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KAIST Undergraduates Organize the Largest Interdisciplinary Conference in Asia The largest interdisciplinary conference in Asia hosted by KAIST undergraduates for students around the world will be held in KAIST. The organizing committee of International Conference for the Integration of Science, Technology and Society (ICISTS) will hold the ICISTS-KAIST 2015 in KAIST and Hotel ICC from August 3-7, 2015, with around 300 Korean and international participants. ICISTS-KAIST was established in 2005 to provide an annual platform for students to discuss the integration and the convergence of science, technology and society, regardless of their academic background. This year’s theme is "Shaping the Future" and the topics for the conference are robotics, medicine, and science communication. The keynote speakers are Vitalic Buterin, the winner of the World Technology Award in 2014 for the co-creation and invention of Ethereum and Alan Irwin, a well-known scholar of science, technology and society as well as the Dean of Research at the Copenhagen Business School in Denmark. Other notable speakers include Adam Marcus, a professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine; Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, the Director and co-founder of Beyond Humanism Network; Hideto Nakajima, a professor in the Department of History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science and Technology at Tokyo Institute of Technology; Wendell Wallach, a lecturer at the Yale University Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics; Jinil Lee, a professor in the Division of Biological Science and Technology at Yonsei University; and Sangwook Kim, an editor of APCTP web journal Crossroads and a professor in the Department of Physics Education, Pusan National University. Last year, more than 300 students from 50 different countries attended the ICISTS-KAIST 2014 as delegates to exchange their thoughts and ideas on science, technology, and society. To register for the event, please visit www.icists.org.
2015.07.14 View 10286
Omnidirectional Free Space Wireless Charging Developed The simultaneous charging of multiple mobile devices at 0.5 meter away from the power source is now possible under the international electromagnetic field guidelines. Mobile devices, such as smartphones and laptops, have become indispensable portable items in modern life, but one big challenge remains to fully enjoying these devices: keeping their batteries charged. A group of researchers at KAIST has developed a wireless-power transfer (WPT) technology that allows mobile devices to be charged at any location and in any direction, even if the devices are away from the power source, just as Wi-Fi works for Internet connections. With this technology, so long as mobile users stay in a designated area where the charging is available, e.g., the Wi-Power zone, the device, without being tethered to a charger, will pick up power automatically, as needed. The research team led by Professor Chun T. Rim of the Nuclear and Quantum Engineering Department at KAIST has made great strides in WPT development. Their WPT system is capable of charging multiple mobile devices concurrently and with unprecedented freedom in any direction, even while holding the devices in midair or a half meter away from the power source, which is a transmitter. The research result was published in the June 2015 on-line issue of IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, which is entitled “Six Degrees of Freedom Mobile Inductive Power Transfer by Crossed Dipole Tx (Transmitter) and Rx (Receiver) Coils.” Professor Rim’s team has successfully showcased the technology on July 7, 2015 at a lab on KAIST’s campus. They used high-frequency magnetic materials in a dipole coil structure to build a thin, flat transmitter (Tx) system shaped in a rectangle with a size of 1m2. Either 30 smartphones with a power capacity of one watt each or 5 laptops with 2.4 watts each can be simultaneously and wirelessly charged at a 50 cm distance from the transmitter with six degrees of freedom, regardless of the devices’ three-axes positions and directions. This means that the device can receive power all around the transmitter in three-dimensional space. The maximum power transfer efficiency for the laptops was 34%. The researchers said that to fabricate plane Tx and Rx coils with the six-degree-of-freedom characteristic was a bottleneck of WPT for mobile applications. Dipole Coil Resonance System (DCRS) The research team used the Dipole Coil Resonance System (DCRS) to induce magnetic fields, which was developed by the team in 2014 for inductive power transfer over an extended distance. The DCRS is composed of two (transmitting and receiving) magnetic dipole coils, placed in parallel, with each coil having a ferrite core and connected with a resonant capacitor. Comparing to a conventional loop coil, the dipole coil is very compact and has a less dimension. Therefore, a crossed dipole structure has 2-dimension rather than 3-dimension of a crossed loop coil structure. The DCRS has a great advantage to transfer power even when the resonance frequency changes in the range of 1% (Q factor is below 100). The ferrite cores are optimally designed to reduce the core volume by half, and their ability to transfer power is nearly unaffected by human bodies or surrounding metal objects, making DCRS ideal to transmit wireless power in emergency situations. In a test conducted in 2014, Professor Rim succeeded in transferring 209 watts of power wirelessly to the distance of five meters. (See KAIST’s press release on DCRS for details: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-04/tkai-wpt041714.php.) Greater Flexibility and Safer Charging The research team rearranged the two dipole coils from a parallel position to cross them in order to generate rotating magnetic fields, which was embedded in the Tx’s flat platform. This has made it possible for mobile devices to receive power from any direction. Although wireless-power technology has been applied to smartphones, it could not offer any substantial advantages over traditional wired charging because the devices still require close contact with the transmitter, a charging pad. To use the devices freely and safely, including in public spaces, the WPT technology should provide mobile users with six degrees of freedom at a distance. Until now, all wireless-charging technologies have had difficulties with the problem of short charging distance, mostly less than 10 cm, as well as charging conditions that the devices should be placed in a fixed position. For example, the Galaxy S6 could only be charged wirelessly in a fixed position, having one degree of freedom. The degree of freedom represents mobile devices’ freedom of movement in three-dimensional space. In addition, the DCRS works at a low magnetic field environment. Based on the magnetic flux shielding technology developed by the research team, the level of magnetic flux is below the safety level of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guideline (27µT) for general public exposure to electromagnetic field (EMF). Professor Rim said, “Our transmitter system is safe for humans and compatible with other electronic devices. We have solved three major issues of short charging distance, the dependence on charging directions, and plane coil structures of both Tx and Rx, which have blocked the commercialization of WPT.” Currently, the research team and KAIST’s spin-off company, TESLAS, Inc., have been conducting pilot projects to apply DCRS in various places such as cafes and offices. YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU64pMyJioc Demonstration of 30 Watts Range Omnidirectional Wireless-charging at a Laboratory on KAIST’s Campus Figure 1: Wide-range omnidirectional wireless-charging system based on DCRS can charge multiple numbers of mobile devices simultaneously in a 1m3 range. The above is a transmitter, and the below is a Samsung Galaxy Note with a receiver embedded inside. Figure 2: Demonstration of the omnidirectional wireless-charging system (clockwise from top of the left, robust charging despite the presence of metal obstacles, omnidirectional charging, long distance charging, and multiple devices charging)
2015.07.08 View 18011
KAIST's DRC-HUBO Wins the DARPA Robotics Challenge 2015 DRC-HUBO finished all eight assignments in less than 45 minutes, taking first place among 24 international teams and claiming the USD 2 million prize offered by a US defense research agency. The Robotics Challenge Finals 2015 hosted by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) took place on June 5-6, 2015 at the Fairplex in Pomona, California. Team KAIST of the Republic of Korea led by Professor Jun-Ho Oh of the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Professor In-So Kweon of the Electrical Engineering Department, and researchers from Rainbow Co., the university’s spin-off company that builds the robots, won the DARPA Finals. The team received USD 2 million as a prize. The DARPA’s Robotics Challenge (DRC) promotes a competition of robot systems and software teams which seek to develop robots capable of assisting humans in responding to natural and man-made disasters such as the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear incident in 2011. The DRC consists of three competitions: a software-based Virtual Robotics Challenge which took place in June 2013; the Robotics Challenge Trials in Homestead, Florida, in December 2013; and the Finals in June 2015. A total of 24 teams from universities and private and public research institutes from Korea, the US, Hong Kong, Germany, Japan, and Italy participated in the Finals. The participating teams had to finish eight assignments in 60 minutes, during which their robots were untethered and operated wirelessly without communication from their engineers. Each team was assigned a series of tasks: they included driving a vehicle, getting out of a vehicle, opening a door, turning a valve, drilling a hole in a wall, a surprise task such as pushing a button or turning on a switch, walking over rubble or debris, and climbing stairs. Robots scored a point each time they completed their missions. To win, a team had to complete all the tasks successfully in the shortest amount of time possible. Team KAIST completed the entire course in 44 minutes and 28 seconds, followed by the Institute of Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) Robotics in Pensacola, Florida in 50:26, and Team TARTAN Rescue of the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University in 55:15. For details, see an article below from the New York Times: New York Times, June 6, 2015 “Korean Robot Makers Walk Off With $2 Million Prize” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/science/korean-robot-makers-walk-off-with-2-million-prize.html?_r=1 DRC-HUBO sticks a plug into an outlet for the surprise task at the 2015 DARPA Robotics Challenge on June 5-6, 2015, in Pomona, California. DRC-HUBO turns a valve in a clockwise direction. DRC-HUBO drills to cut a circle into the wall. Members of Team KAIST pose together after the award ceremony on June 6, 2015.
2015.06.07 View 26615
KAIST-Taiwanese Team: Zinc Supplements May Help Treat Autism A KAIST and Taiwanese research team has recently discovered strong evidence that Zinc is associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and improves social interaction in mouse models with ASD. The research findings, titled “Trans-synaptic zinc mobilization improves social interaction in two mouse models of autism through NMDAR activation,” were published in Nature Communications on May 18, 2015. For details, please see an article below: The China Post, June 4, 2015 “Zinc supplements may help treat autism: study” http://www.chinapost.com.tw/health/mental-health/2015/06/04/437612/Zinc-suppliments.htm
2015.06.04 View 7224
BBC Feautres KAIST's Jellyfish Robot Click, a weekly BBC television program covering news and recent developments in science and technology, introduced KAIST’s robotics project, JEROS, which has been conducted by Professor Hyun Myung of the Urban Robotics Lab (http://urobot.kaist.ac.kr/). JEROS is a robotics system that detects, captures, and removes jellyfish in the ocean. For the show, please click the link below: BBC News, Click, June 2, 2015 The Robot Jellyfish Shredders http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32965841
2015.06.03 View 10761
KAIST Hosts the Wearable Computer Contest 2015 Deadlines for Prototype Contest by May 30, 2015 and August 15 for Idea Contest KAIST will hold the Wearable Computer Contest 2015 in November, which will be sponsored by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Wearable computers have emerged as next-generation mobile devices, and are gaining more popularity with the growth of the Internet of Things. KAIST has introduced wearable devices such as K-Glass 2, a smart glass with augmented reality embedded. The Glass also works on commands by blinking eyes. This year’s contest with the theme of “Wearable Computers for Internet of Things” is divided into two parts: the Prototype Competition and Idea Contest. With the fusion of information technology (IT) and fashion, contestants are encouraged to submit prototypes of their ideas by May 30, 2015. The ten teams that make it to the finals will receive a wearable computer platform and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) education, along with a prize of USD 1,000 for prototype production costs. The winner of the Prototype Contest will receive a prize of USD 5,000 and an award from the Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) of the Republic of Korea. In the Idea Contest, posters containing ideas and concepts of wearable devices should be submitted by August 15, 2015. The teams that make it to the finals will have to display a life-size mockup in the final stage. The winner of the contest will receive a prize of USD 1,000 and an award from the Minister of MSIP. Any undergraduate or graduate student in Korea can enter the Prototype Competition and anyone can participate in the Idea Contest. The chairman of the event, Hoi-Jun Yoo, a professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering at KAIST, noted: “There is a growing interest in wearable computers in the industry. I can easily envisage that there will be a new IT world where wearable computers are integrated into the Internet of Things, healthcare, and smart homes.” More information on the contest can be found online at http://www.ufcom.org. Picture: Finalists in the last year’s contest
2015.05.11 View 9472
Big Data Reveals the Secret of Classical Music Creation Professor Juyong Park of the Graduate School of Culture Technology at KAIST and his research team have recently published the result of their study (“Topology and Evolution of the Network of Western Classical Music Composers”) on the dynamics of how classical music is created, stylized, and disseminated in EPJ Data Science online on April 22, 2015. For the press release issued by the journal, please go to the link below: EPJ Data Science, May 6, 2015 “EPJ Data Science Highlight—Big Data Reveals Classical Music Creation Secrets” http://www.epj.org/113-epj-ds/941-epjds-highlight-big-data-reveals-classical-music-creation-secrets Researchers used big-data analysis and modelling technique to examine the complex, undercurrent network of classical music composers, which was constructed from the large volume of compact disc (CD) recordings data collected from an online retailer, ArkivMusic, and a music reference website, AllMusicGuide. The study discovered that the basic characteristics of composers’ network are similar to many real-world networks, including the small-world property, the existence of a giant component, high clustering, and heavy-tailed degree distributions. The research team also found that composers collaborated and influenced each other and that composers’ networks grew over time. The research showed that consumers of classical music CDs tend to listen together to the music of a certain group of different composers, offering a useful tool to understand how the music style and market develops. Based on this, the research team predicted the future of the classical music market would be centered on top composers, while maintaining diversity due to the growing number of new composers. Professor Park said, “In recent years, technology greatly affects the way we consume culture and art. Accordingly, we see more and more artists and institutions try to incorporate technology into their creative process, and this will lead us to larger- and higher-quality data that can allow us to learn more about culture and art. The quantitative methodology we have demonstrated in our research will give us an opportunity to explore the nature of art and literature in novel ways.” The European Physical Journal (EPJ) comprises a series of peer-reviewed journals, eleven in total, which cover physics and related subjects such as The Large Hadron Collider, condensed matter, particles, soft matter, and biological physics. The EPJ Data Science is the latest journal launched by EPJ. Figure: Backbone of the Composer Network The composer-composer network backbone, projected from the CD-composer network, reveals the major component of the network. The node sizes represent the composers’ degrees, and the colors represent their active periods.
2015.05.07 View 11758
Forbes, "The World's Best New universities 2015" The American business magazine, Forbes, covered the Times Higher Education’s recently released rankings of top 100 global universities that are less than 50 years old. KAIST ranked third in the list. See the link below for details. Forbes, April 29, 2015 The World’s Best New Universities 2015 http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2015/04/29/the-worlds-best-new-universities-2015/.
2015.04.30 View 5409
2015 QS World University Rankings by Subject: KAIST's Chemical Engineering ranks 17th and 19th for Materials Science in the World Chemical Engineering (1st in Korea) 1 MIT (US) 2 UC Berkeley (US) 3 Stanford University (US) 4 University of Cambridge (UK) 5 National University of Singapore (Singapore) 17 KAIST (Korea) Materials Science and Engineering (1st in Korea) 1 MIT (US) 2 Stanford University (US) 3 UC Berkeley (US) 4 University of Cambridge (UK) 5 North Western University (US) 19 KAIST (Korea) Electrical and Electronic Engineering (1st in Korea) 1 MIT (US) 2 Stanford University (US) 3 UC Berkeley (US) 4 Harvard University (US) 5 ETH Zurich – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Switzerland) 22 KAIST (Korea) Civil and Structural Engineering (1st in Korea) 1 MIT (US) 2 Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) 3 National University of Singapore (Singapore) 4 Imperial College London (UK) 5 University of Cambridge (UK) 22 KAIST (Korea) Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering (1st in Korea) 1 MIT (US) 2 Stanford University (US) 3 University of Cambridge (UK) 4 UC Berkeley (US) 5 Michigan University (US) 26 KAIST (Korea) Chemistry (2nd in Korea) 1 MIT (US) 2 UC Berkeley (US) 3 University of Cambridge (UK) 4 Harvard University (US) 5 University of Oxford (UK) 26 KAIST (Korea) Computer Science and Information Systems (1st in Korea) 1 MIT (US) 2 Stanford University (US) 3 University of Oxford (UK) 4 Carnegie Mellon University (US) Harvard University (US) 39 KAIST (Korea) The QS World University Rankings released its 2015 rankings by subject on April 29, 2015. According to the rankings, KAIST’s Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science Engineering were listed in the top 20 global universities, 17th and 19th, respectively. KAIST took first place in six subjects among Korean universities, including electrical and electronic engineering; civil and structural engineering; mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering; and computer science and information systems. The QS World University Rankings by Subject highlights the world’s top universities in a range of popular subject areas, covering 36 subjects as of this year. Published annually since 2011, the rankings are based on academic reputation, employer reputation, citation count, and research impact. For a full list of the rankings: http://www.topuniversities.com/subject-rankings/2015
2015.04.29 View 6605
KAIST Researchers Develops Hyper-Stretchable Elastic-Composite Energy Harvester A research team led by Professor Keon Jae Lee (http://fand.kaist.ac.kr) of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST has developed a hyper-stretchable elastic-composite energy harvesting device called a nanogenerator. Flexible electronics have come into the market and are enabling new technologies like flexible displays in mobile phone, wearable electronics, and the Internet of Things (IoTs). However, is the degree of flexibility enough for most applications? For many flexible devices, elasticity is a very important issue. For example, wearable/biomedical devices and electronic skins (e-skins) should stretch to conform to arbitrarily curved surfaces and moving body parts such as joints, diaphragms, and tendons. They must be able to withstand the repeated and prolonged mechanical stresses of stretching. In particular, the development of elastic energy devices is regarded as critical to establish power supplies in stretchable applications. Although several researchers have explored diverse stretchable electronics, due to the absence of the appropriate device structures and correspondingly electrodes, researchers have not developed ultra-stretchable and fully-reversible energy conversion devices properly. Recently, researchers from KAIST and Seoul National University (SNU) have collaborated and demonstrated a facile methodology to obtain a high-performance and hyper-stretchable elastic-composite generator (SEG) using very long silver nanowire-based stretchable electrodes. Their stretchable piezoelectric generator can harvest mechanical energy to produce high power output (~4 V) with large elasticity (~250%) and excellent durability (over 104 cycles). These noteworthy results were achieved by the non-destructive stress- relaxation ability of the unique electrodes as well as the good piezoelectricity of the device components. The new SEG can be applied to a wide-variety of wearable energy-harvesters to transduce biomechanical-stretching energy from the body (or machines) to electrical energy. Professor Lee said, “This exciting approach introduces an ultra-stretchable piezoelectric generator. It can open avenues for power supplies in universal wearable and biomedical applications as well as self-powered ultra-stretchable electronics.” This result was published online in the March issue of Advanced Materials, which is entitled “A Hyper-Stretchable Elastic-Composite Energy Harvester.” YouTube Link: “A hyper-stretchable energy harvester” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBByFvPVRiU&feature=youtu.be Figure: Top row: Schematics of hyper-stretchable elastic-composite generator enabled by very long silver nanowire-based stretchable electrodes. Bottom row: The SEG energy harvester stretched by human hands over 200% strain.
2015.04.14 View 15427
Wall Climbing Quadcopter by KAIST Urban Robotics Lab Popular Science, an American monthly magazine devoted to general readers of science and technology, published “Watch This Creepy Drone Climb A Wall” online describing a drone that can fly and climb walls on March 19, 2015. The drone is the product of research conducted by Professor Hyun Myung of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at KAIST. The flying quadcopters can turn into wall-crawling robots, or vice versa, when carrying out such assignments as cleaning windows or inspecting a building’s infrastructure. Professor Myung leads the KAIST Urban Robotics Lab (http://urobot.kaist.ac.kr/). For a link to the article, see http://www.popsci.com/watch-drone-climb-wall-video. Another Popular Science article (posted on April 3, 2015), entitled “South Korea Gets Ready for Drone-on-Drone Warfare with North Korea,” describes a combat system of drones against hostile drones. Professor Hyunchul Shim of the Aerospace Engineering Department at KAIST developed the anti-drone system. He currently heads the Unmanned System Research Group, FDCL, http://unmanned.kaist.ac.kr/) and the Center of Field Robotics for Innovation, Exploration, aNd Defense (C-FRIEND).
2015.04.07 View 14216
Mystery in Membrane Traffic How NSF Disassembles Single SNAR Complex Solved KAIST researchers discovered that the protein N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF) unravels a single SNARE complex using one round ATP turnover by tearing the complex with a single burst, contradicting a previous theory that it unwinds in a processive manner. In 2013, James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, and Thomas C. Südhof won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries of molecular machineries for vesicle trafficking, a major transport system in cells for maintaining cellular processes. Vesicle traffic acts as a kind of “home-delivery service” in cells. Vesicles package and deliver materials such as proteins and hormones from one cell organelle to another. Then it releases its contents by fusing with the target organelle’s membrane. One example of vesicle traffic is in neuronal communications, where neurotransmitters are released from a neuron. Some of the key proteins for vesicle traffic discovered by the Nobel Prize winners were N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor (NSF), alpha-soluble NSF attachment protein (α-SNAP), and soluble SNAP receptors (SNAREs). SNARE proteins are known as the minimal machinery for membrane fusion. To induce membrane fusion, the proteins combine to form a SNARE complex in a four helical bundle, and NSF and α-SNAP disassemble the SNARE complex for reuse. In particular, NSF can bind an energy source molecule, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and the ATP-bound NSF develops internal tension via cleavage of ATP. This process is used to exert great force on SNARE complexes, eventually pulling them apart. However, although about 30 years have passed since the Nobel Prize winners’ discovery, how NSF/α-SNAP disassembled the SNARE complex remained a mystery to scientists due to a lack in methodology. In a recent issue of Science, published on March 27, 2015, a research team, led by Tae-Young Yoon of the Department of Physics at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and Reinhard Jahn of the Department of Neurobiology of the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, reports that NSF/α-SNAP disassemble a single SNARE complex using various single-molecule biophysical methods that allow them to monitor and manipulate individual protein complexes. “We have learned that NSF releases energy in a burst within 20 milliseconds to “tear” the SNARE complex apart in a one-step global unfolding reaction, which is immediately followed by the release of SNARE proteins,” said Yoon. Previously, it was believed that NSF disassembled a SNARE complex by unwinding it in a processive manner. Also, largely unexplained was how many cycles of ATP hydrolysis were required and how these cycles were connected to the disassembly of the SNARE complex. Yoon added, “From our research, we found that NSF requires hydrolysis of ATPs that were already bound before it attached to the SNAREs—which means that only one round of an ATP turnover is sufficient for SNARE complex disassembly. Moreover, this is possible because NSF pulls a SNARE complex apart by building up the energy from individual ATPs and releasing it at once, yielding a “spring-loaded” mechanism.” NSF is a member of the ATPases associated with various cellular activities family (AAA+ ATPase), which is essential for many cellular functions such as DNA replication and protein degradation, membrane fusion, microtubule severing, peroxisome biogenesis, signal transduction, and the regulation of gene expression. This research has added valuable new insights and hints for studying AAA+ ATPase proteins, which are crucial for various living beings. The title of the research paper is “Spring-loaded unraveling of a single SNARE complex by NSF in one round of ATP turnover.” (DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa5267) Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqTSYHtyHWE&feature=youtu.be Picture 1. Working model of how NSF/α-SNAP disassemble a single SNARE complex Picture 2. After neurotransmitter release, NSF disassembles a single SNARE complex using a single round of ATP turnover in a single burst reaction.
2015.03.28 View 12380