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Harnessing the Strength of KAIST Alumni: New Head of KAA Inaugurated
KAIST alumni gathered in Seoul on January 13 to celebrate the New Year and the newly-elected leadership of the KAIST Alumni Association (KAA). More than 300 alumni, including President Sung-Chul Shin who is also an alumnus of KAIST, joined the gala event held at the Lotte Hotel.
Photo: Ki-Chul Cha(left) and Jung Sik Koh(right)
The KAA inaugurated its new president, Ki-Chul Cha, who was preceded by Jung Sik Koh, the former CEO at the Korea Resources Corporation. His term starts from January 2018 to December 2020.
Cha is the CEO of Inbody Co Ltd., a global company specializing in developing and selling medical instruments, such as a body composition analyzers, and medical solutions. He is also an adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Yonsei University. Cha obtained a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at KAIST in 1980, and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering at the University of Utah, before finishing his post-doc fellowship at Harvard Medical School.
Cha plans to explore the idea that alumni engagement, saying, “KAIST stays as a home in the memories of 60,000 alumni. I will dedicate myself to stimulating the alumni association to make KAISTians proud.”
At the gala event, the KAA awarded the Alumni of the Year honor to six alumni who distinguished themselves in the areas of professional achievement, humanitarianism, and public service. They are the Director of Startup KAIST Professor Byoung Yoon Kim; President of LG Chem Ltd and Head of Battery Research and Development Myung Hwan Kim; Director of INNOX Advanced Materials Co., Ltd Kyung Ho Chang; Vice President of the Korea International Trade Association Jung-Kwan Kim; CEO of Samsung Electro-Mechanics Yun-Tae Lee; and CEO of ENF Technology Jinbae Jung.
Photo: President Shin(far right) poses with six awardees of the Distinguished Alumni Award and the former President of KAA, Koh(far left)
2018.01.16 View 8981 -
KAIST Students Invited to the BNL
Siheon Ryee and Taek Jung Kim, combined Masters and PhD students from the Department of Physics, have been invited to be visiting researchers at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL).
The BNL, located in Long Island, New York, is one of the most esteemed institutes in the United States. Ryee and Kim received the invitation from the Center for Computational Design of Functional Strongly Correlated Materials and Theoretical Spectroscopy. This center was established by scholars who have been leading this field in the United States.
The two students will be participating in developing a methodology and code for calculating strongly correlated electronic materials, and a grant of 40,000 USD will be provided to each student. This amount of support is not often awarded to researchers outside of postdoctoral programs.
Moreover, they are guaranteed to continue their combined Masters and PhD program and write their dissertations under the supervision of their advisor, Professor Myung Joon Han from the Department of Physics.
Professor Han said, “I was impressed by how well-known scholars established the center in order to cooperate with each other to solve challenging problems. Also, I was surprised and happy that my students were invited to this outstanding institute.”
“I believe that doing research with leaders in their field will give valuable experience to the students. At the same time, my students will be a great help to the scholars of the institute,” he added.
2018.01.11 View 6626 -
A Glance at the 2017 KAIST Literary Awards Ceremony
Since KAIST is a university specializing in science and engineering, people may think that the students rarely engage in literary activities. But KAIST students also excel in writing literature.
The 23rd KAIST Literary Award Ceremony was held on December 14 on the KAIST main campus. The award was established in 1995 to encourage students’ creative activities and to promote literary attainment. It is open to all KAIST students from undergraduate to masters and PhD students. This year, 43 students submitted a total of 68 literary works in the genres of poetry, novel, critique, and scenario.
KAIST professors Dong Ju Kim, Bong Gwan Jun, and Yunjeong Jo from the School of Humanities & Social Sciences participated as judges for the awards and they were joined by writers from the 8th Endless Road Program who served as invited judges for the novels and scenarios.
The Endless Road Program is a KAIST project for supporting artists who are engaged in literary works including scenarios, novels, webtoons, and movies by providing residences and funds. Novelists Jin Young Choi and Hak Chan Kim participated as judges for the novels and a drama scriptwriter, Joo Kim, as a judge of the scenarios.
After thorough evaluation, four submissions were chosen as awardees.
Section
Award
Name
Poetry
Winner
Sung Gil Moon (PhD candidate from the College of Business)
Runner-up
Jong Ik Jeon (Undergraduate student)
Novel
Winner
Joo Hwan Kim
(Undergraduate from the Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering)
Runner-up
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Essay & Critique
Winner
-
Runner-up
Jung Joon Park
(PhD candidate from the Dept. of Bio and Brain Engineering)
Scenario
Winner
-
Runner-up
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The literary works as well as a review of the awards will be published in the KAIST Times in 2018.
2017.12.15 View 6795 -
MoU by KAIST-Seoul-Seocho-gu for the 4th Industrial Revolution
The opening ceremony of the Yangjae R&CD Innovation Hub was held in Seoul on December 5. More than 400 guests came to the ceremony from major institutes and companies that are based in the hub. KAIST President Sung-Chul Shin, the Mayor of Seoul, Won-soon Park, and the Mayor of Seocho-gu, Eun Hee Cho, signed an MoU for Seoul to be the leading city for successfully realizing the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The three organizations aim to cooperate with one another in various areas, including an economic boost for local job creation, technology development, and the promotion of projects through an industry-academia-institute network and fostering manpower.
Yangjae R&CD is the first facility specializing in and dedicated for Artificial Intelligence, which is the major topic of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The hub is comprised of enterprises specializing in AI, open co-work spaces, conference rooms, an open networking lounge, and spaces for fostering professional manpower. The hub will recruit additional enterprises and individuals who wish to move in. KAIST, an institute containing professors and researchers in the field of AI, and Modulabs, an organization becoming distinguished in AI research, will be in charge of operating the facility together.
The Yangjae R&CD Innovation Hub will operate a professional training program with participation from KAIST professors, which aims to produce 500 professionals in AI research and development by 2020. It will also provide inexpensive space as well as consultations and venture capital to startup and venture companies. It plans to find and foster 50 innovation companies by 2020.
In particular, the hub will operate a course for new AI business models 24 times over three years.
The hub also offers job consultations, academic conferences, public space for companies residing in the hub, a free GPU cluster server, technical training, seminars, forums, investment attraction, overseas expansion, and one-to-one technical consultations.
The Yangjae R&CD Zone is the place established for the Fourth Industrial Revolution by Seoul. R&CD is a concept combining Research and Development, Connection, Companies, Community, and Culture.
Seoul aims to create the Yangjae Zone as an urban innovation hub for facilitating industry-academia linkage as well as establishing a startup-settlement-growth technical ecosystem.
2017.12.11 View 8118 -
Professor Dong Ho Cho Awarded at the Haedong Conference 2017
Professor Dong Ho Cho of the School of Electrical Engineering at KAIST received an award at the 13th Haedong Conference 2017 in Seoul on the first of December.
The Korean Institute of Communications and Information Sciences recognized Professor Cho for his significant contributions in the field of mobile communication networks. He has carried out groundbreaking research on mobile systems, including architecture, protocols, algorithms, optimization, and efficiency analysis.
As a result, he has produced 73 papers in renowned international journals, 138 papers at international conferences, and filed 52 international patents and 121 domestic patents. In addition, he transferred 14 of the patents he filed to Korean and international companies.
2017.12.07 View 5206 -
Strengthening Industry-Academia Cooperation with LG CNS
On November 20, KAIST signed an MoU with LG CNS for industry-academia partnership in education, research, and business in the fields of AI and Big Data. Rather than simply developing education programs or supporting industry-academia scholarships, both organizations agreed to carry out a joint research project on AI and Big Data that can be applied to practical business.
KAIST will collaborate with LG CNS in the fields of smart factories, customer analysis, and supply chain management analysis.
Not only will LG CNS offer internships to KAIST students, but it also will support professors and students who propose innovative startup ideas for AI and Big Data. Offering an industry-academia scholarship for graduate students is also being discussed. Together with LG CNS, KAIST will put its efforts into propose projects regarding AI and Big Data in the public sector.
Furthermore, KAIST and LG CNS will jointly explore and carry out industry-academia projects that could be practically used in business. Both will carry out the project vigorously through strong cooperation; for instance, LG CNS employees can be assigned to KAIST, if necessary. Also, LG CNS’s AI and Big Data platform, called DAP (Data Analytics & AI Platform) will be used as a data analysis tool during the project and the joint outcomes will be installed in DAP.
KAIST professors with expertise in AI deep learning have trained LG CNS employees since the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering established ‘KAIST AI Academy’ in LG CNS last August.
“With KAIST, the best research-centered university in Korea, we will continue to lead in developing the field of AI and Big Data and provide innovative services that create value by connecting them to customer business,” Yong Shub Kim, the CEO of LG CNS, highlighted.
2017.11.22 View 9592 -
Professor Je-Kyun Park, Awarded by The Korean BioChip Society
On November 9, Je-Kyun Park from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST received an award from the 2017 Fall Meeting of The Korean BioChip Society held in Paradise Hotel Busan, Korea. This year’s meeting recognized Professor Park for developing lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic analytical technologies.
The Korean BioChip Society is a corporation of biochip professional established in 2006 for the development of biochip technology. Every year, the Society selects a recipient based on the nominees’ academic achievements and contributions to bio-fusion industry.
Professor Park served on the international editorial boards of renowned international journals in related fields, including Biosensors and Bioelectronics and Lab on a Chip. He was also the Committee Chairman of MicroTas in 2015.
2017.11.22 View 6794 -
IDKAIST Graduation Show, Interative and Innovative Works
Undergraduate students from the Department of Industrial Design at KAIST opened up their graduation show in the Industrial Design Building for eight days in KAIST from November 10 and another four days in Coex, Seoul from December 7.
The students showcased their creative and novel works in the exhibition. Some designs successfully showed change concepts such as for mixing straws. There were also several projects designed to meet individual demand, such as a customized shoe-making application and personal makeup colorings.
Since the establishment of its undergraduate program in 1983, the department has held a graduation show to demonstrate four years of the students’ academic work and research performance to KAIST members, externals specialists, and the public.
Professor Daniel Saakes, who is in charge of the show, said, “Please come by the show and support the 28 students for their hard work. This year, students’ projects are more socially-oriented through applications and social media, making them easily approachable for consumers.”
2017.11.13 View 5863 -
LG's Woo Jong Lee Named the Alumnus of College of Engineering
The College of Engineering at KAIST selected Woo Jong Lee, President and Head of the VC Business Division at LG Electronics Inc., as the 2017 Alumnus of the Year for the College of Engineering.
‘Alumnus of the Year’ is an award given to a distinguished alumnus who has contributed to the development of industrial technology or made outstanding academic achievements.
Lee graduated from KAIST with the master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering. He also worked at Daewoo Motors as an executive member in the development division. He has been a crucial human resource for LG since he joined the company in 2000.
While leading the VC business Division, which was established in 2013, Lee is recognized as a creative engineer as well as a leader in the automotive industry. Focusing on autonomous driving and eco-friendliness, he has been engaged in the production of major projects from the beginning to the end.
Since 2014, outstanding alumni whose achievements have represented KAIST at the highest level have received the award. The first recipient was Tae-Kyung Yoo, an executive at Lumens Co., Ltd., and the second recipient was Jung-Ju Kim, the founder of NXC. In 2016, the award was not given because an appropriate candidate could not be identified.
The award was held in the Industrial Engineering & Management Building (E2) on November 8. Faculty members including the dean of the College of Engineering Jong-Hwan Kim, the vice dean Hyochoong Bang, the head of Industrial & Systems Engineering Taesik Lee, and the dean of the KAIST Academy Tae-Eog Lee attended the ceremony.
After the ceremony, Lee delivered a lecture on ‘Auto-components Business of LG Electronics’ to KAIST students.
2017.11.09 View 7141 -
Professor Lee's Research Selected as Top 100 National R&D Projects
A research project, led by Research Professor Ju Yong Lee from the KAIST Institute for IT Convergence, was selected as one of the Top 100 National Research and Development Projects 2017.
This research project, titled LTE-A-based Single RF Small Base Station supporting Multiple Streams, developed 300Mbps low power, low complexity and broadband small base station technology that supports 4x4 MIMO (Multiple Input and Multiple Output) by proposing a new antenna structure and a new RF (Radio Frequency) structure based on LTE-A. Professors from the School of Electrical Engineering at KAIST, Dong Ho Cho, Songcheol Hong, and Yong Hoon Lee also collaborated on the project.
The existing heterodyne method of communication systems generates the problems of increasing unit price and system complexity.
In this project, however, Professor Lee directly modulated the baseband signal from the RF stage through an impedance loading-based RF chip. This method was designed to facilitate low power as well as low complexity while supporting broadband service. Based on this, his team developed source technology for RF that can be applied to fourth and even fifth generation networks.
Furthermore, this base station is smallest among the small-cell stations so far, providing an eco-friendly installation environment. It contributes to the market for fifth generation mobile communications by reducing power consumption significantly yet providing high-capacity services.
Professor Lee said, “This technology will contribute to creating a new market and additional jobs because business based on the fifth mobile generation can provide multi-functional services, including multiband. Requiring low power and providing high-capacity services anywhere at any time will enhance national competence and reduce costs for establishing a next generation mobile communication system. It is expected that this technology will help with disseminating mobile communication infrastructure through expanding information and communication system as well as the infrastructure of island areas.”
2017.11.08 View 7491 -
KAST Opened the Campus to the Public
KAIST hosted OPEN KAIST 2017 on the main campus from November 2 to 3, 2017. OPEN KAIST is a science and cultural event designed for students and the general public to experience and take a glance at research labs.
More than 10,000 visitors came to KAIST this year. Groups of families and students came to KAIST to experience various programs related to science.
Twenty departments, including Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, the Graduate School of Cultural Technology, and Materials Science and Engineering participated in the event, along with three research centers and the Public Relations Office.
The event was composed of a total of 70 programs in four sections: lab tour, research performance exhibition, department introduction, and special lectures.
The kick off activity for the event was a trial game of the AI World Cup 2017 which will be hosted by KAIST in December 2017. Many people also visited the mobile health care showroom where they could experience what a future smart home and hospital would look like. It was also interesting to visit a futuristic living space for one-person households that provides virtual reality services.
KAIST hopes that the event offers an opportunity for children and students to get to know about science better. Professor Jong-Hwan Kim, the Dean of the College of Engineering at KAIST said, “OPEN KAIST is the one and only opportunity to visit and experience our research labs. KAIST will make every effort to take a step closer to the public by focusing on research that contributes to human society.”
2017.11.06 View 6215 -
Scientist of November, Professor Hyung Jin Sung
Professor Hyung Jin Sung from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at KAIST received a ‘Science and Technology Award of the Month’ given by the Ministry of ICT and Science and the National Research Foundation of Korea for November 2017. He developed technology that can exquisitely control a micrometer-scaled liquid drop on a dime-sized lab-on-a-chip. With his work, he was recognized for reinforcing research capability on microfluidics.
Lab-on-a-chip is an emerging experiment and diagnostic technology in the form of a bio-microchip that facilitates complex and various experiments with only a minimal sample size required. This technology draws a lot of attention not only from medical and pharmaceutical areas, but also the health and environmental field. The biggest problem was that technology for the temperature control of a fluid sample, which is one of the core technologies in microfluidics, has low accuracy. This limit had to be overcome in order to use the lab-on-a-chip more widely.
Professor Sung developed an acoustic and thermal method which controls the temperature of a droplet quickly and meticulously by using sound and energy. This is a thermal method that uses heat generated during the absorption of an acoustic wave into viscoelastic substances. It facilitates a rapid heating rate and spatial-temporal temperature control, allowing heating in desired areas. In addition, Professor Sung applied his technology to polymerase chain reactions, which are used to amplify DNA.
Through this experiment, he successfully shortened the reaction time from 1-2 hours to only three minutes, making this a groundbreaking achievement.
Professor Sung said, “My research is significant for enhancing the applicability of microfluidics. I expect that it will lead to technological innovations in healthcare fields including biochemistry, medical checkups, and new medicine development.”
2017.11.03 View 8134