POSTECH ranked first in both natural sciences and engineering in the 2019 JoongAng Ilbo University Rankings according to the news agency’s announcement on Nov. 16. POSTECH excelled in the areas of student start-up and technology transfer. Since 2017, POSTECH has markedly outperformed other Korean universities in technology transfer revenue, industry-academic research cooperation, and inventions and patents.In particular, JoongAng Ilbo highlighted POSTECH’s support for student start-ups in detail through the medical device company “MiDAS H & T,” founded by Chang Se-yun, an alumnus of POSTECH’s

On Nov. 11, POSTECH’s Research and Business Development Foundation (PRBDF) held a Guamegi startup competition in the C5 Conference Hall. The competition is a speech contest where the participants explain their startup business models that they developed over a period of two months. Ten teams entered the contest, and each was given 10 minutes to explain their business model and five minutes for a Q&A. Judged by real entrepreneurs and businessmen, the winning team was ‘For Cat Mung’ — composed of Han Hye-hyeon (MSE M.S. Candidate) and Kim Seong-jong (MSE M.S. Candidate) — who explained their amb

Goblet cells are epithelial cells that secrete mucins onto the ocular surface to maintain the wet environment for protection with tear. Goblet cells are closely related to autoimmune diseases including dry eyes and chemical burns. Professor Kim Ki-hean (ME) and his research team successfully developed a non-invasive imaging technology of conjunctival goblet cells with high definition. In an effort of developing a better non-invasive assessment method, the research team has been studying a fluorescence imaging technique using fluoroquinolone antibiotic eye drops as the cell labeling agent. As a

Professor Yu Son-cheol (CiTE) and his team from the POSTECH Gyeongsangbuk-do Sea Grant Center developed a wireless underwater camera that can be used for the ecological analysis of salmon runs. As a part of marine and fisheries local technology specialization project, The POSTECH Gyeongsangbuk-do Sea Grant Center and the Gyeongsangbuk-do Research Center for Freshwater Fish studied the ecological properties of returning salmon in Wangpicheon, Uljin. This newly invented wireless underwater camera is capable of 360-degree imaging and can transmit visual information in real-time and up to 10km off

People who support Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protest, mostly Koreans and Hong Kong expatriates, marched down the streets of Hongdae, in Seoul, on Nov. 9. About 50 people, many wearing yellow helmets and goggles like the ones used in the Hong Kong protests, chanted “Fight for freedom” and “Stand with Hong Kong” as they urged Korean onlookers to pay attention to the political turmoil. The group, Organization of Citizens who support Hong Kong Democracy, urged the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to end their national violence against Hong Kong protesters. They also called on the Korean governmen

On Oct. 20, POSTECH President Moo Hwan Kim signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Far Eastern Federal University. He attended a meeting of presidents of universities in the Asia-Pacific region to mark the 120th anniversary of the founding of Russia’s Far Eastern Federal University and conduct human, academic exchanges and joint research.With the MOU signing, POSTECH announced its goal to further expand the exchange network in Russia’s the Far East, while contributing to boosting exchange and cooperation between Gyeongsangbuk-do, Pohang city, and Vladivostok. In particular, the two

POSTECH has joined hands with a local elementary school and several companies for the regional co-prosperity with “AI Maker Education Content.” On Oct. 20, POSTECH signed a memorandum of understanding with Geekble, Class One-Oh-One, and Pohang Jecheol Jigok Elementary School for cooperation in creative talent and converged education.Under the agreement, Geekble will provide offline talk shows, lectures and video-based curricula, and Class One-Oh-One will provide AI and maker education programs based on computational thinking to Pohang Jecheol Jigok Elementary School.Professor Youn Eun-young (C

Recent microorganism studies have shown that intestine microbiota control the life phenomenon not only in intestines but also in other tissues such as the lungs, liver, brain and bone marrow. However, there have been no ideas of how intestine microbial signals were transmitted to the whole body or how they produced immune cells yet. Professor Lee Seung-woo (LIFE) and his research team have discovered the mechanism of how intestine microbiota transmit signals to the whole body and how they control the haematopoiesis of the bone marrow.The research team noted that intestine microbiota control th

To celebrate the newly constructed Haedong 78 Tower, the POSTECH Student Council hosted the POSTECH Landmark Photo Exhibition from Sept. 25 to Oct. 3, encouraging Postechians to boast their photography skills and manifest the beauty of POSTECH to others. Postechians could participate in the event by submitting a photo featuring either the two new landmarks (the Haedong 78 Tower or the Alumni Road) or other spectacles around the campus. The winners were awarded prizes including Apple AirPods, chicken coupons, and Ponix dolls.A total of 17 entries were submitted; eight for the ‘new landmarks’ ca

Singer and actor Sulli, whose birth name is Choi Jin-ri, was found dead at her residence in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, on Oct. 14 afternoon. She was only 25 years old.She was found unconscious by her manager who contacted police. According to the police, she appeared to have committed suicide. It was known that she suffered from severe depression. Sulli made her acting debut in 2005 through a television drama and later debuted as a part of K-pop group f(x) in 2009. The group has been dormant since 2015, and Sulli has been pursuing a career as an actor and a solo singer. She recently released the albu

POSTECH was finally selected an AI graduate school by the Ministry of Science and ICT.The AI graduate school project’s purpose is to foster talents with global competitiveness in the AI sector, the core of the fourth industrial revolution. Ministry of Science and ICT additionally selected POSTECH as an AI graduate school in consideration of social interest in AI and market demand.The government will provide 2 billion KRW annually for a total of 9 billion KRW for five years starting next year. Universities can receive up to five additional years of support, depending on future evaluations. The

Organic solar cells have the problem of significantly decreasing power generation when the temperature of the panels rises due to solar heat. Professor Park Tai-ho (CE) and his research team will be able to replace silicon solar cells by developing organic solar cells that use ultraviolet (UV) light and food additives to control thermal efficiency even in extreme environments such as deserts.The research team created an organic solar battery with high thermal stability through ultraviolet bridge combination. The research result draws attention as it was published as a cover of Advanced Energy

Korea said its fighter jets fired warning shots at the Russian military aircraft that violated its airspace above islands of Dokdo, which is located in its East Sea, on July 23.Early in the morning of July 23, two Chinese H-6 bombers and two Russian Tu-95 bombers entered Korea’s Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) in turn. After spotting these aircraft entered KADIZ, the Korea Air Force scrambled its F-15K and KF-16 fighter jets and broadcasted a warning to planes in response.Then the Russian A-50 aircraft entered KADIZ at 9:01 A.M. and entered airspace over islands of Dokdo at 9:09 A.M.,

On Sept. 11, Lee Joo-Hyuk (GIFT) of Professor Kim Youn-Bae’s Clean Steel Laboratory were awarded the 2019 Sawamura Award by the Iron and Steel Institute of Japan (ISIJ) for the excellency of their paper “Oxidation of Ti added ULC Steel by CO Gas Stimulating Interfacial Reaction between the Steel and SEN during Continuous Casting”, published on ISIJ International on 2018.The paper focuses on the elucidation of the mechanism which causes the nozzle clogging during the continuous casting of Ultra Low C steel. Using thermodynamic analysis and validation through a series of experiments as support,

Postech-Kaist Science War (PKSW) disbandment and victory celebration ceremony took place on Oct. 1. The ceremony was supposed to be held in front of Auditorium, but it took place in Jigok Center due to the rain. The 18th PKSW from Sept. 20 to 21 was a complete victory of POSTECH, 5 to 2. This ceremony was to appreciate the hard works of PKSW Preparatory Committee, each representative team, and Cheero. It is called “Chicken Party”. The entire first and second floor of Jigok Center was full of 2,000 enthusiastic students.President Moo Hwan Kim promised a special winning gift to Postechians at ev

Korea has been divided since President Moon Jae-in appointed Cho, a former law professor, as justice minister despite objections from opposition parties. Minster Cho, known as a key role of the president’s prosecution reform drive, has raised issues amid various allegations over his family. Public gathered in front of Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on Sept. 28 to support Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his drive to reform the prosecution despite an investigation into corruption allegations involving his family. Participants voiced support for Cho, claiming that the media is conspiring with the prose

There are many cats living on the campus of POSTECH, and some of them are popular enough to have been named by Postechians out of affection. The most famous cats are Nobel and Abel, the two cats who welcome students in front of the POSCO International Center. Nobel was named after Nobel Park in POSTECH— the area where it used to roam about, and Abel was named after the Nobel prize in Mathematics as he was spotted with Nobel. The Postech Times interviewed Park Jong-hyun (EEE 16), the owner of Instagram account “postech_meaw” – an account that uploads photos of the POSTECH cats.Park created the

Greenpeace is under police investigation for defacing an advertisement of Hyundai Motor against pollution from cars. A member of Greenpeace climbed a billboard for Hyundai Motor’s new Sonata sedan and posted a message “No more internal combustion engines.” “As a part of our organization’s global campaign to take action against automakers developing vehicles with internal combustion engines, we thought it is necessary to voice our opinion to Hyundai Motor,” said Lee In-sung, a climate campaigner for the local branch of Greenpeace. According to the group, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors together pr

Professor Hwang Hyung-ju (MATH) received the Open & Collaboration Award at the 2019 POSCO Technology Conference for her contribution to improving POSCO’s cost competitiveness by developing and applying AI-based furnace end-point temperature prediction technology to the site.Prof. Hwang got a doctorate in Brown University, followed by a post-doc researcher at the Maxplanck Institute in Germany and an assistant professor at Duke University. She is currently vice director of POSTECH blockchain technology center and director of POSTECH Center for Applications of Mathematics. In addition, she won t

The POSTECH research team led by Professor Lee Sang-joon (ME) and Park Sung-ho (ME, Ph.D.) has succeeded in developing a way to extract lithium from seawater and have proposed a new plan to do so by using alginate beads and a metal-organic framework (MOF) of phosphate. The findings were published in the prestigious international journal Advanced Functional Materials.The research team confirmed the phenomenon of a synthetic alginic acid bead using aluminum as an agent effectively absorbing lithium. In addition, once the amorphous phosphate MOF is of sufficient size inside the alginic acid bead,