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Creating a Happy Campus Exhibiting Creativity
Nam-Pyo Seo, president of KAIST, had breakfast meeting with twenty students in the school hall.
- Two hundred people were provided with food in school cafeteria, a meeting to encourage the members, emphasizing organizational culture
The president said “the year 2012 is the year for KAIST to broaden our horizons and jump out to the world” and that we should “encourage and cooperate with each other so that the school can be a base for maximizing student talent and creativity.”
The president had the meeting with twenty students insisting that collectively we should, “build an ethical culture of KAIST, and dedicate ourselves on doing what’s right.
President Seo, recalled year 2011 as “A year that took a toll on all of the members”. He evaluated that “Despite the hardship, it was a meaningful year as the school took another step towards reaching the World Class University status, with reinforcement of the school and visualization of the technology developments like the improvement of papers and research, Online Electronic Car and Mobile Harbor.”
He continued, “We will strive for the not only the advanced education and improved lab environment, but also strive to construct a hub for student culture like the ‘Cutting edge central library’.
Students participated in the meeting braced themselves with an iron will for 2012, sharing their worries and expectations of the year.
Min-Gi Kim, a senior in mechanical engineering, “The reason I participated is, that the last four years of innovative changes of KAIST, such as the changes in the interview for examination, were reasonable and thought that it was worth discussing with the colleagues.”
The day’s meeting was prepared to comfort the students who spend the year-end and New Years in the school. Through the online school community ‘Portal’, students who have volunteered for the meeting of the president were selected in order and had meeting in the hall for two hours.
Meanwhile, on twelfth last month, the president had lunch meeting with thirty student councils of 2012, emphasized the importance on the partnership among the members, “Let’s bring our hearts together, with the culture of ‘communication’, let’s create a World Class university, and a happy campus,”
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Golfzon, makes donation of "Faculty Club" to KAIST for interactions
Golfzon donates "Faculty Club" for increased interaction and communication among professors.
The Opening Ceremony was held with about a hundred executives including President Nam-Pyo Seo and Young-Chan Kim of Chairman of Golfzon Corp in attendance.
The "Faculty Club" will increase the opportunity for communication amongst professors, thereby creating intellectuals values with interaction.
Expanding from the existing banquet hall, Faculty Club is a multi-purpose meeting space including; large scale banquet hall, meeting room, resting room and screen golf club.
Young-Chan Kim, president of Golfzon Corp. said "We are putting to practice our management philosophy, "Sharing and caring"." And commented that "we hope the faculty club to be a place where the members of KAIST actively communicate and exchange ideas.”
President Seo commented, "We really appreciate for the special love and care towards KAIST which would create the opportunity for communication and harmony.” And that “it will be a precious place for it will foster the creation of ideas.”
Meanwhile, Golfzon is the number one screen golf business went public on KOSDAQ, May 2011, it first move in KAIST Business Incubator in Novemeber 2000 and was grown as a star venture business through KAIST’s diverse supports and phased introduction to the market.
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Exhibition of Investment Demonstration on EEWS Research Held
- Five winners of business-planning project exhibition hold exhibition towards thirteen Angel Investors.
Venture capital firm and industry investors are investing for themselves on the Green Growth Project of KAIST, which strives for solutions of global issues, such as; energy depletion, environment pollution and sustainable development.
KAIST awarded the winner of "EEWS business-planning exhibition competition" and held investment demonstration exhibition. The exhibition is opened by the winners of the competition and held towards the firms and inventors encouraging capital on green business project and green technologies.
The venture capital firms that participated in this exhibition were; Coolidge Corner Investment, Dae-Duk Investment Corp, KPM, Locus Capital Partners and Bo-Gwang Investment.
The industry investors that participated were: Samsung C&T Corp, Cheil Industry, Dasan Networks, Hanhwa L&C, thirteen companies in total.
The goal of EEWS Exhibition is to encourage the commercialization of research and development. It was co-hosted by DFJ Athena LLC and Ilshin ventures. The competition was divided into business planning section and business technology section.
Grand prize on green growth went to Professor Joong-Myeon Bae who suggested "Eco-friendly hydrogen fuel cells", runner-up prize went to "Real-time measuring of NOx on Eco-friendly diesels" by Jin-Su Park, the technology director of CIOS.
Grand prize of green technology went to "Highly-refractive, heat resisting hybrimer LED sack’ by Byung-Su Bae, professor of new material engineering, participation award went to ‘ITO-Free touch screen for smart phone’ by Min-yang Yang, professor of the department of Mechanical Engineering.
A representative of KAIST said those of the firms and investors who have gone through commercialization showed interest on the creativity and the high level of the product.
Jae-Kyu Lee, the head of EEWS who supervised the whole exhibition mentioned that, "EEWS Planning Group is consistently going to come up with innovative results” and that “Angel Investors showed enthusiasm. The representatives of Venture capital firm even considered participating as the jury of the competition in the future.”
[Definition]
EEWS stands for Energy depletion, Environment pollution, Water shortages and Sustainability, a project for the solution of such global issues promoted by KAIST.
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Annual Future Knowledge Service International Symposium
Knowledge Service Research preparing for the future knowledge based society has been academically publicized.
The First Annual Future Knowledge Service International Symposium was held in COEX Grand Ball Room Hall by KAIST’s department of Knowledge Service Engineering.
Knowledge Service Engineering is a core component to the future knowledge based society and is the convergent result of decision making, recognition sciences, artificial intelligence, IT, and other knowledge management technologies from each of the industries. Therefore Knowledge Service Engineering will innovate the cooperation and communication between humans and machines thereby forming the center point of the development of knowledge society.
The symposium was attended by 9 important figures from domestic and foreign academia, government representative, and key figures from industries. The symposium was based around debates concerning the role of the Knowledge Service Engineering in the future knowledge based society.
The key note speaker was Chairman of Korea Science and Technology Information Research Institute Park Young Suh and the theme of the speech was ‘Change in Information Environment and Knowledge Service’.
Director of National IT Industry Promotion Agency Kang Hyun Gu gave a lecture on the topic of ‘Important Knowledge Service Policies by National IT Industry Promotion Agency’. And from industry experts, Bradley K. Jensen (Manager of Microsoft Industry-Education Cooperation), Lee Kang Yoon (Research Director at IBM), Choi Yoon Shik (Head of Asia Future Human Resource Institute) proposed a direction for research and gave their account on recent trends of knowledge service from the perspective of onsite experience.
Academic experts like Fred D. Davis (Professor at State University of Arkansas), Jussi Kantola (Professor at KAIST), Kim Young Gul (Professor at KAIST Management University), Yoon Wan Chul (Professor at KAIST Knowledge Service Engineering) gave the recent trends in academic research.
The symposium was held in 3 sessions: ▲Policy of Korean Government ▲Academic Research Trend ▲Recent Trend and Application.
More information can be found at http://kss.kaist.ac.kr
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Seeing Inside Cells with Fiber Optics
Professor Jiho Park’s research team was successful in receiving minute optical signals from inside the cell using optical nano fibers.
Through the invention of this technology, we can now look inside cells in high resolution without the use of equipment such as endoscopes that damage cells. We will be able to study the biological phenomena within cells, and thus cure diseases more effectively.
Recently, ultra high resolution microscopes have been used to analyze incubated cells. However, because of the need for a very complex and large system, it had been impossible to monitor cells in the less transparent areas of the body in real time.
The research team created the wire with a semiconductor created with tin oxides to be only 100 nanometers in diameter (1nanometer= 1/1billion meters).
The nanowire is connected to the end of the optical fiber, and the light that comes through the optical fiber is transmitted to particular spots in the cell, and the optical signals from the cell are retrieved back from the cell as well
Together with this, based on the fact that nanowires do not damage cells, the research team covered the end of the wire with a photo reactive material and entered this into the cell. They were able to check that the material reacted to light and entered the cell when they transmitted light
Accordingly, this showed the possibilities of the use of this technology as a method of treatment to effectively transfer the medication into the cells.
Prof. Jiho Park stated that “in this research, we only used cells incubated outside the human body, but soon we will use this technology to stimulate and control cells within the body in a minute scale” as well as that “soon, we will be able to study the biological phenomena inside a cell to study diseases and apply this to cure them more effectively”.
This research result has been published in the online publication of ‘Nature Nanotechnology’ on December 18.
This study was done through the cooperation of various schools. Besides Prof. Jiho Park, Prof. Seungman Yang from the Biochemistry department, and Doctor Chuljoon Huh from KAIST, Prof. Yeonho Choi from Biomedical Science department of Korea University, Professor Peidon Yang and Doctor Ruoxue Yan from UC Berkeley’s chemistry department, and Luke Lee from UC Berkeley’s bioengineering department participated in the project.
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KAIST Ph.D Mihyun Jang Employed as Professor at Technische Universitat Graz
A Ph.D purely from Korea has been employed as a professor at Technische Universitat Graz.
This is the news of Prof.Mihyun Kang (39) who has graduated from KAIST’s mathematics department. Prof.Kang has transferred on January 2012.
KAIST explained that “it’s the first time for a mathematics Ph.D from Korea has been employed abroad.”
Technische Universitat Graz of Australia is ranked the top third university within the country. It is a global university with 1,700 students from 78 different countries out of its 11,000 students.
Prof. Kang researched mainly theories of combination including random graphing theories, analytical combination theories, and probabilistic combination theories. She has been employed as a lifetime professor through open recruitment where she competed with others through academic debates and interviews.
Technische Universitat Graz valued Prof. Kang’s research highly made her the department head of the ‘Optimization and Discrete Mathematics department’ to create an environment where she could continuously research.
Prof. Kang graduated from Jeju university majoring math educations and did her graduate studies in KAIST. She is a purely ‘Korean’ Ph.D. After her studies, she worked for Germany’s Humboldt University and Freie Universitat Berlin. In 2007, she was able to be employed as a professor in Germany, and in 2008, she was chosen as a Heisenberg fellow.
Prof. Kang who had her research achievements recognized in Germany and Austria was also offered seat as professor in Ludwig Masximilan University of Germany and Alpenadria University in Austria, but chose Technische Universitat Graz.
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Quantum Mechanical Calculation Theory Developed
An Electron Density Functional Calculation Theory, based on the widely used quantum mechanical principles and yet accurate and with shortened calculation period, was developed by Korean research team.
*Electron Density Functional Calculation Theory: Theory that proves that it is possible to calculate energy and properties with only simple wave equations and electron densities.
The research was conducted by Professor Jeong Yoo Sung (Graduate School of EEWS) and Professor William Goddard with support from WCU Foster Project initiated by Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and Korea Research Foundation. The result was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Journal.
The research team corrected the error when performing quantum calculations that arises from the length of calculation time and incorrect assumptions and developed a theory and algorithm that is more accurate and faster. The use of wave equations in quantum mechanical calculations results in high accuracy but there is a rapid increase in calculation time and is therefore difficult to implement in large molecules with hundreds, or thousands of atoms. By implementing a low electron density variable with relatively less calculation work, the size of calculable molecule increases but the accuracy decreases.
The team focused on the interaction between electrons with different spins to improve upon the speed of calculation in the conventional accurate calculation. The team used the fact that the interaction between electrons with different spins increases as it comes closer together in accordance with the Pauli’s Exclusion Principle.
In addition the interaction between electrons are local and therefore can ignore the interactions between far away electrons and still get the total energy value. The team also took advantage of this fact and developed the algorithm that decreased calculation time hundredth fold.
Professor Jeong commented that, “So far most of the domestic achievements were made by focusing on integrative researches by calculation science and material design communities but these involved short time frames. In areas that required lengthy time frames like fundamentals and software development, there was no competitive advantage. However this research is significant in that a superior solution was developed domestically”.
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Great Success!: 2011 Wearable Computer Contest
The 2011 Wearable Computer Contest (WCC) was held on the 28th and 29th of November at Seoul COEX. The WCC is hosted by KAIST and Korea Next Generation Computing Society and is an annual event.
A wearable computer allows the user to freely use the computer even a moving environment and involves the miniaturization, weight lightening to incorporate the computer into clothing. It is the fusion of IT technology and fashion and is opening new fields like entertainment, healthcare and other forms of fashion culture.
The competition selected 10 teams out of the 57 teams that applied that will participate in the finals.
The selected teams have to use smartphones to create a wearable computer that detects and uses the biorhythm of the wearer. A staff member commented that the requirement to use biorhythm reflected in many teams entering products related to health and safety, and body and entertainment.
The most notable of the products entered was the outfit that prevents bicycle accidents. The LED attached on the back shows the direction the bicycle is traveling, or if it is stopping and uses the smartphone as a camera to show the cyclist what’s going on behind him.
Other interesting products included a product that turned clothes into a movie theater. Whilst watching movies on the smartphone, sensors attached to the clothing give out vibrations, water vapor, smoke effect; essentially brining the 4D movie experience to each person.
In addition products like ▲LED jacket that turns music into light and vibration ▲a prosthetic arm using an electromyogram to move it ▲an exercise suit that detects regional exercise load and helps design a balanced exercise regime.
Kolon Industries Ltd. Provide the clothing for the finalists and the team that receives Kolon Special Award will be given the opportunity to commercialize the product.
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Professor Jang Soon Heung Appointed International Consultant of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Task Force
The Japanese government appointed Professor Jang Soon Heung (department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering) as the International Consultant to the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Task Force.
Professor Hatamura Yotaro of the Tokyo University is the head of the task force and is tasked with finding out the cause and extent of damage of the disaster and minimize social cost and expansion of damage along with prevent a similar disaster from occurring.
The International Consultants will independently advise and look over the findings of the task force.
The members include: Professor Jang Soon Heung (Professor of KAIST), Richard A. Meserve (Carnegie Research Center Director/Former Chairman of Nuclear Regulatory Commission), Andre-Claude Lacoste (Chairman of French Nuclear Safety Regulatory Commission), and Lars-Eirk Holm (Secretary General of Sweden Health and Welfare).
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New LEDs: Large Spectrum of Colors
Professor Yonghun Cho has discovered that LEDs with hexagonal pyramid structures can emit various colors of light.
LEDs, which have been leading the light revolution is a light emitting element that uses the characteristics of semiconductors to emit light upon passing a current, and is being used for lighting, TV, and various signaling devices.
In general, the white LED used for lighting has to be constructed by spraying yellow fluorescent material on a blue LED or by creating a complicated circuit where various LED chips function together.
Prof.Cho’s research team discovered the fact that when a small hexagonal pyramid structure is formed on the semiconductor composing the LED and a current is passed through this, then each side, edge, and point on the pyramid assumes different energies.
Due to the energy differences, lights of bluegreen, yellow, and orange were emitted from the side, edge, and points of the pyramid, respectively. This shows the prospect of displaying white light as well as that of many other colors.
Thus, applying the nanopyramidal structure to LEDs will allow the emission of light with a large spectrum with just the flow of the current, enabling a new type of LED light emitting particles that would display various colors from a single LED chip without the use of a fluorescent material.
Also, originally, LEDs have had limitations to its efficiency because of its structural characteristics where fluorescent materials had to be sprayed on, but the nanopyramidal structures will overcome this structural barrier to create brighter light
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'Scientist-Engineer of the Month' for December: Professor Choi Joon Ho
Professor Choi Joon Ho (department of Biological Sciences) was made ‘Scientist-Engineer of December’ for his discovery of new gene (twenty-four) that helps biorhythm and proving that this gene helps control biorhythm.
Professor Choi published 100 dissertations over the past 25 years and made significant advancements in the field of molecular virus and neurobiology.
In 1995 Professor Choi uncovered the fact that the NS3 protein in C type hepatitis function as RNA helicase thereby opening the path to developing a cure for C type hepatitis; this is an international patent with Chiron corporation. The result was published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications Journal and was the most domestically referred to dissertation in biological sciences in 1999.
In addition Professor Choi published in Nature magazine in 1999, a dissertation that uncovered the fact that the DNA of papillomar virus has another protein (hSNF5) that direct it apart from ordinary proteins.
In 2000~2005 Professor Choi published many dissertations in journals like Immunity, Cancer Research, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Oncogene, Journal of Virology, and etc.
Professor Choi screened over 10,000 species of pomace fly mutations and discovered the twenty-four gene that affects the biorhythm of pomace flies. He analyzed this gene further and found a new function that was different from known biorhythm mechanisms.
This research allowed a better understanding of biological clock of pomace flies and therefore was another step towards better understanding the control mechanism of human biological clock.
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2011 IT Convergence International Workshop
KAIST held the 2011 IT Convergence International Workshop on Future Mobile Service & Service Technology.
The workshop was attended by Kim Byoung Il (Chairman of National Science and Technology Commission), Koichi Asatani (Professor at Kogakuin University), Jay H. Eum (representative of TransLink Capital), among 15 other experts from government, scholar, industry, and IT defense.
The keynote speaker, Chairman Kim Byoung Il, gave a speech on Industry Development Strategy for Software. Professor Koichi Asatani gave a presentation on information communication technology and future trend of future network and service. And Jay H. Eum will be giving a presentation on the technological venture firm strategy that was so successful in Silicon Valley.
There will be presentations and debate on mobile services, IT security and defense, IT convergence technology, software technology and other future IT convergence technologies.
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