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President Suh to Receive Honorary Doctorate from Romanian University
KAIST President Nam-Pyo Suh will receive an honorary doctorate degree from Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in a ceremony at the university on April 3, school authorities said.
Andrei Marga, rector of the largest Romanian university, said in a letter to President Suh that the university decided to award Suh the title of Doctor Honoris Cause of Babes-Bolyai University, the highest academic honor of the university, in recognition of his "prestigious actions as academic leader of a university known worldwide and for contribution to cooperation between Romania and South Korea."
The university"s honorary doctorate is awarded to persons with illustrious achievements in the fields of science, technology, art, philosophy, and theology. Recent winners of the honor include Pope Benedict XVI; Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome; Nobel Prize winners Rich Ernest of Switzerland and George Palade of the United States; philosophers Paul Ricoeur of France and Richard Rorty of the United States, among others.
The Babes-Bolyai University located in Cluj-Napoca with about 50,000 students offers education in three different languages, Romanian, Hungarian and German. It has the longest academic history in Romania, founded as a Jesuit college in 1581.
2009.04.02 View 11631 -
Respected Entrepreneur Chung Elected New Board Chairman of KAIST
Moon-Soul Chung, founder and former CEO of Mirae Corp. who is well known as the first-generation venture entrepreneur in Korea, was elected new chairman of the KAIST Board of Directors at the 193rd Regular Board Meeting held on March 20 in Seoul, school authorities announced Monday, March 23.
Born in 1938 in Imsil, North Jeolla Province, Chung graduated from the Oriental Philosophy Department of Won Kwang University. Chung founded Mirae Corp., a semiconductor equipment manufacturer, in 1983 and got his company listed on KOSDAQ and NASDAQ markets later. His business principles stressing transparency, integrity, and technology, earned the respect of Korean businesspeople.
In 2000, he suddenly announced retirement and handed over the presidency of his company to one of his managing directors. One year later, he donated 30 billion won to KAIST. It was by then the largest amount given by a single donor.
In 2007, he was awarded an honorary degree of doctor of engineering from KAIST. He formerly served as chairman of Venture Leaders Club, President CEO of Lycos Korea and chairman of the board of directors of Kookmin Bank.
2009.03.26 View 12563 -
KAIST Research Team Discovers Process for Rapid Growth of N-Doped CNT Arrays
A team of scientists led by Profs. Sang-Ouk Kim, Won-Jong Lee and Duck-Hyun Lee of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering has found a straightforward process for rapid growth of wall-number selected, nitrogen-doped carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays, university officials said on Monday (March 16).
KAIST researchers prepared highly uniform nanopatterned iron catalyst arrays by tilted deposition through block copolymer nanotemplates. This remarkably fast growth of highly uniform N-doped CNTs, whose material properties and chemical functionalizability are reinforced by N-doping, offers a new area of a large-scale nanofabrication, potentially useful for diverse nano-devices.
Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are of broad technical interest in electronics, photonics, energy devices, and other applications. However, establishing a straightforward process for mass production of uniform CNTs with desired structure and properties has been a long-standing challenge.
In particular, it was strongly desired to precisely control the numbers of walls and diameter of CNTs, which are decisive parameters for the physical properties of CNTs. In this respect, the preparation of monodisperse catalyst array having a narrow size distribution is generally considered an effective pathway to produce well-defined CNTs, since the number of walls and diameter of the produced CNTs are closely related to the catalyst size.
The finding was featured in the March 13 edition of Nano Letters, a leading journal in the nano technology field.
2009.03.20 View 13303 -
Workshop on Biomedical IC to Be Held on March 26
KAIST will hold a workshop on "biomedical IC for future healthcare system" on March 26 at a lecture room of the School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. The workshop is organized by SEECS and the Korean Institute of Next Generation Computing.
At the workshop, a variety of new technologies expected to expedite the development of biomedical systems will be presented. KAIST Prof. Hoi-Jun Yoo will speak on the "body channel communication" using the human body as the signal transmission medium and Dr. Seung-Hwan Kim of Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) on a wearable vital sign monitoring system.
Other subjects are CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) fully electronic biosensor for biomolecular detection to be presented by KAIST Prof. Gyu-Hyeong Cho; nerve interface and IC (integrated circuit) system design by KAIST Prof. Yoon-gi Nam; design of neural recording and stimulation IC using time-varying magnetic field by KAIST Prof. Seong-Hwan Cho; low power multi-core digital signal processor for hearing aid by Dong-Wook Kim, senior researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology; and a non-contact cardiac sensor by KAIST Prof. Seung-Chul Hong.
With the advent of the ageing society, medical expenses of the elderly people are rapidly increasing. As a way to address the issue, interests are growing in "ubiquitous healthcare," a technology that uses a large number of environmental and patient sensors and actuators to monitor and improve patients’ physical and mental condition.
The upcoming workshop is the first academic event on biomedical integrated chips to be held in Korea. The workshop will provide a valuable opportunity for experts in biomedical area to get together and examine the present status of Korean biomedical area and discuss about its future, KAIST officials said.
2009.03.20 View 16883
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President Lee Myung-bak's Congratulatory Address at 2009 KAIST Commencement Ceremony
Following is the full text of President Lee Myung-bak"s congratulatory address at the 2009 KAIST Commencement Ceremony.
Beloved graduates, proud parents, dear family members,
Mr. Cho Jeong-nam, Chairman of the Board of Directors,
Dr. Suh Nam-pyo, President of KAIST,
Esteemed faculty and staff members, Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
It is great to see you all.
First of all, I must begin by extending my most sincere congratulations to the 1,976 graduates who are receiving their degrees today. You worked hard, you earned it and I congratulate you.
We must also remember your parents who worked just as hard as you did, if not more, to support you. You may have family members whom you wish to thank for their support and understanding. I also thank and congratulate the faculty and staff members who worked hard to provide the best possible education for you.
Today is also a great day since we can all join together to recognize the achievements of Dr. Ryu Geun-chul and show him how deeply we respect and appreciate his generous contributions to KAIST. Today, Dr. Ryu received an honorary doctorate in science for his life-long contributions in the field of Korean traditional medicine. He has also donated a vast portion of his personal wealth to KAIST for educating future leaders in science and technology.
Dear graduates, faculty members,
KAIST has been in the forefront of leading Korea’s development over the last thirty-eight years. As the preeminent institution devoted to educating the very best minds in science and technology, more than 20% of all doctorate degree holders in Korea’s science and engineering field are KAIST alumnus. KAIST has led the drive to create more than 470 venture start-ups, opening up a vast new horizon for Korea’s scientific and technological breakthrough while leading the economic growth of Korea.
KAIST has done exceptionally well even compared to the world’s best. It is ranked 34th in engineering and IT. It is ranked 46th in natural sciences. These rankings are a demonstration that KAIST is a research-focused institution with global competitiveness.
Moreover, KAIST has been an example for other higher institutions seeking to reform the way colleges and universities operate. KAIST has demonstrated its forward-looking and reform-minded vision in terms of selecting students, recruiting and evaluating professors and managing its courses. In particular, when KAIST selects its students, it doesn’t look only at their test scores but looks for creative and innovative minds with real character and potential. Such practices are having positive influences on how other universities and colleges select their students. Furthermore, KAIST has taken the lead in applying their research skills to matters of global concern through its EEWS initiative. I am proud of such visionary work and will continue to have high hopes for KAIST.
Our promising future depends on gifted individuals and gifted individuals are nurtured through solid education. For a country such as Korea with no natural resources, human capital is our greatest and most precious resource. We must overcome our lack of natural resources with our abundant and limitless brain power.
The 21st century will be a knowledge-based society and so national competitiveness of individual countries will be determined by how competitive its universities and research institutes are. And the time calls for universities with world-class capabilities in research. Especially, our investments in science and technology today will ensure a brighter tomorrow.
I assure you that this government will spare no effort to KAIST so that it can continue to foster the best minds for even greater achievements.
My dear graduates and professors, proud parents and family members,
All of us are going through difficult times due to the global economic crisis. At the same time, we must face global climate change which is our common concern. And this global concern must not be put aside or given less priority because of the economic crisis. We must do all we can to overcome the economic crisis while aggressively and consistently implementing measures to deal with climate change. At the same time, we must continue our quest to develop the next-generation engines of growth in preparation for the future when this economic crisis is eventually over. This is killing three birds with one stone and this is the core of my Low Carbon/Green Growth vision for Korea’s future.
For a country like Korea with no oil reserves whatsoever, Low Carbon/Green Growth is a must. We simply do not have any other choice. It is also the path that the global community must take.
Korea was late in joining the club of industrialized countries but we are ahead in the information technology sector. But, because we did not possess the core technologies in information and communication, we were unable to fully benefit from being ahead.
Now, we must excel in all areas in the age of green growth. Korea’s future growth will depend on how many core technologies we manage to accrue in green technology, such as technologies to conserve energy, development of new and renewable energy. The government will double, compared to last year, its investments into research and development of green technology.
The government has a long-term vision and this vision calls for continuously increasing strategic investments into the new engines of growth and they include basic sciences, core technologies and big science. Deregulation will continue so that we can foster scientific and technological advancements and also attract more investments and people from abroad.
Dear graduates,
Another source of our new engine of growth and our green technology is none other than fusion technology. Our bio, IT and nano technology will come together, and coupled with what is already a world-class IT industry, we can create future engines of growth.
President Suh Nam-pyo stressed that “Inter-disciplinary study that takes place amidst the boundaries of different disciplines is where new discoveries and added-value are found.” This is a reminder of the importance of fusion research. And we all know that KAIST is the leader in this endeavor.
Fusion technology will greatly improve our quality of life and introduce new and innovative ways to solve our real concerns. Healthcare and medical science are just two examples. As our society becomes an aged society, identifying the causes of and finding the cure for degenerative diseases such as Pakinson’s and dementia are becoming more and more important. If we manage to successfully combine our knowledge in medicine, science and engineering, we can come up with revolutionary ways to detect and cure these and other diseases.
In particular, we will soon see science and medicine come together to create an entirely new paradigm in how we take care of our health. Medicinal research and high-tech research hospitals will be the norm. I truly believe that we can save both this planet as well as ourselves by utilizing green technologies and high-tech fusion technology. The government will continue to support such efforts.
Dear graduates, the heroes of today,
Some of you may wish to pursue higher degrees in order to reach even loftier academic goals. Some of you may opt to venture into society.
Wherever you go and whatever you decide to do, do not be afraid of failure. Pursue your dreams. Face the challenges that come your way. And when you boldly face these challenges with the most precious gift you have, your youth and ideals, your dream will come true. Remember that history is made by those who take up the challenge. Do not be discouraged if you fail today. Just pick yourselves up tomorrow and try again. And again.
Do not be consumed by selfish ambitions. But instead, always think what you can do for your society, your country and for humankind.
Science and technology that is used for personal gains or new innovations and technologies lacking even the very basic ethical standards can become a curse to mankind. This is why those aspiring to become scientists and engineers must first agonize over how they plan to better the lives of man before they learn how to conduct experiments. Once you’ve gone through this, you will then be eligible to become true leaders, with your character and technological know-how.
Remember the time you spent hunched over a book, in the classroom, in the library or in laboratories. Do not forget why you came here in the first place. Aim for higher goals in your respective fields.
With that, I wish you a wondrous and exciting new journey.
Again, congratulations and well done!
Thank you.
2009.03.13 View 13575 -
KAIST to Admit 150 Students Based on Recommendations
KAIST will select 150 students from regular high schools, excluding those from special purpose schools, on the basis of their principals" recommendations and interview results beginning in the next school year in an effort to diversify admissions, President Nam-Pyo Suh said on Thursday (March 5).
Award-winning records at math or science competitions will not be put into account in admissions to prevent after-school tutoring aimed at winning such contests.
President Suh unveiled the new admission plan at a news conference in Seoul. "We expect the principals to recommend students with special talents or potential rather than high grades," Suh said. Established under a special law in 1971, KAIST is given full liberty to recruit freshmen students in whatever method it deems right, without being required to use the scholastic ability test scores of applicants as the basic criteria.
KAIST plans to initially select 1,000 students across the country based on recommendations. Admission officers will single out 300 for further review. Out of the 300, the final 150 students will be chosen through in-depth interviews.
"Years of receiving principal recommendations would accumulate a database on high schools nationwide. If a student recommended by a principal turns out to be no good, we might not pick more students from that school," President Suh said.
Over 80 percent of students admitted to KAIST this year were graduates of elite institutions, mostly science high schools. Only 20 percent came from regular high schools. The 150 additional openings next year will be allotted to only those attending ordinary high school.
Ten percent of the 150 openings will be assigned to students from rural areas and another 10 percent will go to students from low-income households.
"One high school was not able to send even a single student to KAIST for the last 10 years. I"m sure there are talented students in that school. If we give the school a chance, the education system will be upgraded," President Suh said.
KAIST-affiliated Korea Science Academy, a Busan-based high school for gifted students, will also adopt similar admission policy of recruiting students solely on the basis on recommendation and interview results from 2011.
2009.03.10 View 11309 -
Oriental Medical Scientist Lyu Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree from KAIST
KAIST awarded an honorary doctorate degree to Keun-Chul Lyu, an Oriental medical scientist who donated property valued at 57.8 billion won (US$56 million) to KAIST at its 2009 commencement ceremony on Feb. 27.
Dr. Lyu who was born in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, in 1926 received the first-ever doctorate degree in Oriental medicine from Kyung Hee University in 1976. His researches and practices have had profound impact on Oriental medicine in Korea and elsewhere. He successfully administered acupuncture anesthesia for Caesarean section in 1972, for the first time outside China.
During the three years (1973-1975) he worked at the Kyung Hee University"s Apoplexy Center as superintendent, he developed a new cure incorporating the Oriental and Western medicines for patients seized with apoplexy. With a thesis based on the cure, he earned a Ph.D. in medical engineering from Moscow State Technical University Bauman in 1996.
His outstanding capabilities drew attention in the 1970s when he served as a professor of the Department of Acupuncture at Kyung Hee University and later as deputy director of the university"s Hospital of Oriental Medicine. His record of treating about 50,000 patients a year is still touted among the younger generation of Korean Oriental medicine practitioners.
Dr. Lyu"s unselfish spirit of public service has been well exhibited in that he actively engaged in rendering voluntary medical services in rural and medically disadvantaged areas. He also distinguished himself with his strong interest in donation for humanitarian causes. Among his many charitable activities, his donation of a multipurpose gymnasium and golf practice range to a primary school in his native town Cheonan made so many children happy and helped them develop great ambitions. In 2008, he donated property valued at 57.8 billion won (US$56 million) to KAIST, wishing to help broaden the academic horizon of students studying at Korea"s premier research university.
His donation to KAIST was the largest in amount in the history of private donations to universities in Korea.
2009.03.02 View 11609 -
Prof. Song Develops Nano-Structure to Enhance Power of Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery
A team of scientists led by Prof. Hyun-Joon Song of the Department of Chemistry, KAIST, developed a nano-structure that could increase the power of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, university sources said on Monday (Feb. 16).
The research team found that a nano-structured material using copper oxide (CuO) could produce lithium-ion batteries with some 50 percent more capacity than conventional products. The study was published in the online edition of peer-review journal Advanced Materials.
In rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, lithium ions move between the battery"s anode and cathode. The high-energy density of the batteries led to their common use in consumer electronics products, expecially portable devices. Their demand in automotive and aerospace applications is growing, and nano-structured, or nano-enabled batteries are emerging as the new generation of lithium-ion batteries for their edge in recharging time, capacity and battery life.
Graphite has been a popular material for cathodes in lithium-ion batteries. However, graphite cathodes are also blamed for lost capacity due to their consumption of lithium ions, which are linked to shorter battery life.
As such, scientists have been looking for materials that could replace graphite in cathodes, and silicon and metal oxide have been studied as possible alternatives.
2009.02.17 View 11384
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KAIST Wins First Prize at Recon Challenge of Int"l Magnetic Resonance Society
Professor Jong-chul Ye of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering and Hong Jeong, a doctorate student, won the first prize at the Recon Challenge held as part of a workshop sponsored by the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) held in Sedona, the United States.
The workshop took place under the theme of “data sampling and image reconstruction” on Jan. 25-28 in Sedona, Arizona, the United States. The KAIST team beat out major magnetic resonance imaging groups from the U.S. and Europe.
The Recon Challenge is a biennial competition highlighting different reconstruction strategies and metrics to compare them. ISMRM is an international, nonprofit, scientific association which promotes communication, research, development, and applications in the field of magnetic resonance in medicine and biology and other related topics.
At the competition, the KAIST team presented a new dynamic MRI algorithm called k-t FOCUSS that is optimal from a compressed sensing perspective. The main contribution of the method is extension of k-t FOCUSS to a more general framework with prediction and residual encoding. The prediction provides an initial estimate while the residual encoding takes care of the remaining residual signals.
2009.02.06 View 13023 -
Prof. Cho Identifies Dynamics of Signal Transportation System in Control of Cell Proliferation
KAIST, Jan. 22, 2009 -- A research team led by Prof. Kwang-Hyun Cho of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST, has identified a hidden mechanism of the dynamic behavior of signal transportation system involved in the control of cell proliferation, university authorities said.
The finding is expected to provide a clue to appropriately controlling the pathway of ERK protein which is known to play a significant role in causing and spreading cancer. The research was featured as the cover paper of the latest online edition of the Journal of Cell Science.
The Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK pathway (or ERK pathway) is an important signal transduction system involved in the control of cell proliferation, survival and differentiation. However, the dynamic regulation of the pathway by positive- and negative-feedback mechanism, in particular the functional role of Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) are still incompletely understood. RKIP is a physiological endogenous inhibitor of MEK phosphorylation by Raf kinases, but also participates in a positive-feedback loop in which ERK can inactivate RKIP.
"We attempted to unearth the hidden dynamics of these feedback mechanisms and to identify the functional role of RKIP through combined efforts of biochemical experiments and computer simulations based on an experimentally validated mechanical model," Prof. Cho was quoted as saying.
2009.02.03 View 11316 -
Six Organizations Join Forces to Induce Projected National Brain Institute to Daejeon
Six major organizations including KAIST have joined forces to help Daejeon City to win the government approval to build the envisioned Korean Brain Institute in Daedeok Research Complex.
The six organizations signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperating in establishing the government-funded institute built within the Daedeok Research Complex in the city of Daejeon, at KAIST on Jan. 14. The six organizations are KAIST, the Daejeon City Government, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Korea Research Institute of Standard and Science, Asan Medical Center, and SK Corp., a pioneer in effective therapeutic invention for serious brain disorders.
The partnership of the six organizations is expected to bring a broad-based cooperation opportunities and create a massive synergy effect in the brain science researches and the development of new therapeutic treatment for brain disorders by combining their resources and infrastructures.
The six organizations have also built an international research network with such globally-renowned brain research institutions as RIKEN, a large natural sciences research institute in Japan, Max Plank Institute in Germany, Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, in Switzerland and Brain Research Institute of University of Queensland in Australia. The research network is under the support and guidance of Dennis Choi, a prominent neuroscientist who once served as the President of the Society for Neuroscience and is currently a professor in the Departments of Neurology and biology at Emory University.
The tentatively titled Korea Brain Institute is envisioned to help fight brain disorders and create Korea"s new growth engine, as well as lengthening life span, by conducting convergence researches in nero science, brain science and pharmacology. If the consortium of the six organizations wins the government approval to build the proposed institute within the Daedeok complex, the central government and the Daejeon city government are expected to pour a total of 329.7 billion won into the project by 2020.
2009.01.14 View 16069 -
Workshop on High Risk, High Return Projects Slated for Jan. 14
KAIST will hold the first workshop on "high risk, high return" projects at its Creative Learning Center on Jan. 14.
Under the leadership of President Nam-Pyo Suh, KAIST has instituted high risk, high return research-support programs to encourage creativity and innovation in research activities. Professors and graduate students can apply for HRHR funding any time they have creative ideas that they believe deserve support by the university"s HRHR program.
Once they prove the validity of their ideas, they can then go for the special HRHR funding. The HRHR support does not prevent researcers from applying for any outside sponsorship. Although the program has been in existence for only a short time, the results are encouraing, university authorities said.
Research projects currently underway on such innovative ideas as "transforming ice to icy fuel and ice-like magnets," "mini-lunar lander mission," "mobile floating harbor for increased container handling capacity" and "marine oil spill protection robot design."
During the workshop, a total of 44 research subjects which were picked up in 2008 will be presented. Presentations will be made focused on the three categories; idea, research procedures and current status. Among the 44 research ideas, 40 came from professors and four from students. Posters showing the research content of the 44 subjects will be on display also.
2009.01.08 View 11126