About the research field of Air Pollution and your Laboratory.Our “Air Pollution Lab” strives to connect science to air quality decision-making. Specifically, we aim to mitigate air pollution exposures and improve social equity of air pollution. Ultimately, our research goal is to alleviate health outcomes associated with air pollution. Our lab conducts research in several key areas: (1) Human exposure assessment of air pollution and health impacts associated with air pollution exposures, (2) Exposure assessment using geospatial modeling (incorporating statistics and machine learning) and sate

The 2024 KAIST-POSTECH Science War (KPSW), AI competition featured AI agents playing “Super Smash Bros. Melee” on the Nintendo GameCube. I want to share the challenges we faced during preparation as the lead of the POSTECH AI team.POSTECH AI team spent four months for discussing with the KAIST AI team the game to choose for our AI agents. After the Spring semester began, we concluded that “Super Smash Bros. Melee” was the best choice. We then formed a joint programming team to ensure we could create AI agents capable of playing the game well.During the joint development period for “Super Smash

Over the past few years, indoor climbing has surged in popularity across Korea, with new gyms sprouting up in urban areas, including Pohang. Climbing is enjoying a boom in popularity among young men and women in their twenties or thirties. The sport has especially become familiar among engineering students. There are even memes sarcastically making fun of how employees in Silicon Valley always list climbing as their hobby.After trying it myself, like in the meme, I found myself falling in love with climbing. I was, sure enough, an engineering student through and through. Climbing was indeed an

About the Bio Optics and Acoustics LaboratoryOur lab focuses on providing non-invasive and precise medical imaging through photoacoustic/ultrasound-integrated imaging technology. This technology detects ultrasound generated by the irradiation of light inside the body, and we are currently developing a “next-generation non-radiative photoacoustic/ultrasound biomedical imaging device” combined with traditional ultrasound imaging. This system allows the visualization of diverse information such as internal body structures, blood vessel conditions, and oxygen saturation in high resolution and 3-di

These days, I am surprised that I am already in my fifth semester at POSTECH. While on campus, I felt that POSTECH was the perfect place to become a great scientist or engineer. However, this fact sometimes leads us to follow only the predetermined path. I feel sorry that some of my fellow students miss out on valuable opportunities and experiences at our university. Therefore, through this article, I decided to share the experiences that have enriched my university life. I hope this article gives you hope for your time and refreshes your days on campus.Moving on to my personal story, the most

The movement of people has changed history, and persuasion must be preceded by massive movement. Aristotle proposed a model of persuasion, known as “Aristotle’s Rhetoric.” Logos, Ethos, and Pathos are three pillars of his persuasion. Logos is a persuasive method that relies on definitions, comparisons, testimonies, or statistics. It plays a similar role to “logic.” Ethos is given its life from credibility. Credibility is the quality of being trusted and believed in. It could be derived from a particular status or reputation. Pathos appeals to the audience’s emotions. Pathos sometimes becomes t

About the field of System Nano/Materials Chemistry that you are researching Functional Inorganic Materials Chemistry Lab conducts research utilizing various materials based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and nanoclusters. MOFs are materials where metals and organic ligands are connected in a repeating structure, which can range from one-dimensional to three-dimensional forms, offering a wide spectrum of structural possibilities. To make it easier to understand, you can think of it like building with LEGO blocks. Just as you can create various structures with LEGO blocks of different shapes

As the sweltering summer days close, how did you spend your vacation? Did you know that one of the ways Koreans escape the heat is by enjoying natural valleys? As Pohang is widely known for its beautiful coastlines, its valleys remain relatively undiscovered. However, it actually boasts some beautiful, hidden spots. I recently explored one of them with my friends, and it was an unforgettable vacation I would love to share. Perhaps you might consider planning your next summer getaway here! Haok Valley is located in the northern part of Pohang. It takes 90 minutes to get there POSTECH by car. Al

Why do I live? This was a serious question that I had gone through during my adolescence. You have also thought through this life-penetrating question or are currently pondering it. The answer varies from person to person. It could be getting a dream job, becoming wealthy enough to purchase anything, or doing little things with family. But whatever the answer, it converges to one thing: happiness. We live to be happy. There are a lot of different circumstances you feel happy. Yet, happiness can be narrowed down again to three things: ownership, dream, and love. We become happy when we get some

About our lab “Solid State Spectroscopy” Our lab studies “quantum” materials in solid phases where atoms form a well-defined periodic array that defines the symmetry of the “universe” inhabited by a multitude of electrons. Each material has its own universe, with electrons organizing themselves in complex, often unpredictable ways. Our main goal is to understand the collective behavior of electrons, which can differ significantly from isolated electron behavior. Occasionally, new (quasi)particles “emerge” with properties distinct from the constituent electrons. For example, an emergent particl

After three years of undergraduate life, I left for RWTH Aachen University in Germany as an exchange student. To me, Germany gave a strong impression of excellent technology. As an undergraduate student, I am already taking a Master’s course and also working as an intern at a university lab. This allowed me to experience German undergraduate programs, master’s programs, and research institutes up close. Through this opportunity, I was able to discover the characteristics of German university education and witness how Germany raises talent. First of all, the biggest feature of German universiti

Have you ever seen stairs in public places that make piano sounds when you step on them? At a subway station in Seoul, ordinary stairs were modified to produce piano sounds with each step. This modification proved to be more effective in increasing people’s use of the stairs compared to any previous campaigns or advertisements. Despite previous emphasis on the exercise benefits of using stairs, the rate of stair usage among citizens did not change significantly. However, incorporating elements that captured people’s interest into the stairs surprisingly led to a gradual increase in the number

About the smart biomaterials design research our lab is conducting In our Smart Biomaterials Design Lab, we are conducting a research that integrates biomimetic materials, microfluidics/bioreactor technologies, and cell biology to develop ex vivo models and microdevices that mimic human physiological and pathological states in the fields of tissue engineering and organ-on-chip devices development. In tissue engineering, we use cells, scaffolds, and bioactive molecules to restore, maintain, or enhance damaged tissues or organs. From a materials perspective, scaffolds are particularly important

The Spring that I had never expected in this land has finally arrived now, and sunshine rather than a gloomy sky features throughout the day. The landscape is filled with buildings that have no preponderance of aesthetics of slowness that; Something that I never experienced so far. And the coexistence of the park where chirping birds are and strongly packed in vigorous crowds. The country that includes all things herein is Denmark, and it has been more than three months since I arrived. I was truly busy processing a bunch of duties like residence permit, bank account opening, and joining vario

Two people on one land. Israel and Palestine continue to wage a life-threatening war. In April, there was an Israeli attack that killed World Central Kitchen (WCK), a non-government organization, workers. U.S. President Biden strictly urged Israel to protect civilians, and although the aid has been extended, both civilians are still endangered. A large pro-Palestinian protest was held at Columbia University, while some students at Seoul National University posted a poster supporting Palestine. Despite the fact that it is a long-standing ethnic conflict based on history and religion, it is stil

How did you become interested in medical science and engineering? Since high school, I have been deeply interested in human cognitive function and intelligence. While in medical school, I encountered neuroscience and neurology, thus my determination to study the brain. During my medical studies, I explored various research methods such as growing nerve cells in the biochemistry laboratory during semesters or breaks. Throughout my residency, I was fortunate to be surrounded by neurology professors who were dedicated to both clinical practice and preclinical research. Their example naturally led

First of all, competitive programming is a mind sport in which competitive programmers solve algorithmic and computational problems within a specified time frame. In the contest, participants are given a set of problems to solve in a few hours and they must write a computer program that can solve these problems. My journey in competitive programming is a story of passion and earnestness. After entering POSTECH, I started on my journey in competitive programming. In my first year at POSTECH, I joined the campus club, POSTECH Computing Algorithms Team (POSCAT), where I solved many computational

College friends often start their tales with remarks like “Seasons change”, usually talking about the end of honeymoon phase or friends joining the military. Reviewing drafts from senior reporter Kim San, I found similar phrases such as “All good things come to an end” or “Experience loneliness as it is meant to be – alone.” These comments caught me off guard. Realizing I had experienced similar situations, I felt stirred to share it from hindsight. As a freshman, I had no friends to talk to but my roommate. Just then, I found a strange refuge, the “town hall”, as we used to call it. The town

Please introduce us to the fields that are being researched. In the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, within the School of Convergence Science and Technology (SCST) at POSTECH, a diverse array of research in various fields are underway. The area of research spans from fundamental life science and medical science research, such as molecular biology, immunology, stem cell biology, and neuroscience, to biomedical engineering research, including biomedical imaging, biosignal processing, 3D printing, organoids, and wearable devices. Additionally, research on mathematical and stati

The Evolution of AI The early development of artificial intelligence(AI) began in the 1950s, and its origin lies in Alan Turing’s Turing test. Turing’s concept of intelligence was based on the machine’s capability to think and whether its behavior was ‘indistinguishable’ from that of the human being. In the 1960s, artificial intelligence research shifted to algorithm and rule-based approaches. This approach led to the emergence of ‘expert systems’, referring to software systems that mimic expertise in a particular field. As we entered the 1990s, machine learning began to gain attention. Machin