Campus/People
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Reasons for Hope: Jane Goodall Lectured at KAIST
Dr. Jane Goodall, globally acknowledged chimpanzee researcher and environmental activist, was invited to KAIST and gave a lecture on the importance of preservation and restoration of the ecosystem on the earth. The lecture took place on the 28 of September at the university’s auditorium from 5PM to 7PM.
The lecture, titled “Reasons for Hope: Celebrating 50 Years of Chimpanzee Research,” was organized to celebrate her longtime career as a primatologist and anthropologist.
The visiting of Dr. Jane Goodall, who had dedicated a long period of time in spreading the significance of the diversity of life, gave a meaningful opportunity to increase the Korean public’s awareness of life’s diversity.
This lecture was jointly sponsored by Ehwa Woman’s University and KAIST, and the lecture was translated by Professor Choi Jae-Chun of Ehwa University.
2010.09.29 View 8916 -
KAIST maintains its No. 1 ranking, Joongang Ilbo, Sep. 27, 2010
Joongang Ilbo, one of the leading daily newspapers in Korea, released the results of its annual survey of universities nationwide. KAIST was nominated the best university in the nation for three consecutive years. For the article, please click the link:
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2926395
2010.09.27 View 8304 -
OLEV Safety Confirmed by International Standards
On September 19, KAIST announced that the electromagnetic (EM) field levels of its online electric vehicle (OLEV) measured in June and September of this year demonstrated verification of its safety.
Last June, the EM field level of OLEV installed at the Seoul Grand Park was measured by the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) to test its harmfulness to human. The results were 0.5 ~ 61mG which is within the national and international standards of 62.5mG.
KRISS measured EM field levels on 22 spots on the side of and at the center of OLEV at a fixed distance (30cm) but variable heights (5cm~150cm) according to the national standard of measurement methods for electromagnetic fields of household appliances and similar apparatuses with regard to human exposure (IEC 62233).
In addition, another testing took place on September 13 following a request by National Assemblywoman Young-Ah Park, a member of the National Assembly’s Education, Science and Technology Committee, who has raised an issue on the safety of OLEV. This testing session was held by EMF Safety, Inc., an institution designated by Park, and it tested the EM field level of the same OLEV train that was tested in June.
As a result, the September measurements were well within the national and international standards with 0~24.1mG. The test was conducted under the presence of third party to produce a fair and objective result.
As reference, the EM field level results are well within the American IEEE electromagnetic field standards of 1,100 mG.
The September measurements were produced by Park’s recommendation of following the criteria specified in the measurement procedures of IEC 62110, “Electric and magnetic field levels generated by AC power systems to public exposure,” which were 15 measurements at a fixed 20cm distance at the side of and from the center of OLEV with variable heights of 50cm~150cm.
2010.09.27 View 11431 -
The 9th International Conference on Entertainment Computing Held, Sep 8-11, 2010
The cyber world is no longer an unrealistic place for a contemporary man who spends most of his time in front of a computer nowadays. The entertainment contents industry, which materializes the cyber world, leads the new knowledge economy and is emerging as a new growth engine for high value-added industry.
Professionals in entertainment computing gathered to discuss how to make the cyber space more elaborate and entertaining. The 9th 2010 International Conference on Entertainment Computing (ICEC) was held from September 8 to September 11 at Seoul COEX by KAIST and International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP).
This year’s theme is “Creative and Innovative Science, Computing and Design for Digital and Entertainment Contents in 21C”, with fifteen global leaders of industry-university-institute collaboration speakers including George Joblove (Executive VP of Sony Pictures Technologies), Massimiliano Gasparri (VP of Warner Bros. Advanced Digital Services), Don Marinelli (Executive Producer of Entertainment Technology Center at University of Carnegie Mellon), Keith Devlin (Founding Executive Director of Stanford Media-X and Executive Director of Stanford H-STAR), Roy Ascott (President of Planetary Collegium).
Speeches, paper sessions, workshops, exhibitions on the high-tech digital entertainment industry including computer graphics, cyber reality, telepresence, 3D/4D, mobile games, animation, special effects, robot design, content production and distribution, media art were held at the conference this year.
This event was sponsored by IEEE, ACM, IPS, ADADA, Elsevier, ETRI, SK Telecom, KIISE, KMMS, HCI Korea, KCGS and KCGS.
2010.09.17 View 12542
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Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2010-11
Times Higher Education (THE), a weekly British magazine based in London reporting on news and other issues related to higher education, has released the rankings of the world"s best 200 universities on September 16, 2010. KAIST has been placed at 79. Please click the link for detailed rankings.
Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2010-11:
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2010-2011/top-200.html
2010.09.17 View 9397
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KAIST received the best score for its BK 21 projects.
Six of KAIST’s BK 21 projects received the highest scores in the BK 21 annual evaluation. Currently, KAIST has thirteen teams running the BK 21 projects, including eight from science and technology division, one from the humanities division, and four from small scale focus division. Out of these, three science and technology division, one humanities division and two small scale focus division projects received the highest score in this annual evaluation. In addition, the chemical engineering project, pioneer physics education project, BK 21 biology project also received the second place in their corresponding divisions.
The BK 21 Project supports masters, doctorate, post-doctorate degree students for seven years from 2006 to 2012 with the intention of promoting global research-oriented universities and high performing local graduate schools to train pioneer high-achieving research and development manpower.
2010.09.17 View 8902
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The CEO of the World's Largest Oil Company Visited KAIST.
Khalid A. Al-Falih, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Saudi Aramco, an oil company owned by Saudi Arabia, the largest oil-producing country in the world, visited the KAIST campus on September 15, 2010. During his visit, Mr. Al-Falih was introduced to KAIST’s innovative projects such as On-Line Electric Vehicle, Mobile Harbor, and Hubo.
Mr. Al-Falih was invited to the KAIST campus by President Suh, both of which are currently consultants for King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Saudi Arabia. Having visited Daejon right after attending the 21st World Energy Congress in Montreal, Canada, he would head to China for another conference on the next day.
Al-Falih stated that he visited KAIST despite his busy schedule because he had “heard about KAIST that it is one of the best research oriented universities in Korea. Aramco and KAIST share the same goal of putting an effort in solving the problems that are of great concern to mankind today including issues related to energy, food, water, and climate.”
“There are researchers in our company who know Korean, and we wish to send them to KAIST’s masters and doctorate programs to train them into professional research force. In particular, Aramco is hoping to strengthen research cooperation between KFUPM, King Abdullah University of Science Technology (KAUST), and KAIST as well as contribute to the economic development between Saudi Arabia and Korea by increasing cooperation with KAIST through our shared visions.”
Saudi Aramco is the largest oil company in the world with the largest proven crude oil reserves and production known to date, responsible for over 30% of total OPEC crude oil production. It produces over 3.4 billion barrels of oil annually and has invested in S-Oil, one of the top three oil refining companies in Korea in 1991 to contribute to the development of Korean national oil refining industry.
2010.09.17 View 11285 -
KAIST was invited to the World Economic Forum's fourth "Summer Davos."
KAIST attended the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos Forum” held from September 13 to 15 in Tianjin, China. The Summer Davos Forum hosted various sessions and meetings with international dignitaries from governments, business and public organizations, and academia on the main theme of “Driving Growth through Sustainability.”
On September 14, four subjects including “Electric Vehicles,” “Humanoid Robotics,” “Next Generation of Biomaterials,” and “New Developments in Neuroengineering” were presented by KAIST, followed by discussions with forum participants.
Professor Jae-Seung Jeong of the Bio and Brain Engineering Department, Sang-Yup Lee of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, Joon-Ho Oh of the Mechanical Engineering Department, and President Nam-Pyo Suh participated in the forum as presenters of the topic. Of these speakers, Professors Jae-Seung Jeong and Sang-Yup Lee were nominated by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as members of the “Young Global Leader” and “Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies,” respectively.
President Suh was also invited to the CEO Insight Group and delivered an opening speech on OLEV (Online Electric Vehicle) and the Mobile Harbor. President Suh plans to sign an MOU for research cooperation with Jong-Hoo Kim of Bell Lab and Shirley Jackson of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the near future, respectively.
Since 2007, the WEF, in charge of the world’s largest international conference called “Davos Forum” has hosted a “Summer Davos Forum,” also called as the “Annual Meeting of New Champions.” The Summer Davos Forum consists of nations, rising global companies, next generation of global leaders, and cities or nations that lead technological innovations. Unlike the annual Davos Forum held in January, the “Annual Meeting of New Champions” is held in September of each year in Tianjin and Dalian, China.
Since 2009, the WEF has added a special session called IdeasLab in the Davos and Summer Davos Forums. Through IdeasLab, prominent universities from all over the world, research organizations, venture businesses, NGOs, and NPOs are invited to exchange and discuss innovative and creative ideas that can contribute to the development of mankind. Until now, universities including INSEAD, EPFL-ETH, MIT, Oxford, Yale, Harvard, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Tsinghua University, and Keio University have been invited to the IdeasLab. KAIST is the first Korean university to attend this session.
2010.09.17 View 17466 -
KAIST"s online electric vehicle will be introduced in Park City, Utah
Korean news media wrote articles on KAIST’s online electric vehicle (OLEV)—the OLEV technology will be exported to a US city. For details, please click the links below:
Chosun Ilbo: KAIST to Export Electric Cars to U.S.
Sep. 13, 2010 11:05 KST
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2010/09/13/2010091300848.html
Arirang News: KAIST Seals a Deal to Export its Unique Greed Car to US Market
Sep. 13, 2010
http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=106888&code=Ne2&category=2
2010.09.14 View 9599
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QS World University Rankings 2010
QS World University Rankings 2010 was released on September 8, 2010, and KAIST has ranked 79th among the world’s top 100 universities. The Guardian published an article on the Rankings.
“Cambridge ousts Harvard as world"s best university,” September 8, 2010
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/08/cambridge-worlds-best-university-harvard
2010.09.08 View 10772
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"Our addiction to oil is the major cause of global warming."
Joongang Daily, one of the major newspapers in Korea, interviewed Professor John Spengler from Harvard University, an internationally renowned scholar in environmental science, who visited Korea for a conference. He mentioned KAIST’s online electric vehicle (OLEV) during the course of interview.
The paper interviewed him on a wide range of environmental issues, and below is a translation of the original Korean article. For the Korean article, please download the attached picture file.
“Our addiction to oil is the major cause of global warming.”
Interview with Professor John Spengler from Harvard University—he is an internationally renowned scholar in environmental science.
By Chan-Soo Kang, Joongang Daily
September 3, 2010
“The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico by British Petroleum (BP), a multinational oil company, took place against the backdrop of our addition to oil,” said Professor John Spengler (66 years old) from Harvard University on September 2.
“The fact that we are addicted to oil means we are obsessed with mobility as well. Throughout the history of mankind, there has never been the time when we move from one place to another as frequently as today and are dependent on fossil fuels as much as today.”
Visiting Korea to attend a conference co-sponsored by International Society of Exposure Science (ISES) and International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) that was held at Coex in Seoul from August 28 to September 2, he gave his speech at plenary talks of the conference on the a topic titled, “Our health is our planet.”
Professor Spengler is an internationally well-known expert in the research of indoor air pollution and environmental exposures of chemical compounds. At the conference, he mostly talked about an ecological catastrophe resulted from the explosion of an oil rig operated by BP in the Gulf of Mexico.
He pointed out,
“It’s been a problem that oil companies are more willing to take risks of exploring dangerous places to obtain oil as the demand for oil has increased. Excessive oil consumption cannot help but lead to global warming.”
“Particularly,” he said, “the unusual climate events, frequently happening in recent years, including severe heat wave and drought in Russia this summer, are somewhat expected to occur by weather forecast models. However, it seems that the extreme weather patterns are taking place more frequently, and accordingly, we are facing more severe effects of weather conditions.”
Professor Spengler emphasized that “We should change our diet and lifestyle to reduce the stress put on our ecosystem, such as getting protein from vegetables rather than from fish or meat and having a habit of curtailing energy consumption.”
“While I’m here, I have a chance to see an online electric vehicle (OLEV) developed by KAIST. If this technology is applied, we can reduce environmental problems as such,” he assessed the development of OLEV.
He also said that “the State of Utah in the US has expressed its intention to adopt the OLEV technology.”
With regard to his research focus on indoor air pollution, Professor Spengler said, “We are having problems like “New House Syndrome” because we try to build a house with cheap materials. Governments should set a standard and control pollutants released from building materials in order to reduce risks resulted from indoor air pollution.”
He argued, “In the early 1990s, when the Irish government introduced an enhanced regulation of air pollution in Dublin, the mortality rate of the city in that winter dropped dramatically.”
“It’s been proven that as fine particle pollution gets worse, more patients with cardiovascular diseases die. Therefore, we need to make efforts to reduce the air pollution.”
“Compared with other nations,” Professor Spengler estimated Korea as a nation that “definitely improved its air quality by introducing buses with a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) engine to its public transportation system.”
(End)
2010.09.06 View 10792 -
Former Minister of Information & Communications Dae-Je Jin donated to KAIST.
From left to right: Yong-Hoo Lee, Dean of Information Science & Technology College, KAIST; Gang-Seok Lee, Vice President of Skylake Incuvest, Inc.; Dae-Je Jin, Former Minister of Information & Communications; Byung-Kyu Choi, Provost of KAIST; and Dae-Joon Joo, Vice President of Planning & Budget, KAIST.
Mr. Dae-Je Jin, who had served as the Minister of Information & Communications, South Korea, gave away about 100,000 USD to KAIST and hoped that his donation would be used for the development of information and technology industry in the nation.
Mr. Jin, widely known as one of the reputable business leaders in the IT industry, was also once the president of Samsung Electronics, a leading global supplier of electronic products and goods. Currently, he runs a private equity investor called, Skylake Incuvest, Inc., which invests and incubates innovative information, communications, and technology companies.
“The real growth engine for our nation to become an economic powerhouse on a global stage has been the highly trained people who shore up our industry. Universities including KAIST have played an excellent role in providing our nation with such outstanding researchers and engineers. I will continue to support for KAIST"s mission as a leading research university in science and technology in Korea and the world,” said Mr. Jin.
KAIST said that his donation would be used for the support of its IT researches.
2010.08.27 View 10264