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ASPIRE League 2014: E-Olympics among Five Asian Universities
About 150 undergraduate students from five leading science and technology (S&T) universities in Asia met at the KAIST campus to attend the E-Olympics on August 7-9, 2014.
The E-Olympics began as a student exchange conference held under the Asian Science and Technology Pioneering Institutes of Research and Education (ASPIRE) League, which offers a variety of events, such as workshops, sports matches, lab visits, special lectures, and art performances, to promote academic and research collaborations and cultural sharing between the students of the league member universities.
Founded in 2009, the ASPIRE League is a university consortium consisted of five top S&T universities in Asia: KAIST in Korea, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Tsinghua University in China, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore, and Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) in Japan. The ASPIRE League aims to provide a knowledge and technology hub for innovation in Asia through the advancement of science and technology and the development of human resources.
Since its start, the ASPIRE League has been holding an annual conference with programs for research collaboration, student exchange, educational cooperation, and satellite laboratories among professors, senior managers, and students of the member universities. This year, however, the consortium decided to dedicate the conference to students by holding the E-Olympics.
Each university sent 30 students to KAIST for the participation of the E-Olympics. For three days, participating students engaged in discussions and presentations at academic workshops; held athletic games including a relay race, basketball, and a rowing race; and toured a few KAIST laboratories, among them: the E-mobility Research Center, the Bio-imaging and Cell Signaling Research Center, the Mechatronics Systems and Control Center, and the Center of Field Robotics for Innovation, Exploration and Defense.
The students also attended a music concert performed by a KAIST student club and a lecture entitled “Entrepreneurship through Global Networking” that emphasized the importance of personnel networking in transferring technological innovation into business opportunities.
Chang-Dong Yoo, the Dean of the International Office at KAIST, said, “The E-Olympics will offer students from top science and technology universities in Asia opportunities to interact with each other on a more personal level. I hope that through many of the E-Olympics programs, the students will learn about each other’s culture and academic strength and develop a sense of community to create a “New Asia” by working together.”
2014.08.11 View 13255 -
2014 NEREC Conference on Nuclear Nonproliferation: July 31-August 1, 2014, Seoul
The Nonproliferation Education and Research Center (NEREC) at KAIST hosted an international conference on nuclear nonproliferation on July 31-August 1, 2014 in Seoul. The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the Korean Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, and the Korea Nuclear Policy Society (KNPS) sponsored the event.
Over one hundred experts and "thought leaders" in nuclear security and nonproliferation attended the conference and discussed issues related to the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons, the role of scientific community in mitigating nuclear threat and promoting the peaceful use of nuclear power, and nuclear disarmament policy.
Keynote speakers were: Steven E. Miller, Director of International Security Program at Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University; Scott D. Sagan, Senior Fellow of the Center for International Security and Cooperation, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University; Mark Fitzpatrick, Director of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Programme, International Institute for Strategic Studies; Sang-Hyun Lee, Director of Security Strategy, Sejong Institute; and Man-Sung Yim, Professor of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, KAIST.
At the conference, Professor Yim, Director of KAIST NEREC said, “Korea has grown to become a key player in the development of commercial nuclear energy over the past decades. We hope that our conference encourages Korea to be more involved in the efforts of the international community to enhance the global nonproliferation regime.”
2014.08.05 View 14468 -
Discovery of New Therapeutic Targets for Alzheimer's Disease
A Korean research team headed by Professor Dae-Soo Kim of Biological Sciences at KAIST and Dr. Chang-Jun Lee from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) successfully identified that reactive astrocytes, commonly observed in brains affected by Alzheimer’s disease, produce abnormal amounts of inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) in reaction to the enzyme Monoamine oxidase B (Mao-B) and release GABA through the Bestrophin-1 channel to suppress the normal signal transmission of brain nerve cells.
By suppressing the GABA production or release from reactive astrocytes, the research team was able to restore the model mice's memory and learning impairment caused by Alzheimer’s disease. This discovery will allow the development of new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s and other related diseases.
The research result was published in the June 29, 2014 edition of Nature Medicine (Title: GABA from Reactive Astrocytes Impairs Memory in Mouse Models of Alzheimer’s Disease).
For details, please read the article below:
Technology News, July 10, 2014
"Discovery of New Drug Targets for Memory Impairment in Alzheimer’s Disease"
http://technews.tmcnet.com/news/2014/07/10/7917811.htm
2014.07.16 View 9585 -
Professor Kyu-Young Whang Receives Contributions Award from ACM SIGMOD
Kyu-Young Whang, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at KAIST, was the recipient of the 2014 ACM SIGMOND Contributions Award.
Founded in 1947, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, delivering resources that advance computing as a science and profession.
SIGMOD is the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Management of Data, which specializes in large-scale data management problems and databases.
Since 1992, ACM SIGMOND has presented the contributions award to one scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of database systems through research funding, education, and professional services. So far, 23 people including Professor Whang have received the award.
Professor Whang was recognized for his key role in the growth of international conferences and journals in the field of databases such as The VLDB Journal (The International Journal on Very Large Data Bases), VLDB Endowment Inc., IEEE Technical Committee on Data Engineering, and Database Systems for Advanced Applications (DASFAA). IEEE stands for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
For the full list of ACM SIGMOND Contributions Award recipients, please go to
http://www.sigmod.org/sigmod-awards/sigmod-awards#contributions.
2014.07.15 View 9413 -
Opening of "Education Donation Center" for Knowledge Sharing
KAIST is a leader in knowledge-sharing services for the educationally underprivileged. KAIST held the opening ceremony of the Education Donation Center at its Munji Campus on July 4, 2014 and was appointed as a “2014 Chungcheong-Gangwon province model local education donation center” sponsored by the Education Ministry of Korea and Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity.
The Education Donation Center (EDC) will integrate programs run by the Chungcheong-Gangwon province education donation organizations and introduce them to local chapter organizations. The EDC will recommend new donation organizations to the organizations in need. To ensure efficient donation, the EDC will consult programs of donation organizations. The EDC will also suggest regionally suitable education donation programs. KAIST will provide three staff members, six graduate students, and one to manage the career counselor to the center.
Joo-Sung Lee of the Business & Technology Management Department is the professor in charge of the EDC. He explained, “The center is the medium between the newly participating education donation organizations and the demand organizations. I will invest every effort to provide high-quality educational benefits to educationally underprivileged people."
KAIST has also been running an education service group called ‘Midam Scholarship’, an online education donation group called ‘Chalk’, and science camp programs for youth to establish the sharing and collaboration culture of KAIST.
2014.07.10 View 9496 -
The ICISTS-KAIST International Conference from August 4-8, 2014 in KAIST Campus, Korea
"Does science lead progress?"
This thought-provoking question will be explored this summer with hundreds of university students gathered from all around the world at the campus of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), a leading science and technology university in Korea.
Established in 2005, the International Conference for Integration of Science, Technology and Society (ICISTS)-KAIST has been hosted every summer for Korean and international university students in Daejeon, Republic of Korea. The conference features distinguished speakers from academia, business, and public sectors and enables participants to exchange views, identify issues affecting science and society, and explore possible solutions.
The ICISTS-KAIST is the largest interdisciplinary conference in Asia. It is organized by undergraduate students of KAIST and promotes the idea of a science- and technology-integrated society through international cooperation of college students from diverse backgrounds. Last year alone, about 400 participants from 103 universities in 25 countries attended the conference.
Marking the 10th anniversary, the ICISTS-KAIST International Conference 2014 will scrutinize the fundamental aspect of scientific and technological progress versus social advancement under the theme of "Does Science Lead Progress?"
"We hope that the conference provides students with an interactive platform to look into some of the essential, yet easily neglected, questions such as the purpose of science and technology education in a broader context of social values," said Dong-Yeon Woo, President of Organizing Committee for the ICISTS-KAIST International Conference 2014.
Among keynote speakers are Langdon Winner, a professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stephen Hilgartner, an associate professor of Science and Technology Studies at Cornell University, and Steve Breyman, an associate professor of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Langdon Winner will speak about the fallacy of the public perception that technological innovation leads to social revolution (his presentation is entitled "The Myth of Innovation"). Stephen Hilgartner will present four aspects of the politics of vision in today's science and technology ("Science, Technology, and the Politics of Vision"), and Steve Breyman will talk about the origin of scientific deception, misrepresentation, and prevarication ("The Agnotology of Hydrofracking").
The conference lasts five days, beginning on August 4th through August 8th, 2014 at KAIST campus. For participation, regular online application opens until July 11, 2014 at http://www.icists.org.
2014.07.04 View 10069 -
The First Demonstration of a Self-powered Cardiac Pacemaker
As the number of pacemakers implanted each year reaches into the millions worldwide, improving the lifespan of pacemaker batteries has been of great concern for developers and manufacturers. Currently, pacemaker batteries last seven years on average, requiring frequent replacements, which may pose patients to a potential risk involved in medical procedures.
A research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), headed by Professor Keon Jae Lee of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST and Professor Boyoung Joung, M.D. of the Division of Cardiology at Severance Hospital of Yonsei University, has developed a self-powered artificial cardiac pacemaker that is operated semi-permanently by a flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator.
The artificial cardiac pacemaker is widely acknowledged as medical equipment that is integrated into the human body to regulate the heartbeats through electrical stimulation to contract the cardiac muscles of people who suffer from arrhythmia. However, repeated surgeries to replace pacemaker batteries have exposed elderly patients to health risks such as infections or severe bleeding during operations.
The team’s newly designed flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator directly stimulated a living rat’s heart using electrical energy converted from the small body movements of the rat. This technology could facilitate the use of self-powered flexible energy harvesters, not only prolonging the lifetime of cardiac pacemakers but also realizing real-time heart monitoring.
The research team fabricated high-performance flexible nanogenerators utilizing a bulk single-crystal PMN-PT thin film (iBULe Photonics). The harvested energy reached up to 8.2 V and 0.22 mA by bending and pushing motions, which were high enough values to directly stimulate the rat’s heart.
Professor Keon Jae Lee said:
“For clinical purposes, the current achievement will benefit the development of self-powered cardiac pacemakers as well as prevent heart attacks via the real-time diagnosis of heart arrhythmia. In addition, the flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator could also be utilized as an electrical source for various implantable medical devices.”
This research result was described in the April online issue of Advanced Materials (“Self-Powered Cardiac Pacemaker Enabled by Flexible Single Crystalline PMN-PT Piezoelectric Energy Harvester”: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201400562/abstract).
Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWYT2cU_Mog&feature=youtu.be
Picture Caption: A self-powered cardiac pacemaker is enabled by a flexible piezoelectric energy harvester.
2014.06.25 View 17104 -
KAIST doctoral student wins prize at 2014 International Military Science and Technology Fair
Min-Kyu Yoo (far left), a doctoral student in the Department of Materials Science Engineering, KAIST, received a silver prize at the 2014 International Military Science and Technology Fair held from May 29 to June 1, 2014 at KINTEX, Ilsan City, Korea.
Yoo presented a paper on aluminum composite materials that were reinforced by carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes reinforced aluminum composite materials have strong mechanical properties, and some nations have used them to manufacture battle tanks.
Aluminum generates hydrogen in an alkaline solution. Utilizing this property and the galvanic corrosion of carbon nanotubes and aluminums, Yoo developed a hydrogen energy system that is fueled with composite materials of carbon nanotube reinforced aluminum. He produced 5 kW electric power and maintained it 22 days using 10 kg of the composite materials for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell and its auxiliary power system.
Yoo’s research will alleviate the difficulty of transporting fuels during wartime and can be applied to the development of an auxiliary power system for next generation aircrafts and battle tanks.
2014.06.24 View 9416 -
Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee Attends World Economic Forum's Workshop
Sang Yup Lee, Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST was invited to attend the Technology Pioneer and Global Growth Company CEO Workshop hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) on June 19-20, 2014 in San Francisco. During the workshop, Professor Lee joined a discussion on “disruptive technologies” as a panelist.
Currently serving for the evaluation committee that selects technology pioneers for the workshop, during the discussion, Professor Lee identified important issues facing humanity, analyzed the issues through forecasting, and presented converging disruptive technologies that provide solutions to the problems. He also shared the “ten emerging technologies” announced by the Global Agenda Council on Emerging Technologies, WEF and the Korean government’s technology innovation strategies adopted to achieve its economic development policy called creative economy.
2014.06.22 View 9015 -
First Instance of Negative Effects from Terahertz-Range Electromagnetic Waves
Professor Philhan Kim
Electromagnetic waves (EM-wave) in the terahertz range were widely regarded as the “dream wavelength” due to its perceived neutrality. Its application was also wider than X-rays. However, KAIST scientists have discovered negative effects from terahertz EM-waves.
Professor Philhan Kim of KAIST’s Graduate School of Nanoscience and Technology and Dr. Young-wook Jeong of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) observed inflammation of animal skin tissue when exposed to terahertz EM-waves.
The results were published in the online edition of Optics Express (May 19, 20104).
Terahertz waves range from 0.1 to 10 terahertz and have a longer wavelength than visible or infrared light. Commonly used to see through objects like the X-ray, it was believed that the low energy of terahertz waves did not inflict any harm on the human body.
Despite being applied for security checks, next-generation wireless communications, and medical imaging technology, little research has been conducted in proving its safety and impact. Conventional research failed to predict the exact impact of terahertz waves on organic tissues as only artificially cultured cells were used.
The research team at KAERI developed a high power terahertz EM-wave generator that can be used on live organisms. A high power generator was necessary in applications such as biosensors and required up to 10 times greater power than currently used telecommunications EM-wave. Simultaneously, a KAIST research team developed a high speed, high resolution video-laser microscope that can distinguish cells within the organism.
The experiment exposed 30 minutes of terahertz EM-wave on genetically modified mice and found six times the normal number of inflammation cells in the skin tissue after six hours. It was the first instance where negative side effects of terahertz EM-wave were observed.
Professor Kim commented that “the research has set a standard for how we can use the terahertz EM-wave safely” and that “we will use this research to analyze and understand the effects of other EM-waves on organisms.”
2014.06.20 View 9929 -
KAIST's Center for Integrated Smart Sensors made a partnership with a Silicon Valley start-up
KAIST's Center for Integrated Smart Sensors (CISS) will implement a joint venture project with Dual Aperture, Inc., a leading digital camera provider based in Palo Alto, California. The two will work on the development of 3-D imaging technology.
CISS, headed by Professor Chong-Min Kyung of Electrical Engineering, KAIST, is dedicated to technological advancement by developing innovative devices, circuits, and smart sensors.
In its press release dated June 18, 2014, Dual Aperture, Inc. stated that “by combining top talents in engineering, the partnership will establish a groundbreaking smart sensor technology accessible on multiple platforms and devices.”
For details, a Fox news article follows below:
Dual Aperture, Inc., June 18, 2014
“Image technology leader and top research institute collaborate engineering resources to create world’s first-ever smart sensor technology”
http://www.fox14tv.com/story/25808022/dual-aperture-announces-joint-venture-with-kaists-center-for-integrated-smart-sensors
2014.06.19 View 9590 -
Professor Sang Ouk Kim Receives the "Scientist of the Month Award" from the Korean Government
Professor Sang Ouk Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, KAIST, received the Scientist of the Month Award in June 2014 for his development of a fundamental technology that allows free control of the properties of carbon-based materials.
Since June 1997, the Korean government has awarded monthly one scientist working in industry, universities, or research institutions to recognize his or her research achievements, as well as to promote science and technology.
Professor Kim implemented a technique known as doping, which has been used in ordinary semiconductor processes, to demonstrate the physical properties of carbon-based materials. Carbon nanotubes, graphene, and other carbon materials have superior mechanical and electrical properties and are regarded as next-generation materials. However, difficulty in controlling their qualities has made applications in various devices unfavorable. The doping technique in semiconductor production is to artificially introduce impurities into an extremely pure semiconductor for the purpose of modulating its electrical properties.
Profess Kim doped elements like nitrogen and boron to enable minute control of the physical properties of carbon-based materials and applied the technique to development of organic solar cells, organic light-emitting devices, and flexible memory. He also increased the application range by using a self-assembly method to change freely the structure of carbon-based materials.
Professor Kim has published 53 papers in renowned journals such as Advanced Materials and Nanoletters. He was rewarded further by being invited to write a review paper for the 25th anniversary special edition for Advanced Materials.
2014.06.19 View 10582