed enzyme mechanism has not been elucidated, hindering further studies.
The research teams investigated how the substrate binds to the enzyme and which differences in enzyme structure result in significantly higher PET degrading activity compared with other cutinases and esterases, which make IsPETase highly attractive for industrial applications toward PET waste recycling.
Based on the 3D structure and related biochemical studies, they successfully predicted the reasons for extraordinary PET degrading activity of IsPETase and suggested other enzymes that can degrade PET with a newly-classified phylogenetic tree. The team proposed that 4 MHET moieties are the most properly matched substrates due to a cleft on structure even with the 10-20-mers for PET. This is meaningful in that it is the first docking simulation between PETase and PET, not its monomer.
Furthermore, they succeeded in developing a new variant with much higher PET-degrading activity using a crystal structure of this variant to show that the changed structure is better to accommodate PET substrates than wild type PETase, which will lead to developing further superior enzymes and constructing platforms for microbial plastic recycling.
Professor Lee said, “Environmental pollution from plastics remains one of the greatest challenges worldwide with the increasing consumption of plastics. We successfully constructed a new superior PET-degrading variant with the determination of a crystal structure of PETase and its degrading molecular mechanism. This novel technology will help further studies to engineer more superior enzymes with high efficiency in degrading. This will be the subject of our team’s ongoing research projects to address the global environmental pollution problem for next generation.”
This work was supported by the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes on Systems Metabolic Engineering for Biorefineries (NRF-2012M1A2A2026556 and NRF-2012M1A2A2026557) from the Ministry of Science and ICT through the National Research Foundation of Korea. Further Contact: Dr. Sang Yup Lee, Distinguished Professor, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea (leesy@kaist.ac.kr, +82-42-350-3930)
(Figure: Structural insight into the molecular mechanism of poly(ethylene terephthalate) degradation and the phylogenetic tree of possible PET degrading enzymes. This schematic diagram shows the overall conceptualization for structural insight into the molecular mechanism of poly (ethylene terephthalate) degradation and the phylogenetic tree of possible PET degrading enzymes.)
2018.01.31 View 8586 -
Plasma, an Excellent Sterilizer to Remove Harmful Bacteria
(PhD candidate Joo Young Park, Professor Wonho Choe and PhD researcher Sanghoo Park)
KAIST researchers are using plasma to remove bacteria that are stuck to surfaces of plastic bottles and food. This novel technology will contribute to disinfection in medical settings as well as food and agricultural industries.
Professor Wonho Choe and his team from the Department of Physics developed a technology that removes biofilm, which is comprised of microorganisms, by using plasma as a non-thermal sterilization method.
Plasma contains multiple bactericidal agents, including reactive species. In particular, the chemicals formed in aqueous solution during plasma exposure have the potential for high antibacterial activity against various bacterial infections.
The team treated water with plasma to see how effectively bactericidal agents in the plasma water can remove biofilm comprised of harmful microorganism such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Listeria.
The team identified that reactive species, including hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide, ozone, nitrite, and superoxide produced during plasma treatment, showed considerable ability to remove the biofilm. Hydrogen peroxide showed the strongest effect removing the biofilm; however, the hydroxyl radical also played a significant role in removing biofilm. Despite having a concentration 100 to 10,000 times lower than other reactive species, the hydroxyl radical showed a high biofilm removal efficacy owing to its strong oxidative power.
These findings reveal that plasma can be used as a no-residual and safe sterilization process alternative to conventional methods. With these outcomes, the team is planning to develop and commercialize a technology that can produce hydroxyl radicals with plasma.
Professor Choe has registered a patent for flexible packaging materials that facilitate plasma and completed the technology transfer to the startup company, named ‘Plasmapp’, which focuses on commercializing bactericidal technology.
“This research outcome will be the foundation for understanding plasma control technology and physicochemical interactions between plasma and microorganisms. It will also become an accelerator for utilizing plasma technology in the medical, food, and agricultural fields,” said Professor Choe.
This research, led by PhD candidate Joo Young Park and PhD researcher Sanghoo Park in collaboration with Professor Cheorun Jo’s team from Seoul National University, was published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces on December 20, 2017.
Figure 1. Flexible packaging materials that facilitate plasma
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of biofilm treatment with plasma
Figure 3. Concept of plasma application and evaluation result of reactive species' efficacy
Figure 4. STERPACK, the product launched by Plasmapp
2018.01.25 View 8974 -
Cellular Mechanism for Severe Viral Hepatitis Identified
(Professor Shin(left) and Professor Jung)
KAIST medical scientists identified a cellular mechanism causing inflammatory changes in regulatory T cells that can lead to severe viral hepatitis. Research on this mechanism will help further understand the nature of various inflammatory diseases and lead to the development of relevant clinical treatments.
It is known that activated immune cells of patients with viral hepatitis destroy hepatocyte, but its regulatory mechanism has not yet been described.
Regulatory T cells inhibit activation of other immune cells and thus are important for homeostasis of the immune system. However, recent studies contradictorily show that immune inhibitory functions of regulatory T cells weaken in inflammatory conditions and the cells secrete inflammatory cytokines in response. Meanwhile, such a phenomenon was not observed in viral hepatitis including types A, B and C.
The team focused on changes in regulatory T cells in patients with viral hepatitis and discovered that regulatory T cells undergo inflammatory changes to secrete inflammatory cytokines (protein secreted by immune cells) called TNF. They also proved regulatory T cells that secrete TNF contribute to the progression of viral hepatitis.
The team confirmed that regulatory T cells of acute hepatitis A patients have reduced immune-inhibitory functions. Instead, their regulatory T cells secrete TNF. Through this research, the team identified a molecular mechanism for changes in regulatory T cells and identified the transcription factor regulating the process. Furthermore, the team found similar changes to be also present in hepatitis B and C patients.
A KAIST immunology research team led by Professors Eui-Cheol Shin and Min Kyung Jung at the Graduate School of Medical Science & Engineering conducted this translational research with teams from Chungnam National University and Yonsei University to identify the mechanism in humans, instead of using animal models. The research was described in Gastroenterology last December.
Professor Shin said, “This is the first research on regulatory T cells that contributes to hepatocyte damage in viral hepatitis.” He continued, “It is significant for identifying the cells and the molecules that can be used as effective treatment targets for viral hepatitis in the future. This research was funded by the Samsung Science and Technology Foundation.
(Figure1: Treg cells from acute hepatitis A (AHA) patients produce tumor necrosis factor (TNF) andhave reduced suppressive activity. These changes are due to a decrease in FoxP3 transcription factor and an increase in RORγt transcription factor. TNF-producing Treg cells are associated with severe liver injury in AHA patients.)
(Figure 2: A higher proportion of Treg cells from patients with acute hepatitis A, compared with healthy controls, produced TNF upon stimulation with anti-CD3 and anti-CD2. This study reports the presence and the significance of TNF-producing Treg cells for the first time in human patients.)
2018.01.18 View 7919 -
Three Professors Named KAST Fellows
(Professor Dan Keun Sung at the center)
(Professor Y.H. Cho at the center)
(Professor K.H. Cho at the center)
The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) inducted three KAIST professors as fellows at the New Year’s ceremony held at KAST on January 12. They were among the 24 newly elected fellows of the most distinguished academy in Korea. The new fellows are Professor Dan Keun Sung of the School of Electrical Engineering, Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, and Professor Yong-Hoon Cho of the Department of Physics.
Professor Sung was recognized for his lifetime academic achievements in fields related with network protocols and energy ICT. He also played a crucial role in launching the Korean satellites KITSAT-1,2,3 and the establishment of the Satellite Technology Research Center at KAIST.
Professor Y.H.Cho has been a pioneer in the field of low-dimensional semiconductor-powered quantum photonics that enables quantum optical research in solid state. He has been recognized as a renowned scholar in this field internationally.
Professor K.H.Cho has conducted original research that combines IT and BT in systems biology and has applied novel technologies of electronic modeling and computer simulation analysis for investigating complex life sciences. Professor Cho, who is in his 40s, is the youngest fellow among the newly inducted fellows.
2018.01.16 View 12166 -
Harnessing the Strength of KAIST Alumni: New Head of KAA Inaugurated
KAIST alumni gathered in Seoul on January 13 to celebrate the New Year and the newly-elected leadership of the KAIST Alumni Association (KAA). More than 300 alumni, including President Sung-Chul Shin who is also an alumnus of KAIST, joined the gala event held at the Lotte Hotel.
Photo: Ki-Chul Cha(left) and Jung Sik Koh(right)
The KAA inaugurated its new president, Ki-Chul Cha, who was preceded by Jung Sik Koh, the former CEO at the Korea Resources Corporation. His term starts from January 2018 to December 2020.
Cha is the CEO of Inbody Co Ltd., a global company specializing in developing and selling medical instruments, such as a body composition analyzers, and medical solutions. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yonsei University. Cha obtained a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at KAIST in 1980, and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Utah, before finishing his post-doc fellowship at Harvard Medical School.
Cha plans to explore the idea that alumni engagement, saying, “KAIST stays as a home in the memories of 60,000 alumni. I will dedicate myself to stimulating the alumni association to make KAISTians proud.”
At the gala event, the KAA awarded the Alumni of the Year honor to six alumni who distinguished themselves in the areas of professional achievement, humanitarianism, and public service. They are the Director of Startup KAIST Professor Byoung Yoon Kim; President of LG Chem Ltd and Head of Battery Research and Development Myung Hwan Kim; Director of INNOX Advanced Materials Co., Ltd Kyung Ho Chang; Vice President of the Korea International Trade Association Jung-Kwan Kim; CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Yun-Tae Lee; and CEO of ENF Technology Jinbae Jung.
Photo: President Shin(far right) poses with six awardees of the Distinguished Alumni Award and the former President of KAA, Koh(far left)
2018.01.16 View 9285 -
New Arylation Inducing Reaction Developed
(Professor Chang(left) and Professor Baik)
KAIST researchers have identified a reaction mechanism that selectively introduces aryl groups at the desired position of a molecule at room temperature. A team, co-led by Professor Sukbok Chang and Mu-Hyun Baik of the Department of Chemistry, used an iridium catalyst for the reaction. The team also proved that the reaction proceeds by an unusual mechanism by employing computer simulations that were substantiated with targeted experimental probes.
Hydrocarbon is an omnipresent material in nature. But its low reactivity makes it difficult to process to value-added products at the room temperature. Thus, designing catalysts that can accelerate the reaction remains an important challenge in chemistry.
In particular, since most chemicals used in medicine, pharmacy, or material chemistry contain aryl groups, an effective reaction to selectively introduce the aryl group has been an area of intensive research in organic chemistry.
In order to introduce an aryl group into stable carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bond, activation of the C-H bond with a halogen atom or organic metal is required prior to the introduction of the aryl group, or C-H functionalization directly on C-H bond is needed. Direct functionalization is more effective and economical, but most reactions require harsh reaction conditions such as high temperature or excess additives. And adding the aryl fragment selectively to only one among the many possible sites in the molecule is difficult. The new catalyst developed by these KAIST researchers is highly selective.
This work is the latest example of a successful teamwork between experimental and theoretical research groups: Computer simulations revealed that traditional approaches to arylation required high energies because the intermediates produced during the reaction are too low in energy. Based on this insight, the researchers thought of changing the character of the intermediate by oxidizing it, which was predicted to be a great way of increasing the reactivity of the catalyst. Subsequent experimental work showed that this design strategy is highly effective resulting in unprecedented chemical transformations.
Professor Chang said, “We have been able to carry out location-selective arylation at room temperature, as well as identifying a new reaction pathway, different from the conventionally suggested mechanism.” He continued, “This research is significant for identifying the reaction pathway and developing a novel selective reaction method that does not require high temperature or additives based on the mechanistic understanding. This work is a triumph of rational design, rather than fortuitous discovery.” The research findings were published online in Nature Chemistry on December 11, 2017.
(Figure 1: X-ray crystal structure transmetallation intermediate)
(Figure 2: Correlation between oxidation state of intermediate and energy barrier required for reductive elimination of intermediate as calculated using density function from computational chemistry )
(Figure 3: Arylation mechanism using iridium catalyst as suggested by the research team)
2018.01.11 View 5633 -
KAIST Students Invited to the BNL
Siheon Ryee and Taek Jung Kim, combined Masters and PhD students from the Department of Physics, have been invited to be visiting researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).
The BNL, located in Long Island, New York, is one of the most esteemed institutes in the United States. Ryee and Kim received the invitation from the Center for Computational Design of Functional Strongly Correlated Materials and Theoretical Spectroscopy. This center was established by scholars who have been leading this field in the United States.
The two students will be participating in developing a methodology and code for calculating strongly correlated electronic materials, and a grant of 40,000 USD will be provided to each student. This amount of support is not often awarded to researchers outside of postdoctoral programs.
Moreover, they are guaranteed to continue their combined Masters and PhD program and write their dissertations under the supervision of their advisor, Professor Myung Joon Han from the Department of Physics.
Professor Han said, “I was impressed by how well-known scholars established the center in order to cooperate with each other to solve challenging problems. Also, I was surprised and happy that my students were invited to this outstanding institute.”
“I believe that doing research with leaders in their field will give valuable experience to the students. At the same time, my students will be a great help to the scholars of the institute,” he added.
2018.01.11 View 6906 -
Professor Jung Awarded the Pople Medal by the APATCC
(Professor Yousung Jung)
Professor Yousung Jung of the Graduate School of EEWS won the Pople Medal from the Asia-Pacific Association of Theoretical & Computational Chemists (APATCC).
The Pople Medal has been awarded annually since 2007 to recognize young scholars in the fields of theoretical/computational chemistry in honor of Sir John Anthony Pople, who passed away in 2004. Dr. Pople was a British theoretical chemist and a Nobel laureate in 1998 for his development of computational methods in quantum chemistry.
The Pople Medal is awarded to scientists at or under the age of 45 in the Asia-Pacific region who have distinguished themselves through pioneering and important contributions.
Professor Jung was honored for his outstanding contributions to developing efficient electronic structure methods and their applications to energy materials discovery. He has published more than 120 papers in prestigious academic journals. He also has an h-index of 44, and has been cited more than 8,000 times.
2018.01.10 View 6447