Byeong-Soo Bae
Dr. Byeong-Soo Bae has been a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST since 1994 and currently serves as Provost and Executive Vice President of KAIST. He received his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Arizona in 1993. He is a leading expert in sol-gel-derived siloxane hybrid materials. Through close collaboration with industry, he has developed these materials for a wide range of applications, including optics and displays, printed circuit boards (PCBs), and semiconductor packaging.
He directed the Sol-Gel Innovation Project, a long-term industry-academia collaborative R&D program, and served as Director of the Wearable Platform Materials Technology Center, an Engineering Research Center (ERC) supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). He also served as Director of the KAIST Institute for the NanoCentury, one of KAIST’s major research institutes. In addition, he has held several national leadership positions in science and technology, including Director of the Division of Chemical Sciences at the NRF, member of the NRF Board of Directors, and Acting President of the NRF. He has also served on numerous national science and technology committees, including as a member of the National Science and Technology Commission. He currently serves as Chairman of the Korea-China Basic Science Exchange Committee.
In recognition of his outstanding research and technological achievements, he has received numerous honors, including the Korea Technology Award, the Ungbi Medal of the Order of Science and Technology Merit, the KAIST Academic Award, and the KAIST Technology Innovation Award. He is also a member of both the Korean Academy of Science and Technology and the National Academy of Engineering of Korea.