Campus/People
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A Doctoral Student of KAIST Donates Scholarship to the University
Sang-Won Seo, a Ph.D. student at the Department of Computer Science at KAIST, recently donated USD 9,300 to the university to support joint degree programs with international universities. He received dual degrees himself for the Bachelor of Science both from KAIST and the Technical University of Berlin in Germany in 2009.
Explaining his reason to donate, Sang-Won said, “I have always felt grateful for the support I received from KAIST during my study abroad. I’m glad to find an opportunity to return to my alma mater what I have received.”
In the picture below, Sang-Won Seo (fourth from the left) and his adviser Professor Seungryoul Maeng (to the right next to Seo) pose together holding the certificate of appreciation on January 14, 2015.
2015.01.16 View 6329 -
Professor Sunyoung Park Receives an Award from the Minister of Strategy and Finance of Korea
Professor Sunyoung Park, the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at KAIST, received an award from the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Strategy and Finance of the Republic of Korea on December 31, 2014 in recognition of her contribution to the Korean economy. Known as an expert in macroeconomics and finance in Korea, Professor Park has conducted research in macroeconomic policies and capital flows.
Recently, Professor Park attended the 18th ASEAN+3 (Korea, Japan, and China) Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting held in Tokyo, Japan, on December 3-5, 2014 and presented a paper on the economic policies of Asian and G20 nations, receiving positive responses from the participants.
At the award ceremony, she said, “With continuous support from the government and collaborations with regional partners, I hope that my research will help Korea and the Asian economies grow further.”
2015.01.06 View 8333 -
Professor Eunjoon Kim Is KAIST's Person of the Year 2014
KAIST announced that it has named Chair Professor Eunjoon Kim of the Department of Biological Sciences as its “Person of the Year 2014.” The award ceremony took place at the auditorium on campus on January 5, 2014.
Established in 2001, the award has been presented to a KAIST faculty member who has made great achievements in research and education, thereby contributing to the advancement of KAIST.
Professor Kim was the first to identify the mechanism of synapse formation between neurons during his post-doctoral program at Harvard Medical School in 1995. The research was published in Nature.
In 2011, Professor Kim discovered that the lack of protein GIT1, a neuronal synapse in the brain, caused ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). He is widely recognized for his work concerning synapse proteins and brain disease related research that set the foundation for future medical developments.
In his award speech, Professor Kim said, “Whenever a research finding concerning a new drug therapy or research is published, I receive many inquiries from the parents of children with ADHD or autism. As a scientist, I would like to focus my research ultimately to help those in pain, rather than just pursuing research excellence or reputation.”
2015.01.06 View 11407 -
The Graduate School of Green Growth at KAIST Holds a Student Conference
The Graduate School of Green Growth at KAIST hosted a student conference on December 22, 2014 at the Seoul campus of the College of Business. About 100 master’s and doctoral students joined the conference held under the theme of “Green Knowledge Hub” and presented their research papers.
At the conference, three students received awards. The author of a paper entitled “Development and Analysis of Climate Change Vulnerability Index Applicable to Developing Countries” received the grand prize. The authors of “Green IT and Its Case Study on the Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Industry” and “Analysis of Correlation between Consumers’ Subjective Happiness and Their Green Purchasing” were selected for runner-up prizes, respectively.
Dean Jae-Kyu Lee of the Green Growth Graduate School said, “We offered the conference to our students to engage with their peers and share ideas and knowledge in their majors. I hope students become more motivated, and we will continue holding this event in the future.”
2015.01.05 View 7379 -
The KAIST Graduate School of Future Strategy Publishes a Book on the Future Strategy for the Development of Korea
As science and technology play an integral role in shaping the future of a nation, a group of scientists at KAIST recently published a book entitled “The National Future Strategy 2015.” The book is available in Korean only.
In the book, the writers propose strategic thinking and plans for Korea to become one of the leading nations on the global stage in the next 30 years. It also suggests a strategic vision for the development of Korea by 2045, the centenary of Korea’s independence from Japan, and recommends specific approaches to address some of the important issues facing Korea: social conflict from the unequal distribution of wealth, low birthrates, an aging population, climate change, the reunification of the Korean peninsula, sustainability, and protection of democracy.
In addition to writings contributed by KAIST professors, the book contains the results of public hearings on major social issues, as well as insights offered by one hundred experts including politicians, government officials, and business representatives.
2014.12.27 View 6424 -
Professor Mikyoung Lim Receives the MediaV Young Researcher Award
Professor Mikyoung Lim of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at KAIST received the MediaV Young Researchers Award at the International Conference on Inverse Problems and Related Topics that took place at the National Taiwan University, Taiwan, on December 15-19, 2014.
The Conference established the MediaV Young Researcher Award in 2010 to recognize distinguished scholars who are age 40 or younger and have made important contributions to the field of inverse problems. This year, two recipients were chosen for the award.
Professor Lim has focused her research on the incremental reading of incomprehensible materials’ imaging and the effect of invisibility cloaking.
The other awardee was Kui Ren, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin.
2014.12.27 View 12553 -
IamCompany and KAIST's Midam Scholarship Contribute Scholarship to High School Students
IamCompany, a venture company established by a KAIST student which provides mobile users with educational applications, and Midam Scholarship, a volunteer group consisting of KAIST students that helps junior and high school students study math and science, selected a total of 118 students and presented them with scholarships.
Among the students, Ki-Bum Kim of Kyung-Hee High School in Seoul received USD 1,300, the largest sum.
In-Mo Chung, the President of IamCompany, who once worked as a member of Midam Scholarship, said, “I joined this scholarship program to support the Midam Scholarhsip which offers educational services to less privileged students. I hope many young students will benefit from this and receive an equal opportunity for better education.”
2014.12.15 View 6928 -
KAIST wins second place in unmanned boat competition
KAIST took second place in an international competition to promote technologies of the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).
Professor Jin-hwan Kim’s research team from KAIST’s Ocean Systems Engineering Department won the second place in Maritime RobotX Challenge which took place for the first time from October 20 - 26 in Marina Bay, Singapore.
Along with automobiles and drones, the necessity for unmanned boats has grown. To encourage and examine the development of these technologies, the U.S. Office of Naval Research decided to organize an unmanned boat competition which took place for the first time this year.
After three teams were selected from a domestic competition in each countries, a total of fifteen teams from five countries from the Pacific Rim including Korea, the United States, Australia, Japan, and Singapore competed. Teams from such universities as MIT, Tokyo University, Tokyo Institute of Technology, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Queensland University of Technology participated. In addition to KAIST, Seoul National University and Ulsan University participated.
Using a 4.5 meters long and 2.5 meters wide unmanned boat provided by the organizer, each team had to implement an integrated system that combined a propulsion system, hardware, and autonomous software. Each team’s vessel had to perform tasks without manual control, employing autonomous driving through recognition of the course, searching underwater for acoustic sources, automatically approaching piers, remote observation of buoy, and avoidance and detection of obstacles.
Although KAIST outpaced MIT in the semifinal which selected six out of fifteen teams, it won the second place in the final. As well as winning second prize, KAIST also won best website prize and a special prize from the competition sponsor, Northrop Grumman Corporation, an American defense technology company, totaling 16,500 U.S. dollars of prize money.
The Vice President for Planning and Budget, Professor Seungbin Park said, “It was a great opportunity to showcase the advanced unmanned robot technology of Korea.” He added that “this raised KAIST’s reputation as a global research oriented university.”
Professor Kim commented, “Along with automobiles and drones, the necessity for the development of unmanned ocean vehicles such as unmanned boats and submarines are recognized these days.” He added that “the use of unmanned boats will make the process of channel investigation, ocean exploration, surveillance over water territories safer and more effective.”
Professor Kim’s team was sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, Samsung Heavy Industries, Sonar Tech, Daeyang Electric, and Red-one Technology.
KAIST Team's Unmanned Boat
The Competition's Missions
2014.12.12 View 13053 -
KAIST Establishes a Center for Human Rights and Ethics
KAIST hosted an opening ceremony on November 27, 2014 for its Center for Human Rights and Ethics (CHRE) located in the Education Support Building on campus.
President Steve Kang and other senior administrators participated in the ceremony, pledging to eliminate violence, corruption, and prejudice on the campus.
The CHRE was created to provide members of the KAIST community with one-stop service to report and process human rights violation cases and issues related to corruption and illegalities such as verbal abuse, physical assault, sexual harassment, and bribes. The center will also launch campaigns to promote and strengthen awareness of human rights and ethics within the university.
The Director of CHRE, Professor Young-hee Kim of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at KAIST said, “The center will serve an important role in the improvement of human rights and in the reestablishment of moral standards in KAIST. I hope KAIST members make the most of the center wherever they face injustice and unequal treatment during their study and work at the campus.”
2014.12.08 View 7634 -
Kimchi Making by Students and KAIPlus Members
Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish of fermented vegetables, with the most common ingredients of Napa cabbages and daikon radishes. Every winter, Koreans make bountiful amounts of kimchi for consumption in the winter months.
President Steve Kang and about 50 KAIST students and members of KAIPlus, a volunteer group consisted of spouses of KAIST Faculty, made kimchi on November 28, 2014 at the Sports Complex on campus. They prepared 500 Napa cabbages for kimchi which were donated to local people in need.
2014.12.08 View 5943 -
KAIST Partners with Science-focused Universities in Korea for Student Exchange Programs
KAIST and four science-focused universities in Korea (Pohang University of Science and Technology, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, and Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) agreed to exchange programs during academic semesters including summer and winter terms by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on November 28, 2014. The signing ceremony took place at the KAIST campus with the participation of academic affairs deans from all five universities.
Based on the agreement, KAIST students can take up to 12 credits of coursework at any of the said universities and have unimpeded access to the university facilities during their coursework.
Dean Hyun-Wook Park of Academic Affairs at KASIT said, “Through exchange programs, students can capitalize on each university’s advantages, and this eventually will lead to greater advancement in science and technology in the nation.”
2014.12.08 View 8752 -
A Volunteer Project by Students: The Surprise Bus!
GoGeeks, one of the undergraduate student clubs at KAIST, plans to run a bus to take volunteers to places where help is needed such as nursing homes, orphanages, and community centers. This volunteer project is called “Surprise Bus!” Students interested in participating in the project can apply online via a social funding website, http://tumblbug.com, until December 5, 2014. Up to 150 students will be selected.
A total of five buses will leave from Seoul on December 20, 2014 to several places nationwide. Participants will not know their final destination until they arrive at the scene where they will work. GoGeeks was inspired by the “Do Good Bus” project, a volunteer organization that started in the US, through which people meet, and while performing their volunteer activities, they get to know each other.
Bum-Kyu Lee, the President of GoGeeks, who is a senior in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, said, “I’ve encountered many students who want to volunteer, but they are not sure where to go to start. The “Surprise Bus!” is a wonderful volunteer opportunity, and I think participants will have fun and, at the same time, will have a meaningful time. The Christmas season is also an excellent time to do something good for our communities and neighborhoods.”
2014.12.04 View 7936