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World?'s First Automated Maritime-Docking between Naval Vessels
KAIST demonstrated the technology that allows automated maritime docking between naval vessels on the 26th of April at Busan, Korea.
The docking technology is seen as one of the key components for the mobile harbor as it prevents collision between two naval vessels upon docking. It was recognized as an important technology worldwide, but its technological limitations made it hard to commercialize.
The demonstrated included approaching a barge next to a cargo vessel, performing automated docking, and maintaining the docking and solutions in the advent of an emergency.
The mobile harbor is, in essence, is a ‘moving port’ and the automated docking technology is imperative to commercialize the mobile harbor. In order for a large container ship to unload cargo, the mobile harbor needs to approach the container ship and dock onto the side of the ship.
The technology required to keep the two moving vessels docked, out at sea, in an efficient and safe manner, is daunting. The conventional method involved sailors tying the two vessels together with rope which made it time consuming and hard to react quickly in emergency situations.
The KAIST mobile harbor research team developed the docking technology with ‘Mirae Industrial Machine’ Maritime Corporation, and ‘Ocean Space’. The mobile harbor will allow two vessels to perform loading and unloading of cargo regardless of wind and current, using robotic arms, vacuum attachment pads, wench, and are a complex, integrated system.
KAIST is planning on having a demonstration that encompasses all the technology required for mobile harbor: from the docking technology to the stabilizing crane technology.
Advancements made by KAIST are expected to speed up the commercialization and the real life application of mobile harbor.
2011.05.11 View 8983 -
From Pencil Lead to Batteries: the Unlimited Transformation of Carbon
Those materials, like lead or diamond, made completely up of Carbon are being used in numerous ways as materials or parts. Especially with the discovery of carbon nanotubes, graphemes, and other carbon based materials in nanoscale, the carbon based materials are receiving a lot of interest in both fields of research and industry.
The carbon nanotubes and graphemes are considered as the ‘dream material’ and have a structure of a cross section of a bee hive. Such structure allows the material to have strength higher than that of a diamond and still be able to bend, be transparent and also conduct electricity. However the problem up till now was that these carbon structures appeared in layers and in bunches and were therefore hard to separate to individual layers or tubes.
Professor Kim Sang Wook’s research team developed the technology that can assemble the grapheme and carbon nanotubes in a three dimensional manner.
The team was able to assemble the grapheme ad carbon nanotubes in an entirely new three dimensional structure. In addition, the team was able to efficiently extract single layered grapheme from cheap pencil lead.
Professor Kim is scheduled to give a guest lecture in the “Materials Research Society” in San Francisco and the paper was published in ‘Advanced Functional Materials’ magazine as an ‘Invited Feature Article’.
2011.05.11 View 10196
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Jang Young Shin Chairwoman of AeKyung Group donates 3billion Won to KAIST
AeKyung Group donated 3 billion Won for the development of KAIST and the betterment of Korea’s Science. The ceremony was held on the 2nd of May with President Seo Nam Pyo of KAIST and Jang Young Shin Chairwoman of AeKyung Group in attendance.
Chairwoman Jang insisted that the donation be used for the establishment of a stable study environment at KAIST and the improvement of student welfare.
Chairwoman Jang is a CEO with an engineering background. She majored in Chemistry in Chestnut Hill College with National Scholarship in 1950 and established the AeKyung Group’s many subsidiaries that deal with Chemicals.
2011.05.11 View 9527
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Genetic Cause of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) Found
The cooperative research team consisting research teams under Professor Kim Eun Joon and Professor Kang Chang Won of the department of Biological Sciences discovered that ADHD arises from the deficiency of GIT1 protein in the brain’s neural synapses.
ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is found in around 5% of children around the world and is a disorder where the child becomes unable to concentrate, show over the top responses, and display impulsive behavior.
The research team found that the difference between children with ADHD and those without it is one base in the GIT1 gene. The difference of a single base causes the underproduction of this protein, and those children with low levels of the protein had a higher probability to develop ADHD.
In addition, further evidence was provided when the research team conducted mice experiments. Those mice with low levels of GIT1 exhibited impulsive and exaggerated reactions like humans with ADHD, had learning disabilities, and produced abnormal brain waves. And upon injecting these mice with cure for ADHD, the symptoms of ADHD disappeared.
The impulsive behavior of ADHD children disappears as the child enters adulthood and a similar pattern was found in mice. A mice with low levels of GIT1 showed impulsive behaviors when 2 months old, but these behaviors disappeared as it got older to around 7 months old (equivalent to 20~30 years old for humans).
Professor Kim Eun Joon commented that there has to be equilibrium between mechanisms that excite the neurons and mechanisms that calm the neurons, but the lack of GIT1 leads to the decrease in the mechanisms that calm the neurons which causes the impulsive behavior of ADHD patients.
In addition, Professor Kang Chang Won commented that the results of the experiment has been receiving rave reviews and is being seen as the new method in the production of the cure for ADHD.
The result of the experiment was published in the online edition of Nature Medicine magazine.
2011.04.30 View 10018
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Low Cost and Simple Gene Analysis Technology Developed
Professor Park Hyun Kyu of the Department of Biology and Chemical Engineering has developed a ‘real time CPR’ using Methylene Blue (nucleic acid bonding molecule with Electro-Chemical property).
The current gene analysis being used in the field is the real time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) which takes advantage of the luminescent property of the gene and therefore requires expensive machines and chemicals to run.
By contrast, the electro-chemical method is easy to use and low cost and, most importantly, it allows the machine to become small and portable.
Professor Park’s research team used the decrease in the electro-chemical signal when the Methylene Blue reacts with nucleic acid and applied this to PCR which allowed for the real time analysis of the nucleic acid amplification process.
With the result of the experiment as the basis, the team was able to perform a trial with Chlamydia trachomatis, a pathogen that causes sexually transmitted disease.
The result showed that the electro-chemical method showed the same performance level as the real time PCR, which proved that the technology can be applied to diagnosing various diseases and gene research.
2011.04.30 View 9100
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The Harvard Crimson: Engineers Who Can Lead, April 14, 2011
An inspiring opinion on the role of engineers as global leaders in the era of science- and technology-based economies was published in the Harvard Crimson, the university’s newspaper, dated April 14, 2011. The piece was coauthored by Cherry A. Murray, the dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Andrew R. Garman, a graduate of the Harvard School, who is a managing partner at New Venture Partners.
For the opinion piece, please go to http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2011/4/14/engineering-engineers-science-new/.
Engineers Who Can Lead
By Andrew R. Garman and Cherry A. Murray
Published: Thursday, April 14, 2011
2011.04.20 View 8620
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The Irish Times: Gene link identified in ADHD, April 18, 2011
The Irish Times wrote an article on the recent research breakthrough made by a KAIST research team to identify a gene that triggers the syndrome of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) among children. Given the heightened attention to the syndrome across the world, the research result has received a great deal of attention not only from the academia but also from the media and public.
For the article, please visit http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0418/1224294910305.html. The research paper was appeared online April 17, 2011 in Nature Medicine, which will be printed in its May 2011 issue. For the paper, please click the link of http://www.nature.com/nm/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nm.2330.html.
2011.04.18 View 9156
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Industrial Liaison Program Membership Implemented
KAIST implemented, for the first time as a Korean University, the Industrial Liaison Program Membership (ILPM).
ILPM is a structure where it does not limit the university as a minor technological counseling institute and encourages the university to provide expert services that the companies need in a proactive manner.
The ILPM is an Industry-Scholar Cooperative Model that offers companies with patents, technologies, labor force, research tools, and information to the companies all the while serving as the leader in research and development that will bring competitiveness to the company.
The first member of the ILPM at KAIST is ‘Yeul Chon’ Chemicals which is a subsidiary of the Nong-Shim Group and is a leading group in the field of high tech packaging, film and environmentally friendly materials.
KAIST and Yeul Chon Chemicals signed a MOU for technological cooperation and agreement to become a member of ILPM at KAIST on the 22nd of March.
With the agreement, the Yeul Chon Chemicals will now have access to all of KAIST’s information, technology, students, and counseling from professors.
2011.04.13 View 8876
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TEAK: New Multimedia Site kaistube.org Offers Lectures on English
For those wanting an experience of KAIST from an entirely new perspective, there is some good news. The new multimedia website, kaistube.org is available for browsing with better and newer content.
The website, kaistube.org, is a “Creative media in English by the students of KAIST” and was created with aims to introduce university life from the perspective of the very components that makes KAIST, KAIST; its students.
The website features photos the students took and short films they created about KAIST and of KAIST. It can be said that kaistube.org is fast becoming the creative hub and outlet for students at KAIST to express their creative personalities. Students at KAIST or anywhere else for that matter should not be restricted to just academic activities, which make kaistube.org so meaningful.
One great service that can be found at kaistube.org is the TEAK (Teaching English at KAIST). TEAK is a weekly show created and hosted by Visiting Professors Tim Thompson and Don Rikley and serves to provide education in presentation skills and writing skills in English. Season one focused on academic writing and Season two will focus on academic speaking and presentation skills.
The importance of clear communications skills via presentations or writing format in English has become ever important in this era of globalization. The lectures provided for at kaistube.org is a great resource and guide that will aid not only the family members at KAIST, but to any and all non-KAISTians who wish to strengthen their grasp on the English language.
The podcasts can be downloaded onto the computer for transfer to a portable music player, like the iPod or the iPhone, and can be even downloaded from the iTunes.
2011.04.02 View 9204
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2011 International Web Science Symposium Held
The 2011 International Web Science Symposium was held in Seoul on the 24th of March hosted by Web Science Engineering College.
The symposium dealt with the technological development and the social impact of web science and the future of the Web.
A special guest was invited to the symposium this year; the founder of web science, Wendy Hall’s lecture on ‘Web Science: New Frontier’. The numerous experts from abroad was unanimous in stating their outlook of web science affecting the competitiveness of IT companies and ultimately become the driving force in new businesses.
The main research in web science are web platforms and contents production, human based web research, and web SW engineering and web science has to do with pulling together various webs all around the world to create new industries.
2011.04.01 View 6990
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Artificial Spore Production Technology Developed
The core technology needed in the development of ‘biosensors’ so crucial in diagnosing illnesses or pathogens was developed by Korean research team.
KAIST’s Professor Choi In Seung of the department of Chemistry developed the technology that allows for the production of Artificial Spore by selectively coating a live cell.
In the field of engineering the problem in developing the next generation bio sensor, the cell based sensor, was that it was difficult to keep a cell alive without division for a long time. Once a cell is taken out of the body, it will either divide or die easily.
Professor Choi’s research team mimicked the spore, which has the capability to survive harsh conditions without division, and chemically coated a live cell and artificially created a cell similar to that of a spore.
The physical and biological stabilities of the cell increased by coating an artificial shell over the yeast cell. The shell is composed with a protein similar to that of the protein that gives mussels its stickiness. In addition by controlling the thickness of the shell, the division rate of the yeast can be controlled.
Professor Choi commented that this technology will serve as the basis for the single cell based biosensor.
The research was conducted together with Professor Lee Hae Shin of KAIST department of Chemistry and Professor Jeong Taek Dong of Seoul National University’s department of Chemistry and was published as the cover paper of ‘Journal of the American Chemical Society’.
2011.04.01 View 11908
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KAIST Design Week 2011 Held
KAIST designated a week (from March 27th to April 2nd) as KAIST Design Week 2011 and will be hosting a series of international conferences on engineering designs.
The 21st CIRP Design Conference, the 6th International Conference on Axiomatic Design, and the 1st Design in Civil and Environmental Engineering Workshop will be held in Fusion hall in the KI Building from the 27th of March.
The CIRP Design Conference was held on the 27th and the 28th and annually provides an opportunity for researchers and industry developers to exchange information and knowledge.
The International Conference on Axiomatic Design was held on the 30th to the 31st and dealt with various presentations and discussions on the axiomatic design theory. The Axiomatic Design Theory was thought up by KAIST President Seo Nam Pyo and deals with analyzing the wants of the consumers and solves the problems associated with the product through making altercations on the product design.
Last The Design in Civil and environmental Engineering Workshop will be held on the 1st and 2nd of April and will deal with sustainable city design and development.
The Design Week will also be featuring humanoid robot HUBO, the Online Electric Vehicle that can charge its battery wirelessly, and the Mobile Harbor, and therefore show off KAIST’s achievements.
2011.04.01 View 9452