Engineering
-
H.Y.Choi won BSPA
H.Y.Choi won BSPA
Hyun-Young Choi, Doctor’s course at the Lightwave Systems Research Laboratory (LSRL) of Department of Electrical Engineering of KAIST (Professor in charge Yoonchul Jung), won the Best Student Paper Awards (BSPA) in the Asia-Pacific Optical Communications 2006.
BSPA is awarded to the most prospective paper in the field of Optical Transmission, Switching, and Subsystems. Choi suggested an OSNR monitoring technique among performance monitoring techniques for the efficient maintenance and management of optical network in her paper. Her technique is based on a polarization-nulling method using the polarization features of optical signals. It employs polarization mode dispersion compensator and acousto optic tunable filter (AOTF) to prevent monitoring errors arising from polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and non-linear double refraction, which considerably improves the monitoring technique and makes it possible to demonstrate a technique proposed at ultra long haul network.
2006.10.16 View 14715 -
Industrial Design Department named as world top design program
Industrial Design Department named as world top design program
KAIST Industrial Design Department is named as one of the ‘Global Top Design Program’ of ‘BusinessWeek, worldwide news magazine. BusinessWeek names the best 60 global programs in the fields of design, business, engineering, and social science through the inquiries of two hundred questions to the experts of design. The list is posted on the Top Innovation & Design Schools.
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/dschools/2006
2006.10.16 View 11323
-
Retirement of Professor Jung-Woong Ra
Retirement of Professor Jung-Woong Ra
The first professor of KAIST Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department Jung-Woon Ra, who is also the former president of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), retired.
Professor Ra joined KAIST as professor in 1971, the year of KAIST foundation, and established the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He has significantly contributed to the development of the department and is recognized for his sincere devotion to the rapid growth of GIST into a specialized research-oriented university as the head of GIST Foundation Committee and the third president of GIST.
For the past 35 years in KAIST, Professor Ra has educated 37 Ph.Ds and 90 masters, and presented 113 papers in domestic and world renowned journals and 93 academic papers.
Particularly, Professor Ra, world-class scholar in the field of electromagnetic wave utilization and application, invented ‘successive electromagnetic wave ground penetrating radar’, with which he discovered the fourth tunnel made by North Korean Military Forces in 1989.
In recognition of his contribution to manpower education and development of science and technology, he won Moran medal of Order of Civil Merit in 1999 and was awarded as a man of merit for electromagnetic wave development in 2005.
Retirement ceremony for Professor Jung was held at Dream Hall in ChungMoonSoul building last Friday, September 29, and Professor Jung was named as Emeritus Professor at the ceremony.
2006.10.10 View 16545
-
Sona Kwak wins first prize in international robot design contest
Sona Kwak wins first prize in international robot design contest
Sona Kwak (Doctor’s course, Department of Industrial Design) won the first prize in an international robot design contest.
Kwak exhibited an emotional robot of ‘Hamie’ at ‘Robot Design Contest for Students’ in Ro-Man 2006/ The 15th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, which was held at University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom for three days from September 6 (Wed) and obtained the glory of the first prize.
‘Hamie’, the work of the first prize, has been devised in terms of emotional communication among human beings. The design concept of ‘Hamie’ is a portable emotional robot that can convey even ‘intimacy’ using senses of seeing, hearing, and touching beyond a simple communication function. The design of ‘Hamie’ was estimated to best coincide with the topic of the contest in consideration of its function that allows emotional mutual action between human beings as well as mutual action between human and robot, or robot and robot. ‘Hamie’ is not an actual embodiment but proposed as ‘a concept and design of a robot’.
‘Ro-man’ is a world-famous academic conference in the research field of mutual action between robot and human being, and ‘Robot Design Contest for Students’ is a contest to scout for creative and artistic ideas on the design and structure of future robots and exhibits works from all over world.
Kwak is now seeking to develop the contents and designs of various next-generation service robots such as ▲ ottoro ? cleaning robot ▲ robot for blind ▲ robot for the old ▲ robot for education assistance ▲ robot for office affairs ▲ ubiquitos robot in her lab (PES Design Lab) led by Professor Myungseok Kim.
“I’ve considered and been disappointed about the role of designers in robot engineering while I’ve been designing robots. I am very proud that my robot design has been recognized in an academic conference of world-famous robot engineers and gained confidence,” Kwak said.
2006.09.27 View 16649
-
Professor Eunjoon Kim's team finds synapse-forming protein
Professor Eunjoon Kim’s team finds synapse-forming protein
- discover a new protein ‘NGL’ that promotes the formation of neuronal synapses
- can presume the cause of various brain disorders including schizophrenia
- will be published at Nature Neuroscience Vol. 9 in September
A new protein that promotes the formation of synapses in human brains was discovered by a Korean research team.
The team led by Eunjoon Kim, Professor of Department of Biological Sciences and Head of Creative Research Group of Synapse Formation), announced that it had discovered a new fact that NGL protein promotes the formation of neuronal synapses and this fact would be published in Nature Neuroscience Vol. 9 on September 18.
Professor Kim’s team discovered that a membrane protein named ‘NGL’ located at post synapse links with other membrane protein named netrin-G in pre synapse, acting as crosslink, and promotes the formation of a new synapse.
‘NGL’ is the second protein found to crosslink synapse, following neuoroligin. With the discovery of this new protein, the principle of synapse formation and the causes of various brain disorders can be presumed.
In the human brain, about more than 100 billion neuron cells and about 10,000 synapses compose neural circuit. A synapse is the place where innervation occurs between neuron cells. The formation of synapse induces the formation of neural circuit, and neural circuit is deeply related with various brain disorders as well as normal development of brains or brain functions.
“As netrin-G linked with NGL is related with schizonphrenia and neuoroligin and synapse crosslinking protein having a similar function with NGL is deeply related with mental retardation and autism, I think NGL is related with various brain disorders including schizophrenia.”
<Explanation of attached photos>
■ Photo1: Experiment for confirming NGL’s ability to form synapse No. 1
Mix ordinary cell (green) revealing NGL at its surface and neuron cell. Axon grows toward NGL (ordinary cell) located in the middle of ten o’clock direction and meets NGL, where NGL induces the formation of pre synapse (red) in the contacting axon.
Whether pre synapse has been formed can be told by the fluorescent dying (red) of pre synapse protein named Synapsin.
- Figure a-b: formation of synapse by NGL
- Figure c-d: transformed NGL losing synapse forming ability cannot form synapse
■ Photo 2: Experiment for confirming NGL’s ability to form synapse No. 2
When beads coated with NGL are scattered on neuron cell, the beads contact with the axon of the neuron cell (the beads are clearly visible at the phase differentiation image in the middle panel). At this time, NGL induces the formation of pre synapse (red) in the axon. Whether pre synapse has been formed can be told by the fluorescent dying (red) of pre synapse protein named SynPhy (panel a) or VGlut1 (panel b).
2006.09.21 View 16066
-
Professor Tae-Gwan Park awarded Minister Prize
Professor Tae-Gwan Park awarded Minister Prize
Professor Tae-Gwan Park (Department of Biological Sciences) was awarded the Minister Prize in the science innovation sector at the NANO KOREA 2006, which was opened on August 30.
This prize is given to researchers who have shown excellent research results in the field of Nanotechnology, and Professor Park was awarded the Minister Prize in recognition of his innovative achievements in the fields of Tissue Engineering, Drug Delivery, Gene Therapy, which are fusion technologies of NT and BT that utilize nanobiomaterials.
2006.09.06 View 15126
-
Former Information and Communication Minister Soonhoon Bae appointed to Vice president of KAIST
“KAIST graduate school of management will be a world-class graduate school of management”
Professor Soonhoon Bae was appointed to the vice president of KAIST in Seoul campus on August 16.
Vice president Bae started his carrier with Daewoo Inc. as the head of the technical H.Q. in Daewoo Heavy Industry in 1976, and took office as the CEO of Daewoo Electronics (1991-95) and Daewoo Inc. (1995-97).
He was also the Minister of Information and Communication in 1998 and the chairman of the Presidential Committee on Northeast Asian Business Hub during 2004-05.
He became an issue by ‘TANKism’, a motto of making strong and core function-convergent electronic goods, when he was the CEO of Daewoo Electronics in 1992. From 1999, he’s made lectures for KAIST graduate school of techno management and Classroom No. 101 in Supex Management Hall where he has made lectures is called ‘tank classroom’.
Vice president Bae expressed his intention of the globalization and level-up of the school by saying, “I will focus on basic researches of management and thus raise the level of KAIST graduate school up to be qualified for Nobel Prize. I’ve taken many high-rank positions such as the CEO of major companies and the minister, however, position doesn’t matter at all. I am fully satisfied with the fact that the organizations that I belonged to have been reborn as world-class communities, and I am planning to lead KAIST graduate school of management in such a direction.”
2006.09.05 View 14787
-
Professor Sejin Kwon develops thruster for small satellite
- World’s first application of high-performance liquid propellant to small satellite thruster
- Show about four times higher thrust performance than the cold gas thruster of University of Surrey, the state-of-the-art technology in the field of small satellite
- Expect a considerable contribution to the extension of the lifespan and mission range of small satellites
The team of Professor Sejin Kwon (Department of Aerospace Engineering in KAIST/ President Nam Pyo Suh) and Space Solution Inc. (President Jaehun Lee) have jointly developed a micro thruster for small satellite motion-control.
Kwon"s team has succeeded in developing an integrated thruster which can be mounted on a satellite by integrating catalyst reactor and propellant-supplying system, which are the core technologies of small satellite thruster system.
For the first time in the world, Kwon’s team employs a high-performance liquid propellant to the thruster.
In the thruster, liquid-state hydrogen peroxide is dissolved into vapor and oxygen at the catalytic layer to emit a huge amount of heat. And, the emitted heat is converted into the kinetic energy of the gas to produce a propulsive force.
This thruster can perform the motion-control of a several tens-kilogram satellite with a propulsive force of less than one Newton and shows about four times higher thrust performance than the cold gas thruster of University of Surrey, who possesses the state-of-the-art technologies in the field of small satellites.
Professor Kwon said, “Although University of Surrey has also tried to develop a similar system, it’s not yet solved the problem on catalytic reactor bed. I expect this thruster will considerably contribute to the extension of the lifespan and mission range of scientific small satellites. Also, this thruster can be employed for the attitude control of the upper end of the launch vehicle, which is now being developed by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute (KARI).”
<Thruster module for small satellite application>
2006.09.05 View 15134
-
Professor Chan Beum Park, requested for joint international research by a German biotechnology enterprise.
- Bitop AG (Germany) requested a joint development of medicines for Alzheimer’s disease
- The meaning of the financial support by European enterprise to the research result of domestic university.
Professor Chan Beum Park (Department of Materials Science and Engineering in KAIST/ President Nam Pyo Suh) has been entrusted with a joint international research for the development of medicines for Alzheimer’s disease from Bitop AG, German biotechnology enterprise.
KAIST recently agreed with Bitop AG to cooperate for a research program pursuing the development of inhibitors that inhibit the formation of plaque relevant to amyloid diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. Based on this agreement, KAIST will be provided with a financial support of sixty thousands Euro (about 74 million won) from Bitop AG.
Professor Park will perform the screening of inhibitors, which are the core of the research, and KAIST will share patent rights from the research with Bitop AG.
It is known that various degenerative nerve diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, mad cow disease, and so on arise mainly from the accumulation of pathological protein plaque termed amyloid, and environmental stress accelerates the diseases.
So far, no effective remedy has been developed for amyloid diseases.
Recently, the use of chemicals inhibiting the formation of amyloid has been raised as a potential remedy.
Natural small stress molecules extracted from microbes growing in extreme environments like volcanic region on the bottom of the deep sea, etc. are gaining attention as an amyloid inhibitor.
Professor Park found out for the first time in the world that Anti-stress materials are effective in inhibiting the formation of amyloid plaque and published that fact in several renowned European scientific journals.
After that, Professor Park was requested by Bitop AG for a joint research and has studied for the development of medicines for Alzheimer’s disease using various kinds of Anti-stress materials.
Professor Park said, “I’d like to grant a highly valuable meaning to this entrustment since it implies that European enterprises perceive the value of the research result by domestic universities and hope to promote research and development by providing practical financial support, etc. I wish this time’s entrustment will be a momentum to advance Korea’s research level one step higher through active joint researches with enterprises or institutes in U.S. and Europe as well as Bitop AG.”
Bitop AG is a German enterprise that produces various Anti-stress materials coming from extreme-loving microbes.
Currently, Anti-stress materials are being sold mainly as protein and cell protectants, cosmetic additives, health supplement, etc.
Anti-stress materials extracted from microbes well growing in extreme environment of one hundred centigrade or more are expected to perform a role of inhibitors that inhibit the formation of amyloid plaque, the main factor of stress-related degenerative nerve diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, etc. Such Anti-stress materials are gaining attention as a future medicine for Alzheimer’s disease, etc.
2006.09.05 View 15092
-
Ju-pyeong Lee won the Best Paper Award from IEEE RTAS
Ju-pyeong Lee, doctoral student of the Dept. of Electrical Engineering of KAIST, received the Best Paper Award from the 11th Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium (IEEE RTAS) sponsored by IEEE TC on Real Time System and supported from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
He is in the Computer Engineering laboratory, and won the honor by his research of technique of Delayed Locking Technique for Improving Real-Time Performance of Embedded Linux by Prediction of Timer Interrupt. His paper was selected to be the best because of its practicality. His research purposed the technique that can dramatically improve real time problem, which was indicated to be the big problem of Linux. Moreover, he presented the way to easily materialize this technique in the practical system.
Best Paper Award is the prize awarded by IEEE Computer Society in the recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of real time system and embedded technology.
IEEE RTAS is a symposium held annually by IEEE. In this year, the 11th symposium was held from March 7 to March 10, for four days, in San Francisco, United States. The purpose of this year symposium was to seek papers describing significant contributions both to state of the art and state of the practice in the broad field of embedded and open real-time computing, control, and communication. Therefore, it especially focused on online real-time and embedded applications ranging from industrial embedded applications such as aeronautics and automotive systems to open multimedia, telecommunication and mobile computing systems.
Approximately 200 related erudite from almost 20 countries including United States, England, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden participated in this symposium. Total number of papers submitted to IEEE RTAS was 158, while only 53 of them were selected.
by Hye-jung Won / Staff ReporterApril, 2005 / The KAIST Herald
2005.04.12 View 17871
-
National NanoFab Center Established
NNFC Emerges with Cutting-edge Nanotech
On March 16, a dedication ceremony was held at KAIST to mark the completion of the National NanoFab Center(NNFC). The opening was graced with the presence of several prominent figures, namely, President Robert B. Laughlin, Daejeon City Mayor Hong-chul Yum, and Myung Oh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Technology.Celebrations of the opening were attended by roughly 300 related personnel. After a welcoming speech given by Hee-Chul Lee, President of NNFC, the event proceeded with a ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by a grand tour of the cleanroom.
The newly completed NNFC on campus boasts a total area of 17,035 square meters which consists of a four-storey research building, a cleanroom and a central utility building.
Still at the first stage of its equipment supplementation, the center has currently achieved an immense 140 in gear variety, worth approximately 80 billion won. At its final stage, a total of 206 equipment arrangements are to be available for various research purposes.
Implementing the use of state-of-the-art facilities, NNFC’s devices include an electron beam capable of critical measurements as small as ten nanometers and an ion beam structure for the analysis of nano-scale materials. These equipments are to be used in numerous areas - fundamental physics, biotechnology and nanoscience
Until the year 2011, a sum of 290 billion won is to be invested in the NNFC by the government and other private organizations. The center, along with Daedeok Techno Valley, aspires to play an integral role in maturing towards a new age of nanotechnology.
President Lee of the NNFC stated that the center is essential for Korea’s nanotechnology skills to achieve higher standards and compete with countries such as the U.S. and Japan. President Lee is also a professor of KAIST at the Division of Electrical Engineering.
By Kyoung-lee Park / Staff ReporterApril, 2005 / The KAIST Herald
2005.04.12 View 21621
-
Korean Researchers Develop Skin-Like Tactile Sensor
THE KOREA TIMES2005.1.31(Mon)
A South Korean scientific research center said Sunday that it has developed a tactile sensor capable of functioning like human skin.
The left picture shows the letters of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) caught through a tactile sensor functioning like human skin and the right picture is its enlarged image. Scientists from KAIST developed the precision tactile sensor with 1-millimeter spatial resolution.
The tactile sensor is made of polydimethylsiloxane, a synthetic rubber, and has a 1-millimeter spatial resolution capability, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) said.
``Many tactile sensors have been developed so far, but ours has the highest spatial resolution capability, flexibility, softness and extensibility,’’ said Lee Hyung-kyu, who led the development project.
Late last year, the University of Tokyo unveiled a tactile sensor with a spatial resolution capability of 2 millimeters.
Lee said his team will announce the results of their research at an international conference on micro-electro-mechanical systems, to be held early next month in the U.S. city of Miami.
The new sensor is widely expected to lay the foundation for coating humanoids such as South Korea"s HUBO or Japan"s ASIMO with artificial skin.
HUBO is a humanoid robot recently developed by KAIST. It is capable of moving its fingers independently, dancing and shaking hands with people by using its 41 joints.
Japan"s ASIMO, an acronym for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, was unveiled in 2000 as the world"s most advanced bi-pedal robot.
Through several upgrades, it is now able to spin in the air, bend or twist its torso and maneuver around obstacles in its path.
2005.02.02 View 14953