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Ph.D. students Hyowon Park and Won Ma receive Grand Prizes in Mathematics and Biology respectively.
Researchers in KAIST received best paper awards in two out of three fields at this year’s award ceremony for the “Second Annual Best Thesis Paper Award” held collectively by the Korea University Presidents’ Federation (with Chairman DaeSoon Lee) and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (with Director GilSang Jung).
Two researchers from KAIST, Hyowon Park (Department of Mathematics) and Won Ma (Department of Biology) received best paper awards.
This prize, given by the both the Korea University Presidents’ Federation and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology since last year, is awarded to researchers and assistant professors who write the most outstanding thesis papers in the field of basic sciences.
Park, who received the best paper award this year, did research on graph braid groups. He was supervised by Professor Kihyung Ko, who received the best supervisor reward.
Ma, who received the best paper award in the field of biological science, researched about the Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder due to deficiency of the GIT1 synapse protein. His supervising professor also received the supervisor award.
The award ceremony was held in the auditorium of the S-OIL headquarters in Seoul on November 30.
Meanwhile, NASA researcher Jaehwa Lee received the best paper award in the field of earth science, and his supervising professor, Professor Jun Kim from Yonsei University who studies atmospheric science, received the best supervisor award.
2012.12.21 View 10934 -
KAIST shocks the world with its creativity
Researchers at KAIST yielded great results at the world’s leading international Human Computer Interaction Society.
Professor Lee Gi Hyuk’s (Department of Computer Sciences) and Professor Bae Seok Hyung’ (Department of Industrial Design) respective teams received awards in two criteria in student innovation contest and was the only domestic university that presented their thesis at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software.
The ACM UIST holds a student innovation contest prior to its opening. This year’s topic was the pressure sensing multi touch pad of Synaptics and involved 27 prestigious universities including MIT and CMU.
The KAIST team (Ki Son Joon Ph.D. candidate, Son Jeong Min M.A. candidate of Department of Computer Sciences and Woo Soo Jin M.A. candidate of Department of Industrial Design) designed a system that allows modulated control by attaching a simple structure to the pressure sensing multi touch pad.
The second KAIST team (Huh Seong Guk Ph.D. candidate, Han Jae Hyun Ph.D. candidate, Koo Ji Sung Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Computer Sciences, and Choi Ha Yan M.A. candidate at Department of Industrial Design) designed a system that utilizes a highly elastic fiber to allow the sensing of lateral forces. They also created a slingshot game application which was the second most popular system.
In the thesis session Professor Bae’s team (Lee DaWhee Ph.D. candidate, Son Kyung Hee Ph.D. candidate, Lee Joon Hyup M.A. candidate at Department of Industrial Design) presented a thesis that dealt with the technology that innovated the table pen for displays.
The new ‘phantom pen’ solved the issue arising from the hiding effect of the pen’s contact point and the display error due to the thickness of the display. In addition the ‘phantom pen’ has the ability to show the same effects as crayons or markers in a digital environment.
2012.11.29 View 11205
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Dopant properties of silicon nanowires investigated
Professor Chang Kee Joo
Professor Kee Joo Chang’s research team from the Department of Physics at KAIST has successfully unearthed the properties of boron and phosphorous dopants in silicon nanowires, a material expected to be used in next generation semiconductors. The research team was the first in the world to investigate the movement of boron and phosphorous (impurities or ‘dopants’ added for electrical flow) in oxidized silicon nanowires and study the mechanism behind its deactivation.
It is nearly impossible to develop a silicon based semiconductor thinner than 10nm, even using the most advanced modern technology. However, the thickness of silicon nanowires are within the nano level and hence, allows a higher degree of integration in semiconductors.
For silicon nanowires to carry electricity, small amounts of boron and phosphorous need to be added (‘doping’ process). Compared to silicon, nanowires are harder to create due to the difficulties in the doping process as well as the control of electrical conduction properties.
Professor Chang’s research team improved upon the existing simple model by applying revolutionary quantum simulation theory to create a realistic core-shell atomic model. This research successfully investigated the cause of the escape of boron dopants from the silicon core during oxidation. It was also found that although phosphorous dopants do not escape as oxides, they form electrically deactivated pairs which decreases the efficiency. These phenomena were attributed to the film shape of the nano-wires, which increases the relative surface area compared to a same volume of silicon.
The research results were published in the online September edition of the world renowned Nano Letters.
Figure: The longitudinal section diagram of the Silicon/oxide core-shell model
2012.11.28 View 8341 -
Education 3.0: a change from teaching to learning
On October 16th, educationalists and Presidents from research-oriented universities around the world gathered in Seoul to attend the 2012 International Presidential Forum on Global Research Universities, where KAIST introduced its new smart learning model ‘Education 3.0’.
Smart learning ‘Education 3.0’ allows students to learn from lectures given by renowned scholars through the internet and encouraged student to professor discussion. This technology was created to deal with the ever-changing classroom dynamics due to the advancement of IT technology.‘Education 3.0’ differs from the traditional teaching-based lectures in that it offers a platform for self-directed learning. KAIST is working to spread ‘Education 3.0’ by providing specialized classrooms and running an online learning platform that complements it.
This spring, KAIST adopted ‘Education 3.0’ in 3 courses and received high praise from students (a rating of 4.4 out of 5.0). Hence, the number of courses was extended to 10 this fall.
Through this gathering, KAIST hopes to develop cooperative connections between foreign universities to share learning platforms and contents. On October 16th, KAIST signed a MOU with Denmark’s Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) to provide a cyber-dual degree program using ‘Education 3.0’. Hence, students studying Web science and Digital Media in either KAIST or DTU can receive degrees from both schools without physically visiting them.
President Suh said that “‘Education 3.0’ provides a new paradigm of learning which moves from the tradition cramming method of teaching to self-directed learning” and that this model will help the globalization of KAIST by initiating global cooperation with foreign universities.
Over 60 Universities from 27 different countries attended the forum, including ULCA and Caltech from the United States, DTU from Denmark, University of Southampton and University of York from England, University of Queensland from Australia, Nanyang Technological University from Singapore and Tokyo Institute of Technology from Japan. Members from Korean Universities such as Hanyang University, Handong Global University, Sogang University and Sookmyung Women"s University also attended.
2012.10.25 View 10904 -
2012 Intellectual Property Rights Award Ceremony Held
The 2012 Intellectual Property Rights Award Ceremony was held at Seoul KAIST Campus.
Recipients of the award included former congressmen Kim Young Sun and Lee Jeong Hyuk, and Kim Boo Kyung researcher at Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute also representing Vooz Ltd. that created the character POOCA.
The Intellectual Property Rights Award is given to an individual or a group that succeeded in utilizing, protecting, creating, and establishment of its foundation including patent, copyright, and brand. Intellectual Property Rights is viewed as of importance for future national competitiveness.
The Award is organized by the Korea Patent Attorneys Association, the Korea Association of Intellectual Property Services, and KAIST and are respectively core institutions in the training of Intellectual Property Rights Experts and the creation, utilization, and the protection of intellectual property.
In addition the Award is also co-organized by the KAIST Graduate School of Intellectual Property Rights (established in cooperation with KAIST and the Korean Intellectual Property Office) and the total 20 million Won of prize money is funded by Korea Institute of Intellectual Strategy and Kim Ok Lan Foundation.
The Award Ceremony was held with a special lecture by the recipients.
It was stressed that the evaluation process was carried out with that the decision is a silent message to the society and is also a type of market signal.
Director Ko Gi Seok (Presidential Council on Intellectual Property) revealed that the candidates’ impact on the strength of national intellectual property rights was thoroughly scrutinized.
In the criteria of Creation of Intellectual Property, ETRI received the award in recognition of the institution’s successful patenting and commercializing of products of Korean R&D.
ETRI created a total of 251 International Patents in cooperation with ITU, ISO, IEE, etc. and also participated in a total of 9 International Standard Patent Pool, showing its active Intellectual Property management.
Such efforts ranked ETRI 1st in the United States Patent Evaluation performed by the US Patent Board in 2011 out of 237 institutions.
In addition Recipient of the Intellectual Property Utilization criteria, VOOZ ltd.’s Kim Boo Kyung promised the free use of their character POOCA in ETRI’s automated Korean-English translator. Researcher Kim Boo Kyung was rewarded with the award in recognition of his contribution to the domestic economy and realization of the commercialization of a copy right through licensing.
Former congressman Kim Young Son received an Award in the Foundation criteria in recognition of his efforts in the establishment of the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property and the Basic Blueprints for the Intellectual Property Law.
Former congressman Lee Jeong Hyuk received the same award in recognition of standardization and streamlining Intellectual Property Rights Policies. His realization and pursuit of the establishment of a balanced growth based on law for the competitiveness of businesses was the driving force behind his accomplishments.
2012.10.16 View 11585
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KAIST Evaluated 1st in Joong Ang Newspaper University Evaluation for 5 Consecutive Years
KAIST was evaluated 1st in the Joong Ang Newspaper University Evaluation scoring 241 points out of a total of 300 points. This is KAIST’s 5th consecutive year being ranked 1st by Joong Ang Newspaper’s University Evaluation.
POSTECH, Yonsei University, Seoul National University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Korea University followed behind.
The Joong Ang Newspaper University Evaluation started in 1994 and KAIST is the first university to be evaluated 1st for 5 consecutive years.
KAIST scored high in education environment, finance, and professor research criteria.
Joong Ang Newspaper evaluated 102 universities and based the evaluation on: education environment (90 points), globalization (50 points), professor research (100 points), and reputation (60 points).
2012.10.16 View 7525
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College of Cultural Sciences Announces Results for 6th Best Paper Award
The College of Cultural Sciences cohosts with the EFL Program the Best Paper Award each semester. The Best Paper Awards went to Jo Hyeong Chan and Oh Shin Ah undergraduate students. The Best Paper Award was established in 2009 in order to encourage and improve the English writing skills of undergraduate students.
The College of Humanities and Social Sciences opened up 69 English courses in Spring of 2012 and 14 papers were recommended by the respective professors as ‘best papers’. Out of these papers 2 were selected for First Prize and 4 were selected as Honorable Mentions. The two recipients’ papers were recommended by Professor Park Woo Seok (Topics in Philosophy).
2012.10.16 View 7755
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DNA based semiconductor technology developed
Professor Park Hyun Gyu’s research team from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST has successfully implemented all logic gates using DNA, a feat that led the research to be published as the cover paper for the international nanotechnology paper "Small".
Even with the latest technology, it was impossible to create a silicon based semiconductor smaller than 10nm, but because DNA has a thickness of only 2nm, this could lead to the creation of semiconductors with groundbreaking degrees of integration.
A 2 nm semiconductor will be able to store 10,000 HD movies within a size of a postage stamp, at least 100 times more than the current 20nm semiconductors.
DNAs are comprised of 4 bases which are continually connected: Adenine (A) with Thymine (T), and Guanine (G) with Cytosine (C).
For this research, the team used the specific binding properties of DNA, which forms its helix-shape, and a circular molecular beacon that has fluorescent signaling properties under structural changes.
The research team used input signals to open and close the circular DNA, the same principle that is applied to logic gates in digital circuits.
The output signal was measured using the increase and decrease of the fluorescent signal from the molecular beacon due to the opening and closing of the circular DNA respectively.
The team overcame the limited system problems of the existing logic gates and managed to implement all 8 logic gates (AND, OR, XOR, INHIBIT, NAND, NOR, XNOR, IMPlCATION). A multilevel circuit that connects different logic gates was also tested to show its regenerative properties.
Professor Park said that “cheap bio-electric devices with high degrees of integration will be made possible by this research” and that “there will be a large difference in the field of molecular level electronic research”
Mr. Park Gi Su, a doctoral candidate and the 1st author of this research, said that “a DNA sequence of 10 bases is only 3.4nm long and 2nm thick, which can be used to effectively increase the degree of integration of electronic devices” and that “a bio computer could materialize in the near future through DNA semiconductors with accurate logic gates”.
XOR Gate: The output signal 1 comes through the open circular DNA when either input DNA A or input DNA B is present. When both inputs are not present, the flourescent signal does not come through
2012.09.27 View 10041 -
KAIST 63rd in 2012 QS World University Ranking
KAIST was ranked 63rd in the 2012 World University Ranking conducted by British University Ranking Institution Quacquarelli Symonds.
The result is an all-time high for KAIST and a quantum leap of 135 places from 198th in 2006.
The criteria are: Student Evaluation (40%), Industry Evaluation (10%), Dissertation Citation per Professor (20%), Professor to Student Ratio (20%), Ratio of Foreign Students (5%), and Professor Ratio (5%).
The most notable improvement was in the ‘Academic Reputation’ criteria where KAIST scored 85.1 points and recorded 68th in the world, an improvement of 17 places from last year.
The Engineering College was ranked 24th, Natural Science College was ranked 48th, Biological Science College was ranked 110th, demonstrating that KAIST has now been established as a world class research oriented university.
The 2012 QS World University Ranking ranked MIT as the best university in the world followed by Cambridge, Harvard, ULC, and Oxford.
Domestically Seoul National University was ranked highest at 37th followed by KAIST (63rd), POSTECH (97th), Yonsei University (112th), Korea University (137th), and Sungkyunkwan University (179th) in the top 200 places.
2012.09.22 View 9827
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Professor Yoon Dong Ki becomes first Korean to Receive the Michi Nakata Prize
Professor Yoon Dong Ki (Graduate School of Nano Science and Technology) became the first Korean to receive the Michi Nakata Prize from the International Liquid Crystal Society.
The Awards Ceremony was held on the 23rd of August in Mainz, Germany in the 24th Annual International Liquid Crystal Conference.
The Michi Nakata Prize was initiated in 2008 and is rewarded every two years to a young scientist that made a ground breaking discovery or experimental result in the field of liquid crystal. Professor Yoon is the first Korean recipient of the Michi Nakata Prize.
Professor Yoon is the founder of the patterning field that utilizes the defect structure formed by smectic displays. He succeeded in large scale patterning complex chiral nano structures that make up bent-core molecules.
Professor Yoon’s experimental accomplishment was published in the Advanced Materials magazine and the Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. and also as the cover dissertation of Liquid Crystals magazine.
Professor Yoon is currently working on Three Dimensional Nano Patterning of Supermolecular Liquid Crystal and is part of the World Class University organization.
2012.09.11 View 12600
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Professor Kim Eun Joon receives In Chon Award
Professor Kim Eun Joon (Department of Biological Sciences) received the In Chon Awarded hosted by In Chon Memorial and Dong Ah Newspaper.
The Award Ceremony will be held on the 8th of October in Seoul Lotte Hotel and Professor Kim will be given a medal and prize money amounting 100million Korean Won.
Professor Kim is a world renowned research in the field of Synapses. Professor Kim graduated from the Department of Pharmacy in Pusan University, B.A. at KAIST, and Ph.D at Michigan University. He has been a Professor at KAIST since 2000.
2012.09.11 View 8462
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Jellyfish removal robot developed
Professor Myung Hyun’s research team from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at KAIST has developed a jellyfish removal robot named ‘JEROS’ (JEROS: Jellyfish Elimination RObotic Swarm).
With jellyfish attacks around the south-west coast of Korea becoming a serious problem, causing deaths and operational losses (around 3 billion won a year), Professor Myung’s team started the development of this unmanned automatic jellyfish removal system 3 years ago.
JEROS floats on the surface of the water using two long cylindrical bodies. Motors are attached to the bodies such that the robot can move back and forth as well as rotate on water. A camera and GPS system allows the JEROS to detect jellyfish swarm as well as plan and calculate its work path relative to its position.
The jellyfish are removed by a submerged net that sucks them up using the velocity created by the unmanned sailing. Once caught, the jellyfish are pulverized using a special propeller.
JEROS is estimated to be 3 times more economical than manual removal. Upon experimentation, it showed a removal rate of 400kg per hour at 6 knots. To reach similar effectiveness as manual net removal, which removes up to 1 ton per hour, the research team designed the robot such that 3 or more individual robots could be grouped together and controlled as one.
The research team has finished conducting removal tests in Gunsan and Masan and plan to commercialize the robot next April after improving the removal technology. JEROS technology can also be used for a wide range of purposes such as patrolling and guarding, preventing oil spills or removing floating waste. This research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology since 2010.
2012.08.29 View 12384