Dong Whi Choi (ME M.S.-Ph.D. integrated, Advisor Professor Dong Sung Kim) and Kim Hyejung (ME M.S.-Ph.D. integrated, Advisor Prof. Sang Joon Lee) were awarded the best Paper Award for Bio-MEMS of 2014 Spring Academic Contest by The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers. Their theses were “Pipette tips for controlling the charge of dispensed droplets” and “Experimental study on effective water transport through multi-layered porous hydrogel”.
Choi developed pipette tip which can solve the problems caused by the charge of dispensed droplets, controlling charge of droplets freely. It is expected to have great effects in medicine, life science, and chemistry where pipetting is commonly used. .
Kim made a porous hydrogel model imitating the inner shape of leaf and observed water transport through the porous structure. Leaves of plants transport water through porous structures of nano/micro units. Plants act as an excellent hydraulic pump to supplement water despite the substantial evaporation through stoma. Transport through porous material is used in many fields. This research is expected to be particularly helpful in biomimetic for effective water transport.