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Ultra-high Resolution 2-dimentional Real-time Image Capture with Super Lens
Ultra-high Resolution 2-dimentional Real-time Image Capture with Super Lens
Applications to high-precision semiconductor processing or intracellular structures observation are possible.
A joint research team led by Professors Yongkeun Park and Yong-Hoon Cho from the Department of Physics, KAIST, has succeeded in capturing real-time 2D images at a resolution of 100 nm (nanometers), which was impossible with optical lens due to the diffraction limit of light until now. Its future application includes high-precision semiconductor manufacturing process or observation of intracellular structures.
This research follows the past research of the super-lens developed by Professor Park last April, using paint spray to observe images that have three times higher resolution than those discovered by conventional optical lens.
Since optical lens utilize the refraction of light, the diffraction limit, which prevents achieving focus smaller than the wavelength of light, has always been a barrier for acquiring high-resolution images. In the past, it was impossible to observe objects less than the size of 200 to 300 nm in the visible light spectrum.
In order to solve the problem of near-field extinction due to scattering of light, the research team used spray paint consisting of nano-particles massed with dense scattering materials to obtain high-resolution information.
Then, by calculating and restoring the first scattering shape of light using the time reversibility of light, the researchers were able to overcome the diffraction limit. The original position of an object to be observed is obtained by deriving the complex trajectory of the light, and reversing the time to locate the particular position of the object.
Professor Park said, “This new technology can be used as the core technology in all fields which require optical measurement and control. The existing electron microscopy cannot observe cells without destroying them, but the new technology allows us to visualize at ultra-high resolution without destruction.”
The research results were published online in the 9th edition of Physical Review Letters, a prestigious international journal in the field of physics.
2014.09.23 View 10272 -
PIBOT, a small humanoid robot flies an aircraft
The 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014) took place in Chicago, Illinois, on September 14-18, 2014.
Professor David Hyunchul Shim and his students from the Department of Aerospace Engineering, KAIST, presented a research paper entitled “A Robot-machine Interface for Full-functionality Automation Using a Humanoid” at the conference.
The robot called “PIBOT,” a pint-sized, tiny humanoid robot, uses a mixture of flight data and visuals to fly an airplane, capable of identifying and operating all of the buttons and switches in the cockpit of a normal light aircraft designed for humans.
For now, the robot is only flying a simulator, but Professor Shim expects that “PIBOT will help us have a fully automated flight experience, eventually replacing human pilots.”
The IEEE Spectrum magazine published an article on PIBOT posted online September 18, 2014. Please follow the link below for the article:
IEEE Spectrum, September 18, 2014
Tiny Humanoid Robot Learning to Fly Real Airplanes
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/humanoids/tiny-humanoid-robot-learning-to-fly-real-airplanes
2014.09.23 View 13923 -
The Alumni Association of KAIST hosts the first KAIST Technology Exchange Meeting
The Alumni Association of KAIST hosted the first KAIST Technology Exchange Meeting on September 12th at the KAIST Institute on campus.
About 14 alumni companies, MDS Technology, Biospace, and Satrec Initiative, two private equity funds including KAIST Entrepreneurship Foundation, and KAIST Technology Commercialization Center participated in this meeting.
This meeting was organized by the Alumni Association of KAIST in order to strengthen cooperation between alumni companies and KAIST members by increasing technology exchange and fostering cooperative culture.
The meeting comprised of two sessions: product exhibition and technology-exchange session.
During the exhibition, participating companies prepared the following: product showcase, intellectual property exchange, project consulting, and employment information.
Companies involved in technology-exchange session not only showcased their brand new technology but also shared their innovative ideas and entrepreneur vision, and discussed joint R&D.
The president of the Alumni Association of KAIST, Man Kee Baek who was in charge of this meeting said, “I hope this meeting stimulates more technology exchange between alumni companies and school members.”
He added that “our alumni association will continue to organize many projects for better KAIST.”
Detailed information about the event can be found on the official webpage of the Alumni Association of KAIST (http://www.ilovekaist.net), and this event was open to the public.
A company specializing in medical devices, Biospace, plans to donate a body composition analyzer and an automatic blood pressure meter worth 14,000,000 won to KAIST.
2014.09.15 View 7040 -
President Steve Kang of KAIST Attends the 2014 Summer Davos Forum in Tianjin, China
President Steve Kang of KAIST will attend the 2014 Annual Meeting of the New Champions, the World Economic Forum (WEF), to be held on September 10-12, 2014 in Tianjin, China.
KAIST holds its own IdeasLab session on nanotechnology on September 12, 2014.
On September 10, 2014, President Steve Kang will participate in a private session hosted by the Global University Leaders Forum (GULF) community at WEF as a panelist.
In addition to President Kang, eight presidents from top global universities such as the National University of Singapore, Peking University, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), University of Tokyo, and Carnegie Mellon University will join the panel discussion under the topic, “Increasing the Translational Impact of University Research.” Specifically, the presidents will address issues related to the importance of university-led technology transfer in Asia, key strategies and goals for technology transfer, and implementation approaches taken by each university to promote technology transfer from university to industry.
President Kang was invited to this GULF session, the only attendant from Korean universities, in recognition of his long time experience and expertise in education and research.
In 2006, WEF created the GULF, a small community of the presidents of top universities in the world, aiming to offer an open platform for high-level dialogues on issues of higher education and research with other sectors, as well as to foster collaboration between universities in areas of significance for global policy.
As of 2014, a total of 25 globally leading universities, including Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are GULF members. KAIST, which joined the club this year, is the only Korean university.
The 2014 Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as the Summer Davos Forum, hosts numerous sessions under the theme of “Creating Value through Innovation.” At the Forum, a total of ten IdeasLab sessions will be hosted. KAIST was invited to run its own IdeasLab on nanotechnology on September 12, 2014.
Together with President Kang, Professors Sang Ouk Kim and Keon Jae Lee from the Department of Materials Science Engineering, KAIST, and Professors Sang Yup Lee and Hyunjoo Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, KAIST, will present their own speeches on the topic entitled “From diagnostics to materials, how is nanotechnology changing lives?”
President Kang will give the opening speech at the KAIST IdeasLab.
He said that an invitation from WEF to join the IdeasLab spoke well for KAIST:
“KAIST is the first and the only Korean university ever invited to run its own IdeasLab at the World Economic Forum. The IdeasLab is an expert group meeting, conducted only by the world’s most prestigious universities and research institutes. At the IdeasLab sessions, global leaders from different sectors identify major issues facing higher education and humanity and explore solutions through science and technology innovation. Holding our own IdeasLab on one of our strongest fields, nanotechnology, is indeed an excellent opportunity for KAIST to show its strength in academic and research excellence on the global stage.”
2014.09.08 View 14590 -
Kiseok Song, a Ph.D. candidate in the Electrical Engineering Department, receives the 2014 Marconi Society Young Scholar Award
Established
in 1974 to commemorate the eminent Italian inventor and electrical engineer,
Guglielmo Marconi, the Marconi Society has recognized significant contributions
in science and technology by awarding the Marconi Prize, with an annual USD
100,000 grant, to a living scientist who has made great advancements in
communications technology.
Along
with the Marconi Prize, the Society has been presenting the Young Scholars
Awards over the past six years to reward young and emerging scientists’ brilliant
academic and research achievements as well as their entrepreneurship. For this
year’s seventh Young Scholar Awards, a KAIST doctoral student was selected as
one of the two recipients.
Kiseok
Song, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, has
been named as a 2014 Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar. The Marconi Society said that Song was being recognized for "his
academic achievements and leadership in the field of communications and
information science,” according to a press release distributed by the Society on August 28, 2014.
Studying
under the advice of Professor Hoi-Jun Yoo of the Department of Electrical
Engineering at KAIST, Song has developed bio-medical System on a Chip (SoC)
such as smart wireless bio-medical systems combined with optimized SoCs,
compact bio-medical patch systems connected to smart phones, smart electro-acupuncture
and transdermal drug delivery, and multi-modal non-invasive glucose monitors.
The
press release quoted Professor Yoo’s comment on the meaning of Song’s research:
“All
of these bio-medical systems open a new healthcare paradigm to improve people’s
quality of life in combination with the current mobile smart phones.”
In
addition to Song, Himanshu Asnani, a Stanford Ph.D. candidate and system engineer
at Ericsson Silicon Valley, received the other award. The award
ceremony will be held at the Marconi Society’s annual award gala at the
National Academies of Science Building in Washington D.C., on October 2, 2014.
For
details, please read the following press release:
The
Marconi Society, Press Release, August 28, 2014
“Kiseok
Song Receives the 2014 Marconi Society Young Scholar Award”
http://www.marconisociety.org/press/2014Song.html
2014.09.08 View 9023 -
Extracting Light from Graphite: Core Technology of Graphene Quantum Dots Display Developed
Professor Seokwoo Jeon of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor Yong-Hoon Cho of the Department of Physics, and Professor Seunghyup Yoo of the Department of Electrical Engineering announced that they were able to develop topnotch graphene quantum dots from graphite.
Using the method of synthesizing graphite intercalation compound from graphite with salt and water, the research team developed graphene quantum dots in an ecofriendly way.
The quantum dots have a diameter of 5 nanometers with their sizes equal and yield high quantum efficiency. Unlike conventional quantum dots, they are not comprised of toxic materials such as lead or cadmium. As the quantum dots can be developed from materials which can be easily found in the nature, researchers look forward to putting these into mass production at low cost.
The research team also discovered a luminescence mechanism of graphene quantum dots and confirmed the possibility of commercial use by developing quantum dot light-emitting diodes with brightness of 1,000 cd/m2, which is greater than that of cellphone displays.
Professor Seokwoo Jeon said, “Although quantum dot LEDs have a lower luminous efficiency than existing ones, their luminescent property can be further improved” and emphasized that “using quantum dot displays will allow us to develop not only paper-thin displays but also flexible ones.”
Sponsored by Graphene Research Center in KAIST Institute for NanoCentury, the research finding was published online in the April 20th issue of Advanced Optical Materials.
Picture 1: Graphene quantum dots and their synthesis
Picture 2: Luminescence mechanism of graphene quantum dots
Picture 3: Structure of graphene quantum dots LED and its emission
2014.09.06 View 18129 -
IAMCOMPANY, an educational technology startup created by a KAIST student
In-Mo Chung, a senior student of the Department of Industrial Design at KAIST, developed a mobile homework book application, IAMSCHOOL, in order to help parents engage, more interactively, in their children’s school activities.
Chung said in an interview with KAIST:
“I came up with creating my company, IAMCOMPANY, when I worked as a volunteer for a student club in 2009 that provides an educational service to high school students living in a less-favored environment. I found out their educational environment very poor, which ultimately led me to build a public interest business model for education.”
Chung created a few mobile applications including IAMSCHOOL and IAMCLASS. The application, IAMSCHOOL, receives school’s notices, homework assignments, or any information related to classes and sends them directly and immediately to parents, allowing real-time communications between parents and teachers. In Korea, parents usually check as many as 50 school notices per month.
Once registered, private educational institutes and public organizations can also receive school information through this application.
In July 2011, the Department of Science Management at KAIST hosted a student competition for startup ideas, and Chung’s idea to build an educational application won the best award. In 2012, he received the grand prize at the KAIST E-5 Startup Competition.
An undergraduate student who is the chief executive officer of a tech startup
Chung established IAMCOMPANY with the seed fund of 13 million Korean won that he had received from the city government of Daejeon. His business idea was selected as one of the 300 College Student Startup Projects, a startup support program operated by Daejeon City to encourage entrepreneurship among college and university students.
Chung talked about the background of his business:
“I think that my idea to offer a “free educational application” helped me win the first prize at the student startup competition. At that time, I was still young, so I considered the winning of the competition as an “exercise” to build my own business in the future. But when I actually started my company, I found out that KAIST’s startup programs helped me a lot throughout the entire process and realized that these programs are good enough for young entrepreneurs to build up their company from a single idea.”
KAIST professors and staff support student startups.
Chung took in-depth mentoring from KAIST professors. Professor Min-Hwa Lee of the Department of Management Science and Professor Lak-Kyoung Song of the Department of Technology Management, who is also the president of the Daejeon Creative Economy Innovation Center, have supported Chung’s endeavors. President Taek-Su Kang of the KAIST Innovation Center gave Chung a lot of advice as he was developing IAMCOMPANY’s initial business model. Chung said that even now, they look for solutions together when his business ran into a brick wall.
Professor Lee said, “IAMCOMPANY does not aim for profit. Instead, by supplying free applications, they improve the environment of education and eventually create public interest. Also, they find out consumers’ hidden demands and satisfied it creatively.”
With 8,000 schools registered to IAMSCHOOL, 750,000 parents are using the application in just two years of its release. Parents and teachers responded enthusiastically.
The application “IAMSCHOOL” provides services for 8,000 schools in Korea. Currently, 750,000 parents are using this application.
The company offers the nation’s largest online education service. The reason behind their rapid growth is that their service solves communications problems between schools and parents in a simple and efficient manner.
Jung-Mi Hwang, a teacher at Galma Elementary School in Dajeon, said:
“After using this application, there are fewer occasions of students forgetting their school materials. We think this is because the parents can check the school notices and newsletters at any time through the application.”
She added, “I hope more and more schools will use this application because it is convenient and also available for free.”
Another teacher from Daedeok Elementary School in Daejeon, Dong-Min Nam, said that “many parents like this application since they are immediately notified with school events.”
KAIST’s Technology Business Incubation Center
“After moving around many places due to expensive rent,” Chung said that “we finally moved into the Technology Business Incubation Center (TBIC) at KAIST. The center helped us not only providing the space, but also mentoring and connecting us with venture investment companies. This was a great help in attracting initial investments.”
Chung added:
“At first, a staff member from TBIC was concerned about the viability of my company. I was then an undergraduate student with zero business experience, and from his standpoint, I was taking a huge risk.”
But in several months after its establishment, IAMCOMPANY has grown to have 16 employees.
An investment of 1.5 billion Korean won from a venture capital company led to a sustainable growth.
In early stage, IAMCOMPANY received 300 million Korean won from a venture capital company, and it recently attracted additional 1.2 billion won from a leading venture capital. With these investments, the company grew further. Moreover, investments from large educational corporations have proved the value and competitiveness of the company in the education market.
Chung plans to expand his service globally, particularly in China and Singapore.
He said that he would not forget how he had started his business, and with such a focused mind, he would strive to provide students and parents with quality educational services while proactively incorporating the advanced information technology (IT) into his products.
A bold movement to Pangyo Techno Valley, a Korean version of Silicon Valley
Although the company started with only two members, as of August 2014, it boasts of having twenty employees, a remarkable leap of growth within just two years.
In April this year, Chung relocated his office from TBIC to Pangyo Techno Valley, the Silicon Valley of Korea, in order to provide a better work environment to his staff.
It was not an easy decision for him to leave the comfortable, well-known place, the KAIST campus, and the colleagues, including TBIC staff and KAIST professors, who had helped his startup efforts in early days. However, in order to recruit better employees and to access additional IT resources and education-related companies, Chung decided to make a bold movement, relocating his business to Pangyo Techno Valley in Seoul.
A reputable American venture capital investor, Timothy C. Draper, invested in IAMCOMPANY
Chung was able to secure solid support from an eminent global investor, Timothy C. Draper, the founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a venture capital based in Menlo Park in California.
Recently, Draper, a legendary investor of the Silicon Valley, invested USD 20,000 in IAMCOMPANY. Draper discovered worldwide venture companies such as Hotmail, Skype, and Baidu. IAMCOMPANY received high marks from him as a company with a competitive edge in the global education market.
Chung met Draper in April 2014 when he participated in a television network’s (Korean Broadcasting System) audition program for startups. Draper was one of the judges for the program, and he was impressed by the robust growth of IAMCOMPANY. He eventually made a decision to chip in USD 20,000 in Chung’s company.
Chung said that he was glad to meet the tycoon of Silicon Valley who recognized the potential of his company.
In last October, IAMSCHOOL was selected for the K-APP Global Hub Program—a global market pioneering program to support the development of mobile applications—which was sponsored by the Small and Medium Business Administration in Korea.
IAMCOMPANY will bring ‘the Korean Wave’ in the area of educational applications.
Chung said, “We plan to sustainably manage the applications and add more functions, so that more educational institutions can adopt our application.”
The company aims to provide its service to over 11,000 schools and 100,000 academies nationally so that more parents are able to receive educational news and information easily.
Chung concluded his interview in an upbeat tone as he predicted the future of his company:
“I am proud that IAMSCHOOL is being recognized by the world’s best investor, and I have gained confidence to advance to the global market. Through global service, I want to make "the Korean Wave" in the field of educational applications and to receive appreciation from students, teachers, and parents worldwide.”
2014.09.04 View 10288 -
KAIST's Advanced Biomass R&D Center and ToolGen will cooperate
The Advanced Biomass R&D Center (ABC) at KAIST and ToolGen, Inc., a Korean biotechnology company focused on the development of engineered nucleases that can be used as essential tools for editing genetic information in microbial, plant, animal, and human cells, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on August 18, 2014 for technology exchange and research collaboration.
ABC is headed by Executive Director Ji-Won Yang, a professor emeritus at the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Chief Executive Officer Jong-Moon Kim for ToolGen.
The newly signed MOU encourages collaborations in the following areas:
- Development of genome editing technology for microalgae modification
- Development of microalgae that increases biofuel production through the
application of genome editing technology
- Creation of education and training programs for researchers
- Collaboration in other areas
In addition, the two organizations decided to cooperate in the improvement of biofuel yields using ToolGen’s genome editing technology, the commercialization of research outcomes, and the development of eco-friendly biofuels from biomass.
Executive Director Yang commented that “improving biofuel production is crucial to accelerate the commercialization of biofuels, and collaborating with ToolGen will help us realize that goal.” He further said that “The importance of this MOU lies in the fact that the global chemical industry including Korea has been making substantial efforts to shift its attention from a fossil fuel-based development to a more bio-based technology.”
Jin-Soo Kim, the director of the Genome Editing Research Center at the Institute of Basic Sciences in Korea and the cofounder of ToolGen, added that “ToolGen has successfully commercialized its third generation genetic scissors, which shows a lot of promise for commercialization. Our collaboration with KAIST will serve as the driving force to create new industries and accordingly, new jobs.”
2014.09.03 View 10950 -
The MIT Skoltech Initiative Report identifies KAIST as one of the core group of emerging leaders for academic entrepreneurship and innovation
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Skoltech Initiative was established in 2011 to support MIT’s multi-year collaboration in building the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), a private graduate research university in Skolkovo, Russia.
Recently, the office of the MIT Skoltech Initiative has published a benchmark report conducted from 2012 to 2014 by Dr. Ruth Graham, an internationally recognized leading consultant for engineering education and research as well as academic technology-driven entrepreneurship, under the guidance of MIT professors and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the MIT Skoltech Initiative.
The report identified more than 200 institutions as the world’s most highly-regarded entrepreneurial universities and characterized the approach taken by them to build university-based ecosystems for entrepreneurship and innovation (E&I).
Among the top-ranked institutions, the report mentioned an emerging group of leaders (EGLs) that are “located within more challenging environments but establishing strong entrepreneurship and innovation profiles and reputations.” The report named, in particular, five universities, KAIST (Korea), Technion (Israel), Aalto University (Finland), the University of Michigan (US), and the University of Auckland (NZ), as the core group of the EGLs.
This benchmarking study was written to highlight key strategies and features associated with well-regarded university E&I transformations within more challenging environments and to address barriers and limits faced by the EGLs, thereby providing a good model to other universities wishing to make similar changes.
Through an in-depth case study of a small group of emerging universities, the report concluded that three major components play a critical role in the development of institutional E&I capacity and the growth of ecosystems for E&I:
Component 1: Inclusive grassroots community of E&I engagement across university populations and regional community;
Component 2: Strength in industry-funded research and licensing of university-owned technology; and
Component 3: University E&I agenda reflected in its policies, mission, budget allocations, incentives and curriculum
For more details, please visit the link below:
http://web.mit.edu/sktech/sktech-program/entrepreneurship-innovation/benchmark.html
2014.08.20 View 9021 -
2014 NEREC Conference on Nuclear Nonproliferation: July 31-August 1, 2014, Seoul
The Nonproliferation Education and Research Center (NEREC) at KAIST hosted an international conference on nuclear nonproliferation on July 31-August 1, 2014 in Seoul. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the Korean Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, and the Korea Nuclear Policy Society (KNPS) sponsored the event.
Over one hundred experts and "thought leaders" in nuclear security and nonproliferation attended the conference and discussed issues related to the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, the role of scientific community in mitigating nuclear threat and promoting the peaceful use of nuclear power, and nuclear disarmament policy.
Keynote speakers were: Steven E. Miller, Director of International Security Program at Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University; Scott D. Sagan, Senior Fellow of the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University; Mark Fitzpatrick, Director of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Programme, International Institute for Strategic Studies; Sang-Hyun Lee, Director of Security Strategy, Sejong Institute; and Man-Sung Yim, Professor of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, KAIST.
At the conference, Professor Yim, Director of KAIST NEREC said, “Korea has grown to become a key player in the development of commercial nuclear energy over the past decades. We hope that our conference encourages Korea to be more involved in the efforts of the international community to enhance the global nonproliferation regime.”
2014.08.05 View 14409 -
BizWorld 2014 Takes Place at the KAIST campus: July 28-August 2, 2014
A multinational student conference on science, technology, and business called “BizWorld 2014 (http://kisa.kaist.ac.kr/bizworld/kaist/)” began on July 28, 2014 and continues through August 2, 2014 at the KAIST campus in Daejeon.
Created in 2013 by international students at KAIST, the conference aims to promote entrepreneurship among students within KAIST as well as those from other nations and to exchange knowledge and experiences in translating technological and scientific innovations into business opportunities.
The KAIST International Student Association (KISA) hosts the conference in partnership with five universities in the Asia-Pacific region: Peking University in China, National Taiwan University in Taiwan, the University of Tokyo in Japan, National University of Singapore, and the University of Queensland in Australia.
This year, four distinguished speakers from the Korean government and private sector will give talks on job creation through science and technology advancement, strategic management of technology, and trends in information technology business.
Participating students will also visit laboratories for electric vehicles being developed by KAIST: Armadilo T and the Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV).
The Armadillo T is a small, light, and agile electric car that folds its body for an efficient use of space. OLEV can be an electric car, bus, or even a high-capacity train, which is recharged wirelessly while on-the-go.
The s tudents will have a Q&A meeting with researchers and discuss a possible business model to commercialize these technologies.
2014.07.30 View 9576 -
Smart eBook appeared in New York Times on May 17, 2014
Smart eBook (hhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVyBwz1-AiE), an interface that allows e-book readers to have the similar experience and convenience to reading paper books, was introduced in an article from the New York Times on May 17, 2014. The Smart eBook was developed by researchers from the Institute for Information Technology Convergence at KAIST.
For the article, please go to the link below:
New York Times, May 17, 2014
“Tackling the Limits of Touch Screens”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/18/business/tackling-the-limits-of-touch-screens.html?_r=0
2014.07.21 View 6677