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U.S. and Korean Researchers Unveil Newest Research Team Member: Jaemi the Humanoid - Project aims to enable humanoids to interact with people and their environment June 1, 2009-- A Drexel University-led research team late last week unveiled the newest, most central member of its collaboration with a team of Korean researchers: Jaemi, a humanoid (HUBO). Jaemi HUBO embodies efforts to advance humanoid development and enhance the concept of human-robotic interaction. The project"s goal is to enable humanoids to interact with their environment, and enhancement plans include enabling the humanoid to move over rugged terrain, in unstructured environments and to interact socially with humans and handle objects. The five-year project, funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Partnership for International Research and Education (PIRE) program, seeks transformative models to catalyze discovery through international research collaboration and train U.S. students and junior researchers to effectively think and work in global teams. "The field of robotics is among the top 10 technology areas considered engines for economic growth. Korea understands this and is aggressively pursuing robotics. To stay competitive, the U.S. must do the same," said Mark Suskin, acting deputy director of NSF"s Office of International Science and Engineering. "NSF"s PIRE program and this robotics collaboration in particular, enable the U.S. to capitalize on research in other countries and remain competitive." The PIRE research team is composed of researchers at The University of Pennsylvania, Colby College, Bryn Mawr College and Virginia Tech in the United States; and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea University and Seoul National University in Korea. The team obtained a version of KAIST"s HUBO humanoid, which it named Jaemi HUBO and decided to house it at Drexel University. KAIST HUBO lab has become a model of cutting advance humanoid research by relatively small teams working on tight budgets. KAIST excels in humanoid leg and body design, biped gait (walking, running, kicking), balance (modeling and control system design), and hardware integration. U.S. robotics researchers tend to enjoy an edge in locomotion over rugged, unstructured terrain; manipulation/grasping; cognition, perception and human-robot interaction; and vision (image, understanding, navigation). This collaboration of American and Korean researchers will seek to draw on the expertise of each researcher and take Jaemi HUBO to the next level of development--that is, to improve Jaemi"s capabilities to navigate and manipulate objects and interact with people in unstructured environments. Such capabilities demand information technologies like cognition, perception and networking areas. Targeted enhancement features include a capability to move over rugged terrain and in unstructured environments and to handle objects and interact socially with humans. Jaemi HUBO will also educate the American public, particularly young people, about the science of robotics. This education process began at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia on May 28, 2009, when Jaemi HUBO was unveiled and introduced to a crowded audience of children and a few adults. Neither male nor female,Jaemi connected with the children, boys and girls alike. Guided by a Drexel University graduate student, Jamei moved, spoke, danced, shook hands and lead the children in a game of Simon Says. Such access to Jaemi HUBO starkly contrasts with that afforded by other high-profile humanoids that are often protected trade secrets, largely inaccessible to the public. Museum curators are pleased to have had Jaemi visit and entertain kids during the weekend. "At the Please Touch Museum, we promote learning through a variety of senses," said J. Willard Whitson,the museum"s vice president for exhibits and education. "A humanoid not only embodies our goal of building layers of knowledge in young people, but Jaemi helps all of us celebrate the playful side of technology." Jaemi HUBO is now at its permanent home at Drexel University, from which travel and guest appearances may be arranged by appointment. Journalists interested in meeting and interviewing Jaemi HUBO and other research team members are encouraged to contact Lisa-Joy Zgorski at lisajoy@nsf.gov. (Press Release of U.S. National Science Foundation)
2009.06.19 View 13730
International News Outlets Report on KAIST's On-Line Electric Vehicle Project International news agencies such as the Associated Press and Reuters have recently reported on the "online" electric vehicle project KAIST is proceeding with. A number of newspapers abroad including the New York Times and the South China Morning Post of Hong Kong published the articles. Following are excerpts from those reports. ------------------- S. Koreans designing "online" electric vehicles By JEAN H. LEE Associated Press Urban visionaries in London and Seoul, two of the world"s busiest capital cities, foresee buses gliding through their streets with speed, ease and efficiency _ without emitting the exhaust fumes that scientists say are contributing to global warming.Under Mayor Boris Johnson"s vision, London"s iconic red double-decker Routemaster buses would be back on the streets _ but powered by electricity, not gasoline. Engineers at South Korea"s top-ranked KAIST university are meanwhile working on a novel prototype for an electric vehicle system: one that provides power on the go through induction strips laid into the roadway. Cities _ which house 75 percent of the world"s population and generate 80 percent of its pollution _ must take leadership in tackling the problem of polluting emissions, Johnson said Monday in Seoul on the eve of the third C40 Large Cities Climate Summit. "I think as a collective of cities, what we should be doing here in Seoul is agreeing that we are going to stop the endless addiction of mankind to the internal combustion engine," he told reporters. "It"s time that we moved away from fossil fuels. It"s time that we went for low-carbon vehicles." "Cars form many problems that we see in Korea as well as other countries. We use hydrocarbon organic fuels, mostly petroleum, and that, in turn, creates environmental problems _ and Seoul is notorious," said Suh Nam-pyo, president of KAIST in Daejeon, south of the South Korean capital. Seoul, population 10 million, is getting warmer three times faster than the world average, the National Meteorological Administration said Monday. The obvious solution, Suh said, is to "replace all these vehicles with vehicles that do not pollute the air and do not use oil." Back in March, Johnson zipped down a British highway in a U.S.-made electric car that he wrote marked "the beginning of a long-overdue revolution." He rhapsodized in a Telegraph newspaper editorial that the Tesla has no exhaust pipe, carburetor or fuel tank, and "while every other car on that motorway was a-parping and a-puttering, filling the air with fumes and particulates, this car was producing no more noxious vapours than a dandelion in an alpine meadow." Last month, he launched an ambitious plan to get 100,000 electric cars onto the streets of London by 2015. He pushed for the creation of 25,000 charging stations and vowed to convert some 1,000 city vehicles to make London the "electric car capital of Europe." "The age of the diesel-emitting bus has got to be over in London," Johnson said. And scientists are still grappling with the massive, sensitive, costly and fast-depleting batteries that take the place of international combustion engines and gasoline. Electric cars run between 40 and 120 miles (60 to 200 kilometers) on one charge, and it takes anywhere from two to seven hours to fully recharge, said Christian Mueller of the IHS Global Insight consulting firm. "Everybody is frantically working on coming up with a viable electric car," he said from Frankfurt, Germany. Batteries "aren"t yet at a state where we can say they are cheap, they"re reliable and they"re easy to come by. They all still have their technical drawbacks," said Mueller, who specializes in electrics and electronics. Suh, an MIT-trained inventor with some 60 international patents to his name, approached the challenge from another angle. "Why not have power transmitted on the ground and pick it up without using mechanical contact?" he said in an interview in his office overlooking the staging grounds for the university"s electric cars. KAIST"s "online" vehicles pick up power from trips, or inverters, embedded into the road rather than transmitted through rails or overhead wires. A small battery, one-fifth the size of the bulky batteries typically used, would give the vehicle enough power for another 50 miles (80 kilometers), said Cho Dong-ho, the scientist in charge of the project. South Korea produces its own nuclear power, meaning it can produce a continuous supply of energy to fuel such a plan. President Lee Myung-bak, whose government gave KAIST $50 million for two major projects, including the "online" electric vehicle, took a spin in February. Online buses are running at the KAIST campus and will begin test runs soon on the resort island of Jeju. But Seoul, which has promised to set aside $2 million for the underground charging system, is within Suh"s sights. He said 9,000 gasoline-fueled buses now crisscross the capital, with 1,000 going out of commission each year. He envisions replacing those aging buses with electric models. Initial test runs are expected to take place this year. Mueller, the consultant, called it a creative approach with potential. "It sounds very intriguing; you don"t store your energy, you provide it on the go." he said. "The (battery) storage problem is overcome instantly. That would be a very intriguing way of doing it." ----------------------------- South Korea tries recharging road to power vehicles By Jon Herskovitz SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea"s top technology university has developed a plan to power electric cars through recharging strips embedded in roadways that use a technology to transfer energy found in some electric toothbrushes. The plan, still in the experimental stage, calls for placing power strips about 20 cm (8 inches) to 90 cm (35 inches) wide and perhaps several hundred meters long built into the top of roads. Vehicles with sensor-driven magnetic devices on their underside can suck up energy as they travel over the strips without coming into direct contact. "If we place these strips on about 10 percent of roadways in a city, we could power electric vehicles," said Cho Dong-ho, the manager of the "online electric vehicle" plan at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. The university has built a prototype at its campus in Daejeon, about 140 km (90 miles) south of Seoul, for electric-powered golf carts and is working on designs that would power cars and buses. The system that can charge several vehicles at once would allow electric cars and buses to cut down on their battery sizes or extend their ranges. The non-contact transfer of electricity, also called inductive charging, works by magnets and cables on the underside of the vehicle making a connection with the current in the recharging strip to receive power as they travel over it. It is employed in some brands of electric toothbrushes that are sealed and water resistant, which do not need to be plugged into anything but use a magnetic connection to receive energy while resting in a cradle. The recharging strips, which are attached to small electrical stations, would be laid in places such as bus lanes and the roads running up to intersections so that vehicles could power up where traffic slows down, Cho said. The system will be tested later this year for use in the bus systems of Seoul and other South Korea cities while some of the country"s automakers are also cooperating in the project. Unlike electric lines used for trams, vehicles do not need to be in constant contact with the strips and a person can touch the lines without receiving a shock. The system so far has proven safe to humans and machinery, Cho said. The cost of installing the system is an estimated 400 million won ($318,000) per kilometer of road. Electricity is extra.
2009.05.21 View 14791
KAIST Ranked Seventh in Chosun-QS 2009 Asian University Rankings - Major Criteria in Research, Education, Globalization KAIST ranked top in Korea and seventh in Asia in a ranking compiled jointly by the Chosun Ilbo, a major Korean daily, and global university evaluation institute QS of Britain. In the rankings released on Tuesday (May 12), KAIST scored 94.9 based on the full 100 of the top-ranking university, the University of Hong Kong. KAIST was closely followed by Seoul National University (SNU), which ranked 8th in the Asian ranking. KAIST outpaced SNU in terms of globalization, but lagged behind in terms of peer review and recruiters review. The Chosun Ilbo said that KAIST achieved the distinction by encouraging competition among research professors, introducing competitive educational systems such as conducting all classes in English, and speeding up globalization drive based on a strong leadership of President Nam-Pyo Suh. In an interview with the daily published on the same day, President Nam-Pyo Suh expressed enthusiasm for stepping up his university"s drive to make it one of the world"s leading research universities, without resting on its present reputation. "The goal of KAIST is to stand at the forefront in addressing critical problems facing the humanity in the 21st century. The problems include alternative energies and transportation and logistics. If we resolve these problems, KAIST will join the ranks of the world"s best universities," Suh said. The evaluation, the only such survey in Asia, was conducted with 463 universities in 11 countries, including 106 in Korea. The universities were ranked for competitiveness in four categories -- research quality (60 percent), teaching quality (20 percent), graduate employability (10 percent) and international outlook (10 percent). The top-ranked University of Hong Kong was followed by Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tokyo University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Osaka University. The top 100 Asian universities include 17 Korean universities, 33 Japanese, 11 Chinese, seven Indian, six in Hong Kong and two in Singapore. Universities were ranked through a quantitative analysis based on data submitted by the universities in March and a qualitative analysis based on the competitiveness of professors and graduates evaluated by about 3,100 academics and businesspeople around the world. Meanwhile, KAIST was ranked 95th among top 200 universities of the world in the Times Higher Education-QS World University rankings in 2008. It ranked 34th in the area of engineering and information technology, and 46th in natural science.
2009.05.13 View 11377
Prof. Seong Publishes English Book on Reliability in Digital Control Systems Prof. Poong-Hyun Seong of Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering has recently published an English-language book on reliability and risk issues in large scale safety-critical digital control systems used in complex facilities such as nuclear power plants. The book entitled “Reliability and Risk Issues in Large Scale Safety-critical Digital Control Systems” is a result of Prof. Seong’s collaboration with some KAIST graduates who used to be under his guidance. The 303-page publication has been published by Springer, one of the world’s leading publishers of academic journals, as part of the Springer Series in Reliability Engineering. The book consists of four parts; part I deals with issues related to hardware, part II software, part III human factors and finally the last part integrated systems. It can be purchased through some on-line book stores such as Amazon.com. Prof. Seong served as an editor-in-chief for Nuclear Engineering and Technology (NET), an international journal of Korean Nuclear Society (KNS), from 2003 to 2008. He also worked as a chair of the Human Factors Division (HFD) of American Nuclear Society (ANS) from 2006 to 2007. Prof. Seong is now a commissioner of Korea Nuclear Safety Commission which is the nation’s highest committee on Nuclear Safety.
2008.12.26 View 14990
KAIST Ranks 95th among World Universities Oct. 13, 2008 --KAIST is ranked 95th among Top 200 Universities of the World this year, scoring a notable increase from last year"s ranking of 132nd. KAIST, Seoul National University which was placed 50th, and POSTECH ranked 188th became the only three institutions of higher education in Korea to make it to the list, called "The Times Higher Education -- QS World University Rankings." KAIST"s advancement was more conspicuous in specific area evaluations. In the area of Engineering and Information Technology, it is ranked 34th (49th last year), in Natural Sciences 46th (86th last year), and in Biological Sciences and Biotechnology 134th (166th last year). While North America dominates the ranking with 42 universities on the list, Europe and Asia Pacific are also well represented with 36 and 22 institutions, respectively. The list, compiled by The Times (of London) newspaper annually, is topped by Harvard University (USA), followed by Yale University (USA) and University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). Last year, only KAIST and SNU were included in the top 200 list. This year, Yonsei University raised its ranking to 203rd from last year"s 223rd while Korea University improved from 243rd to 236th, showing overall improvement of universities in Korea. Again this year, Japan and China had most of the top ranked universities in Asia, each sharing three in the top 50. University of Tokyo, ranked 19th, led all Japanese universities; Kyoto University was placed 25th and Osaka University 44th. University of Hong Kong was listed 26th, followed by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology on 39th and the Chinese University of Hong Kong on 42nd. The Times Higher Education--QS World University Rankings evaluates four main categories: quality of research, globalization, and quality of education and work of graduates in society. The evaluation also considers academic peer review, citations per faculty, recruiter review, international faculty, international students and faculty-student ratio. QS Top 100 Universities 2008 Source: QS Quacquarelli Symonds (www.topuniversities.com) Copyright?004-2008QSQuacquarelliSymondsLtd. 1 HARVARD University United States 2 YALE University United States 3 University of CAMBRIDGE United Kingdom 4 University of OXFORD United Kingdom 5 CALIFORNIA Institute of Technology (Calt... United States 6 IMPERIAL College London United Kingdom 7 UCL (University College London) United Kingdom 8 University of CHICAGO United States 9 MASSACHUSETTS Institute of Technology (M... United States 10 COLUMBIA University United States 11 University of PENNSYLVANIA United States 12 PRINCETON University United States 13= DUKE University United States 13= JOHNS HOPKINS University United States 15 CORNELL University United States 16 AUSTRALIAN National University Australia 17 STANFORD University United States 18 University of MICHIGAN United States 19 University of TOKYO Japan 20 MCGILL University Canada 21 CARNEGIE MELLON University United States 22 KING"S College London United Kingdom 23 University of EDINBURGH United Kingdom 24 ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of T... Switzerland 25 KYOTO University Japan 26 University of HONG KONG Hong Kong 27 BROWN University United States 28 ?ole Normale Sup?ieure, PARIS France 29 University of MANCHESTER United Kingdom 30= National University of SINGAPORE(NUS) Singapore 30= University of CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles (U... United States 32 University of BRISTOL United Kingdom 33 NORTHWESTERN University United States 34= ?OLE POLYTECHNIQUE France 34= University of BRITISH COLUMBIA Canada 36 University of California, BERKELEY United States 37 The University of SYDNEY Australia 38 The University of MELBOURNE Australia 39 HONG KONG University of Science & Techno... Hong Kong 40 NEW YORK University (NYU) United States 41 University of TORONTO Canada 42 The CHINESE University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 43 University of QUEENSLAND Australia 44 OSAKA University Japan 45 University of NEW SOUTH WALES Australia 46 BOSTON University United States 47 MONASH University Australia 48 University of COPENHAGEN Denmark 49 TRINITY College Dublin Ireland 50= Ecole Polytechnique F??ale de LAUSANNE... Switzerland 50= PEKING University China 50= SEOUL National University Korea, South 53 University of AMSTERDAM Netherlands 54 DARTMOUTH College United States 55 University of WISCONSIN-Madison United States 56 TSINGHUA University China 57 HEIDELBERG Universit? Germany 58 University of CALIFORNIA, San Diego United States 59 University of WASHINGTON United States 60 WASHINGTON University in St. Louis United States 61 TOKYO Institute of Technology Japan 62 EMORY University United States 63 UPPSALA University Sweden 64 LEIDEN University Netherlands 65 The University of AUCKLAND New Zealand 66 LONDON School of Economics and Political... United Kingdom 67 UTRECHT University Netherlands 68 University of GENEVA Switzerland 69 University of WARWICK United Kingdom 70 University of TEXAS at Austin United States 71 University of ILLINOIS United States 72 Katholieke Universiteit LEUVEN Belgium 73 University of GLASGOW United Kingdom 74 University of ALBERTA Canada 75 University of BIRMINGHAM United Kingdom 76 University of SHEFFIELD United Kingdom 77 NANYANG Technological University Singapore 78= DELFT University of Technology Netherlands 78= RICE University United States 78= Technische Universit? M?CHEN Germany 81= University of AARHUS Denmark 81= University of YORK United Kingdom 83= GEORGIA Institute of Technology United States 83= The University of WESTERN AUSTRALIA Australia 83= University of ST ANDREWS United Kingdom 86 University of NOTTINGHAM United Kingdom 87 University of MINNESOTA United States 88 LUND University Sweden 89 University of CALIFORNIA, Davis United States 90 CASE WESTERN RESERVE University United States 91= Universit?de Montr?l Canada 91= University of HELSINKI Finland 93= Hebrew University of JERUSALEM Israel 93= Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit? M?chen Germany 95 KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Scie... Korea, South 96 University of VIRGINIA United States 97 University of PITTSBURGH United States 98 University of CALIFORNIA, Santa Barbara United States 99= PURDUE University United States 99= University of SOUTHAMPTON United Kingdom
2008.10.14 View 15895
International Science Journal Spotlights Korean Biotechnology Biotechnology Journal published by German-based Wiley-VCH, one of the world"s major scientific and technical publishers, devoted its entire special edition for May to biotechnology in Korea. The monthly journal"s special issue was planned by KAIST Professor Sang-Yup Lee of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department who is one of the journal"s two editors-in-chief. The special issue outlines the current status and future prospect of biotechnology in Korea, and presents five review papers and eight original papers by leading Korean biotech researchers to showcase recent developments in Korean biotechnology. Among these papers, a review by Dr. Byung-Hwan Hyeon and his colleagues describes in detail the Korean biotechnology strategies represented by "Bio-Vision 2016," and another by Dr. Ji-Hyun Kim and his collaborators presents recent progress in microbial genome projects in Korea. In the editorial of the journal, Prof. Lee said, "Heavy industry and IT industry have been the two drivers of Korean economic growth. Korea is now considering biotechnology as its next generation growth engine." Underscoring the growing importance of fusion research, he mentioned that integration of biotechnology with information technology and nanotechnology is advancing rapidly in Korea. Another special edition of Biotechnology Journal focusing on these exciting biotech developments in Korea is planned for the future.
2008.05.20 View 12872
KAIST Retains Top Spot in Systems and Software Engineering For two consecutive years, KAIST, Korea"s top science and technology university, topped the list of the world"s most published institutions in the field of systems and software engineering, according to a survey conducted by the Journal of Systems and Software. The survey assessed systems and software engineering scholars and institutions by the number of papers they published in six major journals of the field from 2001 to 2005. Geographically, seven of the top 15 institutions are from the Asia-Pacific region, six from the United States and two from Europe. In previous assessments, institutions from the Americas took the lion"s share. KAIST topped the list of 15 in 2006 and again in 2007. The runner-up for 2007 is China"s National Chiao Tung University. Norway"s Simula Research Laboratory and Korea"s Seoul National University were ranked third and fourth, respectively. Rounding up the top ten list are Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Iowa State University, and University of Texas at Dallas, all from the United States; and City University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Two KAIST professors, Chung Chin-Wan and Kim Myoung-Ho, were among the top ten most published scholars. Chung"s papers were mostly about his researches in database, web, and multimedia, while Kim"s researches concerned database systems and distributed information processing. The Journal of Systems and Software, a computer science journal specializing in the software systems, is published by Elsevier, the Dutch-based world"s largest publisher of medical and scientific literature.
2008.02.28 View 12440
Prof. Lee Listed on Marquis Who's Who Professor Lee Ji-hyun of the Graduate School of Culture Technology at KAIST was registered to Marquis Who"s Who, known as one of the world"s three leading biographical dictionaries. Prof. Lee"s biography was published in the 25th anniversary edition of "Marquis Who"s Who in the World 2008." Lee"s research interests are the color and culture, computer-supported collaborative design, creative design, evolutionary systems in design, formal models of design process, representation and reasoning in design and visualization for design information. Lee has published about 30 papers in science journals and for scholastic conferences. She is also a participating professor at KAIST Institute for Entertainment Engineering. Before joining KAIST in 2007, she was an assistant professor at the Department of Digital Media Design and Graduate School of Computational Design, the National Yunlin University of Science & Technology (NYUST) in Taiwan starting from 2002. She received her Ph.D. from the School of Architecture (Computational Design) at Carnegie Mellon University in 2002. She graduated from the Department of Housing & Interior Design at Yonsei University in Seoul in 1991 and received her M.S. from the same university in 1993.
2008.02.14 View 14599
Int'l Herald Tribune Carries Feature Story on KAIST International Herald Tribune carried a feature story on KAIST"s ongoing reform efforts on the front page of its Jan. 19-20 edition. The following is the full text of the report. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/01/18/asia/school.php South Korean science prepares to take on the world By Choe Sang-Hun Friday, January 18, 2008 DAEJEON, South Korea: In Professor Cho Dong Ho"s laboratory at Kaist, South Korea"s top science and technology university, researchers are trying to develop technology that could let you fold a notebook-size electronic display and carry it in your pocket like a handkerchief. It"s too early to say when something like this might be commercially available. But the experiment has already achieved one important breakthrough: it has mobilized professors from eight departments to collaborate on an idea proposed by a student. This arrangement is almost unheard of in South Korea, where the norm is for a senior professor to dictate research projects to his own cloistered team. But it"s only one change afoot at this government-financed university, which has ambitions to transform the culture of South Korean science, and more. "When we first got the student"s idea on what a future display should look like, we thought it was crazy, stuff from science fiction," said Cho, director of Kaist"s Institute for Information Technology Convergence. "But under our new president, we are being urged to try things no one else is likely to." That university president is Suh Nam Pyo, 71, a mechanical engineer who used to be an administrator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and who is spearheading closely watched changes that are expected to have ramifications far beyond this campus 90 minutes by car south of Seoul. His moves so far, from requiring professors to teach in English to basing student admissions on factors other than test scores, are aimed at making the university, and by extension South Korean society, much more competitive on a world scale. When the South Korean government hired Suh in 2006 to shake up the state-financed Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (which formally changed its name to its acronym, Kaist, on Jan. 1) the country"s leading schools faced a crisis. The old system, which guaranteed free tuition to lure promising students into science and technology, the drivers of South Korea"s industrial growth, was no longer working as well as it used to. Prosperity was allowing those young people to choose fields of study once viewed as luxuries, like literature and history. Worse, increasing numbers were choosing to study abroad, mostly in the United States, and then not returning home. The fear was that South Korean institutions and enterprises would be gutted of expertise. That concern was voiced at a news conference Monday by the president-elect, Lee Myung Bak, who said the educational system "isn"t producing talent that can compete globally." Kaist, which was established in 1971 with foreign aid, has a special place in South Korean education. The military strongman Park Chung Hee recruited the brightest young people to train there as scientists and engineers. Villagers put up a large banner to celebrate whenever a local child was admitted. "When I was a student here in the mid-1980s, some students stopped before the national flag at the library in the morning and observed a moment of silence, vowing to dedicate ourselves to the nation"s industrial development," said Cho Byung Jin, a professor of electrical engineering. Since his arrival, Suh has become the most talked-about campus reformer in South Korea by taking on some of Kaist"s most hallowed traditions. In a first for a Korean university, Suh has insisted that all classes eventually be taught in English, starting with those aimed at freshmen. "I want Kaist students to work all over the world," Suh said last week. "I don"t want them to be like other Koreans who attend international conferences and have a lunch among themselves because they are afraid of speaking in English." The move to English supports another of his changes: opening undergraduate degree programs to talented non-Koreans. Last year Kaist filled 51 of its 700 admission slots with foreign students on full scholarships. Meanwhile, he has ended free tuition for all; any student whose grade average falls below a B must pay up to $16,000 a year. "My dream is to make Kaist a globalized university, one of the best universities in the world," he said. In what may have been his most daring move, the university denied tenure to 15 of the 35 professors who applied last September. Until then, few if any applicants had failed tenure review in the university"s 36-year history. In this education-obsessed country, Suh"s actions have been watched intensely for their broader impact. More than 82 percent of all high school graduates go on to higher education. What university a South Korean attends in his 20s can determine his position and salary in his 50s, a factor behind recent expos?of prominent South Koreans who faked prestigious diplomas. The system is widely deplored but seldom challenged. From kindergarten, a child"s life is shaped largely by a single goal: doing well in examinations, particularly the all-important national college entrance exam. High school students plod through rote learning from dawn to dusk. Tutoring by "exam doctors" is a multibillion-dollar industry. During vacations, students attend private cram schools, which numbered 33,000 in 2006. One result is a disciplined and conformist work force, an advantage when South Korea rapidly industrialized by copying technology from others. But now, with the country trying to climb the innovation ladder, the rigid school system is proving a stumbling block. The nation"s highly hierarchical ways are often cited to explain how Hwang Woo Suk, the disgraced South Korean scientist who claimed he had produced stems cells from a cloned human embryo, could fabricate research findings with the complicity of junior associates. The ambitious head overseas. Last year, 62,392 South Korean students were enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities, making them the third-largest foreign student group, after Indians (83,833) and Chinese (67,723), according to the U.S. Institute of International Education. Some start earlier. About 35,000 South Korean children below college age go abroad each year, most to the United States to learn English. Against this backdrop, Kaist has been experimenting with test-free admissions. For this year"s class, it brought applicants in for interviews and debates and make presentations while professors looked for creativity and leadership. "About 20 percent of the students who formerly would have won admission didn"t make it under our new guidelines," Suh said. "We are looking for rough diamonds." Challenging the status quo can be risky. The Science and Technology Ministry, which oversees Kaist, had first looked outside South Korea for someone to lead the changes, choosing the Nobel physics laureate Robert Laughlin, who became the first foreigner to head a South Korean university in 2004. But he returned to Stanford University within two years, after the faculty rebelled against him for attempting some of the same changes Suh has instituted, accusing him, among other things, of insensitivity to Korean ways. Suh"s Korean roots and experience shield him from such charges. He did not emigrate to the United States until he was 18 and has worked at Korean universities as well as serving as assistant director at the U.S. National Science Foundation in the 1980s and head of MIT"s department of mechanical engineering from 1991 to 2001. "Reform entails sacrifices, but even if we don"t reform, there will be sacrifices," Suh said. "The difference is that if we don"t reform and don"t encourage competition, it"s the best people who are sacrificed." So far, Suh"s innovations have mostly received favorable reviews. Education Minister Kim Shi Il called them a "very desirable way of making Korea"s universities more competitive globally." The newspaper JoongAng Daily (which publishes an English-language version in partnership with the IHT) praised him for "smashing the iron rice bowls" (ending guaranteed job security) for professors and said, "We must learn from Kaist." Ewan Stewart, a British physicist who has taught at Kaist since 1999, said, "Many of the things President Suh is saying were things I felt should have been said a long time ago." Chung Joo Yeon, a first-year student, said she accepted the need for classes in English, but complained that some professors had no experience teaching in the language. But Cho, the electrical engineering professor, said: "It"s no longer a matter of choice. If we want to maintain our school"s standards, we must draw talents from countries around the world, and that means we must conduct our classes in English." Meanwhile, Lee has promised that as president he will give universities more autonomy by taking the "government"s hands off" how they select their students.
2008.01.23 View 15611
2008 New Year's Message from President New Year’s Greeting I would like to wish you and your family a prosperous and happy New Year. I also hope that 2008 will be a great year for KAIST. 2007: Year in Review Thanks to all of your hard work and dedication, 2007 has been a productive year for KAIST. We have undertaken many difficult and challenging tasks in order to make KAIST one of the leading universities in the world. As president, I would like to express my deep appreciation to all members of our community for your many contributions. You have all worked effectively and with great dedication toward accomplishing many of our goals. With your help, leadership, and support we have taken three major steps towards raising our standards. We have improved undergraduate education, created KAIST Institutes to undertake important interdisciplinary research, and improved our system of governance. I believe that these changes will make KAIST much stronger, increasing the intellectual productivity and performance of our students and faculty. But our job is not done yet. We have far to go before reaching our goal of making KAIST one of the best universities in the world. Goals of KAIST KAIST is a great university. Its students are among the brightest young people in the world. We have a first-rate faculty. We have hard working staff, and KAIST benefits from the generous support of the Korean people. It is clear we have what it takes to be one of the leading universities in the world. The history of science and technology teaches us that academia continually creates new intellectual fields to deal with emerging opportunities and to respond to societal needs. Universities that are most successful are those that are best at responding to our changing world. KAIST has the opportunity to become a leading university by searching for and solving important problems that require new approaches and new thinking. There are many reasons KAIST should strive to be the best. Doing so will enable the university to attract the best students and resources, in an increasingly competitive and global academic environment. This will create an atmosphere of intellectual excitement and vigor benefiting both faculty and students. This environment will put our faculty and students in league with the world’s other leading universities’ experts. Tasks Ahead To this end, we still face formidable obstacles. However, we can overcome them through great resolve, ingenuity, planning, and sacrifice. Without change, KAIST will of course continue to advance. But the world’s other leading universities are advancing exponentially faster. KAIST must do more to be in the same league. We must identify new opportunities in all areas, invest in innovative ideas, and lead the field in important areas of science and technology. What we have done in 2007 We have already made progress towards these goals in 2007. Some of our efforts have been difficult and painful to implement. a. Undergraduate education We introduced many measures to educate our students in a way that will prepare them to become future leaders. We have taken measures to make students more accountable for their actions, while also teaching them to be bi-modally functional in synthesis and analysis. We have also pursued international collaborations by establishing dual degree programs, which will begin in 2008 with Carnegie Mellon and Georgia Institute of Technology. We are currently working to establish similar programs with European and Asian universities as well. b. KAIST Institutes We have established research institutes to focus on KAIST’s current strengths. And we have also instituted “high risk/ high return” research-support programs to encourage creativity and innovation. c. EEWS In order to address the most pressing concerns of the 21st century, we have begun major research support in areas related to energy, the environment, water and sustainability. These global problems require international collaboration, which we are actively seeking. d. Governance We restructured KAIST into a department-centric system to enable those who know their fields best to be the primary decision makers. Departments will have the primary responsibility for personnel, finance, space, and education, all of which will be coordinated by the central administration for consistency and checks and balances. We will further develop this system, establishing deep roots in the years to come. e. Buildings and Generous Donors We were extremely fortunate to find generous donors who were willing to provide the financial support for KAIST. I am personally very grateful to Dr. & Mr. Byiung Joon Park for the KI building, and Dr. & Mrs. Neil Papparlardo for the hospital and medical center. We are hoping to find other generous donors for the Sports Complex and other important undertakings of KAIST. Tasks for 2008 In 2008, we must do the following: 1. Teach well. 2. Generate outstanding graduates who can function and compete in a global environment. 3. Produce outstanding research results by identifying important and challenging problems that require creative thinking, new ideas, and innovative paradigms to replace those that do not work any more. 4. Lead the field of science and engineering by anticipating future needs and opportunities. 5. Secure financial resources to compensate outstanding faculty and staff at a globally competitive scale and to maintain an infrastructure fit for research. 6. Increase the size of the faculty and student body to a more competitive level. 7. Recruit outstanding students, faculty and staff. 8. Build new facilities such as the Park Building for KAIST Institutes, the Pappalardo Hospital and Medical Center, the International House, and the Sports Complex. To achieve these tasks, we have created the Five-Year Development Plan and have implemented new programs and policies with the support of the faculty, the students and the staff. New Opportunities Ahead We may have new opportunities to make major contributions in a number of different areas. Before implementing any new programs and policies, the faculty, staff, and administration must consider them carefully and evaluate them thoroughly. I will discuss a few these opportunities that we should consider exploring: 1. Information Technology (IT) The fact that IT is an important area does not need any elaboration. Korea is a leading IT nation. IT has changed the way people communicate, live and produce. It has increased the productivity of the world. IT will continue to evolve and let us do things that cannot be done today. How will the field of IT change in the future? How should KAIST lead the change? Much of the IT revolution consists of hard technologies such as advances in semiconductors, wireless communications, fiber optics, displays, communications technology (switching, networking, etc.), and others. Although these hard technologies will continue to be important and occupy the minds of our brightest engineers, they may evolve in the way the computer field has evolved. For example, in the past, the limited and costly storage of data occupied much of the thinking in the computer science and engineering field. Also the speed of microprocessors was a major limiting factor in the use of computers. However, today the cost of data storage is almost insignificant in comparison to other costs. Advances in data storage have changed the practice and opportunities in the field of computers. Similarly, the current limiting factors involving hardware and data transmission may cease to drive the IT field in the future. What may be equally important is the management and engineering of content that are generated optically, by software, and by the users in a network. Examples of possible new directions in IT (in addition to traditional IT): (a) KAIST should explore whether or not we need to create a new curriculum and a department for “content creation, management and engineering” and generate new kinds of graduates. (b) Another topic that may be considered as being a part of the IT content management issue is the healthcare and management. In this field, Professors WonJoon Kim (BEP), BumSoon Park and SoYoung Kim (Culture Science), and Taesik Lee (Industrial Engineering) are exploring how to deal with health-related issues which will require a new use of IT as well as other disciplines such as design and social science 2. Ocean Systems Engineering and Science KAIST does not currently teach or conduct research on topics related to ocean, shipbuilding, and sea transportation systems, despite their importance in the 21st century. Two-thirds of the earth is covered by water. It is the arbitrator of earth’s climate and holds abundant natural resources. It also provides the cheapest means of transporting goods. It may be the place to sequestrate excess materials such as CO2 that needs to be removed from the atmosphere and land. Furthermore, current shipping systems and harbor design may be outdated and inefficient. Yet research and education in ocean science and engineering are not responding to the current needs of society. Shipbuilding is a very important industry to Korea. Korea builds more ships than any other nation, and ship-building contributes the most to the nation’s current account balance. Further, it appears that the demand for ships will continue to increase as the global shipment of goods and natural resources by ships continues to increase with the rapid industrialization of China and India. With increases in international trade, the need to use the ocean transportation system is likely to grow and exceed the current capacity of the infrastructure. KAIST should explore opportunities in areas related to shipbuilding, natural resource mining, sequestration of CO2 and deposition of other materials, ocean transportation systems, and environmental science and engineering of the ocean. 3. Life Science and Engineering KAIST has made and will be making a major investment in biology, brain science, bioengineering, the ME/PhD program, and other life science and engineering fields. KAIST will be seeking a major funding for research in brain science and neuroscience from abroad as well as within Korea. We need to identify new opportunities to increase the productivity of these diverse investments. Right now, the collaboration and coordination between colleagues in the life sciences and engineering is not well organized, although the KI for the BioCentury is promoting multi-disciplinary research. There has to be a better integration from life science to life engineering and technology at KAIST if we are to convince funding agencies and foundations to give us major financial support and to attract outstanding scholars in this field to KAIST. Concluding Remarks In 2007, we worked hard to make KAIST one of the world’s top universities. We are moving in the right direction in enhancing our students’ long-term personal and professional growth, for advancement of science and engineering, for technological innovation, and for the future well being of humanity. In 2008, we will continue to face new challenges that may appear to be beyond our capabilities, but we know we can achieve a lot when we work together. There are many things we have to do. We must continue to be creative in teaching and research, and we must use our resources wisely and frugally. We must support those amongst us, who are exceptionally creative and hard working, and continue to secure the necessary financial support to strengthen our educational and research programs. Thank you again for your many important contributions. I wish you and your family a most happy and prosperous New Year. January 1, 2008 KAIST President Nam Pyo Suh
2007.12.31 View 12186
Gonggam Emerged as 22nd Undergraduate Student Association After elections on November 29, Gonggam emerged as the 22nd Undergraduate Student Association of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). The election for the Undergraduate Student Association was held on November 29 from 8:00a.m to 7:00p.m. Students voted in seven different locations: the Digital Science Library, the Main Administration Building, Tae-Wul Gwan, the east and west cafeterias, the Undergraduate Cafeteria, and the Student Center. Students who participated in the election were required to bring their student cards or resident registration cards for identification. A group of avid volunteer members assisted in the election, leading students to the voting site and making sure everything was under control. Should the voting rate not exceed 50%, the election was to be prolonged a couple more days. But thanks to the high level of student participation, the election process was completed successfully without any further extension. Out of the 2790 undergraduate students, 1217 students casted their votes setting a new voting rate record of 57.7% in years. Gonggam party was the only group running for the Undergraduate Student. Voters were required to choose either in favor of or against the election of Gonggam. 1217 voters supported Gonggam while 381 opposed to their election. The Gonggam party was thereby elected by unanimous vote as the new Undergraduate Student Association. According to the student rules, their official term is supposed to begin as of March, but they will immediately take office and undertake the business of the former president council. The Gonggam party is literally based on the principle of “consensus”. During their campaign, they explained that their main goal is to bring about positive changes which the majority of the students agree upon. More specifically, their three main objectives are as follows: cultivating a culturally-vibrant environment by inviting various artists and entertainment guests to KAIST; establishing an Undergraduate Student Committee to represent the student body and make sure educational reforms reflect the students’ interests; and lastly, encouraging students to develop a social consciousness by holding discussion/debate forums on various social issues with local citizen organizations and expert panels.By KAIST Herald on December, 2007
2007.12.21 View 10897
Students Meet with KAIST Development Foundation A group of department representatives and distinguished school staff gathered on November 21st to discuss the future funding of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Participants of the meeting included the Vice President, Dean of Academic Affairs, Director of Welfare, the President of Undergraduate Student Association, and many more. The Vice President explained that students and alumnae are the owners of KAIST and should take pride in the successful development of KAIST. He also added that they should share the same goal of supporting KAIST to become the world"s leading institute of science and technology. Statistics show a noticeable correlation between a university"s status in world rankings and the percentage of its alumni donation participants. In the case of top U.S. universities, a large number of their alumnae donate astronomical sums of money in hopes to contribute to the school"s development. For example, in 2006, a whopping 61% of the Princeton University alumni participated in school donations, while - in stark contrast - a meager 1.1% of 31,000 KAIST alumnae made monetary contributions. Perhaps this low level of donation participation explains why KAIST is making little progress in its efforts to advance into a globally-recognized university. "Before we die, many of us look back and regret "I should"ve earned a little more"," said the Vice President. "But what we should really reflect on is how I could"ve given a little more." Throughout the meeting, he reiterated the significance of enrolled students practicing donation, no matter how insignificant the amount, when they are still young. KAIST is currently receiving support from its alumni, parents, students, corporations, foundations, professors and staff. With a growing demand for increasing the number of professors, research fees and labor budget, however, KAIST requires the full support and dedication of students and alumnae alike if it is to fulfill its vision of becoming the academic leader in science and technology- it is essential for students to get accustomed to the habit of donating to the school. To promote this practice of contributing, the Vice President urged students to look for opportunities to make donations.By KAIST Herald on December, 2007
2007.12.21 View 11916

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