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KAIST’s RAIBO2 becomes the World’s First Robo-dog to Successfully Complete a Full-course Marathon
KAIST's quadrupedal walking robot "RAIBO", which can run seamlessly on sandy beaches, has now evolved into "RAIBO2"and achieved the groundbreaking milestone by becomeing the world's first quadrupedal robot to successfully complete a full-course marathon in an official event.
< Photo 1. A group photo of RAIBO2 and the team after completing the full-course marathon >
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 17th of November that Professor Je Min Hwangbo's research team of the Department of Mechanical Engineering participated in the 22nd Sangju Dried-Persimmon Marathon and completed the full-course race (42.195 km) with a time of 4 hours 19 minutes and 52 seconds.
< Photo 2. RAIBO2 after completing the full-course marathon with its official record presented on the photo wall >
The Sangju Dried Persimmon Marathon is known for its challenging course featuring two 50 m elevation climbs, each at the 14 km and 28 km marks, making it defficult for amateur runners. This made it an especially demanding challenge for the walking robot, as unexpected losses in efficiency could occur.
< Photo 3. RAIBO2 with the completion medal around its neck >
To prepare RAIBO2, Professor Hwangbo's team developed a walking controller using reinforcement learning algorithms within their proprietary simulation environment "RaiSim". This simulator allowed the team to simlate diverse terrains such as slopes, stairs, and icy roads to ensure stable walking performance.
In particular, RAIBO2's high torque transparency joint mechanism enable the robot to efficiently harvest energy on the downhill slopes to regain some of the energy used in climbing up steep hill.
In addition, the stability of the robot was greatly improved through the collaboration with RAION ROBOTICS Inc., a company founded by the researchers from Professor Hwangbo’s lab.
< Figure 1. Conceptual diagram of power flow employed by the quadrupedal robot >
< Figure 2. The process of leg posture change of RAIBO2 walking at the most efficient walking speed of 3 m/s. By reducing the ground contact speed of the feet, the collision energy loss was reduced, and by minimizing the slipperiness of the foot upon contact, the body's kinetic energy was maintained towards the direction of the movement. >
Due to the nature of walking, pedal robots must employ highly complex systems that can withstand periodic vibrations from the frequent impacts that occur upon contact with the ground surface. Immediately after development, high efficiency was already recorded in short-distance experiments in the laboratory at the beginning of the year, but the manufacturing technology of RAION ROBOTICS significantly bolstered RAIBO's performance in running safely for a prolonged time of more than 4 hours among random pack of people in an actual marathon.
Compared to previous studies on improving walking efficiency, where external parts or software could not be changed and only limited improvements were made in some areas, Professor Hwangbo’s research team cited the fact that they were able to comprehensively solve problems by developing all steps and parts in-house, including mechanism design, electrical design, software, and artificial intelligence, as a key factor in improving efficiency.
Following the development of RAIBO1, the research team developed RAIBO2 and optimized all aspects of the robot. In particular, the team integrated the motor driver circuitry directly into the robot to minimize actuator losses and increase the control bandwidth, greatly improving walking efficiency and stability.
< Photo 4. RAIBO2 running the full-course marathon along human participants >
Choongin Lee, a Ph.D. Student that co-first author of the studies on RAIBO, said, “Through the marathon project, we demonstrated that RAIBO2 has the walking performance to stably execute services such as delivery and patrol in urban environments with many people and random objects,” and “In follow-up research, we will add autonomous navigation functions to RAIBO and strive to achieve the world’s best walking performance in mountainous and disaster environments.”
< Photo 5. RAIBO2 and co-first authors of the related research at the Ph.D. program of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at KAIST. (From left) Choongin Lee, Donghoon Youm, and Jeongsoo Park >
This research was conducted with the support of Samsung Electronics Future Technology Promotion Center and RAION ROBOTICS Inc.
2024.11.17 View 760 -
KAIST Unveils New Possibilities for Treating Intractable Brain Tumors
< Photo 1. (From left) Professor Heung Kyu Lee, KAIST Department of Biological Sciences, and Dr. Keun Bon Ku >
Immunotherapy, which enhances the immune system's T cell response to eliminate cancer cells, has emerged as a key approach in cancer treatment. However, in the case of glioblastoma, an aggressive and treatment-resistant brain tumor, numerous clinical trials have failed to confirm their efficacy. Korean researchers have recently analyzed the mechanisms that cause T cell exhaustion, which is characterized by a loss of function or a weakened response following prolonged exposure to antigens in such intractable cancers, identifying key control factors in T cell activation and clarifying the mechanisms that enhance therapeutic effectiveness.
KAIST (represented by President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 6th of November that Professor Heung Kyu Lee’s team from the Department of Biological Sciences, in collaboration with the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (represented by President Young Kuk Lee), has confirmed improved survival rates in a glioblastoma mouse model. By removing the inhibitory Fc gamma receptor (FcγRIIB), the research team was able to restore the responsiveness of cytotoxic T cells to immune checkpoint inhibitors, leading to enhanced anticancer activity.
The research team examined the effect of FcγRIIB, an inhibitory receptor recently found in cytotoxic T cells, on tumor-infiltrating T cells and the therapeutic effectiveness of the anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor.
< Figure 1. Study results on improved survival rate due to increased antitumor activity of anti-PD-1 treatment in inhibitory Fc gamma receptor(Fcgr2b) ablation mice with murine glioblastoma. >
Their findings showed that deleting FcγRIIB induced the increase of tumor antigen-specific memory T cells, which helps to suppress exhaustion, enhances stem-like qualities, and reactivates T cell-mediated antitumor immunity, particularly in response to anti-PD-1 treatment. Furthermore, FcγRIIB deletion led to an increase in antigen-specific memory T cells that maintained continuous infiltration into the tumor tissue.
This study presents a new therapeutic target for tumors unresponsive to immune checkpoint inhibitors and demonstrates that combining FcγRIIB inhibition with anti-PD-1 treatment can produce synergistic effects, potentially improving therapeutic outcomes for tumors like glioblastoma, which typically show resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy.
< Figure 2. Overview of the study on the enhanced response to anti-PD-1 therapy for glioblastoma brain tumors upon deletion of the inhibitory Fc gamma receptor (FcγRIIB) in tumor microenvironment. When the inhibitory Fc gamma receptor (FcγRIIB) of cytotoxic T cells is deleted, an increase in tumor-specific memory T cells (Ttsms) was observed. In addition, this T cell subset is identified as originating from the tumor-draining lymph nodes(TdLNs) and leads to persistent infiltration into the tumor tissue. Anti-PD-1 therapy leads to an increased anti-tumor immune response via Ttsms, which is confirmed by increased tumor cell toxicity and increased cell division and decreased cell de-migration indices. Ultimately, the increased cytotoxic T cell immune response leads to an increase in the survival rate of glioblastoma. >
Professor Heung Kyu Lee explained, "This study offers a way to overcome clinical failures in treating brain tumors with immune checkpoint therapy and opens possibilities for broader applications to other intractable cancers. It also highlights the potential of utilizing cytotoxic T cells for tumor cell therapy."
The study, led by Dr. Keun Bon Ku of KAIST (currently a senior researcher at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology's Center for Infectious Disease Diagnosis and Prevention), along with Chae Won Kim, Yumin Kim, Byeong Hoon Kang, Jeongwoo La, In Kang, Won Hyung Park, Stephen Ahn, and Sung Ki Lee, was published online on October 26 in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer, an international journal in tumor immunology and therapy from the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. (Paper title: “Inhibitory Fcγ receptor deletion enhances CD8 T cell stemness increasing anti-PD-1 therapy responsiveness against glioblastoma,” http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jitc-2024-009449).
This research received support from the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Bio & Medical Technology Development Program, and the Samsung Science & Technology Foundation.
2024.11.15 View 202 -
KAIST’s Beach-Roaming Quadrupedal Robot “RAIBO” to Run a Marathon!
“RAIBO”, KAIST’s four-legged robot featuring remarkable agility even on challenging terrains like sandy beaches, is now set to be the first in the world to complete a full marathon.
< Photo 1. A group photo of the research team of Professor Je Min Hwangbo (second from the right in the front row) of the Department of Mechanical Engineering who participated in the marathon event at 2024 Geumsan Insam Festival last September >
On the 17th of November, KAIST (represented by President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced that Professor Je Min Hwangbo’s team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering has developed an upgraded version, “RAIBO2,” which will take on the full 42.195-kilometer course at the "Sangju Dried-Persimmon Marathon".
This is over double the previous maximum distance achieved by quadruped robots, which was limited to around 20 kilometers. The KAIST team has successfully developed a robot that can walk continuously for 43 kilometers on a single charge, completing the course in 4 hours and 40 minutes by following a GPS-guided path on the university’s main athletic field. Through this marathon, the team aims to demonstrate RAIBO2’s walking performance in an actual urban environment.
Previously, most measurements of walking robots’ travel distances were confined to controlled laboratory conditions or theoretical data. This marathon challenge is thus significant in that the robot will run alongside the general public in a real urban setting, marking the first attempt to validate the practical potential of four-legged robots in real environments.
Quadruped robots have shown advantages in challenging terrains, such as ice, sand, and mountainous areas, where they can walk stably. However, limited travel distance and running time have long been obstacles to wider applications.
< Figure 1. Conceptual diagram of power flow employed by the quadruped robot >
Professor Hwangbo’s team designed every component of the robot, from its actuators to its mechanical structure, to overcome these limitations. Notably, they implemented an efficient walking control system based on reinforcement learning using their proprietary dynamic simulator “RaiSim”.
The team also collected and analyzed walking data from outdoor environments, creating a model to address walking losses. This model was then used to iteratively improve walking efficiency over one full year.
< Figure 2. The leg posture change process of RAIBO2 walking at the most efficient walking speed of 3 m/s. By reducing the ground contact speed of the feet, the collision energy loss was reduced, and by minimizing the slipperiness of the foot upon contact, the body's kinetic energy was maintained towards the direction of the movement. >
This is the team’s second attempt. Their first was during the marathon event at “Geumsan Insam Festival” in September when the robot’s battery ran out at the 37-kilometer mark, falling short of completion. The battery drained 10 kilometers earlier than expected due to frequent speed changes as the robot adjusted to the pacing of other runners on the course.
Following the initial attempt, the team focused on technical improvements for a successful finish. They enhanced control efficiency by implementing joint stiffness control directly onto the motor actuator and increased battery capacity by 33% by refining the internal structure. These improvements enabled the robot to cover a maximum distance of 67 kilometers on straight paths.
< Figure 3. Data from completing 43 km on a single charge at the main sports field on campus. Left) GPS data of the driving course used during autonomous running. Middle) Covered distance by the hour. Right) Energy consumption by module >
Choongin Lee, a Ph.D. student of RAI Lab who is one of the co-first author of this study, explained, “Our comprehensive analysis of walking losses in terms of mechanics, electrical systems, and walking methods was crucial to improving walking efficiency. This research marks an important milestone in extending the operating range of quadruped robots to urban environments.”
< Photo 2. A Photo from Practice Run>
This research was supported by the Samsung Electronics Future Technology Development Center and RAION ROBOTICS Co., Ltd.
< Photo 3. A Photo from Practice Run >
2024.11.15 View 308 -
KAIST Researchers Suggest an Extraordinary Alternative to Petroleum-based PET - Bacteria!
< (From left) Dr. Cindy Pricilia, Ph.D. Candidate Cheon Woo Moon, Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee >
Currently, the world is suffering from environmental problems caused by plastic waste. The KAIST research team has succeeded in producing a microbial-based plastic that is biodegradable and can replace existing PET bottles, making it a hot topic.
Our university announced on the 7th of November that the research team of Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering has succeeded in developing a microbial strain that efficiently produces pseudoaromatic polyester monomer to replace polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using systems metabolic engineering.
Pseudoaromatic dicarboxylic acids have better physical properties and higher biodegradability than aromatic polyester (PET) when synthesized as polymers, and are attracting attention as an eco-friendly monomer* that can be synthesized into polymers. The production of pseudoaromatic dicarboxylic acids through chemical methods has the problems of low yield and selectivity, complex reaction conditions, and the generation of hazardous waste.
*Monomer: A material for making polymers, which is used to synthesize polymers by polymerizing monomers together
< Figure. Overview of pseudoaromatic dicarboxylic acid production using metabolically engineered C. glutamicum. >
To solve this problem, Professor Sang Yup Lee's research team used metabolic engineering to develop a microbial strain that efficiently produces five types of pseudoaromatic dicarboxylic acids, including 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid and four types of pyridine dicarboxylic acids (2,3-, 2,4-, 2,5-, 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acids), in Corynebacterium, a bacterium mainly used for amino acid production.
The research team used metabolic engineering techniques to build a platform microbial strain that enhances the metabolic flow of protocatechuic acid, which is used as a precursor for several pseudoaromatic dicarboxylic acids, and prevents the loss of precursors.
Based on this, the genetic manipulation target was discovered through transcriptome analysis, producing 76.17 g/L of 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylic acid, and by newly discovering and constructing three types of pyridine dicarboxylic acid production metabolic pathways, successfully producing 2.79 g/L of 2,3-pyridine dicarboxylic acid, 0.49 g/L of 2,4-pyridine dicarboxylic acid, and 1.42 g/L of 2,5-pyridine dicarboxylic acid.
In addition, the research team confirmed the production of 15.01 g/L through the construction and reinforcement of the 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acid biosynthesis pathway, successfully producing a total of five similar aromatic dicarboxylic acids with high efficiency.
In conclusion, the team succeeded in producing 2,4-, 2,5-, and 2,6-pyridine dicarboxylic acids at the world's highest concentration. In particular, 2,4-, 2,5-pyridine dicarboxylic acid achieved production on the scale of g/L, which was previously produced in extremely small amounts (mg/L).
Based on this study, it is expected that it will be applied to various polyester production industrial processes, and it is also expected that it will be actively utilized in research on the production of similar aromatic polyesters.
Professor Sang Yup Lee, the corresponding author, said, “The significance lies in the fact that we have developed an eco-friendly technology that efficiently produces similar aromatic polyester monomers based on microorganisms,” and “This study will help the microorganism-based bio-monomer industry replace the petrochemical-based chemical industry in the future.”
The results of this study were published in the international academic journal, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of United States of America (PNAS) on October 30th.
※ Paper title: Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the production of pyrone and pyridine dicarboxylic acids
※ Author information: Jae Sung Cho (co-first author), Zi Wei Luo (co-first author), Cheon Woo Moon (co-first author), Cindy Prabowo (co-author), Sang Yup Lee (corresponding author) - a total of 5 people
This study was conducted with the support of the Development of Next-generation Biorefinery Platform Technologies for Leading Bio-based Chemicals Industry Project and the Development of Platform Technologies of Microbial Cell Factories for the Next-generation Biorefineries Project (Project leader: Professor Sang Yup Lee) from the National Research Foundation supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology and ICT of Korea.
2024.11.08 View 767 -
KAIST Proposes AI Training Method that will Drastically Shorten Time for Complex Quantum Mechanical Calculations
- Professor Yong-Hoon Kim's team from the School of Electrical Engineering succeeded for the first time in accelerating quantum mechanical electronic structure calculations using a convolutional neural network (CNN) model
- Presenting an AI learning principle of quantum mechanical 3D chemical bonding information, the work is expected to accelerate the computer-assisted designing of next-generation materials and devices
The close relationship between AI and high-performance scientific computing can be seen in the fact that both the 2024 Nobel Prizes in Physics and Chemistry were awarded to scientists for their AI-related research contributions in their respective fields of study. KAIST researchers succeeded in dramatically reducing the computation time for highly sophisticated quantum mechanical computer simulations by predicting atomic-level chemical bonding information distributed in 3D space using a novel AI approach.
KAIST (President Kwang-Hyung Lee) announced on the 30th of October that Professor Yong-Hoon Kim's team from the School of Electrical Engineering developed a 3D computer vision artificial neural network-based computation methodology that bypasses the complex algorithms required for atomic-level quantum mechanical calculations traditionally performed using supercomputers to derive the properties of materials.
< Figure 1. Various methodologies are utilized in the simulation of materials and materials, such as quantum mechanical calculations at the nanometer (nm) level, classical mechanical force fields at the scale of tens to hundreds of nanometers, continuum dynamics calculations at the macroscopic scale, and calculations that mix simulations at different scales. These simulations are already playing a key role in a wide range of basic research and application development fields in combination with informatics techniques. Recently, there have been active efforts to introduce machine learning techniques to radically accelerate simulations, but research on introducing machine learning techniques to quantum mechanical electronic structure calculations, which form the basis of high-scale simulations, is still insufficient. >
The quantum mechanical density functional theory (DFT) calculations using supercomputers have become an essential and standard tool in a wide range of research and development fields, including advanced materials and drug design, as they allow fast and accurate prediction of material properties.
*Density functional theory (DFT): A representative theory of ab initio (first principles) calculations that calculate quantum mechanical properties from the atomic level.
However, practical DFT calculations require generating 3D electron density and solving quantum mechanical equations through a complex, iterative self-consistent field (SCF)* process that must be repeated tens to hundreds of times. This restricts its application to systems with only a few hundred to a few thousand atoms.
*Self-consistent field (SCF): A scientific computing method widely used to solve complex many-body problems that must be described by a number of interconnected simultaneous differential equations.
Professor Yong-Hoon Kim’s research team questioned whether recent advancements in AI techniques could be used to bypass the SCF process. As a result, they developed the DeepSCF model, which accelerates calculations by learning chemical bonding information distributed in a 3D space using neural network algorithms from the field of computer vision.
< Figure 2. The deepSCF methodology developed in this study provides a way to rapidly accelerate DFT calculations by avoiding the self-consistent field process (orange box) that had to be performed repeatedly in traditional quantum mechanical electronic structure calculations through artificial neural network techniques (green box). The self-consistent field process is a process of predicting the 3D electron density, constructing the corresponding potential, and then solving the quantum mechanical Cohn-Sham equations, repeating tens to hundreds of times. The core idea of the deepSCF methodology is that the residual electron density (δρ), which is the difference between the electron density (ρ) and the sum of the electron densities of the constituent atoms (ρ0), corresponds to chemical bonding information, so the self-consistent field process is replaced with a 3D convolutional neural network model. >
The research team focused on the fact that, according to density functional theory, electron density contains all quantum mechanical information of electrons, and that the residual electron density — the difference between the total electron density and the sum of the electron densities of the constituent atoms — contains chemical bonding information. They used this as the target for machine learning.
They then adopted a dataset of organic molecules with various chemical bonding characteristics, and applied random rotations and deformations to the atomic structures of these molecules to further enhance the model’s accuracy and generalization capabilities. Ultimately, the research team demonstrated the validity and efficiency of the DeepSCF methodology on large, complex systems.
< Figure 3. An example of applying the deepSCF methodology to a carbon nanotube-based DNA sequence analysis device model (top left). In addition to classical mechanical interatomic forces (bottom right), the residual electron density (top right) and quantum mechanical electronic structure properties such as the electronic density of states (DOS) (bottom left) containing information on chemical bonding are rapidly predicted with an accuracy corresponding to the standard DFT calculation results that perform the SCF process. >
Professor Yong-Hoon Kim, who supervised the research, explained that his team had found a way to map quantum mechanical chemical bonding information in a 3D space onto artificial neural networks. He noted, “Since quantum mechanical electron structure calculations underpin materials simulations across all scales, this research establishes a foundational principle for accelerating material calculations using artificial intelligence.”
Ryong-Gyu Lee, a PhD candidate in the School of Electrical Engineering, served as the first author of this research, which was published online on October 24 in Npj Computational Materials, a prestigious journal in the field of material computation. (Paper title: “Convolutional network learning of self-consistent electron density via grid-projected atomic fingerprints”)
This research was conducted with support from the KAIST High-Risk Research Program for Graduate Students and the National Research Foundation of Korea’s Mid-career Researcher Support Program.
2024.10.30 View 745 -
KAIST Proposes a New Way to Circumvent a Long-time Frustration in Neural Computing
The human brain begins learning through spontaneous random activities even before it receives sensory information from the external world. The technology developed by the KAIST research team enables much faster and more accurate learning when exposed to actual data by pre-learning random information in a brain-mimicking artificial neural network, and is expected to be a breakthrough in the development of brain-based artificial intelligence and neuromorphic computing technology in the future.
KAIST (President Kwang-Hyung Lee) announced on the 23rd of October that Professor Se-Bum Paik 's research team in the Department of Brain Cognitive Sciences solved the weight transport problem*, a long-standing challenge in neural network learning, and through this, explained the principles that enable resource-efficient learning in biological brain neural networks.
*Weight transport problem: This is the biggest obstacle to the development of artificial intelligence that mimics the biological brain. It is the fundamental reason why large-scale memory and computational work are required in the learning of general artificial neural networks, unlike biological brains.
Over the past several decades, the development of artificial intelligence has been based on error backpropagation learning proposed by Geoffery Hinton, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics this year. However, error backpropagation learning was thought to be impossible in biological brains because it requires the unrealistic assumption that individual neurons must know all the connected information across multiple layers in order to calculate the error signal for learning.
< Figure 1. Illustration depicting the method of random noise training and its effects >
This difficult problem, called the weight transport problem, was raised by Francis Crick, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of the structure of DNA, after the error backpropagation learning was proposed by Hinton in 1986. Since then, it has been considered the reason why the operating principles of natural neural networks and artificial neural networks will forever be fundamentally different.
At the borderline of artificial intelligence and neuroscience, researchers including Hinton have continued to attempt to create biologically plausible models that can implement the learning principles of the brain by solving the weight transport problem.
In 2016, a joint research team from Oxford University and DeepMind in the UK first proposed the concept of error backpropagation learning being possible without weight transport, drawing attention from the academic world. However, biologically plausible error backpropagation learning without weight transport was inefficient, with slow learning speeds and low accuracy, making it difficult to apply in reality.
KAIST research team noted that the biological brain begins learning through internal spontaneous random neural activity even before experiencing external sensory experiences. To mimic this, the research team pre-trained a biologically plausible neural network without weight transport with meaningless random information (random noise).
As a result, they showed that the symmetry of the forward and backward neural cell connections of the neural network, which is an essential condition for error backpropagation learning, can be created. In other words, learning without weight transport is possible through random pre-training.
< Figure 2. Illustration depicting the meta-learning effect of random noise training >
The research team revealed that learning random information before learning actual data has the property of meta-learning, which is ‘learning how to learn.’ It was shown that neural networks that pre-learned random noise perform much faster and more accurate learning when exposed to actual data, and can achieve high learning efficiency without weight transport.
< Figure 3. Illustration depicting research on understanding the brain's operating principles through artificial neural networks >
Professor Se-Bum Paik said, “It breaks the conventional understanding of existing machine learning that only data learning is important, and provides a new perspective that focuses on the neuroscience principles of creating appropriate conditions before learning,” and added, “It is significant in that it solves important problems in artificial neural network learning through clues from developmental neuroscience, and at the same time provides insight into the brain’s learning principles through artificial neural network models.”
This study, in which Jeonghwan Cheon, a Master’s candidate of KAIST Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences participated as the first author and Professor Sang Wan Lee of the same department as a co-author, will be presented at the 38th Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), the world's top artificial intelligence conference, to be held in Vancouver, Canada from December 10 to 15, 2024. (Paper title: Pretraining with random noise for fast and robust learning without weight transport)
This study was conducted with the support of the National Research Foundation of Korea's Basic Research Program in Science and Engineering, the Information and Communications Technology Planning and Evaluation Institute's Talent Development Program, and the KAIST Singularity Professor Program.
2024.10.23 View 806 -
KAIST Develops a Fire-risk Free Self-Powered Hydrogen Production System
KAIST researchers have developed a new hydrogen production system that overcomes the current limitations of green hydrogen production. By using a water-splitting system with an aqueous electrolyte, this system is expected to block fire risks and enable stable hydrogen production.
KAIST (represented by President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 22nd of October that a research team led by Professor Jeung Ku Kang from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering developed a self-powered hydrogen production system based on a high-performance zinc-air battery*.
*Zinc-air battery: A primary battery that absorbs oxygen from the air and uses it as an oxidant. Its advantage is long life, but its low electromotive force is a disadvantage.
Hydrogen (H₂) is a key raw material for synthesizing high-value-added substances, and it is gaining attention as a clean fuel with an energy density (142 MJ/kg) more than three times higher than traditional fossil fuels (gasoline, diesel, etc.). However, most current hydrogen production methods impose environmental burden as they emit carbon dioxide (CO₂).
While green hydrogen can be produced by splitting water using renewable energy sources such as solar cells and wind power, these sources are subject to irregular power generation due to weather and temperature fluctuations, leading to low water-splitting efficiency.
To overcome this, air batteries that can emit sufficient voltage (greater than 1.23V) for water splitting have been gaining attention. However, achieving sufficient capacity requires expensive precious metal catalysts and the performance of the catalyst materials becomes significantly degraded during prolonged charge and discharge cycles. Thus, it is essential to develop catalysts that are effective for the water-splitting reactions (oxygen and hydrogen evolution) and materials that can stabilize the repeated charge and discharge reactions (oxygen reduction and evolution) in zinc-air battery electrodes.
In response, Professor Kang's research team proposed a method to synthesize a non-precious metal catalyst material (G-SHELL) that is effective for three different catalytic reactions (oxygen evolution, hydrogen evolution, and oxygen reduction) by growing nano-sized, metal-organic frameworks on graphene oxide.
The team incorporated the developed catalyst material into the air cathode of a zinc-air battery, confirming that it achieved approximately five times higher energy density (797Wh/kg), high power characteristics (275.8mW/cm²), and long-term stability even under repeated charge and discharge conditions compared to conventional batteries.
Additionally, the zinc-air battery, which operates using an aqueous electrolyte, is safe from fire risks. It is expected that this system can be applied as a next-generation energy storage device when linked with water electrolysis systems, offering an environmentally friendly method for hydrogen production.
< Figure 1. Illustrations of a trifunctional graphene-sandwiched heterojunction-embedded layered lattice (G-SHELL) structure. Schematic representation of a) synthesis procedures of G-SHELL from a zeolitic imidazole framework, b) hollow core-layered shell structure with trifunctional sites for oxygen reduction evolution (ORR), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and c) heterojunctions, eterojunction-induced internal electric fields, and the corresponding band structure. >
Professor Kang explained, "By developing a catalyst material with high activity and durability for three different electrochemical catalytic reactions at low temperatures using simple methods, the self-powered hydrogen production system we implemented based on zinc-air batteries presents a new breakthrough to overcome the current limitations of green hydrogen production."
<Figure 2. Electrochemical performance of a ZAB-driven water-splitting cell with G-SHELL. Diagram of a self-driven water-splitting cell integrated by combining a ZAB with an alkaline water electrolyzer.>
PhD candidate Dong Won Kim and Jihoon Kim, a master's student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST, were co-first authors of this research, which was published in the international journal Advanced Science on September 17th in the multidisciplinary field of materials science. (Paper Title: “Trifunctional Graphene-Sandwiched Heterojunction-Embedded Layered Lattice Electrocatalyst for High Performance in Zn-Air Battery-Driven Water Splitting”)
This research was supported by the Nano and Material Technology Development Program of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea’s Future Technology Research Laboratory.
2024.10.22 View 1013 -
KAIST Industrial Design’s Professor Sangmin Bae’s team selected as Top 20 of James Dyson Award 2024
KAIST (President Kwang-Hyung Lee) announced that the 'Oxynizer', a non-electrical medical oxygen generator for developing countries designed by Professor Sangmin Bae's team in the Department of Industrial Design, has been selected to be the Top 20 of the James Dyson Award 2024. At the same time, it was announced on the 16th that it was selected as one of the top 100 ‘Prototypes for Humanity’ 2024 and will be exhibited in Dubai in November.
< Photo 1. Photo of the award-winning team of Professor Sangmin Bae’s students of KAIST Department of Industrial Designs at the James Dyson Award 2024 announcement of the National Winners >
The James Dyson Award is a design award hosted by Sir James Dyson, founder of Dyson, and receives ideas for solving everyday problems from next-generation engineers and designers around the world, and selects and awards innovative and excellent designs every year.
The ‘Oxynizer’ developed by Professor Sangmin Bae’s team was selected as the winner of the screening within Korea in September after competing with 122 domestic teams, and was awarded a prize of 5,000 pounds for idea advancement, product development, and commercialization.
< Photo 2. A photo of Professor Sangmin Bae’s students’ award-winning achievement, ‘Oxynizer’ >
In addition, on October 16th, it was selected as one of the top 20 international winners among 1,911 competing works from 29 countries around the world. The international winner will be selected by Sir James Dyson and announced on November 13th. The international competition winner will receive a prize of £5,000, and the winner will receive an additional £30,000, giving them the opportunity to commercialize their idea.
‘Prototype for Humanity’ is a global project hosted by Art Dubai Group and carried out in collaboration with Dubai Future Foundation, Dubai Arts & Culture Authority, and Dubai International Financial Center. It is a forum for international cooperation where leading universities around the world, including Harvard University and MIT, participate to discuss global problems and solutions.
‘Oxynizer’ was selected on September 11 as one of the top 100 out of 3,000 entries submitted by universities in over 100 countries, and will be exhibited at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers of Dubai Future Foundation from November 17 to 22. The organizers will select the top five during the exhibition period, and will award a total of $100,000 in prize money to the winners to support their research.
The ‘Oxynizer’ is a device developed by students Jiwon Kim, Kyeongho Park, Seung-Jun Lee, Jiwon Lee, Yeohyeon Jeong, and Jungwoo Kim under the guidance of Professor Sangmin Bae of KAIST, and is the result of research conducted in the ‘Design Project 1’ class for the graduate students of the Department of Industrial Design at KAIST.
< Photo 3. A photo of Professor Sangmin Bae’s students’ award-winning achievement, ‘Oxynizer’ >
This device was designed to solve the problem of difficulty in supplying oxygen in developing countries due to high installation and maintenance costs. The device was designed to create concentrated oxygen to supply it to a patient in urgent need using an air pump for bicycles, which should be found more easily than a medical oxygen tank.
Professor Sangmin Bae said, “This device creates oxygen using a bicycle air pump and supplies it to patients, and it can separate water vapor and nitrogen in the air using silica gel and zeolite, which are the main materials of the filter, to supply oxygen with a concentration of up to 50%.” “In addition, the filter can be heated and reused after 120 hours of use, so it has the advantage of being able to be used semi-permanently,” he emphasized.
< Photo 4. A photo of Professor Sangmin Bae’s students’ award-winning achievement, ‘Oxynizer’ >
The results of the self-research derived from the KAIST Industrial Design Department class were selected as a world-class award winner and exhibition piece in competition with excellent universities around the world, once again proving the global competitiveness of the KAIST Industrial Design Department.
2024.10.16 View 971 -
A heated battle of science and sports, who is the winner of this year's KA-PO War?
< Photos from KAIST-POSTECH Science War (photographed by Student Junhyeok Park of KAIST Freshman Course) >
The future leaders of science at KAIST and POSTECH (President Seong Keun Kim) held their annual science and sporting event at POSTECH for two days from September 20th to 21st. The 'KAIST-POSTECH Science War (hereafter KA-PO War)' is a festival consisting of science and sports games and various side events to promote exchange and cooperation between the two universities. It is also known by the nickname 'Science War'.
KA-PO War consists of △Science Games △e-Sports △Athletics, and the two universities compete in a total of 7 events including hacking competitions, artificial intelligence programming (AI), science quizzes, League of Legends (LOL), baseball, basketball, and soccer. In particular, the 9-hour ‘hacking competition’ and the ‘AI programming’ competition, which pits the AI design strategies of the two universities against each other, are famous for its competitions that are not easily seen at other universities.
The future science leaders of KAIST and POSTECH competed with their brains and physical strength even in the rain, and in the competition where the university that wins more than 4 out of 7 events wins, KAIST won with a score of 6 to 1 after fierce matches.
In addition, for this KAIST competition, Byeong-cheol Kim, the CEO of POSTECH Holdings and an alumnus of the Department of Industrial Management at POSTECH, donated 10 million won for the preparation of this event.
< Photos from KA-PO War site (photographed by Student Junhyeok Park of KAIST Freshman Course) >
KA-PO War Director Henry Kwon (KAIST Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering) said, “I would like to thank the planning team and supporters who worked hard to make it a successful event. This year’s KA-PO War shined even brighter because of the students from both universities who cheered passionately and played games despite the hot weather and rain. I hope this will be an opportunity to further strengthen the bond and sense of belonging among engineering students.”
KA-PO War Preparatory Committee Chairman Sa-joon Hong (POSTECH Department of Physics) said, “As if to manifest this year’s motto, ‘BLAST,’ the intense heat swept through the competition, and regardless of the outcome, the students from both universities took away unforgettable and precious memories.”
As a kind of student festival jointly held between the two universities, which have been held annually since 2002, KAIST-POSTECH Science Wars is held under a different name each year depending on the venue. This year, it was held at POSTECH, thus called ‘KA-PO War.’
2024.09.19 View 771 -
KAIST and NYU set out to Install Korea's First Joint Degree Program in AI
< (From left) New York University President Linda Mills and President Kwang-Hyung Lee >
KAIST (President Kwang-Hyung Lee) and New York University (NYU, President Linda G. Mills) signed an MOU in the afternoon of the 9th to introduce a graduate program for a joint degree in the field of artificial intelligence.
This agreement was promoted based on the consensus between the two universities that strengthening capabilities in the field of AI and fostering global talent are essential elements that can lead to great development in the entire future society beyond simple technical education.
The two universities have been operating joint research groups in various industrial fields related to AI and convergence with it, and based on this agreement, they plan to establish an operating committee within this year to design a joint degree program for graduate school courses related to artificial intelligence.
A KAIST official said, “If the joint degree program in AI is implemented, it is expected to be an unprecedented innovative experiment in which KAIST and NYU join forces to create ‘a single AI degree.’
The committee will consist of an equal number of faculty members from both schools, and will discuss the overall strategic planning of the joint degree program, including ▴curriculum structure and course composition ▴course completion roadmap ▴calculation of faculty and student population ▴calculation of budget size ▴calculation of operating facility size and details ▴legal matters regarding certification. In addition, the development of a new logo symbolizing the joint degree of KAIST and NYU in AI will also be carried out.
The two schools expect that the joint degree program being promoted this time will contribute to advancing education and research capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence, jointly discovering and fostering talent in related fields that are currently lacking worldwide, and will become an exemplary case of global education and research cooperation.
The faculty members of both schools, who possess excellent capabilities, will provide innovative and creative education in the field of artificial intelligence. Students will receive support to gain top-level research experience by participating in various international joint research projects promoted by the faculty members of both schools. Through this, the core of this joint degree program promoted by both schools is to continuously cultivate excellent human resources who will lead the future global society.
Since signing a cooperation agreement for the establishment of a joint campus in June 2022, KAIST and NYU have been promoting campus sharing, joint research, and joint bachelor's degree programs. Including this, they are developing an innovative joint campus model and establishing an active international cooperation model.
In particular, the exchange student system for undergraduate students will be implemented starting from the second semester of the 2023 academic year. 30 students from KAIST and 11 students from NYU were selected through a competitive selection process and are participating. In the case of KAIST students, if they complete one of the six minor programs at NYU, they will receive a degree that states the completion of the minor upon graduation.
Based on the performance of the undergraduate exchange student operation, the two schools have also agreed to introduce a dual degree system for master's and doctoral students, and specific procedures are currently in progress.
In addition, from 2023 to the present, we are carrying out future joint research projects in 15 fields that are integrated with AI, and we plan to begin international joint research in 10 fields centered on AI and bio from the fourth quarter of this year.
NYU President Linda Mills said, “AI technology can play a significant role in addressing various social challenges such as climate change, health care, and education inequality,” and added that, “The global talent cultivated through our two schools will also go on to make innovative contributions to solving these social problems.”
Kwang-Hyung Lee, the president of KAIST, said, “In the era of competition for global hegemony in technology, the development of AI technology is an essential element for countries and companies to secure competitiveness,” and “Through long-term cooperation with NYU, we will take the lead in fostering world-class, advanced talents who can innovatively apply and develop AI in various fields.”
The signing ceremony held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul was attended by KAIST officials including President Kwang-Hyung Lee, Hyun Deok Yeo, the Director of G-School, NYU officials including President Linda Mills, Kyunghyun Cho, a Professor of Computer Science and Data Science, and Dr. Karin Pavese, the Executive Director of NYU-KAIST Innovation Research Institute, amid attendance by other key figures from the industries situated in Korea. (End)
2024.09.10 View 1799 -
Unraveling Mitochondrial DNA Mutations in Human Cells
Throughout our lifetime, cells accumulate DNA mutations, which contribute to genetic diversity, or “mosaicism”, among cells. These genomic mutations are pivotal for the aging process and the onset of various diseases, including cancer. Mitochondria, essential cellular organelles involved in energy metabolism and apoptosis, possess their own DNA, which are susceptible to mutations. However, studies on mtDNA mutations and mosaicism have been limited due to a variety of technical challenges.
Genomic scientists from KAIST have revealed the genetic mosaicism characterized by variations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) across normal human cells. This study provides fundamental insights into understanding human aging and disease onset mechanisms.
The study, “Mitochondrial DNA mosaicism in normal human somatic cells,” was published in Nature Genetics on July 22. It was led by graduate student Jisong An under the supervision of Professor Young Seok Ju from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering.
Researchers from Seoul National University College of Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea University College of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine National Cancer Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Gangnam Severance Hospital and KAIST faculty startup company Inocras Inc. also participated in this study.
< Figure 1. a. Flow of experiment. b. Schematic diagram illustrating the origin and dynamics of mtDNA alterations across a lifetime. >
The study involved a bioinformatic analysis of whole-genome sequences from 2,096 single cells obtained from normal human colorectal epithelial tissue, fibroblasts, and blood collected from 31 individuals. The study highlights an average of three significant mtDNA differences between cells, with approximately 6% of these variations confirmed to be inherited as heteroplasmy from the mother.
Moreover, mutations significantly increased during tumorigenesis, with some mutations contributing to instability in mitochondrial RNA. Based on these findings, the study illustrates a computational model that comprehensively elucidates the evolution of mitochondria from embryonic development to aging and tumorigenesis.
This study systematically reveals the mechanisms behind mitochondrial DNA mosaicism in normal human cells, establishing a crucial foundation for understanding the impact of mtDNA on aging and disease onset.
Professor Ju remarked, “By systematically utilizing whole-genome big data, we can illuminate previously unknown phenomena in life sciences.” He emphasized the significance of the study, adding, “For the first time, we have established a method to systematically understand mitochondrial DNA changes occurring during human embryonic development, aging, and cancer development.”
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Suh Kyungbae Foundation.
2024.07.24 View 1831 -
The 3rd Global Entrepreneurship Summer School (GESS 2024) Successfully Completed in Silicon Valley
The 2024 Global Entrepreneurship Summer School (2024 KAIST GESS), hosted by the Office of Global Initiatives under the KAIST International Office (Director Man-Sung Yim), was held for the third time. This program allows students to visit Silicon Valley, a global startup hub, to directly experience its famous startup ecosystem and develop their capabilities for global expansion. A total of 20 students were selected through applications, interviews, final presentations, mentoring, and peer evaluations. Additionally, 17 students from the KAIST Impact MBA course at the KAIST Business School also participated.
Before starting the Silicon Valley program, participants received mentoring on business model development and pitching advice from a senior entrepreneur at KAIST for about two months, beginning last May. Afterward, they developed business items for each team at KAIST’s main campus in Daejeon. For seven days, starting from June 23rd, workshops were held under the themes of global entrepreneurship, learning through failure, capital and network, and startup culture at KOTRA Silicon Valley Trade Center, JP Morgan, and Plug and Play Tech Center. This program's lecture series provided prospective entrepreneurs with the opportunity to systematically learn the mindset and gain the experience needed to start a global business.
The participants also visited local companies and gained experience in the field of global technology startups. Visits included Bear Robotics (CEO John Ha), Soundable Health (CEO Cathering Song), ImpriMed (CEO Sungwon Lim), Phantom AI (CEO Hyunggi Cho), B Garage (CEO Aiden Kim), and Simple Steps (CEO Doyeon Kim). Lectures contained vivid experiences from Silicon Valley CEOs and company tours boosted the students' passion for entrepreneurship. In particular, Doyeon Kim, CEO of Simple Steps, which helps prevent career breaks for Korean female immigrants in Silicon Valley and allows talented female immigrants to demonstrate their abilities in society, said, “As a KAIST alumna entrepreneur, it was meaningful to share my experience with this generation of students who dream of starting a global business and creating social enterprises in the United States.”
This program also included a tour of Silicon Valley's big tech companies that have made a significant impact on the digital ecosystem through technological advancement and innovation. This included Broadcom, which maintains a strong global presence in the semiconductor and infrastructure software technology fields. At the invitation of Chairman Hock Tan, GESS participants had the opportunity to attend his lecture and ask questions. Chairman Tan, who received an honorary doctorate in engineering from KAIST last February, emphasized that experiencing failure and giving consistent effort over a long period of time are more important than anything else in order to grow as a global entrepreneur, and that technologies influencing the global market evolve over generations.
< Photo. Group photo of GESS 2024 participants at Broadcom with Chairman Hock Tan (center) ⓒBroadcom>
As part of this program, participants conducted a volunteer program called 'Let's play with AI+ Tech' with the Sunnyvale community in Silicon Valley and Foothill College to help grow together with the community. Through this program, GESS participants cultivated the virtues of a global leader. In this volunteer activity, low-income elementary school students and parents from the Sunnyvale community participated in chatbot training led by KAIST students, providing an opportunity to work with underprivileged groups in the local community.
In the final pitching event, the highlight of the program, local venture investors from Silicon Valley were invited as judges and evaluated the pitches for each team's business items. The participating students, who developed their own business models while receiving advice through face-to-face mentoring from a professional accelerator in Silicon Valley, showcased their creative and innovative ideas, presenting themselves as future global entrepreneurs. Merey Makhmutova (BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering) from the K-Bridge team, who won the final pitch, expressed her ambition: “Even before GESS pitch day, our team kept refining the pitch deck as we attended the lectures and benefitted from the mentoring. Our intense teamwork was a significant reason why we ultimately won first prize.” She added that K-Bridge aims to win an award at the upcoming UKC Pitching Competition and expressed her gratitude for being able to participate in this program. Arseniy Kan (BS in Electrical Engineering) from the KAIST Enablers team, who took second place, said, “The 2024 KAIST GESS Program became the most unforgettable and precious opportunity of my lifetime, and I dream of using this opportunity as a stepping stone to becoming a global entrepreneur.“ Additionally, Kangster (CEO Kang Kim), who won the Impact MBA final pitching session, had the opportunity to secure a meeting with a local investment company after their GESS final pitch.
The 2024 KAIST GESS was held in cooperation with the KAIST International Office, the KAIST College of Business, and Startup KAIST. Director Man-Sung Yim from the Office of Global Initiatives, who hosted the event, said, “KAIST students will grow into leaders with global influence and contribute to the international community by creating global value. At the same time, we hope to raise the international status of our university.” Professor Sangchan Park, who led the 17 Impact MBA students in this educational program, added, “Meeting with companies leading the global market and visiting Silicon Valley has been a valuable learning experience for students aiming to start a global startup.”
KAIST plans to continue promoting its global entrepreneurship education program by enriching its curriculum each year and helping students grow into entrepreneurs with the virtues of global leaders.
2024.07.03 View 3103