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KAIST Alumni Take a Strong Hold on Tech-Based Startups
Average sales for KAIST alumni startups in 2015 doubled from the previous year to 20.7 billion KRW. They reportedly recorded approximately 37-times higher sales than non-KAIST alumni startups, demonstrating that KAIST is emerging as strong tech-based venture startup incubator.
According to a white paper on the Profile and Performance of KAIST Startups released recently, the number of KAIST startups stood 1,112, of which 877 were founded by alumni (78.9%), 36 by faculty and staff (3.2%), and 199 by those funded by the KAIST Technology Business Incubation Center (17.9%) at the end of 2015.
The total sales of KAIST startups stood at 13.6 trillion KRW in 2015, a 25% increase compared to the previous year. KAIST alumni startups created about 32,400 jobs in that year.
Most KAIST founders majored in engineering (649 people, 71.1%), followed by business (121 people, 13.3%), natural sciences (86, 9.4%), life science and bio engineering (32 people, 3.5%), and liberal arts and convergence science (24 people, 2.6%), making a total of 913 founders, excluding the 199 startups funded by KAIST Technology Business Incubation Center.
By department, most founders come from electrical engineering (148 people, 16.2%), followed by mechanical engineering (135 people, 14.8%), and computer science (114 people, 12.5%).
KAIST startups produced 63 listed companies (1 KOSPI, 51 KOSDAQ, and 11 KONEX), which accounted for 5.7% of the total 1112 startups. This is significantly higher than the average for venture companies (1.1%). It should be noted that the rate is only around 10% for Korean conglomerate-affiliated companies.
At the point of startup establishment, KAIST alumni startup founders were mostly in their 40s (430 people, 40%), followed by their 30s (415 people, 38.6%), 20s (110 people, 10.2%) and 50s (110 people, 10.2%). Around half of the founders were in their 20s and 30s. In particular, the number of founders in their 20s and 30s was around 3.5 times higher in KAIST startups compared to general startups and 1.2 times higher than venture startups.
The average lifespan of KAIST startups is 10.3 years; 276 companies (25%) were established over 16 years ago, 282 companies (25.4%) between 6 and 10 years, 246 companies (22.1%) between 11 and 15 years, and 308 companies (27.7%) less than five years ago. By type of business, startups based on technology accounted for 88.1%; 510 manufacturing companies accounted for 46.2%, followed by 321 information service companies with 29.1%, and 147 science and technology service companies with 13.3%.
By region, 617 companies (55.5%) were located in Seoul and the nearby metropolitan area, followed by 350 companies (31.5%) located in Daejeon.
2017.05.30 View 6387 -
Extreme Materials for Fusion with Metal Cocktail
The research team under Professor Ryu Ho-jin of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering has developed a new material for facing fusion plasma environments using metal powder mixing technology. This technology is expected to extend the range of materials that can be designed for use in extreme environments such as in fusion power generators.
The durability of the tokamak vessel, which holds high-temperature plasma, is very important to create fusion power reactors, which are expected to be a future energy source. Currently, high-melting-point metals, such as tungsten, are considered plasma-facing materials to protect the tokamak vessel. However, high-energy thermal shocks, plasma ions, and neutrons are fatal to the plasma-facing material during high temperature fusion plasma operation. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new high-performance materials.
The ITER project, in which seven countries including the United States, the EU, and Korea participate jointly, is constructing a nuclear fusion experimental reactor in France with the goal of achieving the first plasma in 2025 and deuterium-tritium fusion operation in 2035. In Korea, the KSTAR tokamak at the National Fusion Research Institute has succeeded in maintaining high-performance plasma for 70 seconds.
Researchers in Europe, the United States, and China, who are leading the research on fusion plasma-facing materials, are studying the improvement of physical properties by adding a small amount of metal elements to tungsten. However, Professor Ryu’s team reported that by mixing various metals’ powders, including tungsten, they have succeeded in producing a new material that has twice the hardness and strength of tungsten. The difference in the atomic sizes of the well-mixed elements in the alloy is very significant because it makes it difficult to deform the alloy.
The team will continue its research to find alloying compositions that optimize mechanical properties as well as thermal conductivity, plasma interactions, neutron irradiation embrittlement, tritium absorption, and high-temperature oxidation properties.
Professor Ryu said, "Fusion plasma-facing materials are exposed to extreme environments and no metal is capable of withstanding thermal shock, plasma, and neutron damage simultaneously. As a result of this research, attempts to develop complex metallic materials for nuclear fusion and nuclear power are expected to become more active around the world. "
Ph.D. candidate Owais Ahmed Waseem is the first author of this project. The research is supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the Korea Research Foundation's Fusion Basic Research project, and the Engineering Research Center. The results were published in 'Scientific Report' on May 16.
Figure 1. Tungsten-based high strengh alloy sample
Figure 2. Fusion plasma facing material development by powder processing of refractory elements
2017.05.26 View 9714 -
Total Synthesis of Flueggenine C via an Accelerated Intermolecular Rauhut-Currier Reaction
The first total synthesis of dimeric securinega alkaloid (-)-flueggenine C was completed via an accelerated intermolecular Rauhut–Currier (RC) reaction. The research team led by Professor Sunkyu Han in the Department of Chemistry succeeded in synthesizing the natural product by reinventing the conventional RC reaction.
The total synthesis of natural products refers to the process of synthesizing secondary metabolites isolated from living organisms in the laboratory through a series of chemical reactions. Each stage of chemical reaction needs to be successful to produce the final target molecule, and thus the process requires high levels of patience and creativity. For that reason, the researchers working on natural products total synthesis are often called “molecular artists”.
Despite numerous reports on the total synthesis of monomeric securinegas, the synthesis of dimeric securinegas, whose monomeric units are connected by a putative enzymatic RC reaction, has not been reported to date.
The team used a Rauhut-Currier (RC) reaction, a carboncarbon bond forming a reaction between two Michael acceptors first reported by Rauhut and Currier in 1963, to successfully synthesize a dimeric natural product, flueggenine C. This new work featured the first application of an intermolecular RC reaction in total synthesis.
The conventional intermolecular RC reaction was driven non-selectively by a toxic nucleophilic catalyst at a high temperature of over 150°C and a highly concentrated reaction mixture, and thus has never been applied to natural products total synthesis. To overcome this long-standing problem, the research team placed a nucleophilic moiety at the γ-position of the enone derivative. As a result, the RC reaction could be induced by the simple addition of a base at ambient temperature and dilute solution, without the need of a nucleophilic catalyst. Using this newly discovered reactivity, the team successfully synthesized the natural product (-)-flueggenine C from commercially available amino acid derivative in 12 steps.
Professor Han said, “Our key finding regarding the remarkably improved reactivity and selectivity of the intermolecular RC reaction will serve as a significant stepping stone in allowing this reaction to be considered a practical and reliable chemical tool with broad applicability in natural products, pharmaceuticals, and materials syntheses. ”
This research was led by Ph.D. candidate Sangbin Jeon and was published in The Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) on May 10. This research was funded by KAIST start-up funds, HRHR (High-Risk High-Return), RED&B (Research, Education, Development & Business) projects, the National Research Foundation of Korea, and the Institute for Basic Science.
(Figure 1: Representative dimeric/oligomeric securinega alkaloids)
(Figure 2: Our reinvented Rauhut-Currier reaction)
(Figure 3: Total Synthesis of (-)-flueggenine C)
2017.05.23 View 9562 -
2017 KAIST Research Day Honors Professor Hoon Sohn
The 2017 KAIST Research Day recognized Professor Hoon Sohn of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as Research Grand Prize Awardee in addition to the 10 most distinguished research achievements of the past year.
The Research Grand Prize recognizes the professor whose comprehensive research performance evaluation indicator is the highest over the past five years. The indicator combines the factors of the number of research contracts, IPR, royalty income, as well as research overhead cost inclusion.
During the ceremony, which was held on May 23, Professor Jun-Ho Oh of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering also won the Best Research Award. The two professors had the best scores when evaluating their research performance for one-year periods.
Meanwhile, the Research Innovation Award went to Professor YongKeun Park of the Department of Physics. The Research Innovation Award scores the factors of foreign patent registration, contracts of technological transfer and income from technology fees, technology consultations, and startups and selected Professor Park as the top winner.
Professors Yong Hee Lee of the Department of Physics and Jonghwa Shin of the Department of Material Science won the Convergence Research Award. The Convergence Research Award recognizes the most outstanding research team who created innovative research results for a year.
After the ceremony, President Chen Shiyi of the Southern University of Science and Technology gave a distinguished lecture on the “Global & Entrepreneurial Universities for the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” the Research Day ceremony, KAIST also presented the ten most distinguished research achievements made by KAIST professors during the last year as follows (Click):
▲ Commercialization of 3D Holographic Microscopy by Professor YongKeun Park of the Department of Physics
▲ Designer Proteins with Chemical Modifications by Professor Hee-Sung Park of the Department of Chemistry
▲ Lanthanum-Catalyzed Synthesis of Microporous 3D Graphene-Like Carbons in a Zeolite Template by Professor Ryong Ryoo of the Department of Chemistry
▲ Complete Prevention of Blood Loss by Self-Sealing Hemostatic Needles by Professor Haeshin Lee of the Department of Chemistry
▲ An Immunological Mechanism for the Contribution of Commensal Microbiota Against Herpes Simplex Virus Infection in Genital Mucosa by Heung Kyu Lee of the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering
▲ Development of a Pulse-Echo Laser Ultrasonic Propagation Imaging System by Professor Jung-Ryul Lee of the Department of Aerospace Engineering
▲ Bi-refractive Stereo Imaging for Single-Shot Depth Acquisition by Professor Min H. Kim of the School of Computing
▲ Development of Environment Friendly Geotechnical Construction Material Using Biopolymer by Professor Gye-Chun Cho of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
▲ Protein Delivery Via Engineered Exosomes by Professor Chulhee Choi of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering
▲ Hot Electron Detection Under Catalytic Reactions by Professor Jeong Young Park of the Graduate School of EEWS.
After the ceremony, President Chen Shiyi of the Southern University of Science and Technology gave a distinguished lecture on the “Global & Entrepreneurial Universities for the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
(Photo:President Shin poses with the 2017 KAIST Research Grand Prize Winner Professor Hoon Sohn on May 23.)
2017.05.23 View 13798 -
KAIST Class of '77 Celebrates 40-Year Reunion
The class of 1977 reunited on April 20 at the College of Business in Seoul campus, which was once the main campus when they were students 40 years ago. Now leaders of Korea in the sectors of industry, academia, and research, the class of ‘77 held a homecoming event in celebration of the 40th anniversary of their graduation.
The class of ’77 includes KAIST President Sung-Chul Shin and the Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Yanghee Choi. More than 100 graduates and 20 professors gathered at the homecoming event. Many of them were former ministers of science and technology, presidents of universities, heads of research institutes, and top managers from leading corporations such as Samsung Electronics and SK Telecom in Korea.
At the event, Professor Dong-Hoon Choi at Hangyang University, representing alumni Yoon-Mo Koo, Oh-Hyun Kwon, Dae-Young Kim, Yoo-Hyun Moon, Nam-Ho Paik, Ki Hwang Baek, Sung-Chul Shin, Mann-Ho Lee, and Sang-Bum Lee, donated a scholarship of 100 million KRW. Professor Choi said that, “This may not be a large sum of money, but we raised it with grateful hearts for the country and for KAIST. I hope this scholarship will become a small seed to raise bigger fruit.”
President Shin reminisced that, “The achievements made at KAIST during the last half century were only possible due to the dreams, visions, and innovative ideas of those who established KAIST, and the passion for research, education, and learning of our former professors and students.”
President Shin continued, “KAIST was the light of hope in the early industrialization period in Korea half a century ago, and as alumnus president I will devote body and soul for KAIST to be the light of hope in the early stages of the Industry 4.0, and thus continue to be the light of hope for the future of Korea.”
Notable guests presented include Former Minister of Science and Technology and former Provost of KAIST Kun-Mo Chung, Former Minister of Communications and former Professor Soon-Hoon Bae, Vice Chairman and CEO for Samsung Electronics Oh-Hyun Kwon, SK Telecom ICT President for Technology Ho-Soo Lee; President of Yeungnam University Gil Soo Sur; former President of the University of Seoul Sang-Bum Lee; President of the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology Kew-Ho Lee; and former President of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology Sang-Ki Rhee.
2017.05.23 View 6618 -
2017 ICISTS Conference 'Draw the Web: Interactions in Society'
The KAIST undergraduate organization, ICISTS (International Conference for Integration of Science, Technology and Society) will convene its annual conference from July 31 to Aug. 4 at the KAIST Daejeon Campus. This year’s theme is “Draw the Web: Interactions in Society.” More than 300 participants from 60 universities in 20 countries will participate in the international conference hosted and planned by the student organization.
Speakers at the 2017 conference include leaders in technology, business, investment, and entrepreneurship, and many others highlighted by Christoffer O. Hernæs, chief digital officer of Skandiabanken and vice president of strategy and innovation at Sparebank; Vincent C. Müller, professor of the philosophy division of humanities & social sciences at Anatolia College; Nigel Parker, director of developer and platform evangelism at Microsoft APAC; and Jon Gosier, founder and CEO of WoundedMetrics, who was voted as one of the 25 most influential African-Americans in technology by Business Insider in 2013 and 2014.
ICISTS has organized and hosted this event, the largest academic conference hosted and organized by students in Asia, since 2005 as a way to discuss an incredibly challenging issue: how science and technology is being integrated into society. This year’s conference will explore how prominent technological advancements are integrated, and how the interactions between humanity and technology will affect society. This year’s sub-theme is “Settlement, Movement, and Inequality.”
In addition to the main session, ICISTS is preparing discussion sessions in which guest speakers and participants will divide into small groups to discuss their responses to the themes. Various additional events including a culture night and an excursion program will serve as opportunities to network with other participants. For more information on the program and how to register, please visit http://www.icist.org.
2017.05.22 View 8383 -
Prof. Sang-Min Bae Receives 2017 iF Design Award
Prof. Sang-Min Bae and his research team from the Industrial Design Department of KAIST submitted a winning entry to the 2017 iF Design Award named ‘Culture BOXCHOOL’.
The iF Design Award is an internationally renowned design contest that is recognized as one of the top three design awards in the world along with the Red Dot Design Award and the IDEA Design Award. It has been held annually by iF International Forum Design since 1953. A total of 5,575 entries from 59 countries entered the last competition.
Culture BOXCHOOL is a modular container space platform designed for culture sharing in isolated areas. It is delivered as a standard shipping container along with its subsidiary modular parts and it transforms into a gallery, office, or classroom. These modular parts build the interior and exterior by attaching them to the corner castings, which are standard parts on all shipping containers. Two Cultural BOXCHOOL containers can be transformed into three different types of layouts.
The containers can generate their own energy using solar panels that provide sustainable energy to equipment inside. Additionally, hot humid air can flow out through the attic vent, doors, and windows.
“With Culture BOXCHOOL, you can easily and quickly create spaces such as offices and classrooms, or you can easily disassemble and move them to another location.
Thus, it can provide everyone with equal educational opportunities and cultural enjoyment regardless of their geographical location. In addition, because it produces its own energy, it is expected to create a cultural space in a relatively harsh environment such as in developing countries. These social and economic values of Culture BOXCHOOL seem to be what led to us winning the contest. I will continue to strive to create the world’s best designs for needy people.” Professor Bae said.
The ID+IM design laboratory, a research team led by Professor Bae, has been studying philanthropy design since 2005, working on solving various problems throughout society through innovative design. They have received more than 50 awards from the most prestigious design competitions in the world.
2017.05.18 View 8431 -
Dr. Zi Jing Wong Named 2017 Jeong Hun Cho Awardee
(Photo caption: The 2017 Jeong Hun Cho Scholarship recipients pose with President Shin (left photo) and Dr. Zi Jing Wong, the recipient of the 2017 Jeong Hun Cho Award)
Dr. Zi Jing Wong, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Berkeley was named the 2017 recipient of the Jeong Hun Cho Award. The award recognizes outstanding young scientists in the field of aerospace engineering annually. The recipient receives a 20 million KRW prize.
The Award Committee said that Dr. Wong who earned his MS at KAIST Department of Aerospace Engineering is a rising scholar in the fields of optic meta materials, photonics, imaging, among others. He has published five papers on the realization of a zero refractive index and the control of a refractive index, as well as the realization of a 3D invisibility cloak in Science and Nature Photonics in 2014 and 2015. Dr. Wong also swept the best paper awards from many international academic societies including the US Materials Research Society, IEEE, SPIE, and Metamaterials Congress in 2015. He finished his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Award Committee also named three recipients of the Jeong Hun Cho Scholarship: Ph.D. candidate Hyon-Tak Kim of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at KAIST, Ph.D. candidate Ho-Song Park from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Korea University, and Hyong-Jin Choi of Kongju National University High School.
The award was endowed by the family of the late Ph.D. candidate Jeong Hun Cho who died in a rocket lab accident in the Department of Aerospace Engineering in 2003. Cho was posthumously conferred an honorary doctorate degree.
In memory of Cho, his father established the ‘Jeong Hun Cho Award and Scholarship.’ The scholarship annually selects three young scholars from Cho’s alma maters of KAIST, Korea University, and Kongju National University High School.
2017.05.12 View 11549 -
Policy Debate Series for Industry 4.0
(Photo caption: President Shin takes the podium as the first speaker of a year-long monthly policy dabate series on Industry 4.0 on May 11.)
KAIST will kick off a monthly policy debate series on Industry 4.0 every Thursday from May 11 at the Startup KAIST building. The year-long series, featuring professors from key technology fields associated with Industry 4.0, is designed to help policy makers from government, industry, and research institutes respond better to the ramifications that Industry 4.0 brings about in each sector.
The series will help them establish the vision and strategy that will work for the new industrial environment to take the lead in the new industrial era.
Twelve professors, including President Sung-Chul Shin, from departments that are researching emerging technologies will speak on the megatrend of new technology, while facilitating debates and Q& A sessions with participants.
The participants will include officials from the government complexes in Sejong and Daejeon cities, government-funded research institutes in Daejeon, and businessmen, among others. For registration, please go to https://startup.kaist.ac.kr/register.
Schedule
Speaker
Theme
May 11
President Sung-Chul Shin
Challenges and Innovations of KAIST in the Era of Industry 4.0
June 8
Professor Jonghwan Kim
Machine Intelligence and Deep Learning
July 6
Professor Jun Ho Oh
Robot Technology and the Future
Aug. 3
Professor Hyunchul Shim
Unmanned Vehicle Technology and Industry 4.0
Sept. 7
Professor Hawoong Jeong
Complex Systems and Data Science
Oct. 12
Professor Yongdae Kim
Technology, Policy, and the Fostering of Talents: Industry 4.0 and Information Protection
Nov. 9
Professor Sang Yup Lee
The Role of Biotechnology in Industry 4.0
Dec. 7
Professor Meeyoung Cha
AI-Based Research for Fake News Detection
2018 Jan. 4
Professor Joungho Kim
Innovation for the Korean Semiconductor Industry: Kim’s Law
Feb. 8
Professor Jaekyun Moon
Education for Industry 4.0
March 8
Professor Sang Kil Cha
Artificial Intelligence Cyber Warfare: Its Present and Future
April 5
Professor Jaeseung Jeong
The Future of Brain Engineering and Artificial Intelligence
2017.05.08 View 10459 -
Gout Diagnostic Strip Using a Single Teardrop
A novel diagnostic strip for gout patients using a single teardrop has been announced by KAIST research team. This technology analyzes biological molecules in tears for a non-invasive diagnosis, significantly reducing the time and expense previously required for a diagnosis.
The research team under Professor Ki-Hun Jeong of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering succeeded in developing an affordable and elaborate gout diagnostic strip by depositing metal nanoparticles on paper. This technology can not only be used in diagnostic medicine and drug testing, but also in various other areas such as field diagnoses that require prompt and accurate detection of a certain substance.
Gout induces pain in joints due to needle-shaped uric acid crystal build up. In general, therapeutic treatments exist to administer pain relief, stimulate uric acid discharge, and uric acid depressant. Such treatments work for temporary relief, but there have significant limitations. Thus, patients are required to regularly check uric acid concentrations, as well as control their diets. Therefore, simpler ways to measure uric acid would greatly benefit gout control and its prevention in a more affordable and convenient manner.
Existing gout diagnostic techniques include measuring uric acid concentrations from blood samples or observing uric acid crystals from joint synovial fluid under a microscope. These existing methods are invasive and time consuming. To overcome their limitations, the research team uniformly deposited gold nanoislands with nanoplasnomics properties on the surface of paper that can easily collect tears.
Nanoplasnomics techniques collect light on the surface of a metal nanostructure, and can be applied to disease and health diagnostic indicators as well as for genetic material detection. Further, metals such as gold absorb stronger light when it is irradiated, and thus can maximize light concentration on board surfaces while maintaining the properties of paper. The developed metal nanostructure production technology allows the flexible manufacturing of nanostructures on a large surface, which in turn allows flexible control of light concentrations.
The research team grafted surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy on paper diagnostic strips to allow uric acid concentration measurements in teardrops without additional indicators. The measured concentration in teardrops can be compared to blood uric acid concentrations for diagnosing gout.
Professor Jeong explained, “Based on these research results, our strip will make it possible to conduct low-cost, no indicator, supersensitive biological molecule analysis and fast field diagnosis using tears.” He continued, “Tears, as well as various other bodily fluids, can be used to contribute to disease diagnosis and physiological functional research.”
Ph.D. candidate Moonseong Park participated in the research as the first author of the paper that was published in the online edition of ACS Nano on December 14, 2016. Park said, “The strip will allow fast and simple field diagnosis, and can be produced on a large scale using the existing semiconductor process.”
(Figure 1. Optical image of paper gout diagnostic strip covered with gold)
(Figure 2. Scanning delectron microscopic image of paper gout diagnostic strip)
(Figure 3. Scanning electron microscope image of cellulos fiber coated with gold nanoislands)
(Figure 4. Gout diagnosis using tears)
2017.04.27 View 8990 -
Professor Lee Recognized by the KMS as Best Paper Awardee
Professor Ji Oon Lee of the Department of Mathematical Sciences was selected as the 2017 Best Paper Awardee by the Korean Mathematical Society. The award will be presented during the KMS spring meeting on April 29. Dr. Lee is being honored for proving a necessary and sufficient condition for the Tracy-Wisdom law of Wigner matrices. In a paper titled ‘A Necessary and Sufficient Condition for Edge Universality of Wigner Matrices,’ he proposed a solution for one of the many unanswered problems in the field of random matrix theory that have existed for decades. The paper, co-authored with Professor Jun Yin at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, was published in the Duke Mathematical Journal in 2014. Professor Lee joined KAIST in 2010 after finishing his Ph.D. at Harvard University. He was named a ‘POSCI Science Fellow’ and received the ‘Young Scientist Award’ from the KMS in 2014.
2017.04.27 View 9427 -
Professor Jinah Park Received the Prime Minister's Award
Professor Jinah Park of the School of Computing received the Prime Minister’s Citation Ribbon on April 21 at a ceremony celebrating the Day of Science and ICT. The awardee was selected by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning and Korea Communications Commission.
Professor Park was recognized for her convergence R&D of a VR simulator for dental treatment with haptic feedback, in addition to her research on understanding 3D interaction behavior in VR environments. Her major academic contributions are in the field of medical imaging, where she developed a computational technique to analyze cardiac motion from tagging data.
Professor Park said she was very pleased to see her twenty-plus years of research on ways to converge computing into medical areas finally bear fruit. She also thanked her colleagues and students in her Computer Graphics and CGV Research Lab for working together to make this achievement possible.
2017.04.26 View 9795