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Dr. Ryu of KAIST Receives the S-Oil Outstanding Paper Award
Dr. Je-Kyung Ryu of KAIST’s Department of Physics has been awarded the S-Oil Outstanding Paper Award for his doctoral dissertation’s originality and applicability.
Professor Tae-Young Yoon of Physics is his doctoral advisor.
The award ceremony took place on November 25, 2015 at the Press Center in Seoul.
This S-Oil Outstanding Paper Award, jointly sponsored by the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) and the Scholastic University Presidential Association, was established to foster young talented scientists in basic science and to advance the field.
The award is given every other year for each of the fields of physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, and earth sciences.
With the award, Dr. Ryu received a research grant of USD 8,600.
He discovered, for the first time in the world, how NSF (N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor), a protein involved in a vesicular transport in cellular activities, disassembles a SNARE (soluble NSF attachment protein receptor) complex, using a unimolecular biophysics method.
Unlike the existing studies, he proposed a model in which NSF disassembles SNARE complexes at one step, and as a result, provided evidence of how the SNARE complex influenced the fusion of biological membranes.
His research was published in the scientific journal Science issued on March 27, 2015. The title of the paper is “Spring-loaded Unraveling of a Single SNARE Complex by NSF in One Round of ATP Turnover.”
2015.11.27 View 9473 -
KAIST and Four Science and Technology Universities Host a Start-up Competition
KAIST and four other science and technology universities, such as Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), and Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), hosted a startup competition on November 27, 2015 at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul.
Approximately 150 participants including students from the five universities, "angel" investors, and entrepreneurs attended the competition.
The competition was held to promote startups that are based on research achievements in science and technology and to foster entrepreneurs with great potential.
Two hundred and sixty applicants from 81 teams competed this year. Only ten teams made it to the finals.
KAIST students presented two business plans: an experience-centered education platform and mobile taxi-pooling service. Students from other universities presented a brain-stimulating simulation software (GIST), handy smart health trainer (GIST), real-time reporting system for luggage (DGIST), a flower delivery system (UNIST), surveillance and alarm system for stock-related events via machinery studies (UNIST), augmented emotion toys using augmented reality (POSTECH), and a nasal spray for fine dust prevention (POSTECH).
KAIST also displayed an exhibition of “wearable haptic device for multimedia contents” and “next generation recommendation service platform based on one-on-one matching system with high expandability and improved user experience system.”
The winning team received an award from the Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning of Korea, as well as an opportunity to participate in overseas startup programs over the course of ten days.
Joongmyeon Bae, Director of the KAIST Industry and University Cooperation, who organized the contest, said, “The alumni of Stanford University (USA) has annually created over 5.4 million jobs through startup activities. Likewise, we hope that our event will contribute to job creation by fostering innovative entrepreneurs.”
2015.11.26 View 11251 -
Professor Keon-Jae Lee Lectures at IEDM and ISSCC Forums
Professor Keon-Jae Lee of KAIST’s Materials Science and Engineering Department delivered a speech at the 2015 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) held on December 7-9, 2015 in Washington, D.C.
He will also present a speech at the 2016 International Solid-State Circuits Conference scheduled on January 31-February 4, 2016 in San Francisco, California.
Both professional gatherings are considered the world’s most renowned forums in electronic devices and semiconductor technology. It is rare for a Korean researcher to be invited to speak at these global conferences.
Professor Lee was recognized for his research on flexible NAND chips. The Korea Times, an English language daily newspaper in Korea, reported on his participation in the forums and his recent work. An excerpt of the article follows below:
“KAIST Professor to Lecture at Renowned Tech Forums”
By Lee Min-hyung, The Korea Times, November 26, 2015
Recently he has focused on delivering technologies for producing flexible materials that can be applied to everyday life. The flexible NAND flash memory chips are expected to be widely used for developing flexible handsets. His latest research also includes flexible light-emitting diodes (LED) for implantable biomedical applications.
Lee is currently running a special laboratory focused on developing new flexible nano-materials. The research group is working to develop what it calls “self-powered flexible electronic systems” using nanomaterials and electronic technology.
Lee’s achievement with flexible NAND chips was published in the October edition of Nano Letters, the renowned U.S.-based scientific journal.
He said that flexible memory chips will be used to develop wearable computers that can be installed anywhere.
2015.11.26 View 11538 -
Academic Award Established in the Honor of Professor Jae-gyu Lee
An academic award has been established to celebrate the academic achievements of Jae-gyu Lee, a chair professor at KAIST’s Business and Management Department.
The Korean Society of Management Information Systems (KMIS) created the “Safe Internet Jae-gyu Lee Academic Award” at the 2015 KMIS Fall Symposium held on November 21, 2015 at the Business and Management building of Yonsei University in Seoul.
The award will be presented to researchers operating both in and outside Korea, who strive to achieve a clean and safe Internet environment by preventing cyber terrors, attacks, and crimes.
Appointed as the President of the Association for Information Systems (AIS), a global academic organization to advance the field of information systems, in July 2015, Professor Lee has adopted the “safe and clean Internet culture” as the official vision of the AIS. During his inaugural speech, he urged the international community including AIS to work together for better solutions to cyber problems.
For the implementation of the Safe Internet Jae-gyu Lee Academic Award, KMIS plans to form a committee to select winners through evaluations and recommendations. The award will be presented from 2016 forward.
Also, Professor Lee has recently donated USD 87,000 to KMIS to fund research in safe Internet culture and cyberspace security.
2015.11.25 View 7961 -
HUBO to Present at the 2016 World Economic Forum
KAIST researchers will lead an IdeasLab on biotechnology for an aging society while HUBO, the winner of the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge, will interact with the forum participants, offering an experience of state-of-the-art robotics technology.
Representatives from KAIST will attend the 2016 Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum to run an IdeasLab and showcase its humanoid robot.
With over 2,500 leaders from business, government, international organizations, civil society, academia, media, and the arts expected to participate, the 2016 Annual Meeting will take place on January 20-23, 2016 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. Under the theme of “Mastering the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” global leaders will discuss the period of digital transformation that will have profound effects on economies, societies, and human behavior.
President Sung-Mo Kang will join the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF), a high-level academic meeting to foster collaboration among experts on issues of global concern for the future of higher education and the role of science in society. He will discuss how the emerging revolution in technology will affect the way universities operate and serve society. KAIST is the only Korean university participating in GULF, which is composed of prestigious universities invited from around the world.
Four KAIST professors, including Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, will lead an IdeasLab on “Biotechnology for an Aging Society.”
Professor Lee said, “In recent decades, much attention has been paid to the potential effect of the growth of an aging population and problems posed by it. At our IdeasLab, we will introduce some of our research breakthroughs in biotechnology to address the challenges of an aging society.”
In particular, he will present his latest research in systems biotechnology and metabolic engineering. His research has explained the mechanisms of how traditional Oriental medicine works in our bodies by identifying structural similarities between effective compounds in traditional medicine and human metabolites, and has proposed more effective treatments by employing such compounds.
KAIST will also display its networked mobile medical service system, “Dr. M.” Built upon a ubiquitous and mobile Internet, such as the Internet of Things, wearable electronics, and smart homes and vehicles, Dr. M will provide patients with a more affordable and accessible healthcare service.
In addition, Professor Jun-Ho Oh of the Mechanical Engineering Department will showcase his humanoid robot, “HUBO,” during the Annual Meeting. His research team won the International Humanoid Robotics Challenge hosted by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which was held in Pomona, California, on June 5-6, 2015. With 24 international teams participating in the finals, HUBO completed all eight tasks in 44 minutes and 28 seconds, 6 minutes earlier than the runner-up, and almost 11 minutes earlier than the third-place team. Team KAIST walked away with the grand prize of USD 2 million.
Professor Oh said, “Robotics technology will grow exponentially in this century, becoming a real driving force to expedite the Fourth Industrial Revolution. I hope HUBO will offer an opportunity to learn about the current advances in robotics technology.”
President Kang pointed out, “KAIST has participated in the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum since 2011 and has engaged with a broad spectrum of global leaders through numerous presentations and demonstrations of our excellence in education and research. Next year, we will choreograph our first robotics exhibition on HUBO and present high-tech research results in biotechnology, which, I believe, epitomizes how science and technology breakthroughs in the Fourth Industrial Revolution will shape our future in an unprecedented way.”
2015.11.18 View 12638 -
Open KAIST 2015
KAIST’s research environment and its most recent achievements were open to the public.
KAIST hosted “Open KAIST 2015” over two days from November 5-6, 2015 in which its 17 departments and three research centers were open to the public. The event is one of the largest events that KAIST holds, which permits such public viewings of its facilities. It is the eighth time it has taken place.
During this event, the departments and centers offered 64 programs including laboratory tours, research achievement exhibitions, department introductions, and special lectures.
The “Motion Capture System”of Professor Jun-Yong Noh’s lab (Graduate School of Culture Technology) drew particular attention.
The “Motion Capture System” expresses human and animal motion in three-dimensional (3D) space using infrared cameras and optic markers, which can then be applied to various industries such as movies, games, and animation. During the program, researchers themselves demonstrated the recording of the movement and its conversion into 3D characters.
Professor Yong-Hoon Cho’s laboratory introduced the scientific mechanism behind the Light Emitting Diode (LED) as well as its manufacturing process under the topic:“A to Z of LED Production.” The reserachers explained that how green LED is much more efficient compared to previous light sources and presented applications that how it is widely used in everyday life in smart phones, electronic displays, and other mobile gadgets.
Professor Jun-tani of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering introduced “Humanoid Robot Nao’s Imitation of Human Motions.” Nao is an autonomous, programmable humanoid robot developed by a French robotics company based in Paris. Nao has an artificial neural circuit, which is the functional equivalent of a human brain, and can thus mimic the subject’s motions through learning.
In addition, Professor Hyo-Choong Bang (Department of Aerospace Engineering) in his lecture on “Unmanned Vehicle Research and Nano Satellites” and Professor Hyun Myung (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) on his lecture on “Future Civilization Robot System: the Jellyfish Elimination Robotic Swarm and the Wall-Climbing Drone” provided information on the progress of their respective research.
KAIST also displayed its most recent research achievements. A lecture on “Information Technology Convergence” offered a showroom for “Dr. M,” which is a mobile healthcare platform. Dr. M is a mobile healthcare system that collects and analyzes biosignals via a smart sensor attached to the human body that shows around 20 advanced technologies.
The Satellite Technology Research Center introduced the public to its “Get to Know Satellites” program on Korea’s first satellite “Our Star 1” in addition to showing the satellite assembly room and the satellite communication center.
Special lectures were also held for visitors. Professor Min-Hyuk Kim and Hye-Yeon Oh of the School of Computing talked about “Computer Graphics and Advanced Video Technology” and “Man and the Computer,” respectively, from the perspective of non-experts.
Another interesting feature was the “Wearable Computer Competition” in which college students held fashion shows with computers attached to their clothes.
Professor Jung Kwon Lee, the Dean of the College of Engineering, who led this event, said that “the Open KAIST, which is being held for the eighth time this year, is an excellent opportunity for the general public to experience KAIST’s research environment.” He hoped this could motivate young adults to widen their spectrum of scientific knowledge and raise affection for science.
2015.11.13 View 10997 -
Public Lectures by KAIST's Humanities and Social Sciences Research Center
The Humanities and Social Sciences Research Center at KAIST offers public lectures at the International Seminar Hall of the Humanities and Social Sciences building on campus from November 12, 2015 to December 10, 2015. There will be four lectures, all of which will be available in Korean only.
The theme of the lectures is “social issues and strategic solutions.” Experts in various fields including women’s studies, criminal psychology, Go (a Chinese board game) and its philosophy, and Korean studies will participate, offering multifaceted analysis and solutions for social issues in Korea.
Joo-Hee Kim, a researcher at the Korean Women’s Institute of Ewha Women’s University, will lecture on “Problems of Loan Products Exclusively for Women” and discuss the background of "micro-loans" which are often targeted at women, while evaluating the logic of financial corporations behind marketing such products.
Lectures by Professor Ji-Sun Park from the Department of Social Psychology at Ewha Women’s University on “Understanding of Criminal Psychology from Letters,” Professor Soo-Hyun Jeong from the Department of Go at Myeongji University on “Life Lessons and Strategies from Playing Go,” and Professor Seung-Taek Ahn from Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies of Seoul National University on “Community Problems in Folk Culture” will follow.
The organizer of the lectures, Professor Jung-Hoon Kim of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at KAIST said,
“These lectures will provide local citizens and the KAIST family a wonderful opportunity to understand important social issues from the perspective of social science. It will also serve as a valuable time to think about how our social conflicts could differ from those of other countries, helping us to find solutions.”
To register for these free lectures, go to http://hss.kaist.ac.kr by November 9, 2015.
2015.11.06 View 7110 -
KAIST and Hanwha Chemical Agree on Research Collaboration
KAIST signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hanwha Chemical Co., Ltd., a Korean chemical and auto manufacturer, on November 2, 2015 to establish a research center on campus.
The research center, which will be named “KAIST-Hanwha Chemical Future Technology Research Center,” will implement joint research projects for five years beginning from 2016 to develop innovative, green technologies that will help the Korean chemical industry boost its global competitiveness and to nurture top researchers and engineers in chemical engineering.
The research center will lead the development of next-generation petrochemical materials and manufacturing technology and the establishment of pure high-refining processes which are more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. KAIST and Hanwha will strive to secure new technologies that have the greatest commercialization potential in the global market. They will also establish a scholarship fund for 15 KAIST doctoral students in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
Many professors from the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department including Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee, who was listed in the Top 20 Translational Researchers of 2014 by Nature Biotechnology this year, and Professor Hyunjoo Lee who received the Woman Scholar award at the 2015 World Chemistry Conference, will work at the research center.
Professor Lee, the head of the research center, said, “Collaborating with Hanwha will give us a strong basis for our efforts to carry out original research and train the best researchers in the field.”
Chang-Bum Kim, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hanwha Chemical, said,
“We hope our collaborations with KAIST will go beyond the typical industry and university cooperation. The two organizations will indeed jointly operate the research center, and this will become a new model for industry and university cooperation. We expect that the research center will play a crucial role in the development of new products and technologies to grow the Korean chemical industry.”
In the photo, President Steve Kang of KAIST (fourth from left) and CEO Chang-Bum Kim of Hanwha Chemical (fifth from left) hold the MOU together.
2015.11.01 View 11637 -
The 2015 Intelligent SoC Robot War Finals
The final round of the 2015 Intelligent SoC (System on Chip) Robot War took place from October 29, 2015 to November 1, 2015 at Kintex in Ilsan, Korea.
A “SoC robot” refers to an intelligent robot capable of autonomous object recognition and decision making by employing advanced semiconductor and information technology.
First hosted in 2002, the Intelligent SoC Robot War cultivates top talents in the field of semiconductors and seeks to revitalize Korea’s information technology (IT) and semiconductor industries.
The event consists of two competitions: HURO and the Tae Kwon Do Robot.
In the HURO competition, participating robots sequentially complete eight assignments without outside controls. Whichever robot finishes the highest number of tasks and spends the shortest amount of time for the completion of assignments wins the competition.
At the HURO competition, a SoC robot overcomes obstacles.
The Tae Kwon Do Robot competition includes Korea’s traditional martial arts into robotics. Here, the winner is selected by sparring between a pair of competitors. The camera attached to the robot’s head recognizes the position of the opponent and the distance between them. From that, the robot takes actions such as punching or kicking.
Two robots are vying for the title of the Tae Kwon Do Robot.
This year, 570 people from 104 teams from all over the nation applied, and after preliminaries, 26 teams entered the finals.
The winners of the HURO and Tae Kwon Do Robot competitions receive awards from the president and prime minister of Korea, respectively.
The Chairman of the Intelligent SoC Robot War, Professor Hoi-Jun Yoo of Electrical Engineering Department at KAIST, said,
“Korea’s strength in semiconductors and information technology can serve as a great potential to advance the development of intelligent robots. We hope that our experiences in this competition will allow Korea to excel in this field.”
2015.11.01 View 9597 -
Two Undergraduate KAIST Students Publish a Book on Health Management
Joonho Suh of the Aerospace Engineering Department and Jiho Suh of the Mechanical Engineering Department are both brothers and undergraduates at KAIST.
The Suh brothers, who are three years apart, have recently published a self-help book in English on staying healthy entitled “A Scientific Approach to Building Muscle: Mass Effect.”
The book introduces techniques to build muscles, adapting them from an engineering concept called "Active Torque Control (ACT)," the management of turning forces imposed on a vehicle. Just as ACT influences the performance of a vehicle, good exercise involves the right degree of body angles and the right direction of body movements to keep the best posture necessary for burning calories and strengthening muscles.
In the book, they also suggest healthy diet plans based on scientific knowledge and data that the writers borrowed from such fields as anatomy, physiology, and motor mechanics to maintain a healthy weight.
Joonho Suh said,
“If we understand the mechanism of how our body works, the chances are high we will have good muscle tone and a balanced diet. We used a great deal of scientific knowledge and turned it into a health management program that can be customized per individual needs.”
The younger brother, Jiho, added,
“In fact, we applied our methods in the book to beginners who took weight training and fitness for one hour a day for one month, we learned that their muscle mass increased by 1-1.5 kg while losing body fat by 2-3 kg.”
The brothers said they planned to publish a Korean language version of the book next year.
The authors of "Mass Effect": Joonho Suh (left) and Jiho Suh (right)
2015.10.26 View 7670 -
KAIST's Graduate School of Culture Technology Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary
The Graduate School of Culture Technology (GSCT) at KAIST hosted a ceremony and a variety of events to celebrate its tenth anniversary on October 22, 2015, on campus.
Established in 2005 with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, GSCT offers an intensive, in-depth education in culture technology, an interdisciplinary field first introduced in Korea by KAIST, which brings arts, humanities, science, and technology together in an academic and research arena.
Over the years, the graduate school has fostered top-notch researchers and professionals who have played a leading role in the development of a Korean culture contents industry that includes movies, broadcasting programs, music, games, and culture events.
After the anniversary ceremony, GSCT held a "Demo Day" to showcase its major research projects. A total of 41 projects were presented under the themes of “Art and Science,” “Human and Humane,” and “Virtual Reality vs Reality.”
In addition, there was a seminar held on GSTC’s ten-year accomplishment and future planning with the school’s Professors Sunghee Lee, Juyong Park, and Juhan Nam; a cultural event for the public called the “Talk Concert,” which included many professionals in culture industry and academia to share ideas and views; and the Homecoming Day for GSTC graduates. So far, the graduate school has produced 295 masters and 34 doctors. About 34% of its graduates are employed in the movie, game, and broadcasting sectors, 33% in the social networking service and Internet industry, and 33% in performing art and exhibition and event.
Dong-Man Lee, the Dean of KAIST's Graduate School of Culture Technology, said,
“We will continue to develop our school to lead the advancement of the Korean culture industry, contributing to the growth of Korean Wave, the popularity of Korean culture, in the global community.”
In the picture below, Dean Lee delivers a speech to celebrate the school’s tenth anniversary.
Soo-Man Lee, the founding chairman of S.M. Entertainment, speaks at the Talk Concert.
Scenes from the Demo Day
2015.10.26 View 8386 -
Professors Sukbok Chang and Jang-Wook Choi Receive the 2015 Knowledge Award from the Korean Government
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MISP) of the Republic of Korea announced the 2015 Knowledge Awards on October 20, 2015. Two KAIST professors received the award.
Established in 2009, the awards are presented to Korean scientists whose publications have contributed to the international science community. Specifically, the MISP used the two biggest science databases, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and Scopus, to identify ten highly cited papers ranked in the top 1% by total citations in the past ten years.
Professor Sukbok Chang of Chemistry (left in the picture below) is a global authority in the field of catalytic hydrocarbon functionalization. His paper entitled “Palladium-catalyzed C-H Functionalization of Pyridine N-Oxides: Highly Selective Alkenylation and Direct Arylation with Unactivated Arenes,” which was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society in 2008, was once selected by Thomson Reuters as one of the “Most Influential Research Papers of the Month.” In 2011, the American Chemical Society included his paper in the list of the top 20 research papers that were most frequently cited in the last three years.
Professor Jang-Wook Choi of the Graduate School of EEWS (Energy, Environment, Water, and Sustainability) has been known for his leading research in rechargeable battery, supercapacitor, and materials chemistry. In particular, his work on secondary fuel cells attracted significant attention from academia and industry in Korea. Professor Choi developed a super-thin flexible lithium-ion battery this year, thinner than a credit card, which lasts longer than the existing batteries and with greater performance. He also developed new electrode materials for next-generation sodium-ion and magnesium secondary fuel cells.
Professor Sukbok Chang (left) and Professor Jang-Wook Choi (right)
2015.10.23 View 12096