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Festival Featuring Asia's Best Science Students to be Held
The first Electronic Olympics, which will host students from five top Asian research-centered universities, will be held in August at KAIST. Students will take part in competitive events and explore cultural diversity. Student representatives of HKUST, NTU, TITECH, Tsinghua University, and KAIST gathered on February 20 to begin planning the tentatively named “ASPIRE E-Olympics.”
The key words of this Olympics are "Harmony" and "Competition." The events will be composed of an AI programming contest, SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) picture contest, and the other technology-based contests. Cultural events, where each university’s students can interact, will also be prepared.
ASPIRE (Asian Science and Technology Pioneering Institutes of Research and Education) events have been held from 2009. Previously, the ASPIRE forum has been an exchange event for groups of vice presidents and graduate school students from the five schools to exchange achievements in education and research. This year, it has been extended to undergraduates.
Yoseop Kim, KAIST’s student body vice president, said that he wants to make a MOU with some of Asia’s best research-centered universities and develop it into something similar to the Davos Forum. His intention is to support the E-Olympics in the hope that ASPIRE will become a top university consortium.
From left, HKUST, KAIST, NTU, TITECH, Tsinghua University Logos
Student representative group photo of Top Asian Research-Centered Universities
Electronic Olympics for students from five top Asian science and engineering universities to be held in August
2014.02.27 View 8611 -
Professor Yong-Tak Im of Mechanical Engineering Appointed as President of Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials
Yong-Tak Im, Professor of the Department of
Mechanical Engineering at KAIST, was sworn in on February 25, 2014 as
the 16th president of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials
(KIMM), a leading government-funded research institution in Korea. KIMM was
established in 1976 to contribute to the development of
Korea through the invention of source technology and technology transfer in
mechanical engineering.
President Im graduated from Seoul National
University, obtaining degrees of Bachelor of Science and Master’s in mechanical
engineering. He later studied at the University of California in Berkeley and
received a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering.
After working as an assistant professor of
the Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Ohio State University,
President Im joined KAIST as a professor of mechanical engineering in 1989.
President Im took many important posts at
KAIST, including Dean of Planning Office, Dean of External Affairs and Public
Relations Office, and Associate Vice President of Special Projects and
Institutional Relations, making a great addition to the university’s endeavors for
globalization.
Among the awards President Im received was the
William Johnson Award in 2007 presented by the Advances in Materials and
Processing Technologies, the Research Achievement Award in 2010 by the Global
Congress on Manufacturing and Management, and the Presidential Award in 2012 by
the Republic of Korea. He was also elected as the vice president of the Korean
Society of Mechanical Engineers, the largest association of professionals in
the mechanical engineering field in Korea.
President Im is currently a professor at
POSCO, an internationally known Korean steel company, and a member of the
Korean Academy of Science and Technology and the National Academy of
Engineering of Korea, respectively.
President Im will serve KIMM for three
years until February 24, 2017.
2014.02.25 View 10826 -
Former Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. KunMo Chung, Awarded KAIST Honorary Doctorate
KAIST will confer an honorary doctorate on former minister of Science and Technology, Dr. KunMo Chung, at the 2014 KAIST graduation ceremony on Friday, February, 21.Dr. Chung presented the Survey Report for the Establishment of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science (KAIS) to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1969. This proposal for nurturing the advanced science technology elite and boost Korean industrial development became the foundation for KAIS, which is now known as KAIST.After passing the KAIS Foundation Law in 1970, Dr. Chung designed the faculty room, secured faculty members, and acquired a $6 million education loan from the USAID. Dr. Chung devoted himself to research and teaching. His first appointment was the position of assistant professor at the University of South Florida, followed by research professor positions at the Princeton Nuclear Fusion Research Center and MIT Nuclear Engineering, and an associate professor position in the Department of Electrophysics at the Polytechnic Institute of New York.When KAIS was founded on Feb. 16, 1971, 31-year-old Dr. KunMo Chung became the provost and a professor in the Electronic and Electrical Science Department where he made outstanding contributions to the development of science and technology in Korea.
2014.02.21 View 10390 -
A student club for education donation at KAIST received an award from the City of Daejeon Education Superintendent
One of the student clubs at KAIST, the Midam Scholarship Fund, was awarded by the education superintendent of Daejeon City in recognition of its contributions to the education benefits of underprivileged students in the region.The Midam Scholarship Fund was established in 2009, and since then, it has helped many teenage students who are suffering financial hardships through knowledge donation. The Fund organized private classes and mentoring programs for the students as well as collaborating with other education donation clubs at seven different universities in Korea.The award ceremony was held on February 20th at the City Hall in Daejeon.
2014.02.21 View 7600 -
KAIST developed an extremely low-powered, high-performance head-mounted display embedding an augmented reality chip
Walking around the streets searching for a place to eat will be no hassle when a head-mounted display (HMD) becomes affordable and ubiquitous. Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) developed K-Glass, a wearable, hands-free HMD that enables users to find restaurants while checking out their menus. If the user of K-Glass walks up to a restaurant and looks at the name of the restaurant, today’s menu and a 3D image of food pop up. The Glass can even show the number of tables available inside the restaurant. K-Glass makes this possible because of its built-in augmented reality (AR) processor. Unlike virtual reality which replaces the real world with a computer-simulated environment, AR incorporates digital data generated by the computer into the reality of a user. With the computer-made sensory inputs such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data, the user’s real and physical world becomes live and interactive. Augmentation takes place in real-time and in semantic context with surrounding environments, such as a menu list overlain on the signboard of a restaurant when the user passes by it, not an airplane flight schedule, which is irrelevant information, displayed. Most commonly, location-based or computer-vision services are used in order to generate AR effects. Location-based services activate motion sensors to identify the user’s surroundings, whereas computer-vision uses algorithms such as facial, pattern, and optical character recognition, or object and motion tracking to distinguish images and objects. Many of the current HMDs deliver augmented reality experiences employing location-based services by scanning the markers or barcodes printed on the back of objects. The AR system tracks the codes or markers to identify objects and then align them with virtual reality. However, this AR algorithm is difficult to use for the objects or spaces which do not have barcodes, QR codes, or markers, particularly those in outdoor environments and thus cannot be recognized. To solve this problem, Hoi-Jun Yoo, Professor of Electrical Engineering at KAIST and his team developed, for the first time in the world, an AR chip that works just like human vision. This processor is based on the Visual Attention Model (VAM) that duplicates the ability of human brain to process visual data. VAM, almost unconsciously or automatically, disentangles the most salient and relevant information about the environment in which human vision operates, thereby eliminating unnecessary data unless they must be processed. In return, the processor can dramatically speed up the computation of complex AR algorithms. The AR processor has a data processing network similar to that of a human brain’s central nervous system. When the human brain perceives visual data, different sets of neurons, all connected, work concurrently on each fragment of a decision-making process; one group’s work is relayed to other group of neurons for the next round of the process, which continues until a set of decider neurons determines the character of the data. Likewise, the artificial neural network allows parallel data processing, alleviating data congestion and reducing power consumption significantly. KAIST’s AR processor, which is produced using the 65 nm (nanometers) manufacturing process with the area of 32 mm2, delivers 1.22 TOPS (tera-operations per second) peak performance when running at 250 MHz and consumes 778 miliWatts on a 1.2V power supply. The ultra-low power processor shows 1.57 TOPS/W high efficiency rate of energy consumption under the real-time operation of 30fps/720p video camera, a 76% improvement in power conservation over other devices. The HMDs, available on the market including the Project Glass whose battery lasts only for two hours, have revealed so far poor performance. Professor Yoo said, “Our processor can work for long hours without sacrificing K-Glass’s high performance, an ideal mobile gadget or wearable computer, which users can wear for almost the whole day.” He further commented:“HMDs will become the next mobile device, eventually taking over smartphones. Their markets have been growing fast, and it’s really a matter of time before mobile users will eventually embrace an optical see-through HMD as part of their daily use. Through augmented reality, we will have richer, deeper, and more powerful reality in all aspects of our life from education, business, and entertainment to art and culture.” The KAIST team presented a research paper at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) held on February 9-13, 2014 in San Francisco, CA, which is entitled “1.22TOPS and 1.52mW/MHz Augmented Reality Multi-Core Processor with Neural Network NoC for HMD Applications.”Youtube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSqY30FOu2s&feature=c4-overview&list=UUirZA3OFhxP4YFreIJkTtXw
2014.02.20 View 16881 -
World's Largest Web Conference To Be Held in Korea
The 2014 International World Wide Web Conference (WWW 2014), the world’s most prestigious academic conference in the field of web, will be held for the first time in Korea. The conference is to be last for five days at Seoul COEX, from 7th to 11th April. International World Wide Web Conference covers a wide range of web-related areas, including technologies, research papers, services and more. Since the first conference in 1994 in Switzerland, it has been held in various parts of North America, Europe, South America and Asia, attracting more than 1000 experts in the field. The 23rd International World Wide Web Conference is managed by the International World Wide Web Conferences Steering Committee (IW3C2) and co-hosted by KAIST and National Agency for Technology and Standards, as well as sponsored by Korea Information Science Society and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Keynote speakers for this year’s conference include inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, senior vice president of Microsoft, Dr. Qi Lu, and Carnegie Mellon University’s Prof. Christos Faloutsos, as well as Samsung Electronic’s vice president Jong-Deok Choi. In addition to WWW 2014, BigData Innovators Gathering (BIG 2014) and Web for Access (W4A 2014) is also to be held in joint. KAIST Computer Sciences Department’s Prof. Jinwan Jeong, in charge of directing this year’s conference, said “From one-sided 1st generation web to two-way 2nd generation web, such as blogs, and then recently to the 3rd generation web, which include social networks and semantic webs, the web technologies has grown vastly over the past 25 years. WWW 2014 will be the opportunity for Korea to discuss with the world about the informatization and future of the web.” Pre-registration for WWW 2014 can be applied at the official webpage for WWW 2014 (http://www2014.kr) before 17th February.
2014.02.14 View 10523 -
Professor Hoi-Jun Yoo Appointed as the First Asian University Chairman of the ISSCC
Hoi-Jun Yoo, a professor of Electrical Engineering Department at KAIST, was chosen to be the first Asian University Chairman of the ISSCC (International Solid-State Circuits Conference) held in San Francisco, USA, from February 10 to 13, 2014. His term will last one year from April, 2014. Professor Yoo ranked tenth globally in thesis achievement over the 60-year history of the ISSCC. He ranked fourth globally over the last ten years and was the highest-ranked member from Asia over that time. He received an award for this remarkable achievement in 2012. ISSC is a world-renowned conference in the semiconductor field, where only 200 strictly selected papers are presented by semiconductor-related enterprises, research centers, and university representatives. Nicknamed the “The Olympics of the Semiconductor”, ISSCC runs for 4 days and hosts more than 3000 semiconductor engineers from around the world. It is most famous for the first CPU presentation by Intel and the first memory technology release of Samsung. Professor Yoo stated, “The Korean Semiconductor Engineering is leading the world’s technology instead of imitating it.” He aspires to devote himself to upgrading semiconductor engineering around the world.
2014.02.14 View 10404 -
The Huffington Post, January 30th, 2014: The Top Young Universities in the World, According to QS Rankings
KAIST was ranked third among the “QS Top 50 Under 50,” a ranking of the world’s top 50 universities established within the last 50 years, which was based on the highest performing young universities in the 2013/14 QS World University Rankings. For details, please read the news article below:
The Huffington Post, January 30th, 2014: The Top Young Universities in the World, According to QS Rankings: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/30/top-young-universities-in-world-qs-rankings_n_4693918.html
2014.02.03 View 6478 -
KAIST-Saudi Nuclear Workforce Training
Nuclear Engineering Intensive Course Program Held in Saudi Arabia from January 5th to 23rd
KUSTAR (The Khalifa University of Science and Technology Studies)-KAIST Institute of Education began its Nuclear Engineering Intensive Course Program on 5th January with researchers from K.A.CARE (King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy) of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This program, which was lasted until 23rd January, provided education to students on the basic technologies in the field of nuclear power.
The course involves a wide range of lectures, such as basic nuclear physics, applications using radiation, nuclear reactor design and safety, as well as nuclear power engineering.
In order to utilize the nuclear power and renewable energy, K.A.CARE was established in April 2010. The institution is also involved in the construction of nuclear infrastructure, including the site investigations, the establishment of regulatory bodies and state-owned nuclear companies, along with the newly launched workforce-training program.
The Director of the KUSTAR-KAIST Education Research Institute, Professor Soong-Heung Jang said, “This program is the beginning of long-term cooperation with Saudi Arabia. Our experience can be the basis for the construction of an extensive training program that involves many areas of nuclear engineering field.”
KAIST has been working in close cooperation with various institutions around the world, which also includes the establishment of KUSTAR-KAIST Institute of Education and Research in July 2010. KAIST is also actively cooperating with UAE Khalifa University in Middle East, sharing faculty, holding joint research programs and exchanging students.
2014.02.03 View 10914 -
A Molecular Switch Controlling Self-Assembly of Protein Nanotubes Discovered
International collaborative research among South Korea, United States, and Israel research institutionsThe key to the treatment of cancer and brain disease mechanism The molecular switch that controls the self-assembly structure of the protein nanotubes, which plays crucial role in cell division and intracellular transport of materials, has been discovered. KAIST Bio and Brain Engineering Department’s Professor Myeong-Cheol Choi and Professor Chae-Yeon Song conducted the research, in collaboration with the University of California in Santa Barbara, U.S., and Hebrew University in Israel. The findings of the research were published in Nature Materials on the 19th. Microtubules are tube shaped and composed of protein that plays a key role in cell division, cytoskeleton, and intercellular material transport and is only 25nm in diameter (1/100,000 thickness of a human hair). Conventionally, cancer treatment focused on disrupting the formation of microtubules to suppress the division of cancer cells. In addition Alzheimer’s is known to be caused by the diminishing of structural integrity of microtubules responsible for intercellular material transport which leads to failure in signal transfer. The research team utilized synchrotron x-ray scattering and transmission electron microscope to analyze the self assemble structure of protein nanotubes to subnanometer accuracy. As a result, the microtubules were found to assemble into 25nm thickness tubules by stacking protein blocks 4 x 5 x 8nm in dimension. In the process, the research team discovered the molecular switch that controls the shape of these protein blocks. In addition the research team was successful in creating a new protein tube structure. Professor Choi commented that they were successful in introducing a new paradigm that suggests the possibility of controlling the complex biological functions of human’s biological system with the simple use of physical principles. He commented further that it is anticipated that the findings will allow for the application of bio nanotubes in engineering and that this is a small step in finding the mechanism behind cancer treatment and neural diseases.
2014.02.03 View 10605 -
"Modeling and Simulation of Discrete Event Systems" by Professor Byoung-Kyu Choi, Selected as Textbook by UC Berkeley
The book, "Modeling and Simulation of Discrete Event Systems," written by Professor Byoung-Kyu Choi from the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at KAIST, was selected as a textbook for the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of California in Berkeley (UC Berkeley).It was published based on professor Choi’s lecture notes and has been used as a textbook for both undergraduate and graduate students at KAIST.Professor Lee W. Schruben from the Department of Industrial Engineering at UC Berkeley said, “It was selected as a textbook for the discrete event simulation course since it shows outstanding educational methodology as well as academic values.”Professor Choi said, “This is the first case of an American university choosing a Korean industrial engineering publication as a textbook. We should be proud of the high evaluation of KAIST’s Industrial and Systems Engineering Department.” The School of Engineering in UC Berkeley was ranked third in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2013.
2014.01.29 View 8253 -
Hyun-Sik Kim, KAIST doctoral student, receives Predoctoral Achievement Award from IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society
Hyun-Sik Kim, a Ph.D. student from the Department of Electrical Engineering, is scheduled to receive the “Predoctoral Achievement Award” from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Solid-State Circuit Society (SSCS) at its 2014 annual conference to be held on February 9-13 in San Francisco, USA. Kim, the first Korean student receiving the award, will also be given a 1,000 USD honorarium.
Established in 1983, the Predoctoral Achievement Award has been given to a small number of promising graduate students, which is made on the basis of academic record and potential, quality of publications, and a graduate study program well matched to the charter of SSCS. Among the previous recipients were Professor Bernhard Boser of the University of California in Berkeley and Professor Michael Flynn of Michigan University.
Kim published 15 research papers in international journals and conferences, applied for 35 domestic and international patents, and received the best paper award in human technology from Samsun Electronics for three consecutive years.
Professor Kyu-Hyung Cho of Electrical Engineering is Kim's principal advisor.
2014.01.27 View 10879