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A Novel and Practical Fab-route for Superomniphobic Liquid-free Surfaces
(clockwise from left: Jaeho Choi, Hee Tak Kim, Shin-Hyun Kim)
A joint research team led by Professor Hee Tak Kim and Shin-Hyun Kim in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST developed a fabrication technology that can inexpensively produce surfaces capable of repelling liquids, including water and oil.
The team used the photofluidization of azobenzene molecule-containing polymers to generate a superomniphobic surface which can be applied for developing stain-free fabrics, non-biofouling medical tubing, and corrosion-free surfaces.
Mushroom-shaped surface textures, also called doubly re-entrant structures, are known to be the most effective surface structure that enhances resistance against liquid invasion, thereby exhibiting superior superomniphobic property.
However, the existing procedures for their fabrication are highly delicate, time-consuming, and costly. Moreover, the materials required for the fabrication are restricted to an inflexible and expensive silicon wafer, which limits the practical use of the surface.
To overcome such limitations, the research team used a different approach to fabricate the re-entrant structures called localized photofludization by using the peculiar optical phenomenon of azobenzene molecule-containing polymers (referred to as azopolymers). It is a phenomenon where an azopolymer becomes fluidized under irradiation, and the fluidization takes place locally within the thin surface layer of the azopolymer.
With this novel approach, the team facilitated the localized photofluidization in the top surface layer of azopolymer cylindrical posts, successfully reconfiguring the cylindrical posts to doubly re-entrant geometry while the fluidized thin top surface of an azopolymer is flowing down.
The structure developed by the team exhibits a superior superomniphobic property even for liquids infiltrating the surface immediately.
Moreover, the superomniphobic property can be maintained on a curved target surface because its surficial materials are based on high molecules.
Furthermore, the fabrication procedure of the structure is highly reproducible and scalable, providing a practical route to creating robust omniphobic surfaces.
Professor Hee Tak Kim said, “Not only does the novel photo-fluidization technology in this study produce superior superomniphobic surfaces, but it also possesses many practical advantages in terms of fab-procedures and material flexibility; therefore, it could greatly contribute to real uses in diverse applications.”
Professor Shin-Hyun Kim added, “The designed doubly re-entrant geometry in this study was inspired by the skin structure of springtails, insects dwelling in soil that breathe through their skin. As I carried out this research, I once again realized that humans can learn from nature to create new engineering designs.”
The paper (Jaeho Choi as a first author) was published in ACS Nano, an international journal for Nano-technology, in August.
(Schematic diagram of mushroom-shaped structure fabrication)
(SEM image of mushroom-shaped structure)
(Image of superomniphobic property of different types of liquid)
2017.09.08 View 7058 -
KAIST AI Academy for LG CNS Employees
The Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering (Graduate School of Knowledge Service Engineering) at KAIST has collaborated with LG CNS to start a full-fledged KAIST AI Academy course after the two-week pilot course for employees of LG CNS, a Korean company specializing in IT services.
Approximately 100 employees participated in the first KAIST AI Academy course held over two weeks from August 24 to September 1. LG CNS is planning to enroll a total of 500 employees in this course by the end of the year.
Artificial intelligence is widely recognized as essential technology in various industries. In that sense, the KAIST AI Academy course was established to reinforce both the AI technology and the business ability of the company. In addition, it aims at leading employees to develop new business using novel technologies. The main contents of this course are as follows: i) discussing AI technology development and its influence on industries; ii) understanding AI technologies and acquiring the major technologies applicable to business; and iii) introducing cases of AI applications and deep learning.
During the course, seven professors with expertise in AI deep learning from the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering (Graduate School of Knowledge Service Engineering), including Jae-Gil Lee and Jinkyoo Park will be leading the class, including practical on-site educational programs.
Based on the accumulated business experience integrated with the latest AI technology, LG CNS has been making an effort to find new business opportunities to support companies that are hoping to make digital innovations.
The company aims to reinforce the AI capabilities of its employees and is planning to upgrade the course in a sustainable manner. It will also foster outside manpower by expanding the AI education to its clients who pursue manufacturing reinforcement and innovation in digital marketing.
Seong Wook Lee, the Director of the AI and Big Data Business Unit said, “As AI plays an important role in business services, LG CNS decided to open the KAIST AI Academy course to deliver better value to our clients by incorporating our AI-based business cases and KAIST’s up-to-date knowledge.”
2017.09.06 View 6536 -
Professor Dan Keun Sung Endows Scholarship in Honor of His Retirement
Professor Dan Keun Sung in the School of Electrical Engineering contributed a 100 million KRW scholarship fund this month to KAIST to mark his retirement after more than three decades of work.
“As my retirement date comes closer, I have been thinking about what I could do for the school. I wanted to leave something behind, even though it’s small, for my lifelong school and students. I am hoping that this scholarship fund will benefit the members of KAIST.”
This isn’t his first time making a donation to KAIST. In 2013, Professor Sung donated ten million KRW, which was his cash prize from the 9th Haedong Academic Award of The Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences (KICS). At that time, Professor Sung had the chance to create a scholarship fund in his name; however, he wanted to highlight that the scholarship fund was for ‘someone,’ not created by ‘someone.’ In that sense, his scholarship fund was created with no name to benefit students in the School of Electrical Engineering. His colleagues and students supported his idea. Professor Seonghwan Cho, students, and alumni also participated in fund raising efforts, which reached 55 million KRW in total.
Professor Sung emphasized, “Donations should always be remembered, no matter how small they are.” He then explained his purpose for creating the scholarship fund by saying, “Fundraising can be truly meaningful to contributors, knowing that their money is going to supporting the school and students.”
Professor Sung, a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Communication Society, started his post at KAIST in 1986. For the past 30 years, he has devoted himself to fostering young scholars and studying in the area of information and communication. He also participated in developing technologies for the resource management of various future cellular components, such as satellites, switchboards, and signaling networks.
2017.08.11 View 7957 -
Face Recognition System 'K-Eye' Presented by KAIST
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the key emerging technologies. Global IT companies are competitively launching the newest technologies and competition is heating up more than ever. However, most AI technologies focus on software and their operating speeds are low, making them a poor fit for mobile devices. Therefore, many big companies are investing to develop semiconductor chips for running AI programs with low power requirements but at high speeds.
A research team led by Professor Hoi-Jun Yoo of the Department of Electrical Engineering has developed a semiconductor chip, CNNP (CNN Processor), that runs AI algorithms with ultra-low power, and K-Eye, a face recognition system using CNNP. The system was made in collaboration with a start-up company, UX Factory Co.
The K-Eye series consists of two types: a wearable type and a dongle type. The wearable type device can be used with a smartphone via Bluetooth, and it can operate for more than 24 hours with its internal battery. Users hanging K-Eye around their necks can conveniently check information about people by using their smartphone or smart watch, which connects K-Eye and allows users to access a database via their smart devices. A smartphone with K-EyeQ, the dongle type device, can recognize and share information about users at any time.
When recognizing that an authorized user is looking at its screen, the smartphone automatically turns on without a passcode, fingerprint, or iris authentication. Since it can distinguish whether an input face is coming from a saved photograph versus a real person, the smartphone cannot be tricked by the user’s photograph.
The K-Eye series carries other distinct features. It can detect a face at first and then recognize it, and it is possible to maintain “Always-on” status with low power consumption of less than 1mW. To accomplish this, the research team proposed two key technologies: an image sensor with “Always-on” face detection and the CNNP face recognition chip.
The first key technology, the “Always-on” image sensor, can determine if there is a face in its camera range. Then, it can capture frames and set the device to operate only when a face exists, reducing the standby power significantly. The face detection sensor combines analog and digital processing to reduce power consumption. With this approach, the analog processor, combined with the CMOS Image Sensor array, distinguishes the background area from the area likely to include a face, and the digital processor then detects the face only in the selected area. Hence, it becomes effective in terms of frame capture, face detection processing, and memory usage.
The second key technology, CNNP, achieved incredibly low power consumption by optimizing a convolutional neural network (CNN) in the areas of circuitry, architecture, and algorithms. First, the on-chip memory integrated in CNNP is specially designed to enable data to be read in a vertical direction as well as in a horizontal direction. Second, it has immense computational power with 1024 multipliers and accumulators operating in parallel and is capable of directly transferring the temporal results to each other without accessing to the external memory or on-chip communication network. Third, convolution calculations with a two-dimensional filter in the CNN algorithm are approximated into two sequential calculations of one-dimensional filters to achieve higher speeds and lower power consumption.
With these new technologies, CNNP achieved 97% high accuracy but consumed only 1/5000 power of the GPU. Face recognition can be performed with only 0.62mW of power consumption, and the chip can show higher performance than the GPU by using more power.
These chips were developed by Kyeongryeol Bong, a Ph. D. student under Professor Yoo and presented at the International Solid-State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) held in San Francisco in February. CNNP, which has the lowest reported power consumption in the world, has achieved a great deal of attention and has led to the development of the present K-Eye series for face recognition.
Professor Yoo said “AI - processors will lead the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. With the development of this AI chip, we expect Korea to take the lead in global AI technology.”
The research team and UX Factory Co. are preparing to commercialize the K-Eye series by the end of this year. According to a market researcher IDC, the market scale of the AI industry will grow from $127 billion last year to $165 billion in this year.
(Photo caption: Schematic diagram of K-Eye system)
2017.06.14 View 15988 -
Distinguished Professor Lee Elected to the NAS
Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering was elected as a foreign associate to the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on May 2. The National Academy of Sciences elected 84 new members and 21 foreign associates in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in their original research. Election to the Academy is widely regarded as one of the highest honors that a scientist can receive.
Professor Lee was also elected in 2010 as a member of the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for his leadership in microbial biotechnology and metabolic engineering, including the development of fermentation processes for biodegradable polymers and organic acids. Until 2016, there are only 12 people worldwide who are foreign associates of both NAS and NAE.
He is the first Korean elected to both prestigious academies, the NAS and the NAE in the US. Professor Lee is currently the dean of KAIST Institutes, the world leading institute for multi-and interdisciplinary research. He is also serving as co-chair of the Global Council on Biotechnology and member of the Global Future Council on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the World Economic Forum.
2017.05.16 View 7931 -
Professor Lee Recognized by the KMS as Best Paper Awardee
Professor Ji Oon Lee of the Department of Mathematical Sciences was selected as the 2017 Best Paper Awardee by the Korean Mathematical Society. The award will be presented during the KMS spring meeting on April 29. Dr. Lee is being honored for proving a necessary and sufficient condition for the Tracy-Wisdom law of Wigner matrices. In a paper titled ‘A Necessary and Sufficient Condition for Edge Universality of Wigner Matrices,’ he proposed a solution for one of the many unanswered problems in the field of random matrix theory that have existed for decades. The paper, co-authored with Professor Jun Yin at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, was published in the Duke Mathematical Journal in 2014. Professor Lee joined KAIST in 2010 after finishing his Ph.D. at Harvard University. He was named a ‘POSCI Science Fellow’ and received the ‘Young Scientist Award’ from the KMS in 2014.
2017.04.27 View 7644 -
2017 Summer Nuclear Nonproliferation Education Program
The Nuclear Nonproliferation Education and Research Center (NEREC) at KAIST announced its 30 scholarship recipients for the 2017 Summer Nuclear Nonproliferation Education Program on April 18. The six-week program, starting from July 10, will be run in Korea, Japan, and China.
The program provides young global scholars with focused and challenging nuclear nonproliferation studies. Young scholars will be exposed to diverse science and technology policies and practices concurrently conducted in many countries and the future direction for enhancing nuclear nonproliferation. They will participate in a series of seminars, projects, international conferences, and field trips.
Since its launch in 2014, the program has educated 71 young scholars. This year, more than 150 scholars from 37 countries applied for the program, reflecting the growing reputation of the program both at home and abroad. The director of the NEREC, Professor Man-Sung Yim of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST said that young scholars from very prestigious foreign universities have shown strong interest in the program. According to Professor Yim, this year’s recipients are from 26 universities from 16 countries including Harvard University, Oxford University, the National Research Nuclear University of Russia, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology
2017.04.19 View 6932 -
13 KAIST Faculty Named as Inaugural Members of Y-KAST
The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) launched the Young Korean Academy of Science and Technology (Y-KAST) and selected 73 scientists as its inaugural members on February 24. Among them, 13 KAIST faculty were recognized as the inaugural members of Y-KAST.
Y-KAIST, made up of distinguished mid-career scientists under the age of 45, will take the leading role in international collaboration as well as innovative agenda-making in science and technology.
The inaugural members include Professor Hyotcherl Ihee of the Department of Chemistry and Dr. Sung-Jin Oh of the Center for Mathematical Challenges at the Korea Institute for Advanced Study (KIAS), affiliated with KAIST. Professor Ihee is gaining wide acclaim in the fields of physics and chemistry, and in 2016, Dr. Oh was the youngest ever awardee of the Presidential Award of Young Scientist.
The other Y-KAIST members are as follows: Professors Haeshin Lee of the Department of Chemistry; Mi Young Kim, Byung-Kwan Cho, and Ji-Joon Song of the Department of Biological Sciences; Song-Yong Kim of the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Sang-il Oum of the Department of Mathematical Sciences; Jung Kyoon Choi of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering; Seokwoo Jeon, Sang Ouk Kim, and Il-Doo Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Jang Wook Choi of the Graduate School of EEWS (Energy, Environment, Water and Sustainability); and Jeong Ho Lee of the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering.
The leading countries of the Academy of Science, which include Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Canada, and Japan, have established the Young Academy of Science since 2010 in order to encourage the research activities of their young scientists and to establish a global platform for collaborative research projects through their active networking at home and abroad.
President Myung-Chul Lee of KAST said, “We will spare no effort to connect these outstanding mid-career researchers for their future collaboration. Their networking will make significant impacts toward their own research activities as well as the global stature of Korea’s science and technology R&D.
(Photo caption: Members of Y-KAST pose at the inaugural ceremony of Y-KAST on February 24.)
2017.03.02 View 15377 -
New Building Endowed in Bio and Brain Engineering Department
An endowment from the former Chairman of Mirae Industries, Moon Soul Chung, was used to establish the Yang Bun Soon Building in the Bio and Brain Engineering Department at KAIST. The opening ceremony for the building took place on February 8 and was attended by President Sung-Mo Kang, KAIST administrators, faculty, and students.
The Yang Bun Soon Building, named after the wife of Chairman Chung, is a new addition to the Bio and Brain Engineering Department complex. The five-story building was erected next to the 11-story Chung Moon Soul Building, which was completed in 2003 using a portion of his first endowment to KAIST. Chairman Chung donated approximately 30 billion KRW for funding a convergence research for IT and BT in 2001.
The new building was completed with financing from Chung’s second endowment of 21.5 billion KRW in support of the fields of brain and cognitive sciences in 2014. The building will accommodate both lab facilities and lecture halls.
At the ceremony, President Kang thanked the Chungs for their continuing generosity to KAIST. He commended Chung for showing how entrepreneurs can fulfill their social responsibility by supporting Korea’s future through donations and support.
(Photo caption: Chung Moon Soul Building (left) and Yang Bun Soon Building(right))
2017.02.09 View 5257 -
EEWS Graduate School Team Receives the S-Oil Best Paper Award
Professor Hyungjun Kim and Dr. He-Young Shin from the EEWS (Energy, Environment, Water and Sustainability) Graduate School at KAIST received the Best Paper Award in Chemistry from S-Oil, a Korean petroleum and refinery company, on November 29, 2016.
Established in 2011, the S-Oil Best Paper Awards are bestowed annually upon ten young scientists in the fields of five basic sciences: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth science. The scientists are selected at the recommendation of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and the Association of Korean Universities. The awards grant a total of USD 230,000 for research funding.
Dr. Shin, the lead author of the awarded research paper, said, “My research interest has been catalyst studies based on theoretical chemistry. I am pleased to accept this award that will support my studies, and will continue to research catalyst design that can predict parameters and integrate them into catalytic systems.”
Professor Hyungjun Kim (left) and Dr. He-Young Shin (right)
2016.12.23 View 8344 -
KAIST's Doctoral Student Receives a Hoffman Scholarship Award
Hyo-Sun Lee, a doctoral student at the Graduate School of EEWS (Environment, Energy, Water and Sustainability), KAIST, is a recipient of the 2016 Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarships presented by the American Vacuum Society (AVS). The award ceremony took place during the Society’s 63rd International Symposium and Exhibition on November 6-11, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lee is the first Korean and foreign student to receive this scholarship.
The Hoffman Scholarships were established in 2002 to recognize and encourage excellence in graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to AVS. The scholarships are funded by a bequest from Dorothy M. Hoffman, who was a pioneering member of the Society of Women Engineers and served as the president of AVS in 1974.
Lee received the scholarship for her research that detects hot electrons from chemical reactions on catalytic surface using nanodevices. Nano Letters, an academic journal published by the American Chemical Society, described her work in its February 2016 issue as a technology that allows quantitative analysis of hot electrons by employing a new nanodevice and therefore helps researchers understand better the mechanism of chemical reactions on nanocatalytic surface. She also published her work to detect the flow of hot electrons that occur on metal nanocatalytic surface during hydrogen oxidation reactions in Angewandte Chemie.
Lee said, “I am pleased to receive this honor from such a world-renowned academic society. Certainly, this will be a great support for my future study and research.”
Founded in 1953, AVS is an interdisciplinary, professional society composed of approximately 4,500 members worldwide. It supports networking among academic, industrial, government, and consulting professionals involved in a range of established and emerging science and technology areas such as chemistry, physics, engineering, business, and technology development.
2016.11.17 View 8136 -
Key Interaction between the Circadian Clock and Cancer Identified
Professor Jae Kyoung Kim and his research team from the Department of Mathematical Sciences at KAIST found that the circadian clock drives changes in circadian rhythms of p53 which functions as a tumor suppressor. Using a differential equation, he applied a model-driven mathematical approach to learn the mechanism and role of p53.
Kim’s mathematical modeling has been validated by experimental studies conducted by a research team at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in the United State, which is led by Professor Carla Finkielstein. As a result, the researchers revealed that there is an important link existed between the circadian clock and cancer.
The findings of this research were published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of the America (PNAS) on November 9, 2016.
The circadian clock in our brain controls behavioral and physiological processes within a period of 24 hours, including making us fall asleep at a certain time by triggering the release of the sleep hormone melatonin in our brain, for example, around 9 pm. The clock is also involved in various physiological processes such as cell division, movement, and development.
Disruptions caused by the mismatch of the circadian clock and real time due to chronic late night work, shiftwork, and other similar issues may lead to various diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
In 2014, when Kim met with Finkielstein, her research team succeeded in observing the changes of p53 over a period of 24 hours, but could not understand how the circadian clock controls the 24-hour rhythm of p53. It was difficult to determine p53’s mechanism since its cell regulation system is far more complex than other cells
To solve the problem, Kim set up a computer simulation using mathematical modeling and ran millions of simulations. Instead of the traditional method based on trial and error experiments, mathematical modeling allowed to save a great deal of time, cost, and manpower.
During this process, Kim proved that the biorhythm of p53 and Period2, an important protein in the circadian clock, are closely related. Cells usually consist of a cell nucleus and cytoplasm. While p53 exists in both nucleus and cytoplasm, it becomes more stable and its degradation slows down when it is in the nucleus.
Kim predicted that the Period2 protein, which plays a key role in the functioning of the circadian clock, could influence the nucleus entry of the p53 protein.
Kim’s predictions based on mathematical modeling have been validated by the Virginia team, thereby revealing a strong connection between the circadian clock and cancer.
Researchers said that this research will help explain the cause of different results from numerous anticancer drugs, which are used to normalize the level of p53, when they are administrated at different times and find the most effective dosing times for the drugs.
They also believe that this study will play an important role in identifying the cause of increasing cancer rates in shift-workers whose circadian clocks are unstable and will contribute to the development of more effective treatments for cancer.
Professor Kim said, “This is an exciting thing that my research can contribute to improving the healthy lives of nurses, police officers, firefighters, and the like, who work in shifts against their circadian rhythms. Taking these findings as an opportunity, I hope to see more active interchanges of ideas between biological sciences and mathematical science in Korea.”
This research has been jointly conducted between KAIST and Virginia Tech and supported by the T. J. Park Science Fellowship of POSCO, the National Science Foundation of the United States, and the Young Researcher Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea.
Picture 1. The complex interaction between tumor antigen p53 and Period2 (Per2) which plays a major role in the circadian clock as revealed by mathematical simulations and experiments
Picture 2. A portion of the mathematical model used in the research
Picture 3. Professor Jae Kyoung Kim (third from left) and the Virginia Tech Research Team
2016.11.17 View 6993