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A Technology Holding Company Establishes Two Companies Based on Technologies Developed at KAIST
Mirae Holdings is a technology holding company created by four science and technology universities, KAIST, DIGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology), GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology), and UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) in 2014 to commercialize the universities’ research achievements. The company identifies promising technologies for commercialization, makes business plans, establishes venture capitals, and invests in startup companies.
Over the past year, Mirae Holdings has established two venture companies based on the technologies developed at KAIST. In September 2014, it founded Cresem Inc., a company used the anisotropic conductive film (ACF) bonding technology, which was developed by Professor Kyung-Wook Paik of the Material Science and Engineering Department at KAIST. Cresem provides a technology to bond electronic parts ultrasonically. The company is expected to have 860,000 USD worth of sales within the first year of its launching.
Last June, Mirae Holdings created another company, Doctor Kitchen, with the technology developed by Professor Gwan-Su Yi of the Bio and Brain Engineering Department at KAIST. Doctor Kitchen supplies precooked food, which helps diabetic patients regulate their diet. The company offers a personalized diet plan to customers so that they can effectively manage their disease and monitor their blood sugar level efficiently.
The Chief Executive Officer of Mirae Holdings, Young-Ho Kim, said, “We can assist KAIST researchers who aspire to create a company based on their research outcomes through various stages of startup services such as making business plans, securing venture capitals, and networking with existing businesses.”
Young-Ho Kim (left in the picture), the Chief Executive Officer of Mirae Holdings, holds a certificate of company registration with Sang-Min Oh (right in the picture), the Chief Executive Officer of Cresem.
Young-Ho Kim (left in the picture), the Chief Executive Officer of Mirae Holdings, holds a certificate of company registration with Jae-Yeun Park (right in the picture), the Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Kitchen.
2015.07.29 View 10931 -
Is it possible to identify rumors on SNS?
Rumors
sporadically spread with people with fewer followers in the centerResearched
over 100 rumors in the US from 2006 to 2009 Is it
possible to filter information on SNS such as Twitter and Facebook? A research
team led by Professor Mee-Young Cha from the Department of Cultural Technology
Graduate School at KAIST, Professor Kyo-Min Jung of Seoul National University,
Doctor Wei Chen and Yajun Wang of Microsoft Asia, has developed a technology
that can accurately filter out information on Twitter to 90% accuracy. The
research not only deduced a new mathematical model, network structure, and
linguistic characteristics on rumors from SNS data, but is also expected to
enhance the effort to make secure technology to regulate Internet rumors. The team
analysed the characteristics of rumors in over 100 widespread cases in the US
from 2006 to 2009 on Twitter. The team gathered data, which included a range of
areas such as politics, IT, health and celebrity gossips, and their analysis
could identify rumors to 90% accuracy. The filtering was more accurate in
rumors that included slanders or insults. The
research team identified three characteristics of the spread of rumors. Firstly,
rumors spread continuously. Normal news spreads widely once and is mentioned
rarely again on media, but rumors tend to continue for years. Secondly,
rumors spread through sporadic participation of random users with no
connections. Rumors start from people with fewer followers and spread to the
more popular. This phenomenon is often observed in rumors concerning
celebrities or politicians. Lastly,
rumors have unique linguistic characteristics. Rumors frequently include words
(such as “it may be true,” “although not certain, I think,” “although I cannot
fully remember”) related to psychological processes that question, deny, or
infer the reliability of the information. Professor
Cha said, “This research deduced not only a statistical and mathematical model
but also is an integrated research on social psychological theory on the
characteristics of rumors that attract great attention from the society based
on ample data.” The results
were made public in IEEE International Conference on Data Mining last December
in Texas, USA.
2014.02.03 View 9472 -
Observation of a water strider led to a new method of measuring properties of Nano films
Even the mechanical properties of Nano films of a few nanometers thick can be measured
Posted online Nature Communications on the 3rd of October
The joint research team of KAIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering’s Professor Taek-Soo Kim and Doctor Seung-Min Hyun of the Nano mechanics laboratory of Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials has developed a new method to evaluate mechanical properties of Nano films using the characteristics of water surfaces.
The research findings have been posted on the online edition of Nature Communications on the 3rd of October. The technology can obtain accurate results by directly measuring the mechanical properties such as the strength and elasticity of Nano films. Academia and the industry expect the simplicity of the technology to present a new paradigm in the evaluation of mechanical properties of Nano films.
Evaluation of the mechanical properties of Nano films is essential not only in predicting the reliability of semiconductors and displays, but also in finding new phenomena in the Nano world. However, mechanical strength was difficult to test since the test demands the falling of objects to the ground to measure their strength, and nano films can easily break in the process.
The research team observed insects such as water striders freely floating on the surface of the water. The team used the properties of water, large surface tension and low viscosity, to float a 55 nanometers (nm) gold Nano film to successfully measure its mechanical properties without damaging it. The technology could be used to measure the mechanical properties of not only various types of Nano films but also films only a few nm thick.
Professor Taek-Soo Kim said, “We effectively performed an evaluation of the mechanical characteristics of Nano films, which was difficult in the past, by developing a new strength test using the properties of water.” He continued to say, “The team plans to discover the mechanical properties of 2D Nano films such as graphene that could not have been measured with the existing strength test methods.”
The research by KAIST’s Department of Mechanical Engineering’s graduate student Jae-Han Kim (lead author) under the supervision of Professor Taek-Soo Kim and Doctor Seung-Min Hyun of Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials was sponsored by the National Research Foundation of Korea.
Evaluation process of mechanical properties of Nano films by using the characteristics of water surfaces
Dr Seung-Min Hyun, Jae-Han Kim, and Professor Taek-Soo Kim from left to right
2013.11.11 View 8036 -
Technology for Non-Breaking Smartphone Display Developed
High-strength plastic display has been developed by applying a glass-fiber fabric.
“Will bring about innovation to the field by replacing glass substrates”
It is now possible to manufacture non-breaking smartphone display. Heavy glass substrates of large-screen televisions will be replaced with light plastic films.
Professor Choon Sup Yoon from KAIST’s Department of Physics and KAIST Institute for Information Technology Convergence has developed the technology for high-strength plastic substrates to replace glass displays.
The plastic substrate created by Professor Yoon and his research team have greatly enhanced needed properties of heat resistance, transparency, flexibility, inner chemical capability, and tensile strength. Although the material retains flexibility as a native advantage of plastic film, its tensile strength is three times greater than that of normal glass, which is a degree similar to tempered glass. In addition, Professor Yoon’s substrate is as colorless and transparent as glass and resists heat up to 450℃, while its thermal expansivity is only 10% to 20% of existing plastics.
Glass substrates are currently used in practically every display such as mobile phone screens, televisions, and computer monitors for having smooth surface and satisfying basic conditions for display substrates. However, as glass substrates are heavy and easily broken, researchers studied colorless and transparent plastic polyimide films to replace glass substrates for their excellent thermal and chemical stability.
Nonetheless, colorless and transparent polyimide films do not have sufficient heat resistance and mechanical solidity. To resolve this problem, polyimide films are impregnated with glass-fiber fabrics, but it was far from commercialization as the impregnation exacerbates the roughness of surface and light transmittance. The roughness of the surface increases as the solvent evaporates in the impregnation process, resulting in surface roughness of around 0.4μm. The downturn in light transmittance is due to light scattering effect by the discording refractive index of polyimide film and glass-fiber fabric.
Professor Yoon’s research team resolved these issues by tuning the refractive indices of transparent polyimide film and glass-fiber fabric up to four decimal places, and by developing the technology of flattening the film’s surface roughness to a few nanometers. As a result, the research team achieved heat expansivity of 11ppm/℃, surface roughness of 0.9nm, tensile strength of 250MPa, bending curvature radius of 2mm, and light transmittance at 90% with a 110μm-thick glass-fiber fabric impregnated transparent polyimide film substrate.
“The developed substrate can not only replace the traditional glass substrate but also be applied as flexible display substrate,” said Professor Yoon in prospect, “it will bring about technological innovation in display industry as it can fundamentally resolve the issue of shattering mobile phone displays, reduce the weight and thickness of large-area televisions, and apply Roll to Roll process in display manufacture.”
Supported by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy for five years, the technology has applied for 3 patents and is in discussion for technology transfer with related business.
Figure 1. The according (left) and discording (right) refractive indices of glass-fiber fabric and polyimide film. The characters on the left are sharp and clear, but the characters on the right appear foggy.
Figure 2. Picture of the developed glass-fiber fabric
2013.06.09 View 8498 -
Paving the Way to Next Generation Display
A new type of LCD that does not require polymer orientation films has been developed by researchers within the country. This technology will enable the creation of thiner and higher definition display.
Prof. Hee Tae Jung form KAIST’s biochemical engineering department led the research and Hyun Soo Jung, Hwan Jin Jeon doctoral students (1st co-authors), Doctor Yun Ho Kim from Korea Chemistry Research Center, and Prof. Shin Woong Kang from Jeon Buk University ( co-author) have participated in this research. This research has been funded by the WCU program and middle-grade researcher support program. The results of the research has been published as the online update of ‘‘Nature Asia Materials(NPG Asia Materials)” which is a sister magazine of the world renowned academic magazine ‘Nature’.
The flat display industry is the core industry leading the 21st century’s IT industry. The LCD is the main area of research. Korea is the leader of this industry, holding more than 50% of the world market. Many technologies are combined to make the electro-optic devices of the LCD function. The most important technology, which determines the indicating element’s quality and function is the technology to align the liquid crystals in one direction.
Currently, all LCD products are created by mechanically cutting into the surface of the polymer film and orienting the liquid crystal material along these cuts. However, the creation of polymer orientation films cost much time and money, and the high temperature processes necessary to stabilize the polymers does not allow for the free selection of circuit boards, and thus does not allow for the use in flexible display.
Prof. Hee Tae Jung devised a method to orient liquid display without the use of a polymer film using ITOs. Prof. Jung’s base technology has been tested on ITOs to maintain the necessary transparency and conductivity after forming a pattern with high decomposition rates and slenderness ratios.
The technology developed by the research team can horizontally or vertically align the transparent conductors without the use of polymer orientation films. Thus, the manufacturing processes have become much shortened and the LCDs can be made in much thinner from a few micrometers to a few centimeters. Also, it has a lower functioning voltage and faster response speed, showing the prospects of a high definition ultra-fast screen display development. Furthermore, this technology can be used for any type of board, and can be adjusted to a nanometer scale. This enables for its use in LCD based flexible or multi-domain modes.
Also, the transparent conductor patterning technology devised by the research team can be used not only for displays, but also for touch panels with highly increased sensitivity.
Prof. Jung said, “It was a long desire of the industry and academia to find a way to replace the polymer orientation film. This new technology does not need any polymer orientation films, and we can still use the original boards used for LCDs. This mean a lot to the industry. Also, this technology will increase the sensitivity of the touch panels for tablet PCs and smart phones. It can be used in many areas of future electronics base technology.”
2012.04.04 View 9855 -
Inexpensive Separation Method of Graphene Developed
The problem with commercializing graphene that is synthesized onto metals over a wide area is that it can not be separated from the metal. However, a groundbreaking separation technology which is both cheap and environment friendly has been developed.
Prof. Taek soo Kim and Prof. Byung Jin Cho"s research teams have conducted this research under the support of the Global Frontier program and Researcher Support Program initiated by The Ministry of Education and Science and Korea Research Foundation. The research results have been posted on the online news flash of Nano Letters on februrary 29th. (Thesis title: Direct Measurement of Adhesion Energy of Monolayer Graphene As-Grown on Copper and Its Application to Renewable Transfer Process)
The research has generated exact results on the interfacial adhesive energy of graphene and its surface material for the first time. Through this, the catalyst metal are no longer to be used just once, but will be used for an infinite number of times, thereby being ecofriendly and efficient.
Wide area graphine synthesized onto the catalyst meatal are used in various ways such as for display and for solar cells. There has been much research going on in this field. However, in order to use this wide area graphene, the graphene must be removed from the catalyst metal without damage.
Until now, the metal had been melted away through the use of chemical substances in order to separate the graphene. However, this method has been very problematic. The metal can not be reused, the costs are very high, much harmful wastes were created in the process of melting the metals, and the process was very complicated.
The research teams of Professors Taek Su Kim and Byung Jin Cho measured the interfacial adhesive energy of the synthesized graphene and learned that it could be easily removed.
Also, the mechanically removed graphene was successfully used in creating molecular electronic devices directly. This has thus innovatively shortened the graphene manufacturing process. Also, it has been confirmed that the metalic board can be reused multiple times after the graphene is removed. A new, ecofriendly and cost friendly method of graphene manufacturing has been paved.
Through this discovery, it is expected that graphene will become easier to manufacture and that the period til the commercialization date of graphene will therefore be greatly reduced
Prof. Cho stated " This reserach has much academical meaning significance in that it has successfully defined the surfacial adhesive energy between the graphene and its catalyst material and it should receive much attention in that it solved the largest technical problem involved in the production of graphene.
2012.04.04 View 12625
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KAIST placed the 5th in top 50 global universities for international patent applications
New York Times released an article, dated March 19, 2012, on the statistics of international patent applications filed by global universities during 2011, and with 103 applications published, KAIST was listed the fifth among the top 50 universities, right behind four US universities: University of California (277), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (179), the University of Texas System (127), and Johns Hopkins University (111). A total of seven Korean universities including KAIST made the top 50 list. For the article, please check the link below:
New York Times, March 19, 2012
“U.S. Universities Retain Lead in Patent Applications”
By Christopher F. Schuetze
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/19/world/asia/us-universities-retain-lead-in-patent-applications.html
In addition, for the press release by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the UN agency responsible for the Patent Cooperation Treaty, on international patent filings in 2011, please click the following link:
“International Patent Filings Set new Record in 2011”
http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2012/article_0001.html
2012.03.21 View 9091
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A Step Closer to Ultra Slim Mobile Phone
Professor Baek Kyung Wook (department of Material Science and Engineering) succeeded in developing an ultra-thin conjugation technique that can perfectly replace the modular contact in electronic devices.
The research team developed a compound material using ultra-fine solder-adhesive film and developed the vertical ultrasonic conjugation process thereby making a reliable utra-thin conjugation.
The developed technique allowed for very thin and reliable conjugation and will be able to replace the socket type connector and is expected to revolutionize the electronic device industry.
In mobile electronic devices like the smartphone, the trend is to incorporate various functional modules like camera, display, touchscreens, etc. in addition to striving for miniaturization of the device.
Recently the problem was the fact that the number of modules within the device was increasing due to the incorporation of various functions, and consequently the volume that these modules took up increased as well, which made miniaturization almost impossible.
Professor Baek‘s team succeeded in improving upon this problem by creating a compound material that has ultra-fine solder particles that can melt to form alloy fusion with the electrode and thermosetting adhesive film that can wrap around the electrode and provide mechanical protection.
The use of this material made it possible to reduce the thickness of the connector by hundredth fold which improved electrical, mechanical properties and highly reliable.
From a processing standpoint the conventional conjugation process involved heating the mechanical block and was therefore hard to manage its production and also consumed 1000W and took up to 15 seconds.
By contrast, Professor Baek’s team’s new process uses only ultrasound to locally heat and melt the conjugation point itself thereby reducing power consumption to 100W and conjugation time to 1~5 seconds.
The technique developed by Professor Baek and Lee Ki Won Doctorate student was awarded Excellent Dissertation Award by world famous journals like the Electronic Components and Technology Conference and is being recognized worldwide.
2012.01.31 View 8853
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Sound of sex could alert internet porn filter by New Scientist, May 20, 2011
Software that can detect obscene contents from the internet has been developed by a research team at KAIST. The research team used a signal-processing technique, Randon Transform, to create spectrograms of a variety of audio clips, which can screen any pornographic sounds from websites. This audio-based screening method solves technological limits presented by automatic image-analysis systems that have already been used to catch unwanted pornography. New Scientist posted an online article on this development of new technology. Please copy and paste the following link to read more about the article.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn20498-sound-of-sex-could-alert-internet-porn-filter.html
2011.05.21 View 9094
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KAIST paves the way to commercialize flexible display screens
Source: IDTechEX, Feb. 28, 2011
KAIST paves the way to commercialize flexible display screens
28 Feb 2011
Transparent plastic and glass cloths, which have a limited thermal expansion needed for the production of flexible display screens and solar power cells, were developed by researchers at KAIST (Korea Advance Institute of Science & Technology).
The research, led by KAIST"s Professor Byoung-Soo Bae, was funded by the Engineering Research Center under the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation. The research result was printed as the cover paper of "Advanced Materials".
Professor Bae"s team developed a hybrid material with the same properties as fiber glass. With the material, they created a transparent, plastic film sheet resistant to heat. Transparent plastic film sheets were used by researchers all over the world to develop devices such as flexible displays or solar power cells that can be fit into various living spaces. However, plastic films are heat sensitive and tend to expand as temperature increases, thereby making it difficult to produce displays or solar power cells.
The new transparent, plastic film screen shows that heat expansion index (13ppm/oC) similar to that of glass fiber (9ppm/oC) due to the presence of glass fibers; its heat resistance allows to be used for displays and solar power cells over 250oC.
Professor Bae"s team succeeded in producing a flexible thin plastic film available for use in LCD or AMOLED screens and thin solar power cells.
Professor Bae commented, "Not only the newly developed plastic film has superior qualities, compared to the old models, but also it is cheap to produce, potentially bringing forward the day when flexible displays and solar panels become commonplace. With the cooperation of various industries, research institutes and universities, we will strive to improve the existing design and develop it further."
http://www.printedelectronicsworld.com/articles/kaist_paves_the_way_to_commercialize_flexible_display_screens_00003144.asp?sessionid=1
2011.03.01 View 12369
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KAIST developed a plastic film board less sensitive to heat.
The research result was made the cover of magazine, Advanced Materials and is accredited to paving the way to commercialize flexible display screens and solar power cells.
Transparent plastic and glass cloths, which have a limited thermal expansion needed for the production of flexible display screens and solar power cells, were developed by Korean researchers.
The research, led by KAIST’s Professor Byoung-Soo Bae, was funded by the Engineering Research Center under the initiative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the National Research Foundation. The research result was printed as the cover paper of ‘Advanced Materials’ which is the leading magazine in the field of materials science.
Professor Bae’s team developed a hybrid material with the same properties as fiber glass. With the material, they created a transparent, plastic film sheet resistant to heat. Transparent plastic film sheets were used by researchers all over the world to develop devices such as flexible displays or solar power cells that can be fit into various living spaces. However, plastic films are heat sensitive and tend to expand as temperature increases, thereby making it difficult to produce displays or solar power cells.
The new transparent, plastic film screen shows that heat expansion index (13ppm/oC) similar to that of glass fiber (9ppm/oC) due to the presence of glass fibers; its heat resistance allows to be used for displays and solar power cells over 250oC.
Professor Bae’s team succeeded in producing a flexible thin plastic film available for use in LCD or AMOLED screens and thin solar power cells.
Professor Bae commented, “Not only the newly developed plastic film has superior qualities, compared to the old models, but also it is cheap to produce, potentially bringing forward the day when flexible displays and solar panels become commonplace. With the cooperation of various industries, research institutes and universities, we will strive to improve the existing design and develop it further.”
2011.01.05 View 12949 -
The KAIST & GIT team developed a power generation technology using bendable thin film nano-materials.
Figure description: Flexible thin film nanomaterials produce electricity.
Can a heart implanted micro robot operate permanently?
Can cell phones and tiny robots implanted in the heart operate permanently without having their batteries charged?
It might sound like science fiction, but these things seem to be possible in the near future. The team of Prof. Keon Jae Lee (KAIST, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering) and Prof. Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering) has developed new forms of highly efficient, flexible nanogenerator technology using the freely bendable piezoelectric ceramic thin film nano-materials that can convert tiny movements of the human body (such as heart beats and blood flow) into electrical energy.
The piezoelectric effect refers to voltage generation when pressure or bending strength is applied to piezoelectric materials. The ceramics, containing a perovskite structure, have a high piezoelectric efficiency. Until now, it has been very difficult to use these ceramic materials to fabricate flexible electronic systems due to their brittle property.
The research team, however, has succeeded in developing a bio-eco-friendly ceramic thin film nanogenerator that is freely bendable without breakdown.
Nanogenerator technology, a power generating system without wires or batteries, combines nanotechnology with piezoelectrics that can be used not only in personal mobile electronics but also in bio-implantable sensors or as an energy source for micro robots. Energy sources in nature (wind, vibration, and sound) and biomechanical forces produced by the human body (heart beats, blood flow, and muscle contraction/relaxation) can infinitely produce nonpolluting energy. (Nanogenerator produces electricity by external forces: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvj0SsBqpBw)
Prof. Keon Jae Lee (KAIST) was involved in the first co-invention of “High Performance Flexible Single Crystal Electronics” during his PhD course at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This nanogenerator technology, based on the previous invention, utilized the similar protocol of transferring ceramic thin film nano-materials on flexible substrates and produced voltage generation between electrodes.
Prof. Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Tech, inventor of the nanogenerator) said, “This technology can be used to turn on an LED by slightly modifying circuits and operate touchable flexible displays. In addition, thin film nano-materials (‘barium titanate’) of this research have the property of both high efficiency and lead-free bio compatibility, which can be used in future medical applications.” This result is published in November online issue of ‘Nano Letters’ ACS journal.
<Video>
Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvj0SsBqpBw
Thin Film Nanogenerator produces electricity by external forces.
2010.11.23 View 13947