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133 Diplomats Worldwide Visit KAIST
THE KAIST Herald April 8, 2004by jong-kyoung Kim
On March 12, diplomatic corps in Korea visited Daedeok Valley"s KAIST after taking a trial run on the Korea Train eXpress(KTX). Composed of ambassadors from 79 nations and 54 international organizations, the 133 diplomatic corps went on board KTX at 10:30 AM in Seoul and arrived in Daejeon at 11:20 AM.
Shortly after arrival, the diplomatic corps attended a luncheon hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade(MOFAT) before paying visits to the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute(ETRI) and KAIST. After being introduced to the current issues at KAIST, the diplomatic corps returned back to Seoul at 4:00 PM.
Seventy-nine embassy representatives out of eighty-seven currently stationed in Korea participated in this event, with fifty-four representatives from three international organizations. In addition, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, a commercial relations director, and a regional representative accompanied them.
The trial rides on April 1 were organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to publicize Korea as being the fifth country (after Japan, France, Germany, and Spain) in the world to own an express train and to introduce the growth of Korea"s IT industry through visits to ETRI and KAIST.
Events such as this are held annually to improve the understandings of the diplomatic corps about Korea"s science, technology, culture and art and to further enhance bilateral relations.
2004.04.20 View 17971 -
Foreign R&D Centers Cropping Up Here
Korea Times / 2004. 03. 26 By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff ReporterThe world"s top companies and research institutes are rushing to Korea to set up research and development (R&D) centers.
The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) on Thursday said it isunder negotiation with several world-renowned firms or foundations,including University of Cambridge Cavendish Laboratory, Novartis, DuPont and EMC.The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) is also lookingto attract five to six multinational companies to establish R&D centers here this year.
Korea has already become a home for R&D institutes from top-tier foreign outfits like the world"s No.1 computer-chip maker Intel Corp. and Paris-based medical foundation Institut Pasteur as well as Germany"s Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft.
The MOST said Cavendish will exchange a memorandum of understandingto set up a joint research center here together with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) as early as this May.
The two entities will join hands to accelerate knowledge in the fields of nanotechnology, optical technology and physics to name a few,a MOST official said.It also seeks to invite Swiss-based pharmaceutical group Norvatis toestablish an R&D center here on occasion of the medical symposium that will take place here from March 31.
The Fortune 500 company is expected to dispatch dozens of high-ranking staff to the two-day neuroscience convention.
The Korea Foundation for International Cooperation of Science and Technology (KICOS), an affiliate of MOST, expects a few American companies, including DuPont, to open shop here.``DuPont is likely to make a decision, and we are currently under negotiations with several big companies like EMC,"" KICOS official KimKey-hyup said.
EMC is the world"s third-largest maker of data-storage devices.Seoul seeks to host six high-tech information-technology (IT) research centers this year.
Up to now, Intel and Fraunhofer committed themselves to setting up research centers here, and IBM will likely open an R&D center as soonas its affiliate IBM Korea"s bribe scandal regarding a government contract is settled.
Such high-profile companies as Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and Qualcomm are welcome to open R&D centers in Korea, an MIC official said. The government is willing to provide financial incentives to foreignR&D centers.
2004.03.26 View 18744
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SK Telecom Names 28-Year-Old Female Executive
By Kim Tae-gyu Korea Times 2004.3.16
Staff ReporterThe 28-year-old Yoon Song-yee became the youngest-ever executive member of SK Telecom, the Korea"s biggest cell-phone service company said on Monday.
Yoon, the former executive of mobile solution developer WiderThan.com, was recruited by SK Telecom and appointed as vice president. Shewill lead the company"s communication and intelligence task force team.
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) graduate obtained her Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyand once worked for McKinsey & Company.The unprecedented recruitment was conducted as part of the company"slarge-scale restructuring efforts, including 21-case promotions of executive members.
Former senior vice presidents Rhee Noh-jong and Kim Young-jin were advanced to vice presidents. Rhee, who worked as a public relations man for 30 years, will take charge of SK Academy, an educational institute for SK Group, the country"s third-largest conglomerate.
The personnel shift also features the new president Kim Shin-bae, who took the realm of the mobile giant after getting an approval fromshareholders" meeting on March 12.
2004.03.18 View 17038
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Professor Yang Receives Academic Award
By Ki-beom Lee / Reporter
The KAIST Herald December 3, 2003
The Professor Dong-yol Yang of the Department of Mechanical Engineering received the Sang-woo Academic Award last month. Unlike other awards of similar nature, this award is given to one of many leading scientists who has written six to seven papers in the previous year. This award is special in that Professor Yang retired as chairman of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity in December 2002. Professor Yang received a prize on the research of the anisotropic pressing out process. He has also written papers based on the twenty-five years of research at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and has researched high-speed modeling for the first time in Korea.
2004.03.15 View 17506
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Researchers Find Mechanism of Tumor Suppressor Genes
By Kim Tae-gyu. Staff ReporterTHE Korea Times 02-06-2004
Korean scientists continue to break new ground in fighting cancer as domestic researchers examined the mechanism of a gene which can help detect and treat various sorts of cancer.
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) Prof. Lim Dae-sik on Thursday said his team uncovered the mechanism of RASSF1A (Ras Association Domain Family 1 A), or tumor suppressor genes, for the first time in the world.
The gene was widely considered to play an important role in reducing the proliferation of cancer cells, but its exact function and processes have remained unknown up to now.
It is the second cancer-related breakthrough by Koreans in a week after Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Prof. Chung Hesson unveiled the oral anti-cancer drug.
``Cancer results from the failed management of cell cycles due to things like radiation. After a two-year intensive study, we found out how RASSF1A governs the cell cycle,"" Lim said.
Lim added cancer is caused by abnormal cells, which continue to grow and divide out of control unlike normal cells, which die over time. Cancer cells develop into malignant tumors, eventually inflicting damaging effect on the human body.
As a result, a lack of the RASSF1A indicates a high possibility of cancer and injection of it into cells is believed to help cure the deadly disease, according to Lim.
Dr. Song Min-sup, who took charge of the research, said the findings will especially pave the way for the detection and treatment of lung cancer.
``The dearth of RASSF1A was reported mostly in the case of lung cancer. The new findings will provide insight into the diagnosis and cure of lung cancer from its early stages,"" Song explained.
Lung cancer is a very elusive disease because it doesn"t cause symptoms in its infancy. When symptoms do occur, usually it is too late.
``We expect commercial detection kits or drugs for lung cancer in around five years after pre-clinic experimentation and two-phase clinic trials,"" Song expected.
Details of the study is available in the scientific journal Nature Cell Biology in its February edition.
voc200@koreatimes.co.kr
2004.03.15 View 17608
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[Unknown] Wins Program Competition
By Taeg-sang Cho
The KAIST Herald December 3, 2003
The 3rd Korean Collegiate Programming Competition took place on November 7 at Sky-city Convention Center, Seoul. This competition is organized by the Ministry of Telecommunication and is sponsored by KAIST, ACM, and Korean Information Science Institution. This year"s preliminary competition consisted of 112 teams from 50 domestic universities, and 53 teams were selected from the preliminaries. In total, sixty teams, including foreign teams, participated in the main competition that took place at the Sky-city Convention Center.
This year"s competition was won by "Unknown" from KAIST; this team is composed of three students: Min-sang Noh, Gih-moon Song, and Joong-geun Lee. Last year"s competition was also won by a team from KAIST.
In this year"s competition, five teams solved all the problems, but "Unknown" was the best in organizing the programs and in employing various concepts into the program. Another team from KAIST, "KIN~" won 4th Prize.
The winner of this competition automatically becomes an Asian representative at the ACM- International Collegiate Programming Competition (ACM-ICPC) along with the winners of collegiate competitions from Japan, China, India, and Iran. The 28th ACM-ICPC is to be held in March 2004.
2004.03.15 View 22184