Campus/People
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KAIST Co-owns the HEVC Patent Portfolio License
MPEG LA, LLC, a firm based in Denver, Colorado, which licenses patent pools covering essential patents required for the use of video coding technology, such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Visual (Part 2), and HEVC/H.264, announced the availability of the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) Patent Portfolio License on September 29, 2014.
The HEVC standard, also known as H.265 and MPEG-H Part 2, is necessary to improve video coding and transmission efficiency for the Internet, televisions, and mobile gadgets with increased speed and capacity.
Through the portfolio license, users can easily obtain patent rights required for the HEVC standard in a single transaction, instead of negotiating separate licenses from multiple patent holders.
A total of 23 enterprises currently own essential HEVC patents. KAIST is the only Korean university among the joint patent owners. Collaborating with the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) and the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Professor Mun-Chul Kim of the Electrical Engineering Department at KAIST developed one of the core patents.
For a link to a press release distributed by MPEG LA, LLC, please see:
MPEG LA, LLC, September 29, 2014
"MPEG LA, LLC Offers HEVC Patent Portfolio License"
http://www.mpegla.com/main/Pages/Media.aspx
2014.10.02 View 15502 -
KAIST's Artist Residency Program Recruits Third Round Applicants
KAIST is accepting applications for the third Artist Residency Program, “The Endless Road,” from September 22, 2014 to October 21, 2014.
Through the program, KAIST has supported emerging and promising artists, writers in particular, such as novelists, poets, storytellers, and playwrights, to live on the campus and encourage them to interact with students and faculty. Originally initiated to integrate art and science and to seek synergistic effects that benefit both communities, the program has been well received by artists and scientists.
A total of three writers will be selected, and they will receive a stipend of USD 753.00 per month for six months. The program is available only in Korean.
2014.10.01 View 6432 -
KAIST's Education Donation Center Holds a Workshop
KAIST's Education Donation Center hosted a workshop on September 26, 2014 at the Munji campus, which included 60 officials from the Ministry of Education, the Republic of Korea, as well as from the provincial governments of Chungcheong and Kangwon.
The workshop was organized to discuss how to best deliver donations to support education in the two provinces and to better connect educational organizations and schools in the regions.
The center was created in July 2014 at KAIST to raise donations for education, implementing such activities as identifying potential donors, matching donors with beneficiaries, and building donation networks.
2014.10.01 View 6588 -
Thomson Reuters Nominates Distinguished Professor Ryong Ryoo for Its 2014 Nobel Citation Laureates in Chemistry
The Intellectual Property & Science business of Thomson Reuters announced on September 25th its “2014 Citation Laureates,” a list of candidates considered likely to win the Nobel Prize in the fields of physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and economics. The annual Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates will be recognized in perpetuity as contenders for a Nobel Prize.
Distinguished Professor Ryong Ryoo of the Department of Chemistry, KAIST, has been nominated for the 2014 Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates in Chemistry. He is the first Korean scientist who has made the list. In addition to Professor Ryoo, seven other scientists were selected as possible contenders for the 2014 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, or in the future.
Professor Ryoo was named alongside Charles T. Kresge, Chief Technology Officer of Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, and Galen D. Stucky, Professor of the Department Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for their research on the design of functional mesoporous materials (http://sciencewatch.com/nobel/2014-predictions/chemistry-laureates). Mesoporous materials have high surface areas with narrow pore-sized distribution and tunable pores diameters, offering promising properties and applications in various areas including adsorption, separation, sensing, and catalysis.
Professor Ryoo has focused his research interest in the synthesis of new functional nanoporous materials such as hierarchical zeolites, mesoporous silicas, carbons, and organic-inorganic composite materials that can be used for advanced applications in the production of alternative energy sources and in green chemical processes.
According to the press release by the Thomson Reuters, the list of the 2014 Nobel predictions includes 27 researchers representing 27 distinct academic and research organizations across nine different countries.
The annual Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates study is based on the analysis of proprietary data from the research and citation database, identifying the most influential researchers in the categories of chemistry, physics, physiology or medicine, and economics. Since its inception in 2002, the study has accurately forecasted 35 Nobel Prize winners. For the full text of the press release, please go to: http://thomsonreuters.com/press-releases/092014/2014-nobel-laureates-predictions.
2014.09.29 View 12948 -
President of KAIST Becomes an International Board Member of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in Russia
President Sung-Mo “Steve” Kang of KAIST has been appointed a member of the International Board of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT) in 2014, a leading Russian university specializing in theoretical and applied physics, mathematics, and related science and technology disciplines.
President Kang is the only scientist from Asia to become the latest member of the MIPT International Board. Consisting of 11 highly regarded scientists and scholars from all around the world, such as Professor Carlo Rubbia, a Nobel laureate in physics in 1984, President Alexander F. Andreev of the Kapitsa Institute for Physical Problems, President Ralph Eichler of the Zurich Federal Institute of Technology, and President Jaques Biot of the École Polytechnique Paris. Currently, President Leo Rafael Raif of MIT chairs the Board.
MIPT created the International Board (http://mipt.ru/en/about/general/international-board/) in 2013 to promote collaboration in international research and educational programs as well as to enhance its global visibility in the international community.
MIPT was established in 1946 by a group of prominent Soviet scientists including Pyotr Kapitsa, a Nobel laureate in physics in 1978, and was approved later in 1951 by the government of the former Soviet Union as a state university. Often referred as the “Russian MIT,” MIPT has earned international and domestic recognition through its unique educational system, providing students with opportunities for rigorous education in fundamental science and extensive research at leading research institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
2014.09.28 View 7415 -
KAIST and University of Waterloo in Canada Agree to Enhance Cooperation
KAIST and the University of Waterloo, Canada, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to explore collaboration in education and research in areas such as computer science, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, quantum computing, and nanotechnology. The two universities also agreed to expand their cooperation in entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and startup support programs. The signing ceremony took place at the University of Waterloo (UW) in Ontario, Canada, on September 22, 2014.
Feridun Hamdullahpur, president and vice-chancellor of UW, noted that “KAIST and the University of Waterloo have so much in common. Both institutions pursue excellence in teaching and research, attract some of the highest quality students and faculty alike, and seek out innovation that has the potential to change the world.”
President Steve Kang said, “The University of Waterloo has been leading the co-operative education field, offering valuable opportunities to young students to receive classroom-based education with practical work experience. This has been an important approach in higher education, and perhaps more so in this age when technological innovations create new values for social advancement and new opportunities for better growth. I hope that through the collaboration, KAIST and the University of Waterloo will produce research outcomes with global recognition.”
The University of Waterloo, located at the heart of Canada’s technology hub, has become one of the nation’s leading comprehensive universities in just half a century. The university is home to the world’s largest post-secondary co-operative education program, encouraging enterprising partnerships in learning and research.
The picture shows the signing of the MOU by President Steve Kang (right) and President and Vice-chancellor Feridun Hamdullahpur (left).
2014.09.26 View 9127 -
KAIST Sees an Increase in the Admission of International Students
The Admission Office of KAIST has been recruiting prospective international students, and as part of their efforts, they have been visiting such regions as the Americas, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Africa. In 2014, the office focused on nations in Africa, visiting Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
The visiting KAIST representatives, consisting of faculty, international students, and staff members, hosted an admission conference for high school students in those four nations, offering information on KAIST education and research, as well as introducing Korea.
As a result, a total of 37 African students (5 undergraduate and 32 graduate students) were admitted to KAIST for the 2014 fall semester. Among them was Gemechu Bekele Tolossa (picture below) from Ethiopia, who received the highest score at the Ethiopian college entrance examination in 2013. Tolossa had enrolled in a medical school at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and was at the top of his class, but he left the school in order to apply for KAIST.
When asked about his plan, Tolossa said, “I would like to study engineering and brain science at KAIST. KAIST offers me an excellent environment for learning and research, and I would like to make the most of it.”
KAIST accepted 206 international students this year (45 undergraduate and 161 graduate students), brining the number of international students at 540, approximately 5% of the students enrolled at the university.
2014.09.24 View 7571 -
KAIST and the National Assembly of Korea Create a Committee to Plan "Patent Hub Korea"
The KAIST Graduate School of Future Strategy (GSFS) and the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea held a meeting at the National Assembly building in Seoul on September 23, 2014.
At the meeting, the two organizations agreed to create a planning committee that will work for the construction of Korea as a global patent hub. In addition, the two also reviewed national laws and regulations related to patents and intellectual property rights (IPR) and discussed a future action agenda.
Dean Kwang-Hyung Lee of GSFS, Chairman Ui-Hwa Chung of the National Assembly, Chairman Jong-Yong Yoon of the Presidential Council on Intellectual Property, and many representatives from the academia, government, and law participated in the meeting.
Dean Lee, who is the co-chairman of the planning committee, said:
“Although Korea has globally ranked number five in patents and IPR, it still suffers from the lack of relevant legal systems and professionals. I hope that the planning committee will serve as a catalyst to make Korea stronger in the field of intellectual property and to accelerate the creation of the Patent Hub Korea.”
2014.09.24 View 9070 -
The College of Information Science & Technology names its Alumnus of the Year 2014
The College of Information Science & Technology (CIST), KAIST, selected Tae-Kyung Yoo, the Chief Executive Officer of Lumens, Inc., a Korean company producing semiconductors and light emitting diodes (LEDs), as its Alumnus of the Year 2014.
The award ceremony took place on September 19, 2014 at the KAIST Institute with the participation of the university’s senior management and students.
Mr. Yoo was recognized for his pioneering work to develop the LED industry in Korea as the next-generation growth engine for the nation’s economy.
After the ceremony, he gave a talk entitled “The Past and Future of the LED Industry: Its Important Role in the Change of Korean Industry.”
The CIST created the Alumnus of the Year 2014 award, for the first time this year, to appreciate its alumni’s contribution to the advancement of the industrial and academic sectors of Korean information science and technology, and it will continue presenting the award from this year onwards.
2014.09.22 View 8331 -
QS World University Rankings 2014: KAIST ranked 17th in Engineering and Technology
The QS World University Rankings 2014 were released on October 16, 2014. KAIST ranked 51st among the top 100 global universities which included Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Harvard University, and University of Oxford. This year’s QS ranking is the highest record ever achieved by KAIST, a great leap from last year’s 60th.
KAIST’s forte in engineering and technology remains high, ranking 17th out of hundreds of universities around the world. Since 2004, KAIST has kept the number one place in this subject within Korea.
Since first being compiled in 2004, the QS rankings have expanded to feature more than 800 universities around the world, and the top 400 universities are given individual ranking positions. The rankings are compiled based on six indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, faculty/student ratio, citations per faculty, international student ratio, and international staff ratio.
KAIST has earned high scores in three indicators: citations per faculty, academic reputation, and employer reputation.
President Steve Kang of KAIST said, “With concerted efforts made by all members of the KAIST community, faculty and students in particular, we have received a good result in the global rankings. Without dwelling on this result, we will continue to strive toward making KAIST one of the most sought-after universities in the world, academically praised and technologically innovative.”
2014.09.16 View 9769 -
Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee Gives Special Lecture at Tianjin University, China
Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST gave a special lecture at Tianjin University, China, on September 12, 2014.
The university has invited prestigious scholars and scientists including Nobel Prize laureates from all around the world to their program called the "BeiYang Lecture Series."
Professor Lee said:
"The lecture series has invited many eminent global leaders such as Dr. Steven Chu, who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997 and also served the 12th United States Secretary of Energy. It is a great honor to participate in the program as a speaker. The university told me that in recognition of my research in the development of sustainable biochemical industry through systems metabolic engineering, I was invited to speak.”
Professor Lee presented his speech entitled “Production of Chemical Materials through Microorganism Metabolic Systems Engineering” and took questions from the audience.
Professor Lee developed the world’s most efficient microorganism and bioprocess such as succinate, butanol, and engineering plastic raw materials. In recent years, he has succeeded in producing a small quantity of gasoline through converting in-vivo generated fatty acids.
2014.09.16 View 10959 -
The Alumni Association of KAIST hosts the first KAIST Technology Exchange Meeting
The Alumni Association of KAIST hosted the first KAIST Technology Exchange Meeting on September 12th at the KAIST Institute on campus.
About 14 alumni companies, MDS Technology, Biospace, and Satrec Initiative, two private equity funds including KAIST Entrepreneurship Foundation, and KAIST Technology Commercialization Center participated in this meeting.
This meeting was organized by the Alumni Association of KAIST in order to strengthen cooperation between alumni companies and KAIST members by increasing technology exchange and fostering cooperative culture.
The meeting comprised of two sessions: product exhibition and technology-exchange session.
During the exhibition, participating companies prepared the following: product showcase, intellectual property exchange, project consulting, and employment information.
Companies involved in technology-exchange session not only showcased their brand new technology but also shared their innovative ideas and entrepreneur vision, and discussed joint R&D.
The president of the Alumni Association of KAIST, Man Kee Baek who was in charge of this meeting said, “I hope this meeting stimulates more technology exchange between alumni companies and school members.”
He added that “our alumni association will continue to organize many projects for better KAIST.”
Detailed information about the event can be found on the official webpage of the Alumni Association of KAIST (http://www.ilovekaist.net), and this event was open to the public.
A company specializing in medical devices, Biospace, plans to donate a body composition analyzer and an automatic blood pressure meter worth 14,000,000 won to KAIST.
2014.09.15 View 7473