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KAIST President Held One-year Anniversary Press Conference
President Steve Kang had a press conference
on February 25, 2014 at the Faculty Club on campus, commemorating the first
year of his presidency. About 30 different media representatives nationwide
attended the meeting.
At his first press conference on the anniversary of his tenure, President Kang
described what he has achieved in the past year, which were: 1) rebuilding the
campus culture to start a campaign for mutual respect, trust, and open
communication by holding meetings with the members of the KAIST community more
than 60 times, 2) establishing core values, creativity and challenge, to
enhance the fabric of the community, 3) restructuring of the university
administration, and 4) the announcement of the mid- and long-term development
plan.
He also mentioned that “2014 will be another exciting year for KAIST to make
more progress” and laid out a few major projects to be implemented this year:
launching of the “Committee for Engineering Education Innovation,” “Startup
KAIST” (an entrepreneurship program), “Greater Collaboration in Technology
Translation and Management with Seoul National University,” and “KAIST End Run”
(a global business incubation program).Explanation of 2014 Major Endeavors by President KangFor
the past decade, domestic engineering schools weighed SCI dissertation
publication more heavily in university evaluations, yielding a world-class
research level. However, such an approach resulted in placing less importance
on entrepreneurship, commercialization, or creating economic values.As a
result, engineering Professors have been evaluated as being too focused on theoretical
SCI dissertation research rather than practical research that could yield
economic benefits through commercialization of developed technology. In
addition, some have criticized that engineering universities have not educated
creative researchers demanded by the industry.KAIST
has begun responding to these criticisms and has made a few suggestions to strengthen
engineering education, promote entrepreneurship in engineers, and globalize Korean
venture companies.As
part of such efforts, KAIST established the KAIST Education and Research
Innovation Committee, composed of various individuals from the industry,
research institutes, alumni, faculty members, and others, to discuss ways to reinforce
engineering education.
A
course to encourage entrepreneurship will be implemented.Startup
KAIST will develop and commercialize innovative ideas from members of KAIST, and
the End Run project will enable students and faculty to establish a global,
venture company. KAIST hopes that a new entrepreneurial culture will be created
on campus, thereby the research success of KAIST members will lead to commercialization
and startups.KAIST
plans on releasing free internet lectures as part of its knowledge contribution
and sponsoring programs which will level the playing field in eduation.KAIST
will establish the KAIST Open Online Course (KOOC). An entrepreneurship
curriculum will be developed for KOOC. KAIST will start trials for KOOC from
2015, gradually expanding to include more courses.
2014.02.27 View 12654 -
President Suh Hosted Press Conference with Seoul-based Correspondents, on March 9, 2010
President Suh Hosted Press Conference with Seoul-based Correspondents, on March 9, 2010
President Nam-Pyo Shu had a press conference with foreign correspondents based in Seoul, South Korea, on March 9, 2010 at Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club (SFCC).
Prior to the conference, the president and correspondents attended a ceremony for the completion of Online Electric Vehicles (OLEV) that carries passengers to look around the amusement park, Seoul Grand Park, in Gewacheon City. OLEV was developed and built by KAIST. Following President Suh’s opening speech, a questions and answers (Q&A) session between the president and reporters proceeded.
In his opening speech, President Suh said electric vehicles are an alternative to conventional automobiles with combustion engines, and in order to manufacture affordably priced electric vehicles on a large scale, their charging should be streamlined. In response, KAIST has come up with the online electric vehicle concept.
He added, without installing separate charging stations, OLEV receives electric power from the cables buried underground while driving, idling, or parking. Its connection to a power source is non-contact.
President Suh expressed his excitement for demonstrating OLEV at Seoul Grand Park that its system works as KAIST has designed and predicted. He showed his confidence that KAIST is indeed at the stage to implement OLEV in Seoul City soon and hoped to demonstrate it at the upcoming G-20 Summit to be held in November 2010 in Seoul City.
During the Q&A session, reporters cited the construction of OLEV at the amusement park and mainly asked about a possibility of its commercialization. Other topics, they also questioned about, were hurdles related to the development and commercialization of OLEV; level of cooperation received from industries and central/local governments; technological breakthroughs and accomplishments; future development plans for the commercialization; and reactions from the public and government.
Media outlets participated in the conference were Reuters, AFP, the International Herald Tribune, ABC News, Bloomberg News, Businessweek, Voice of America, Sankei Shimbun, and etc.
2010.03.16 View 14467 -
KAIST president R. Laughlin speaks during a news conference
KAIST president Robert Laughlin speaks during a news conference
at the Government Complex in Kwachon, south of Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times 2005-02-01
THE KOREA TIMES
By Kim Tae-gyuStaff Reporter
Robert Laughlin, president of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), takes a step backward from his hardline push for KAIST reform in the face of strong opposition.
The 1998 Nobel laureate in physics, who took the helm of the nation’s top technology university last July, made the point Tuesday at a press conference at the Kwachon Government Complex in southern Seoul.
``Privatization of KAIST is not on the table. We are only discussing securing money for the advancement of KAIST as a world-class institution,’’ the 54-year-old president said.
Laughlin also denied the swirling suspicions that he plans to transform KAIST to a general-purpose, undergraduate-focused college from the current research-oriented graduate school.
``The issue we are discussing is moving the business model of KAIST toward the one used by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, not changing KAIST’s structure,’’ he said.
This is a retreat from his original plan to fundamentally overhaul the state-funded KAIST to a market-oriented institute by several aggressive measures.
In a new investment strategy for KAIST in December, roughly five months after his tenure began, Laughlin said KAIST is trapped in a funding squeeze from which there appears to be no exit.
He then suggested revamping its traditional emphasis on graduate education because this type of system has come to be out of tune with the market.
He even proposed expanding the enrollment of KAIST to 20,000 from the current total of 7,500 and charging tuition fees of 3 million won per semester from the current fee of under 850,000 won.
The surprise reform plan created a backlash from KAIST faculty, students and government officials, who regarded the scheme as a privatization attempt.
In the process, professor Park O-ok, dean of the school’s planning office, resigned from his position in early December and asked Laughlin to abandon the reform.
In response, Laughlin said the miscommunication resulted from the secret process of KAIST reform discussion. He expected policy announcement in early March to clear up misconceptions.
Regarding Park’s protests, he said: ``I had a personality problem with him but that has now been fixed.’’
Yesterday, Laughlin appointed Chang Soon-heung, professor in the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, to fill Park’s position.
voc200@koreatimes.co.kr
2005.02.02 View 18364