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Professor Kang Suk Joong receives 'Korea Engineering Award.'
KAIST”s Professor Kang Suk Joong of the Department of Material Science and Engineering received ‘Korea Engineering Award’ from the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and Korea Research Foundation. The award is given to those professors who have accomplished world class research and results.
Professor Kang has potentially redirected the direction of research in the field of the microstructure of materials by explaining the fundamental principle behind how the microstructure of a material that affects the physical properties of the polycrystalline structure and changes through processing. Professor Kang applied the results of his findings in the manufacture of new materials and made significant contributions to Korean Material Engineering Industry and was consequently awarded the award.
The ‘Korea Engineering Award’ was thought of in 1994 and a total of 24 recipients were recognized through the award in various fields like electronics, mechanics, chemistry, construction, etc. The recipient is awarded in addition the President’s award and 50million won as prize money.
The ceremony for ‘Korea Engineering Award’ and the ‘Young Scientist Award’ was held in Seoul Press Center Press Club on the 22nd of December at 3pm. The Minister of Education, Science and Technology (Lee Joo Ho), member of Board of Directors of the Korea Research Foundation (Kim Byoung Gook), Director of Korea Science and Technology Archive (Jeong Gil Seng), along with the recipients attended the ceremony.
In addition, Professor Kang was appointed as Distinguished Professor in March 2010 in recognition of his research accomplishments.
2011.01.18 View 12138 -
Explanation for the polymerized nucleic acid enzyme's abnormal activation found
KAIST’s Professor Park Hyun Kyu of the Department of Bio Chemical Engineering revealed on the 23rd of December 2010 that his team had successfully developed the technology that uses the metal ions to control the abnormal activation of nucleic acids’ enzymes and using this, created a logic gate, which is a core technology in the field of future bio electrons.
The polymerized nucleic acid enzyme works to increase the synthesis of DNA and kicks into action only when the target DNA and primers form complimentary pairs (A and T, C and G).
Professor Park broke the common conception and found that it is possible for none complimentary pairs like T-T and C-C to initiate the activation of the enzyme and thus increase the nucleic acid production, given that there are certain metal ions present.
What Professor Park realized is that the enzymes mistake the uncomplimentary T-T and C-C pairs (with stabilized structures due to the bonding with mercury and silver ions) as being complimentary base pairs. Professor Park described this phenomenon as the “illusionary polymerase activity.”
The research team developed a logic gate based on the “illusionary polymerase activity’ phenomenon.” The logic gate paves the way to the development of future bio electron needed for bio computers and high performance memories.
Professor Park commented, “The research is an advancement of the previous research carried on about metal ions and nucleic acid synthesis. Our research is the first attempt at merging the concepts of the two previously separately carried out researches and can be adapted for testing presence of metal ions and development of a new single nucleotide polymorphic gene analysis technology.”
Professor Park added that, “Our research is a great stride in the field of nano scale electron element research as the results made possible the formation of accurate logic gates through relatively cost efficient and simple system designs.”
On a side note, the research was funded by Korea Research Foundation (Chairman: Park Chan Mo) and was selected as the cover paper for the December issue of ‘Angewandte Chemie International Edition’.
2011.01.18 View 11926 -
Rise of the mimic-bots that act like we do: Human-machine teamwork.
An online magazine, Technology Marketing Corporation, based in the UK published an article, dated January 8, 2011, on a robot research project led by Professor Jong-Hwan Kim from the Electrical Engineering Department. The article follows below:
Technology Marketing Corporation
[January 08, 2011]
Rise of the mimic-bots that act like we do Human-machine teamwork
(New Scientist Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Rise of the mimic-bots that act like we doA robot inspired by human mirror neurons can interpret human gestures to learn how it should actNow follow meA robot inspired by human mirror neurons can interpret human gestures to learn how it should actA HUMAN and a robot face each other across the room. The human picks up a ball, tosses it towards the robot, and then pushes a toy car in the same direction.
Confused by two objects coming towards it at the same time, the robot flashes a question mark on a screen. Without speaking, the human makes a throwing gesture. The robot turns its attention to the ball and decides to throw it back.
In this case the robot"s actions were represented by software commands, but it will be only a small step to adapt the system to enable a real robot to infer a human"s wishes from their gestures.
Developed by Ji-Hyeong Han and Jong-Hwan Kim at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Daejeon, the system is designed to respond to the actions of the person confronting it in the same way that our own brains do. The human brain contains specialised cells, called mirror neurons, that appear to fire in the same way when we watch an action being performed by others as they do when we perform the action ourselves. It is thought that this helps us to recognise or predict their intentions.
To perform the same feat, the robot observes what the person is doing, breaks the action down into a simple verbal description, and stores it in its memory. It compares the action it observes with a database of its own actions, and generates a simulation based on the closest match.
The robot also builds up a set of intentions or goals associated with an action. For example, a throwing gesture indicates that the human wants the robot to throw something back. The robot then connects the action "throw" with the object "ball" and adds this to its store of knowledge.
When the memory bank contains two possible intentions that fit the available information, the robot considers them both and determines which results in the most positive feedback from the human?- a smile or a nod, for example. If the robot is confused by conflicting information, it can request another gesture from the human. It also remembers details of each interaction, allowing it to respond more quickly when it finds itself in a situation it has encountered before.
The system should allow robots to interact more effectively with humans, using the same visual cues we use. "Of course, robots can recognise human intentions by understanding speech, but humans would have to make constant, explicit commands to the robot," says Han. "That would be pretty uncomfortable."Socially intelligent robots that can communicate with us through gesture and expression will need to develop a mental model of the person they are dealing with in order to understand their needs, says Chris Melhuish, director of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK. Using mirror neurons and humans" unique mimicking ability as an inspiration for building such robots could be quite interesting, he says.
Han now plans to test the system on a robot equipped with visual and other sensors to detect people"s gestures. He presented his work at the Robio conference in Tianjin, China, in December. nAs the population of many countries ages, elderly people may share more of their workload with robotic helpers or colleagues. In an effort to make such interactions as easy as possible, Chris Melhuish and colleagues at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK are leading a Europe-wide collaboration called Cooperative Human Robotic Interaction Systems that is equipping robots with software that recognises an object they are picking up before they hand it to a person. They also have eye-tracking technology that they use to monitor what humans are paying attention to. The goal is to develop robots that can learn to safely perform shared tasks with people, such as stirring a cake mixture as a human adds milk.
(c) 2011 Reed Business Information - UK. All Rights Reserved.
2011.01.10 View 11071 -
New Year's Message from President Nam-Pyo Suh
President Nam-Pyo Suh delivered a New Year’s message on January 3, 2011. While announcing plans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of KAIST throughout this year including a long-term development strategy for the university, Vision 2025, the president assessed the past accomplishments made in 2010 and laid out future prospects for 2011. The full text of his speech is attached below.
2011.01.05 View 9612
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A KAIST student earns 500 million won with "Virtual Finger" idea.
A student’s small idea was transformed into a viable technology, yielding 500 million won through the technology transfer.
In a mobile environment, it is difficult to hold the device and use its multi touch function, at the same time. A doctorate candidate of the KAIST Cultural Technology Graduate School, Hwang Sung Jae (28 years old), identified the inconvenience that it is hard to see the full screen of a mobile phone while manipulating it, and he invented a helper called “Virtual Thumb.”
The thumb allows a user to use only one finger to perform tasks that require the movements of several fingers like punching, zooming in/out and rotating the screen. When the user touches a screen, a virtual finger is created on the other side of the screen and mimics the motion of the user’s touching.
The ‘virtual Finger’ technology is based on the idea that came in second in the 2009 Korea Invention Patent Competition hosted by the Korea Intellectual Property Office and can be applied to any device that has a touch-based system which spans from a TV remote controller to a Tablet PC’s.
The Office of University and Industry Cooperation, KAIST, facilitated to turn Hwang’s idea into commercialization, and on October 18, Victronix, a Korean mobile phone manufacturer, bought a patent right for the technology at 500 million won.
2010.12.13 View 10199 -
The KAIST & GIT team developed a power generation technology using bendable thin film nano-materials.
Figure description: Flexible thin film nanomaterials produce electricity.
Can a heart implanted micro robot operate permanently?
Can cell phones and tiny robots implanted in the heart operate permanently without having their batteries charged?
It might sound like science fiction, but these things seem to be possible in the near future. The team of Prof. Keon Jae Lee (KAIST, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering) and Prof. Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering) has developed new forms of highly efficient, flexible nanogenerator technology using the freely bendable piezoelectric ceramic thin film nano-materials that can convert tiny movements of the human body (such as heart beats and blood flow) into electrical energy.
The piezoelectric effect refers to voltage generation when pressure or bending strength is applied to piezoelectric materials. The ceramics, containing a perovskite structure, have a high piezoelectric efficiency. Until now, it has been very difficult to use these ceramic materials to fabricate flexible electronic systems due to their brittle property.
The research team, however, has succeeded in developing a bio-eco-friendly ceramic thin film nanogenerator that is freely bendable without breakdown.
Nanogenerator technology, a power generating system without wires or batteries, combines nanotechnology with piezoelectrics that can be used not only in personal mobile electronics but also in bio-implantable sensors or as an energy source for micro robots. Energy sources in nature (wind, vibration, and sound) and biomechanical forces produced by the human body (heart beats, blood flow, and muscle contraction/relaxation) can infinitely produce nonpolluting energy. (Nanogenerator produces electricity by external forces: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvj0SsBqpBw)
Prof. Keon Jae Lee (KAIST) was involved in the first co-invention of “High Performance Flexible Single Crystal Electronics” during his PhD course at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This nanogenerator technology, based on the previous invention, utilized the similar protocol of transferring ceramic thin film nano-materials on flexible substrates and produced voltage generation between electrodes.
Prof. Zhong Lin Wang (Georgia Tech, inventor of the nanogenerator) said, “This technology can be used to turn on an LED by slightly modifying circuits and operate touchable flexible displays. In addition, thin film nano-materials (‘barium titanate’) of this research have the property of both high efficiency and lead-free bio compatibility, which can be used in future medical applications.” This result is published in November online issue of ‘Nano Letters’ ACS journal.
<Video>
Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvj0SsBqpBw
Thin Film Nanogenerator produces electricity by external forces.
2010.11.23 View 15848 -
Minister of Higher Education of Saudi Arabia Visited KAIST to Sign Agreement on Joint Research Projects
Khaled bin Mohammad Al-Anqari, the Minister of Higher Education of Saudi Arabia, visited KAIST on October 26th to conclude a joint agreement with KAIST.
The group of Saudi Arabian visitors included Abdullah bin Abdularhman Al-Othman, President of the King Saud University, Osama bin Sadiq Tayeb, President of King Abdulaziz University, and Khalid bin Salih Al-Sultan, President of the best Saudi Arabian technological university, King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals.
Through research agreement between KAIST and the King Saud University and King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals, joint research projects, mutual visitations of research professors, interchange of academic programs, joint seminars and scientific societies will be held to promote the lively interchange between higher education institutions of Korea and Saudi Arabia.
In particular, King Saud University and KAIST has signed an agreement on joint research projects in the fields of “Solar-Ocean Thermal Exchange Desalination,” “Develop New Energy Management Service for Residential and Commercial Customers Using Smart Metering and Sensor Network Information” and “Superior Production of Lactic Acid from Saudi Dates Using Bioprocess Technology.”
The projects will be funded by the Saudi Arabian government, and their scope will be determined in the future
“Compared to the robust industrial economic interactions between the Middle East and Korea, the interchange of the two countries’ higher education institutions has been poor,” said Jong Hyun Kim, Visiting Professor of Nuclear & Quantum Engineering Department of KAIST who will be conducting one of the joint programs with the Electrical Engineering Department of the King Saud University. “Like this joint research, I hope KAIST will, in many different ways, lead the way in cooperating and interacting with higher education institutions of the Middle EAST.”
Al-Anquari, Minister of Higher Education of Saudi Arabia, who showed great interest in KAIST’s innovative research and high technology development, expressed his will to put more effort into extending the interchange between universities of Saudi Arabia and of Korea, including KAIST.
2010.11.03 View 16282 -
2010 International Presidential Forum was held successfully.
On October 11th, the 2010 International Presidential Forum on “The Role of the Research University in an S&T Dominated Era: Expectation & Delivery” was held successfully at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Seoul. The third International Presidential Forum to be held, participants of the 2010 Presidential Forum engaged in an in-depth discussion about the direction that research universities should take in the 21st Century.
On its opening, President Nam Pyo Suh delivered a congratulatory message saying, “This forum is a meaningful gathering where research universities will suggest role models and find ways research universities can contribute to the progress of mankind in this century.”
Following, Lee Ki Jun, CEO of the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies said, “The common goal of the world’s research universities is to solve the problems mankind is facing together. I believe that the discussion we will hold today at the forum will point to the future direction of research universities.”
“To produce next generation engineers meeting global standards, exchange and dual degree programs between universities must be strengthened,” said Lars Pallesen, President of the Technical University of Denmark. “Research universities must support the exchange between students beyond cultural and national borders to adapt to the global market.”
Ichiro Okura, Vice President of Tokyo Institute of Technology, presented on the “Asian Science and Technology Pioneering Institutes of Research and Education, ASPIRE.” ASPIRE is a community created by the coalition between science and technology universities in the Far East. Its purpose is to contribute to sustainable global growth by educating high-quality human resources and lead Asia’s technology innovation based on science and technology development.
“For research universities to solve today’s global issues, universities must create new ideas by performing fundamental studies and developing innovative technology. The financial resources of universities must be focused with choices based on results,” remarked President Suh.
Zaini Ujang, Vice-President of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia stated that “the Malaysian government is planning on converting from a ‘labor-intensive economy’ to an ‘innovative leading economy’ with the goal of joining the advanced countries by 2020. In today’s science and technology era where innovative technology is necessary, research universities have an important role of developing the knowledge environmental system to lead the world economy.” Vice-President Ujang then explained what strategies Malaysian research universities devised in the innovative leading economy era to create research universities that bring creativity and innovation.
Tod A. Laursen, President of KUSTAR, said that “KUSTAR has a leading role in bringing science and technology and manpower necessary in converting the oil-centered economy of UAE to a knowledge-based economy. KUSTAR will continuously strengthen international cooperation to become not only the best engineering university in the Arab region but in the world.”
At this year’s forum, thirty international presidents and vice presidents from 24 universities in 15 countries including Georgia Tech, Technical University of Denmark, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, University of Queensland, Tokyo University, Nanyang Technological University, University Teknologi Malaysia and Hong Kong Institute of Science and Technology along with forty national figures such as the presidents of Hanyang University and Handong Global University, governmental bureaucrats and representatives from national business and institutions participated.
2010.10.20 View 16980 -
Yoon-Gyeong Shim donates two billion won's worth of stocks to KAIST.
“We hope KAIST will succeed my late husband’s will.”
A 47-year-old widow donated two billion won’s worth of stock to KAIST in respect to her late husband’s will for the scientific development and training of scientifically talented people of Korea.
On the 27 of September, KAIST announced that the late CEO of Seoul Alloy Metal’s widow, Yoon-Gyeong Shim, donated her and her children’s inheritance of two billion won’s worth of stocks to KAIST through an agent.
While wondering how to spend their inherited two billion won, the family found certificates and contracts of donation in the late CEO Geyong-Dae Kim’s possession. The late lamented Mr. Kim had been donating a certain amount of money monthly for those in need, including undernourished children.
Shim decided to donate to Korea’s IT-leading KAIST to succeed her late husband’s will, the husband who lived a life of sharing and dedicated his whole life in the IT department. Shim’s two children, Hyunjae (19 years old) and Youngjae (17 years old) happily participated in this decision.
The company represented by Kim, Seoul Alloy Metals, is a national company that produces basic conjugates used in electric and electronic machinery, with founding technology in the environmental-friendly smokeless lead-free solder division.
“I believe my late husband, who passed away before his time, would be glad with our family’s decision,” said Shim. “We may be living in a faraway country called New Zealand but my children and I are proud Koreans and we are very glad to give a small hand to Korea’s proud KAIST. We hope KAIST can succeed my late husband’s passion and will for the development of scientific technology. We wish it can be used not only for the development of KAIST, but for the development of Korea.”
“KAIST is grateful of Shim’s decision to donate to KAIST,” said President Suh. “To follow the lofty will of the decedent, KAIST will try our best to train the best scientifically talented people and become the best university in the world.”
Since appointment of President Suh at KAIST, KAIST has put an effort to spread a donating culture. As a result, KAIST donators have expanded omnidirectionally, including professors, staff, students, alumni, parents of students, and the general public.
The number of donations was 1,004 in 2006, 2,139 in 2007, 3,066 in 2008, and 3,304 in 2009.
2010.09.29 View 9295 -
KAIST was invited to the World Economic Forum's fourth "Summer Davos."
KAIST attended the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos Forum” held from September 13 to 15 in Tianjin, China. The Summer Davos Forum hosted various sessions and meetings with international dignitaries from governments, business and public organizations, and academia on the main theme of “Driving Growth through Sustainability.”
On September 14, four subjects including “Electric Vehicles,” “Humanoid Robotics,” “Next Generation of Biomaterials,” and “New Developments in Neuroengineering” were presented by KAIST, followed by discussions with forum participants.
Professor Jae-Seung Jeong of the Bio and Brain Engineering Department, Sang-Yup Lee of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, Joon-Ho Oh of the Mechanical Engineering Department, and President Nam-Pyo Suh participated in the forum as presenters of the topic. Of these speakers, Professors Jae-Seung Jeong and Sang-Yup Lee were nominated by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as members of the “Young Global Leader” and “Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies,” respectively.
President Suh was also invited to the CEO Insight Group and delivered an opening speech on OLEV (Online Electric Vehicle) and the Mobile Harbor. President Suh plans to sign an MOU for research cooperation with Jong-Hoo Kim of Bell Lab and Shirley Jackson of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the near future, respectively.
Since 2007, the WEF, in charge of the world’s largest international conference called “Davos Forum” has hosted a “Summer Davos Forum,” also called as the “Annual Meeting of New Champions.” The Summer Davos Forum consists of nations, rising global companies, next generation of global leaders, and cities or nations that lead technological innovations. Unlike the annual Davos Forum held in January, the “Annual Meeting of New Champions” is held in September of each year in Tianjin and Dalian, China.
Since 2009, the WEF has added a special session called IdeasLab in the Davos and Summer Davos Forums. Through IdeasLab, prominent universities from all over the world, research organizations, venture businesses, NGOs, and NPOs are invited to exchange and discuss innovative and creative ideas that can contribute to the development of mankind. Until now, universities including INSEAD, EPFL-ETH, MIT, Oxford, Yale, Harvard, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tsinghua University, and Keio University have been invited to the IdeasLab. KAIST is the first Korean university to attend this session.
2010.09.17 View 20896 -
KAIST hosts training program for Indian MBA students
The College of Business of KAIST held an academic exchange program, inviting MBA students from the Indian Institute of Management. 65 students from India visited Korea and would have a two-week training course including field trips to various companies in the nation. For details, please click the link of Arirang News broadcasted on August 19, 2010.
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=106066&code=Ne2&category=2
2010.08.20 View 9988
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An internationally renowned academic journal published the research result produced by a KAST research team on its cover.
Fc DAAP VEGF-Trap
Photograph showing the gross features of tumor growth along the mesentery-intestinal border. T: tumor. Scale bars represent 5 mm.
Professor Gou-Young Koh of the Biological Sciences Department, KAIST, and his research team published their research result in Cancer Cell, a peer-review scientific journal, as a cover article dated August 17, 2010. It is the first time for the journal to pick up a paper written by a Korean research team and publish it as the cover.
It has been known that a vascular growth factor (VEGF) is closely related to the growth of a tumor. The research team recently discovered that in addition to VEGF, another growth factor, angiopoietin-2 (Ang2), is also engaged with the increase of tumors.
Professor Koh said, “VEGF and the angiopoietins play critical roles in tumor progression and metastasis, and a single inhibitor targeting both factors have not been available.”
The team led by Professor Koh has developed a double anti-angiogenic protein (DAAP) that can simultaneously bind VEGF-A and the angiopoietins and block their actions.
Professor Koh said in his paper, “DAAP is a highly effective molecule for regressing tumor angiogenesis and metastasis in implanted and spontaneous solid tumor; it can also effectively reduce ascites formation and vascular leakage in an ovarian carcinoma model. Thus, simultaneous blockade of VEGF-A and angiopoietins with DAAP is an effective therapeutic strategy for blocking tumor angiogenesis, metastasis, and vascular leakage.”
So far, cancer patients have received Avastin, anticancer drug, to inhibit VEGF, but the drug has not successfully restrained the growth of cancer tumors and brought to some of the patients with serious side effects instead.
Professor Koh said, “DAAP will be very effective to control the expansion of tumor growth factors, which will open up a new possibility for the development of more helpful cancer medicine with low side effects.”
2010.08.20 View 12849