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Intelligent SoC Robot War 2007 Has Finale
Kyung Hee University’s “Sandi2007” and “Triple K” of Korea University of Technology and Education and Chungbuk National University were victorious in the Tank Robot category and the Taekwon Robot categories of the 6th Robot War Contest hosted by Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
Boldly entitled “07 Intelligent SoC Robot War”, KAIST hosted its 6th Robot War Contest. In this contest, battles between mechanical robots utilizing System on Chip (SoC) technology are fought. The first Robot War contest was held in 2002. Before the actual contest from October 18th to 21st, preliminary assessments and the final selection was administered in August.
The Intelligent SoC Robot War Contest has two sections called Tank Robot and Taekwon Robot. The Tank Robot contest has robots in the form of tanks duel with laser beams through visual recognition, wireless communication, and audio recognition. On the other hand, the Taekwon Robot contest is a hand-to-hand fight. The robots had to be capable of defending, recognizing the opponent, and attacking without external control.
The 15 teams of the Tank Robot section and the 10 teams of the Taekwon Robot section that passed through the preliminary selections participated in the final battles for 3 days starting on October 18th. The Tank Robot category winner “Sandi2007” showed great ability in visual sensing and the Taekwon Robot category winner “Triple K” had effective arm and leg combinations that eventually led the team to victory.
Kyung Hee University’s “Sandi2007” received 2 million Korean Won as the grand prize along with a special recognition from the Prime Minister, while “Triple K” received 1 million Korean Won with a special recognition from the Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE).
The Intelligent SoC Robot War contest was part of the 2007 International Robot Contest (IRC 2007) which was organized by the Center for Robot Industry Promotion (CRIP) and held at Convention & Exhibition Center (COEX) Indian Hall. The individual contests included 8 competitions: Grand Challenge, Robotpiad, Humanoid Robot Contest, Robofest, Intelligent SoC Robot War, FIRA Challenge Cup, Robot Festival, and URC Robot Contest.By KAIST Herald on November, 2007
2007.12.21 View 13589 -
S&T Policy Agenda of Major Presidential Candidates
Science and Technology Policy Agenda of Major Presidential Candidates
The KAIST TIMES recently reviewed science and technology policy suggestions made by five major presidential candidates. Below is a summary of the information assembled based on written interviews conducted by The KAIST TIMES, gatherings on science and technology policies, and press conferences.
Chung Dong-young of the United New Democratic Party
The UNDP’s Chung Dong-young presented a vision to join the world’s top seven aerospace leaders in an effort to transform Korea into a science-technology powerhouse.
In order to achieve this goal, he suggested five policy strategies: support research and development of creative, innovative science and technology, ; expand resources for the innovation of science and technology, ; promote academia and business partnerships, ; strengthen infrastructure to innovate scientific and technological fields, ; boost the morale of scientists and engineers, ; and promote the dissemination of scientific culture.
The most noticeable striking part element of his vision is to make add Korea to join the list of the world’s top seven aerospace powerhouses. Chung included the this vision in his 20 key 20 pledges, underscoring his commitment to the aerospace industry. He said that the aerospace industry can produce simultaneous growth of various high-tech industries.
Chung also vowed that he would extensively foster high-value added assembly industry in conjunction with a scheme to nurture parts and material industries.
As detailed action plans to achieve his vision, he cited development of small and medium-sized aircraft carriers and upgrading air control systems as part of the efforts to make Korea as a stronghold of popular aviation of in Northeast Asia. He also revealed plans to embark on a project to explore the Moon and send an unmanned probe there by 2020.
To implement aerospace development plans systematically, he suggested inaugurating the envisioned Korean Aeronautics and Space Administration, modeled after the NASA of the United States and JAXA of Japan.
Lee Myung-bak of the National Grand Party
Presidential candidate Lee pointed out basic sciences and open-source technologies as crucial prerequisites to achieve economic growth. As five implementation strategies to promote the development of these areas, he called for the fostering of more scientific and technological talents; a drastic increase in investment in science and technology; creation of new fusion industries that will serve as future growth engines; promotion of autonomy and creativity; and popularization of science and technology.
He also pledged to carry out two large-scale projects, the creation of “an international scientific-corporate city belt” and the technological development of new renewable energy.
Among them, drawing the largest attention is the creation of an “international scientific-corporate city belt” connecting several technological complexes located in Chungcheong Provinces. The city belt is envisioned to connect the Daedok Innopolis in Daejeon, the proposed Bio-Health Science Technopolis in Osong, Sceintific Industrial Complex in Ochang, and the new administrative town under construction in Yeongi-Gongju. At a lecture hosted by the Science and Technology Forum and the Korean Engineers Club, Lee said that the project has been motivated by the idea of locating research and corporate complexes in close proximity to bring about maximum efficiency of commercializing research results.
Kwon Young-ghil of the Democratic Labor Party
In a written interview with The KAIST TIMES, Kwon summed up his vision for science and technology as shifting from “science-technology for the rich and privileged” to “science and technology to promote public interest and participation.”
As action plans to realize his vision, he suggested increasing investment into public-interest research and development projects and building the necessary infrastructure as well as boosting relevance between science-technology policies and various welfare sectors including environment, health, and medicare. He also wishes to pay greater attention to improving the treatment of young engineers and scientists.
Moon Kook-hyun of the Creative Korea Party
Moon Kook-hyun’s science and technology policy proposals focus on nurturing more experts in the fields of science and technology. As specific action plans to ease the tendency among high-school graduates to shun the fields engineering and science as their majors, he revealed a plan to appoint a Prime Minister with an engineering or scientific background and positively expand social participation of engineering or science graduates.
He also expressed strong commitment to making Korea a technological power house, focusing on convergence of various high-tech industries including BT and IT. He would also build infrastructure to increase cooperation for technological development among large and mid and small-sized companies, and among Korea and many other countries.
Independent Candidate Lee Hoi-chang
Lee Hoi-chang’s vision for science and technology can be highlighted by his strong commitment to greatly increasing R& D investment in this area. He said that the move is aimed at expanding science and technology capital, which will serve as a fundamental infrastructure for corporate activities.
In particular, he said that he would concentrate on fostering eight core technologies based on individual knowledge and creativity: IT, BT, NT, ST, ET (Environment Technology), CT, MT(Marine Technology), and FT (Fusion Technology).
2007.12.17 View 15535
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The US Science Magazine Published KAIST News on Nov. 30
An educational innovation of our university arouses world"s interest.
The world science magazine, the U.S Science reports deeply President Suh Nampyo" KAIST reform, fund, tenure review, tuition, admission and faculty recruit in News Focus, internet version on 30 November. There is full text of the news below.http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/318/5855/1371
News FocusHIGHER EDUCATION:MIT Engineer Shakes Korean Academia to Its CoreDennis Normile
Radical measures from the new president of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology are roiling a tradition-bound system
Worldly. To gain stature beyond Korea, KAIST has lured students from Vietnam, China, and Rwanda, among other countries.
CREDIT: D. NORMILE/SCIENCE
DAEJEON, SOUTH KOREA--When the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced on 19 November that an entrepreneur had donated $2.5 million to the university with promises of more to follow, it marked the latest in a string of coups for the new president, Suh Nam Pyo. A mechanical engineer on leave from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Suh has raised an unprecedented amount--$12.5 million--in a country where donations to universities are rare. He"s challenging other traditions as well. For example, KAIST"s latest tenure review turned down several candidates, a shocking move by Korean standards.Suh says he is aiming to make KAIST "as good as the best [universities], including MIT." Many faculty members agree that Suh"s "overall philosophy and vision are correct," says KAIST systems biologist Lee Sang Yup. But there are concerns about how Suh will implement that vision at the 36-year-old university.
The KAIST community has reason to be cautious. In 2004, the university hired Nobel physics laureate Robert Laughlin as president--the first foreigner to lead a Korean university--with a mandate to transform KAIST into a world-class institution. Laughlin, on leave from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, proposed privatizing KAIST and charging tuition, focusing on commercialization, and tripling undergraduate enrollment (Science, 25 February 2005, p. 1181; 20 January 2006, p. 321). But when Laughlin"s plans failed to materialize, "the faculty was disappointed," says KAIST molecular biologist Chung Jongkyeong. In 2006, the board of trustees decided to seek a new president.
The board turned to Suh. Born in Gyeongju, South Korea, in 1936, Suh moved to the United States with his family as a teenager and earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As an MIT professor, Suh has won plaudits for his engineering design theories, earned more than 50 patents, and helped start several companies. In the early 1980s, he was assistant director for engineering at the U.S. National Science Foundation, and he headed MIT"s Department of Mechanical Engineering from 1991 until 2001.
Since arriving at KAIST in July 2006, Suh has opened undergraduate education to non-Korean students for the first time by insisting that many courses be taught in English. Suh decided that students who maintain "B" or better grades would continue to pay no tuition, whereas those with a "C" or below must pay about $16,000 per year starting in February. "We want students to take responsibility for their actions," Suh says.
Agent of change. KAIST"s faculty supports Suh Nam Pyo"s reforms, so far.
CREDIT: KAIST
A new admissions process may also have broad impact. Previously, KAIST, like most of Korea"s top universities, selected the top scorers in a written exam. Most high school students spend their free time prepping for these tests in cram schools. But Suh says that scores "are a one-dimensional measure" that fails to identify leaders. So candidates for KAIST"s next incoming class were invited to campus this fall for interviews, to give presentations, and to engage in discussions while being observed by faculty members, who made selections based on scores and personal impressions. "We"re looking for future Einsteins and future Bill Gateses," says Suh.An even more radical step was putting teeth into tenure reviews. Traditionally, faculty members in Korea gain tenure after logging enough years. Suh insisted that KAIST professors up for tenure gather endorsements from experts in their field around the world. In September, 11 of 33 applicants were denied tenure and were given a year to find new jobs.
The tenure review "is the beginning of an educational revolution," says KAIST chemist Ryoo Ryong. But he and others worry about the fate of those denied tenure. Suh understands their predicament but is standing firm. The professors who didn"t make tenure "are very good people, but in terms of the standard we set, they"re not as good as we expect our professors to be." He is asking other universities to consider giving these professors a chance.
At the same time, Suh is looking to inject fresh blood--including foreigners--into the 418-strong faculty with a plan to add 300 professors over the next 4 to 5 years. (To expand the school, Suh is striving to win government approval for a doubling of KAIST"s base governmental support of $108 million.) His first catch is Mary Kathryn Thompson, who completed her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at MIT last year. "It"s an exciting time to be here," says Thompson, who just started studying Korean when she arrived last August.
Although they support Suh"s initiatives, some faculty members chafe at his blunt public comments implying that Korea"s professors take life too easy. "I cannot agree," says Choi Yang-Kyu, an electrical engineer. "Most professors here are working very hard." Biomolecular engineer Kim Hak-Sung adds: "President Suh should have sticks and carrots, not just sticks."
Carrots don"t come cheap. "I"m spending most of my time trying to raise money," Suh says. Part of that effort is wooing private donors. "Giving to universities is not prevalent in Asia, but it is something I"m trying to nurture in Korea," he says. That"s a precedent all of Korea"s universities might want to embrace.
2007.11.30 View 15119 -
KAIST and Carnegie Mellon University establish a Dual Degree Program
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Carnegie Mellon University make an agreement on collaboration in research and education, and a dual degree program.
KAIST and Carnegie Mellon make an agreement on ▲Exchange of Faculty Members ▲Exchange of Students ▲Dual Degree Program and ▲ Exploring cooperation in education and research. Presidents of both Universities had a signing ceremony at 11 A.M on Friday, Oct. 5th, 2007.
▲Lectures, joint research and exchange of faculty members ▲Undergraduate/graduate student exchange up to five students from one University each year ▲Dual degree program at the Ph. D. level ▲Opportunities for joint research projects and conferences will be explored according to the agreement between the two Universities.
KAIST and Carnegie Mellon have created a new dual degree program for Ph.D. students in civil and environmental engineering. Students admitted through the dual degree program are required to spend minimum 2 academic years in residence at each University. The total number of the student candidates participating in this program shall not exceed five in any given academic year initially. The students who met the graduation requirements shall be awarded two PhD degrees, one from KAIST and the other from Carnegie Mellon. All of its courses at KAIST are taught in English, which is the case starting in Fall 2007. Both Universities will explore the concept of sharing courses taught in English using videoconferencing technologies.
KAIST President Nam Pyo Suh said “We are delighted to have President Jared L. Cohon of Carnegie Mellon visit KAIST. I am looking forward to discussing various issues related to higher education and signing the Memorandum of Understanding between the two universities for student/faculty exchange programs, joint research, and the Carnegie Mellon- KAIST dual-degree program in civil and environment engineering. The dual degree program will initially begin in civil and environment engineering, and we hope to expand this to other areas in the future. Our goal is to generate future leaders who are able to lead global enterprises and conduct interdisciplinary research. This can be done through collaboration among leading scholars at Carnegie Mellon and KAIST. Our hope is that we can solve serious problems of the 21st century through the collaboration between our two institutions. I am especially excited to establish such a collaboration with Carnegie Mellon, my alma mater."
“Carnegie Mellon is well-suited to collaborate with KAIST. We believe this agreement will be a catalyst for future educational and research opportunities. I am especially pleased that this partnership is with an institution of KAIST"s stature” said Cohon.
About Carnegie Mellon:
Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities. More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its 144-acre Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive among leading research universities for the world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts. A global university, Carnegie Mellon has campuses in Silicon Valley, Calif., and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia and Europe. For more, see www.cmu.edu ..
2007.10.09 View 17117 -
Prof. Chung To Make a Keynote Address at Overseas Seminar
Prof. Chung To Make a Keynote Address at Overseas Seminar
“Instilling Korea’s design promotion policies into Chile”Prof. Kyung-Won Chung will make a keynote address at a design policy seminar in Chile
Prof. Kyung-Won Chung, Department of Industrial Design, will make a keynote address at a seminar named ‘public policies for design industries’, which will be held at Santiago, Chile, July 24 -25.
In the lecture entitled ‘The development model of public policies for design promotion ? Korea’s experiences’, Prof. Chung will present the relationship between national economic development policy and design industry promotion strategy with some real case studies.
The seminar co-hosted by the Technology Cooperation Agency (SERCOTEC) and the Economy Development Agency (CDRFO) of Chile is intended to enable Chilean government to set up appropriate policies to effectively foster design industries for the enhancement of small and medium businesses’ competitiveness.
Prof. Chung has served as the president of Korea Institute of Design Promotion (KIDP) from Feb 2000 thru May 2003.
2007.07.24 View 12809 -
Cooperation Agreement with Ajou Motor College
Cooperation Agreement with Ajou Motor College
KAIST Graduate School of Automobile Technology to sign a cooperation agreement with Ajou Motor College
KAIST Graduate School of Automobile Technology (GSAT) signed a cooperation agreement with Ajou Motor College (AMC) on July 18th.
Under the agreement, the both schools will share education and research facilities and promote mutual cooperation for joint education and researches.
Lawmaker Geun-Chan Ryu, KAIST Vice President of Budget & Planning Ji-Won Yang, GSAT Dean Suck-Joo Na, AMC Dean Soo-Hoon Lee, etc. attended the ceremony.
2007.07.24 View 14424 -
Ki-Won Lee Receives Best Student Paper Award
Ki-Won Lee Receives Best Student Paper Award
Ki-Won Lee, a doctoral student of Materials Science & Engineering, has received the Best Student Paper Award ‘Motorola Fellowship Award’ at 2007 Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC).
Lee’s paper is about a new bonding process of anisotropic conductive film using ultrasonic wave, which applies ultrasonic wave, instead of thermal compression, at the room temperature to reduce the process time from ten to three seconds.
The recipients of Motorola Fellowship Award are selected by IEEE Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Society, and Motorola awards special scholarship to recipients. The ECTC is the world’s largest yearly conference concerning electronic packaging technologies with more than 1,000 attendees and more than 300 presented papers.
2007.07.02 View 16625 -
KAIST Business School Opens Homepage !!!!
KAIST Business School, founded in September, 2006 to efficiently manage the Graduate School of Management, founded in 1996, the Graduate School of Finance and the Graduate School of Information & Media Management, both founded in March 2006, now opens its homepage to provide more information on the school.
Click here to go to the homepage
2007.07.02 View 13333
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Emeritus Professor Lee Dies
Jeong-Oh Lee, Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering, died of his chronic disease on June 15, 2007 at his age of 76.
The late Lee began his lecturing career at Mechanical Engineering Department in 1973 and had made considerable devotions to the education and development of mechanical engineering for 24 years. As the former Minister of Science and Technology, former President of Korea Institute of Science and Technology, and former President of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, he also has made significant contributions to the development of Korean science and technology.
Particularly, he played key roles in vitalizing Daeduk Research Complex (DRC) by planning and executing the movement of government-funded institutes despite the inactive research atmosphere in the early 1980s. He also set up the Extended Council for Technology Promotion, consisting of many distinguished persons from diverse fields under the supervision of the President, to make significant contributions to the promotion and spread of technology innovation among governmental and civil enterprises. He received Cheongjo Geunjeong Medal in 1985 and never stopped his devotion to the education of young students even after his retirement in 1997.
<Funeral Notice>- Date: Sunday, June 17, 2007 at 7 am.- Place: Eulji University Hospital, Daejeon- Graveyard: Cheonan graveyard- Bereaved family Wife Ok-Hyang Kang Son Jong-Sun Lee, Professor of Handong University Han-Sun Lee, LG Chemicals Daughter Myung-Ae Lee Son-in-law Young-Soo Lee, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology- Contact Point: C.P. 019.480.2451 (Han-Sun Lee)
2007.06.18 View 14724 -
KAIST Graduate Selected As Winner of IEEE Outstanding Young Engineer Award
- First Korean winner of IEEE Outstanding Young Engineer Award
Dr. Myung-Jin Rhim, Bachelor, Master, and Ph.D of KAIST, has been selected to receive 2007 Outstanding Young Engineer Award by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Components, Packaging, and Manufacturing Technology (CPMT) Society. Dr. Rhim will be the first Korean winner of the award.
Dr. Rhim received his Ph.D of Materials Science & Engineering at KAIST in 2001 and has made outstanding research outputs, such as 28 papers at international journals covered by Science Citation Index (SCI) and 12 international patents. He has been also listed in Marquis Who’s Who in the World, Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders, Who’s Who in Asia, and Outstanding Intellectual of the 21st Century, 21st Century Award for Achievement published by the International Biographical Centre of Cambridge, England.
IEEE CPMT Society has yearly awarded the Outstanding Young Engineer Award to a scientist or engineer of electronic components, packaging, and manufacturing technology prior to his or her 35th birthday in recognition of his or her research achievements. Dr. Rhim is now in his postdoctoral program at Georgia Institute of Technology in USA.
2007.06.14 View 15453 -
Largest Number of Teams Selected From KAIST at 2007 LG Global Challenger Contest
Largest Number of Teams Selected From KAIST at 2007 LG Global Challenger Contest
The largest number of teams has been selected from KAIST at 2007 LG Global Challenger Contest
Despite of the record high competitive rate of 30/ 800, the largest number of teams has been selected from KAIST at 2007 LG Global Challenger Contest.
LG Global Challenger Contest is an exploration program where undergraduate and graduate students perform explorations on their own schedules and share the results with the public online.
Thus far, about 1,500 students from 410 teams have participated in the contest, and the contest is now regarded as the most representative overseas exploration program among university students, showing the average competitive rate of 1/ 20.
Exploration teams are selected by thorough examination and the members of selected teams have to complete the preliminary education program. The exploration teams will perform two-week overseas exploration on their own schedule during the summer vacation and their exploration activities will be relayed through the official web site of the contest by the designated team for online relay.
The exploration teams are obliged to submit the result reports, and the winners of the prize for good reports will be granted scholarship and employment privileges. The followings are the selected teams from KAIST:
Name: U-rekaTopic: U-Eco City, Advanced city where nature and human are well harmonizedMembers: A-Chim Chang (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering)Hyuk-Il Cho (Department of Computer Sciences)Jung-Hyun Hong (Department of Industrial Engineering)Seung-Kyun Ryu (Department of Computer Sciences)
Name: TWIMTopic: The trend of unmanned ground vehicle development and its influence on unmanned societyMembers: Moon-Jung Byun (Department of Mechanical Engineering)Joon-Seok Park (Department of Electrical Engineering)Hye-Sun Hyun (Department of Electrical Engineering)Jong-Hoon Kim (Department of Electrical Engineering)
Team Impediment-free ODATopic: Future way of Korean ODAMembers: Joon-Youn Kim (Department of Industrial Engineering) Jae-Min Kim (Department of Industrial Engineering)Yoon-Jung Choi (Department of Industrial Engineering)Seul-Ki Lee (Department of Industrial Engineering)
2007.06.12 View 15795
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Prof. Lee Plants Commemorative Flower at NUAA
Prof. Lee Plants Commemorative Flower at NUAA
Professor In Lee of Aerospace Engineering planted a commemorative flower - Hibiscus, the national flora of South Korea - at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) on May 25, 2007. While some Chinese Nobel laureates have planted commemorative trees, Professor Lee is the first foreigner who has planted a commemorative flower at NUAA. His planting is expected to contribute to opening academic and research exchanges between South Korea and China.
NUAA is the top university of China in the field of Aerospace Engineering and a technical university consisting of 2,800 faculty and staff and 26,000 students.
NUAA has colleges of Aerospace Engineering, Science, Engineering, Management, Art, Humanity, Foreign Language, and International Education and actively promotes international academic and research exchanges and international student program.
2007.06.12 View 12251