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'Engineered Bacterium Produces 1,3-Diaminopropane'
A research team led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST reported, for the first time, the production of 1,3-diaminopropane via fermentation of an engineered bacterium. 1,3-Diaminopropane is a three carbon diamine, which has a wide range of industrial applications including epoxy resin and cross-linking agents, as well as precursors for pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and organic chemicals. It can also be polymerized with dicarboxylic acids to make polyamides (nylons) for use as engineering plastics, medical materials, and adhesives. Traditionally, 1,3-diaminopropane is derived from petroleum-based processes. In effort to address critical problems such as the depletion of petroleum and environmental issues inherent to the petroleum-based processes, the research team has developed an Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain capable of producing 1,3-diaminopropane. Using this technology, 1,3-diaminopropane can now be produced from renewable biomass instead of petroleum. E. coli as found in nature is unable to produce 1,3-diaminopropane. Metabolic engineering, a technology to transform microorganisms into highly efficient microbial cell factories capable of producing chemical compounds of interest, was utilized to engineer the E. coli strain. First, naturally existing metabolic pathways for the biosynthesis of 1,3-diaminopropane were introduced into a virtual cell in silico to determine the most efficient metabolic pathway for the 1,3-diaminopropane production. The metabolic pathway selected was then introduced into an E. coli strain and successfully produced 1,3-diaminopropane for the first time in the world. The research team applied metabolic engineering additionally, and the production titer of 1,3-diaminopropane increased about 21 fold. The Fed-batch fermentation of the engineered E. coli strain produced 13 grams per liter of 1,3-diaminoproapne. With this technology, 1,3-diaminopropane can be produced using renewable biomass, and it will be the starting point for replacing the current petroleum-based processes with bio-based processes. Professor Lee said, “Our study suggested a possibility to produce 1,3-diaminopropane based on biorefinery. Further study will be done to increase the titer and productivity of 1,3-diaminopropane.” This work was published online in Scientific Reports on August 11, 2015. Reference: Chae, T.U. et al. "Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of 1,3-diaminopropane, a three carbon diamine," Scientific Reports: http://www.nature.com/articles/srep13040 This research was supported by the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes on Systems Metabolic Engineering for Biorefineries from Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) through the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea. Figure 1: Metabolic engineering strategies for 1,3-diaminopropane production using C4 pathway Figure 2: Fed-batch fermentation profiles of two final engineered E. coli strains
2015.08.12
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Professor Sang-Min Bae Receives the 2015 Red Dot Design Award
Professor Sang-Min Bae and his research team from the Industrial Design Department of KAIST have received three awards from the 2015 Red Dot Design Award: the Best of the Best Award and two Design Concept Awards. Being one of the most prestigious international design awards, the Red Dot Design Award serves to identify good design concept and innovation that will be the precursors of tomorrow’s great product. Its annual award ceremony will take place on September 25, 2015, at the Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore. This year, the Award received 4,680 entries from 61 countries, and only the top 5.7% of them was able to garner the awards. In addition to two Red Dot Design Concept Awards, Professor Bae’s team won the Best of the Best Award, coming through a four hundred to one competition. Awarded the Best of the Best Award, Boxchool is a modular classroom built on shipping containers whose aim is to give underprivileged children equal opportunities for learning. Jointly designed with an IT corporation in Korea, SK Telecom, the container is also a smart classroom. Boxchool received the Best of the Best Award in recognition of its contribution to giving an equal learning opportunity to needy children, as well as its environmental characteristics. The research team strengthened the mobility of the container and creatively addressed problems associated with using containers as classrooms such as insulation and inadequate space in environments which hamper teaching. The modular classroom can function in any setting since it can generate electricity from installed solar panels. The rainwater utilization system allows autonomous operation of the classroom. The team earned the Red Dot Design Concept Award for a self-generating interactive tent, which was jointly designed with Kolon Sport, a Korean outdoor products company, as an industry-university cooperation project. The interactive tent differs from conventional tents by adding features that allow users to engage with the environment. For example, the installed organic solar cells allowed users to have prolonged outdoor activities by supplying electricity generated therefrom. Users can also enjoy greater ventilation. This permits the tent to be utilized as a temporary residence in the third world. Another recipient of the Red Dot Design Concept Award, Snow Energy is a portable self-generating lamp and charger, which contains a thermo-element, generating electricity from temperature difference. Electricity is generated by pouring hot water inside a tank and cold water into a neighboring space. Snow Energy, which is sustainable and eco-friendly, will be especially helpful during outdoor activities when there is no electricity available. Professor Bae's research team, ID+IM, has endeavored to address inequality and philanthropy through two projects, the Nanum (a Korean word to mean “sharing”) and the Seed Projects. Since 2005, they have received internationally recognized awards more than 40 times. Picture 1: Recipient of the Best of the Best Award of the 2015 Red Dot Design Award, Boxchool is a modular classroom built on shipping containers Picture 2: Recipient of the 2015 Red Dot Design Concept Award, the self-generating interactive tent Picture 3: Recipient of the 2015 Red Dot Design Concept Award, Snow Energy is a portable self-generating lamp and charger which generates electricity from the temperature difference
2015.08.05
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President Steve Kang of KAIST Receives the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association
The Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA), a non-profit Korean professional organization based in the United States with over 6,000 registered members, bestowed upon President Steve Kang of KAIST the 2015 Outstanding Contribution Award. The award is presented to a person who has made significant contributions to the development of KSEA. The award ceremony took place during the 2015 US-Korea Conference on Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (UKC), which was held on July 30, 2015, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia. The UKC is the flagship conference of KSEA, which takes place every year, and covers science, engineering, technology, industry, entrepreneurship, and leadership. It attracts more than 1,200 participants from the US and Korea. The UKC 2015 was held on July 29-August 1, 2015. President Kang has participated in UKC conferences over the past few years as a plenary speaker, addressing major issues in science and technology for both nations, and provided generous support for the activities of UKC and KSEA. He also promoted discussions and exchanges of professional knowledge in his field, microelectronics, by organizing fora and symposia. He addressed the UKC 2015 as a plenary speaker with a speech entitled “Pursuing Excellence with a Servant’s Heart.” President Kang said that good leadership should bring out synergistic contributions from all constituents and achieve excellence under all circumstances. He mentioned one example of good leadership, known as humble leadership, and explained how such leadership played an important role in the development of scientific breakthroughs, such as the world’s premier high-end microprocessor chip sets first produced by his team under extremely high pressure.
2015.08.05
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Dr. Se-Jung Kim Receives the Grand Prize at the International Photo and Image Contest on Light
Dr. Se-Jung Kim of the Physics Department at KAIST received the Grand Prize at the 2015 Photo and Image Contest of the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. The United Nations has designated the year 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies. The Optical Society of Korea celebrated the UN’s designation by hosting an international photo and image contest on the theme of light and optics related technology. Dr. Kim presented a photo of images taken from a liquid crystal, which was entitled “A Micro Pinwheel.” She took pictures of liquid crystal images with a polarizing microscope and then colored the pictures. The liquid crystal has self-assembled circle domain structures, and each domain can form vortex optics. Her adviser for the project is Professor Yong-Hoon Cho of the Physics Department. Her work was exhibited during the annual conference of the Optical Society of Korea, which was held on July 13-15, 2015 at Gyeong-Ju Hwabaek International Convention Center. It will also be exhibited at the National Science Museum in Gwacheon and the Kim Dae-Jung Convention Center in Gwangju. Picture: A Micro Pinwheel
2015.07.31
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'Mirror or Mirror' Exhibition at Dongdaemun Design Plaza
An exhibition, called “Mirror or Mirror,” displaying the integration of fashion design and technology took place at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul from July 18-25, 2015. DDP is the center of Korea’s fashion hub. The exhibition was created by Professor Daniel Pieter Saakes of the Industrial Design Department at KAIST and introduced a new design system reinforced with an interactive technology that incorporates augmented reality into the design process. Users stand before the Mirror or Mirror system, and by using augmented reality, they can design their own fashion items including clothes based on their need and fashion preferences. The augmented reality allows users to draw their favorite patterns or new designs over their body, thereby enabling them to check the result immediately and try out a variety of different designs right away. Professor Saakes said, “Fashion has always been a way to express individual and personal style. With our system, people can easily fulfill such desires, customizing their own designs.” At the exhibition, visitors also had opportunities to produce their own shirts while using the Mirror or Mirror system. Picture 1: A user wears a newly designed virtual shirt over her body using augmented reality provided by the Mirror or Mirror system. Picture 2: The shirt was designed and produced through the Mirror or Mirror system.
2015.07.31
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KAIST Operates a Summer School with Imperial College London
KAIST and Imperial College London jointly hosted a summer school on the KAIST campus on July 14-17, 2015. Twenty-five students from both universities, 11 from KAIST and 14 from Imperial College, participated in the summer program. KAIST and Imperial College agreed to hold academic and research exchange programs in 2013; this year’s summer school represented the first effort. Participants were divided into a few cohorts of four or five students. They conducted a series of activities to implement joint research projects involving team building, networking, joint study, discussions, and presentations. Among the projects the summer school ran, Professor Hoi-Jun Yoo of the Electrical Engineering Department at KAIST was invited to teach students about the mobile healthcare system, Dr. M, that he had developed. Sung-Hyon Myaeng, Associate Vice President of the International Affairs Office, KAIST, said, “This summer school is yet another example of KAIST’s ongoing efforts to make the campus more global and to interact actively with members of the international community.”
2015.07.29
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A Technology Holding Company Establishes Two Companies Based on Technologies Developed at KAIST
Mirae Holdings is a technology holding company created by four science and technology universities, KAIST, DIGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology), GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology), and UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) in 2014 to commercialize the universities’ research achievements. The company identifies promising technologies for commercialization, makes business plans, establishes venture capitals, and invests in startup companies. Over the past year, Mirae Holdings has established two venture companies based on the technologies developed at KAIST. In September 2014, it founded Cresem Inc., a company used the anisotropic conductive film (ACF) bonding technology, which was developed by Professor Kyung-Wook Paik of the Material Science and Engineering Department at KAIST. Cresem provides a technology to bond electronic parts ultrasonically. The company is expected to have 860,000 USD worth of sales within the first year of its launching. Last June, Mirae Holdings created another company, Doctor Kitchen, with the technology developed by Professor Gwan-Su Yi of the Bio and Brain Engineering Department at KAIST. Doctor Kitchen supplies precooked food, which helps diabetic patients regulate their diet. The company offers a personalized diet plan to customers so that they can effectively manage their disease and monitor their blood sugar level efficiently. The Chief Executive Officer of Mirae Holdings, Young-Ho Kim, said, “We can assist KAIST researchers who aspire to create a company based on their research outcomes through various stages of startup services such as making business plans, securing venture capitals, and networking with existing businesses.” Young-Ho Kim (left in the picture), the Chief Executive Officer of Mirae Holdings, holds a certificate of company registration with Sang-Min Oh (right in the picture), the Chief Executive Officer of Cresem. Young-Ho Kim (left in the picture), the Chief Executive Officer of Mirae Holdings, holds a certificate of company registration with Jae-Yeun Park (right in the picture), the Chief Executive Officer of Dr. Kitchen.
2015.07.29
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Professor Suk-Joong Kang Receives the Richard Brook and Helmholtz Awards
Professor Suk-Joong Kang of KAIST’s Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering received the Richard Brook Award from the European Ceramic Society at its 14th conference held on June 21, 2015, in Toledo, Spain. The award is presented to the most distinguished academic or engineer in ceramics from a non-European country. Professor Kang gave the commemorative lecture after the award ceremony. Professor Kang is an expert in the field of sintering and microstructural evolution in ceramics and metals. He suggested a new model for grain growth and identified the principles of microstructural evolution. He also received the 2015 Helmholtz Fellow Award in June. The Helmholtz Association, the largest scientific organization in Germany, confers the award on outstanding senior scientists based outside Germany who have made great academic and research achievements in their fields. Professor Kang said of the Brook Award, “It is such an honor to receive an award from an eminent global institution. I take this opportunity to thank my students and colleagues for their support, and I will work harder for my research.”
2015.07.20
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KAIST Startups Annually Engage 33,000 People, and Their Sales Total Nearly 10 Billion Dollars
According to a recent study, KAIST startups annually engage 33,000 people, and their sales total nearly 10 billion US dollars. Also amongst 1,245 companies, 50 were listed in stock markets including KOSDAQ and KONEX. President Kang of KAIST commissioned an evaluation of KAIST startups last year. The report consisted of six chapters: current status of entrepreneurs and companies, cross analysis based on individuals’ background and academic degree, annual performance analysis, and current status of startup assistance. The report categorized the startups with respect to the founders’ background. Of 1,245 companies, KAIST alumni founded 929 (74.6%) of the companies under study: 191 (15.3%) were located within the KAIST campuses, 91 (7.3%) were founded by enrolled students, and 74 (2.7%) by professors. The startup founders had different levels of education: 515 (41.4%) founders had master’s degree, 443 (35.6%) Ph.D. degree, and only 213 (17.1%) had only bachelor’s degree as the highest level of education attained. The reason behind the majority of founders having a master’s degree or higher degree is that many people established a startup after obtaining specialized knowledge and skills. Focusing on the founders’ college majors, 719 (70.6%) founders were from the engineering department, 111 (10.9%) from the business administration department, 103 (10.1%) from the natural science department, and 86 (8.4%) from other departments. Looking at the companies' locations, 462 (37.5%) were placed in Seoul, 355 (28.8%) in Daejeon, and 273 (22.2%) in Gyeonggi. By the end of 2013, the total asset of 1,069 companies came to 12 billion and 444 million dollars. Their total sales figure was 10 billion and 13 million dollars, and annual employments summed up to 33,000 people. The companies generated a significant portion of gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in each region. They formed 0.49% of GRDP of Seoul, took up 1.67% GRDP of Gyeonggi, and 5.53% of that of Daejeon. Along with the performance analysis, the report also took a survey of suggestions on future startup assistance and opinions on current startup assistance policies. To a question asking what constituted the most difficult part of startup, 31.7% of respondents answered “attraction of investment,” 22.8% chose “a lack of human resources,” and 16.8% said “consulting” amongst 214 respondents. The study showed that major and medium enterprises face difficulty in finding human resources whereas small businesses experience obstacles attracting investment. Some startups had help from KAIST: 44 startups were provided with the office space, 21 had educational supports, and 18 were supported in research and development. The report demonstrates that startups established by KAIST alumni and members play a key role in the South Korean economy despite KAIST’s short startup history, which began only since the end of 1990s. Based on this report, KAIST plans to listen continuously to the needs of alumni founders, and use those responses as a guide to entrepreneurship education for current students. The Dean of the Office of University and Industry Cooperation, Joongmyeon Bae, who oversaw the publication of this report, said, "As this report is the first in Korea to study the status of alumni startups, it will be incredibly valuable in modifying the startup assistance policies.” To spread an entrepreneurial spirit and start-up cultures in the campus and enhance the startup supporting system, KAIST has founded various startup centers on and off the campus.
2015.07.14
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KAIST Undergraduate Students Volunteer in Ethiopia
World Friends (WF), one of the undergraduate student clubs at KAIST, offer students opportunities to volunteer in underdeveloped regions and countries. This year the World Friends team travels to Ethiopia from July 9 to August 17, 2015. The aim of this trip is to help Ethiopian students fill gaps in their knowledge of information technology and encourage KAIST students build leadership skills through volunteer activities. Twenty-eight students will make the trip. KAIST students will visit the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology and the Adama Science and Technology University, as well as some local high and elementary schools in Addis Ababa, where they will run computer classes related to the basics of information technology such as C Language, Java Programming, Photoshop, MS Office, and Windows. The volunteers will offer Adama Science and Technology University students an advanced computer course to prepare them to participate in the ACM-ICPC, an international computer programming competition for university students. KAIST students will also introduce Korean culture to Ethiopian students including K-pop, Korean cuisine and fashion, Korean language lessons, and traditional Korean art. The Dean of Student Affairs and Policy at KAIST, Professor Young-Hee Kim said, “I hope the students from two very different cultures will cherish this opportunity to interact with each other and contribute to narrowing down the regional disparities in the IT field.”
2015.07.10
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Dong-Young Lee, a Doctoral Candidate, Receives the Best Paper Award
Dong-Young Lee, a Ph.D. candidate in the Mechanical Engineering Department, KAIST, received the Best Paper Award at the 18th International Conference on Composite Structures (ICCS). The event was held in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 15-18, 2015. Mr. Lee’s adviser is Professor Dai-Gil Lee of the same department. The ICCS is held every other year, and is one of the largest and long-established conferences on composite materials and structures in the world. At this year’s conference, a total of 680 papers were presented, among which, two papers were chosen for the Best Paper Award, including Mr. Lee’s. The paper, entitled “Gasket-integrated Carbon and Silicon Elastomer Composite Bipolar Plate for High-temperature PEMFC,” will be published in the September issue of Composite Structures which is one of the top journals in mechanical engineering as judged by the Google Scholar Metrics rankings. Mr. Lee dropped the conventional method of PEMFC (Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells) assembly and instead developed a gasket-integrated carbon and silicone elastomer composite bipolar plate. This technology significantly increased the energy efficiency of fuel cells and their productivity. Mr. Lee said, “I would like to thank the many people who supported me, especially my Ph.D. adviser, Professor Dai-Gil Lee. Without their encouragement, I would have not won this award. I hope my research will contribute to solving energy problems in the future.” In addition, Professor Joon-Woo Im from Chonbuk National University, Senior Researcher Il-Bum Choi from the Agency for Defense Development, and a fellow doctoral candidate Soo-Hyun Nam from KAIST participated in this research project.
2015.07.09
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Experts Gather to Develop a Korean Supercomputer on KAIST Campus
KAIST hosted an inauguration ceremony for the Super-Capacity Computing Advancement Forum on July 2, 2015, to increase Korea's national computing capacity. It represents a gathering consisting of experts drawn across industry, university, and institutes in super-capacity computing. More than ten experts from the university, including President Steve Kang and Professor Oh-Joon Kwon of the Department of Aerospace Engineering, attended the ceremony. This forum was created to secure a competitive edge in the global market by establishing a long-term strategy for the development of super computers. The recent rise of new service industries, such as voice recognition, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, has increased the need for super-capacity computing to deal more rapidly with big data. The need is made more urgent by increased investment by leading countries in this field. The forum will organize and operate working-level subcommittees to promote in-depth discussions on issues related to super-capacity computing systems. Open forums and public hearings will be held until October, to gather information and insights needed to advance the field. President Steve Kang, the Chairman of the Forum, said, “The forum will have a great impact on Korea’s effort to become a world leader in super-capacity computing. We plan to debate the pros and cons of potential solutions to the Korean government, to assist them in building the nation’s competitiveness in super-capacity computing capability.”
2015.07.07
View 5154
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