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Professor Jung Woo-shik of the School of Chemical Engineering receives 'Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning for Contributions to Technology Commercialization' award College of Pharmacy Professor Jang Hyun-wook selected for 'Excellent Performance in Basic Research' Recognized for contributions in leading science technology in the '2014 MSIP R&D Performance Expansion Contest' [November 7, 2014] YU Professors received minister-level citations and plaques for their contributions in leading science technologies at the '2014 MSIP R&D Performance Expansion Contest'. At this event, which was held at KINTEX in Ilsan of Gyeonggi-do on the 5th being sponsored by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (Minister Choi Yang-hee, hereinafter 'MSIP') and hosted by the Institute for Information & Communication Technology Promotion (Director Lee Sang-hong) and the National Research Foundation (President Jung Min-geun), Professor Jung Woo-shik of the School of Chemical Engineering received the 'Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning for Contributions to Technology Commercialization' award and College of Pharmacy Professor Jang Hyun-wook selected for 'Excellent Performance in Basic Research' award. This event was designed to show the performance of creative economy by the MSIP and to spread the performance of the R&D results, promote the commercialization of technologies, and to promote industry-academic-research technology exchange to share business information. Professor Jung Woo-shik received national funding from the MSIP and succeeded in commercializing 'aluminum nitride powder manufacturing technologies' that was possessed by Professor Jung. He was recognized for his contributions in the development of the world's best technologies after over 20 years of persistent research. Last year, the MSIP carried out the 'Research Performance Commercialization Support Project to utilize and spread basic research performance and to support the creation of jobs and new businesses. First, 10 'hidden techs' with bright prospects for commercialization were announced and Professor Jung's new technology received the highest amount of national funding at 340 million won for two years. At the time, Professor Jung's technologies had already completed technology transfer contracts with a relevant company. In 2013, Professor Jung signed a technology transfer contract with LTC (CEO Choi Ho-seong), which is a precision chemical product manufacturing company. In addition to 300 million won for technology transfer fees, Professor Jung agreed to receive ordinary technology fees of 1-1.5% (approximately worth 20 billion won) of the annual sales. Professor Jung said, "Heat from electronic devices such as LEDs and semiconductors result in the shortened life of the devices. Therefore, companies are actively developing heat-resistant substrate materials. Aluminum nitrate has excellent heat resistance and has been receiving a lot of attention from electronics industries around the world, and it also has a very high industrial value." He added, "This new technology that was developed can simplify processes more than the technologies of the existing Japanese company so it can lower production costs and it has high quality so it will be competitive." Meanwhile, YU College of Pharmacy Professor Jang Hyeok-wook received the 'Excellent Performance in Basic Research' award for the 'Allergy and Inflammation Control Path Research'. The MSIP and National Research Foundation selects and announces 'Excellent Performance in Basic Research' every year to find excellent performances with high scientific, technological, economical and social ripple effects to motivate researchers and to promote the performances to help raise the national interest and understanding of R&D projects. This year, a total of 50 were selected including Professor Jang Hyeok-wook's study for 30 in the basic research sector, nine in the humanities and social research sector and 11 in the national policy research sector. Professor Jang's study was the first in the world to discover new allergy and inflammation control paths and it is expected to help procure national competitiveness in the pharmaceutical and bio industries. Also, it is expected that it will be used as basic material not only for diabetes and metabolism related diseases, but also for the development of treatments for allergic and inflammation diseases. Professor Jang's thesis was published in the September 2013 issue of the worlds' top academic journal on allergies and immunity, <Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI, IF 12.05). Professor Jang said, "The discovery of proteins that control the activation of AMPK (AMP-activated protein kinase), a sensor protein to maintain energy homeostasis in the body, and the research on the investigation of cellular control networks by these will be published as a thesis in the near future." He added, "We will continuously carry out research to discover AMPK activation materials to procure the necessary materials to development treatment for allergy and inflammation related diseases."
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'IBWA Project IT Mentoring' Presentation, 'Grand Prize' App for rehabilitative treatment to enhance child learning, to prevent Alzheimer's, and to improve cognitive abilities [November 16, 2014] Female students in the YU College of Engineering won the grand prize in the presentation for the 'IBWA Project IT Mentoring' The winning team was 'G23' (Advisor Ahn Byeong-cheol) made up of seniors in the Department of Computer Engineering, Nam Min-ji (24), Bae Jeong-eun (22), Joo Mi-ri (22), Kang Min-jeong (21) and Yoon Hyo-shim (21). In the 'EBWA Project IT Mentoring' project that has been held for the past seven years since 2008, IT companies and female engineering students make up teams as mentors and mentees to carry out joint development projects. Through this, female students are given the opportunity to receive practical experience through direct interaction with IT company workers, while fostering professional female IT experts who will lead the next-generation IT industry. This year, it was sponsored by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (Minister Choi Yang-hee) and hosted by the IT Business Women's Association (Chairperson Kim Hyun-joo, IBWA) and the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (Director Park Soo-yong). A total of over 300 people in 45 teams in various fields such as robots, smart phone applications, and computer program development participated in the contest. The project started with a seminar for college IT departments and IT companies in March and through mentor and advisor training and mentor-mentee agreements, the teams worked on their projects for approximately five months from June. The YU 'G23' Team had Seok Chun-hee, VP of Jiju Soft, a company specializing in educational software, participate as their mentor who provided on and offline mentoring activities for five months. Team leader of 'G23' Kang Min-jeong said, "Our project concept was 'cognitive ability development' software, but we faced many difficulties when coming up with the detailed contents." She added, "The objective advice from our highly experienced mentor and the educational software used in the mentor's company helped us greatly in coming up with app contents." After completing the five month project, presentations were held for two days from October 31 to November 1 at the Resom Spa Castle (Yesan, Chungnam). After two project presentations, the YU 'G23 Team' won the coveted grand prize. The project name of the 'G23' team was 'Young Brain'. It is a mobile app for seniors and children to help improve cognitive abilities. 'Young Brain' can be used for learning by children, preventing Alzheimer's for seniors, and to improve cognitive abilities. It is a game-type mobile application that can improve instant memory, cognitive abilities, judgment, reaction, and concentration. In order to procure expertise and usefulness of the functions, they visited the YU Medical Center Psychiatry Department to receive advice from experts. In order to solve issues on character design copyrights and unity, they cooperated with students majoring in industrial design, and worked diligently to complete the project. Team member Yoon Hyo-shim said, "We visited nearby elementary schools and kindergartens for testing." and added, "It is a simple game-type that can be easily controlled by the elderly and children, and I think we received high scores for the high business potential." Team leader Kang Min-jeong said, "We had many difficulties because it was the first app development for all of us, but with this award, we gained a lot of confidence." She added, "There are still many improvements needed for 'Young Brain' such as Alzheimer's diagnosis program and network connection. I hope we can search for ways to make this into a feasible business through cooperation with our mentor company." The awards ceremony for the winners of the 'IBWA Project IT Mentoring' presentation will be held on the 20th at the L Tower in Yangjae-dong in Seoul. All members of the G23 team who won the grand prize will be awarded the Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning Award and be given the opportunity for short-term training in Shanghai, China.
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Highway accident automatic reporting app took first place overall. Possible to commercialize by using sensor and GPS in smart phones. Contribute to prompt accident response by automatic reporting and providing detailed location information during emergencies [October 23, 2014] YU Department of Information and Communication Engineering students who won the grand prize at the '3rd Traffic Data Utilization Contest' (from left to right: Cheon Min-gyeong, Kim Jun-yeob, Park Su-bin, Kim Hee-soo, Lee Sang-hoon) YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) students developed a smart phone app called 'Highway Accident Auto Reporting' and won the grand prize at the '3rd Traffic Data Utilization Contest'. They are the LTE (Life Try Eternally) Team made up of Department of Information and Communication Engineering seniors Lee Sang-hoon (25), Cheon Min-gyeon (25) and Kim Hee-soo (23), and juniors Kim Jun-yeob (24) and Park Su-bin (23). They recently took first place at a contest supervised by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation (Minister Seo Seung-hwan) and hosted by the Korea Expressway Corporation (President Kim Hak-song). The contest was held to find creative, yet practical ideas that can use traffic data possessed by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Expressway Corporation. Participants selected the theme on their own using the 'expressway and national highway traffic data' and competed in a total of three sectors including smart phone app development. A total of 68 teams participated in this contest and starting with a briefing session on June 24, each team worked on their projects with expert mentors and finally submitted their works on September 30. Based on the submitted works, a total of 12 teams - four in each sector, gave their final presentations on the 14th. In result, the YU LTE Team took first place in all sectors, receiving the honors of the grand prize. The LTE Team developed the smart phone app called 'Express Response' that can promptly take appropriate actions when emergency situations occur on the highway. The 'Express Response' app makes it possible for prompt accident cleanup or for other emergency situations on the highway by sending the information related to the accident to 119 or the Korea Expressway Corporation. Team leader Lee Sang-hoon said, "When accidents occur on the expressway, when the person involved is unconscious or conscious but cannot state their exact location, causing delayed response, the possibility for bigger accidents such as secondary accidents rise. Thus, we developed the 'Express Response' app for prompt accident processing and response during emergencies where every second counts." The main functions of the 'Express Response' app are accident response guides, expressway distance information (distance from expressway start point) query, and automatic reporting of emergency situation functions. In particular, the automatic reporting of emergency situation function gathered attention by using expressway distance data provided by the Korea Expressway Corporation based on sensors that measured the acceleration and rotation movement angle and the GPS inside of the smart phone. It is expected that by using functions that send vehicle and expressway distance information when there are car accidents, it will help with prompt accident handling. Team member Cheon Min-gyeong said, "When the smart phone detects impact, an alarm goes off and a report button appears on the smart phone screen. The user can just click one time to send a message containing information on the accident to 119 or other institutes." She added, "If the smart phone is not touched for 20 seconds after the alarm goes off, a message is sent automatically to the relevant institutes as a double programming measure." She also stated, "Anyone can use the 'Accident Response' app immediately just by installing," and added, "I think we got good marks because it practical and there is a great deal of interest in safety accidents due to the recent sinking of the Sewol Ferry."
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Responsible for event including interpretation at the 'International Gold Event' held for the first time in Korea 11 night and 12 day event with 120 next-generation leaders from 38 countries Taking the lead in uplifting the prestige of Korea as global communication experts [October 22, 2014] “The job of interpreters is not to simply help with the event. I think that their job is to make happy memories with global leaders and give good impressions of Korea as civil diplomats. I will take this mission to heart in this event." YU Department of English Language & Literature Senior Han Hyun-joo (22), who is close to her graduation, will be in charge of communication for next-generational global leaders at the '2014 International Gold Event'. She studied at the University of Nebraska for one year since the second semester of last year and she is resolved to play her role in raising the prestige of Korea at a festival of next-generation global leaders that will be held in Korea for the first time by using what she learned in her major field of study. From June 15 to 20, she interpreted at the '2014 World Hydrogen Energy Conference' in Gwangju and the '12th Convention on Biological Diversity Conference' held in Pyeongchang of Gangwon-do from September 29 to October 17. She is thus taking steps in achieving her dream as a global communication expert. Thirteen YU students including Han will act as interpreters at the '2014 International Gold Event' that will be held at the National Youth Center of Korea at Cheonan, Chungnam and the Seoul Novotel Hotel from the 22nd until November 2. Their mission will is to be simultaneous interpreters, as well as coordinators who will guide participants. As their job is very important, YU and the Korea Youth Work Agency selected 13 special members through one-on-one interviews in October. Kim Hong-il (21), a junior at the YU Department of Political Science & Diplomacy was also selected as an interpreter. He has experience as an interpreter at the '10th Busan Choral Festival & Competition' and the '2014 Nakdong River International Water Week', and will also be participating in the 'World Technopolis Association (WTA) International Event' that will be held in Daejeon in November. He said, "As this is a large-scale event joined by next-generation leaders of various countries, I hope that I will be able to become a more mature person by sharing various experiences and thoughts and communicating with each other. Furthermore, it will be a great opportunity to give a good impression of Korea to the world." The 'International Gold Event' is a festival of next-generation global leaders made by the Duke of Edinburgh who made the International Youth Award Program. Youths between the ages of 14 to 25 are awarded at the International Youth Award Program with gold, silver or bronze medals. Youths who were awarded gold medals gather together from around the world for continuous networking and to raise their leadership. After the first event that was held in Canada in 1967, this event was held every three years in 13 different countries so far. The '2014 International Gold Event' is sponsored by The International Award Association and hosted by the Korea Youth Work Agency (Director Kim Sun-dong), which is the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Korea office. Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Hee-jung, Korea Youth Work Agency Director Kim Sun-dong, and British Ambassador to Korea Scott Wightman will attend to encourage the participants. This year, over 200 next-generation global leaders gathered including 120 youths who won the gold from 38 countries and 13 YU students. They will eat and sleep together for 11 nights and 12 days to share various experiences such as leadership training, next-generation leader forum, election of youth committees, and cultural exchange and networking. In particular, they will elect youth committee members to represent the four regions of Asia Pacific, Europe/Mediterranean/Arab, America and Africa. The elected youth committee members will attend regular International Youth Award Committee meetings to speak on behalf of youths for a three-year term.
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Theme of 'Korea-Turkey Democratization and Press' Participation of National Assemblymen, press and professors to compare political, economical and civil society developments [October 17, 2014] YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) hosted the '4th Korea-Turkey Democratization Workshop'. This workshop, which was co-hosted by YU, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Society (Chairman Kim Tae-il, YU Professor of Political Science and Diplomacy), and the Istanbul Cutlure Center (Director Huseyin Yigit), was held at the Honors Hall on the 5th floor of the YU Law Hall at 3 p.m. on the 16th. At this workshop, which was held under the theme 'Korea and Turkey's Democratization and Press', Turkish Congressman Hasan Hami Yildirim, Istanbul Culture Center Director Huseyin Yigit, Rainbow International School Chairman of the Board Esref Saglam, Turkey Cihan News Agency International Part Chief Editor Mustafa Edib Yilmaz, and Daegu University Professor of Journalism Kim Sung-hae, and other experts in politics, press and academia attended to discuss and compare the development of politics, economics, and the civil society of the two nations. This workshop, which was emceed by YU Department of Sociology Professor Baek Seung-dae, was comprised of presentations by Chief Editor Mustafa Edib Yilmaz on 'Freedom of Press in Turkey' and Daegu University Professor of Journalism 'The Long Journey of Press Democratization, Continued Challenges and Non-wavering Fights'. In the following debate, Daegu MBC Newsroom Journalist Kim Se-hwa and Cihan News Korean Correspondent Sinasi Alpago discussed the roles of the press for democratization. Congressman Hasan Hami Yildirim said, "It is my first time visiting Korea, our brother country. I understand that Korea and Turkey have many similarities such as culture, the democratization process, and rapid economic growth," while adding, "Through this workshop, I hope to check the similarities between the two countries and hope to have an opportunity to learn from each other's experiences." Congressman Yildirim was elected from the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party) in 2011, but after corruption issues over the ruling party last year, he withdrew from the party and is now independent. Meanwhile, after the workshop, Congressman Yildirim met with YU President Noh Seok-kyun and agreed to work for the development of both countries by having institutes such as universities and the press fulfill their roles in both countries. In particular, YU President Noh Seok-kyun said, "YU is working hard in many areas for the globalization of the university as an international cooperation leading university," and added, "I hope that Turkey helps us a lot for the globalization of our university."
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Founder of Active U.S.A Inc. that has topped the fashion industry in LA and reshuffled the industry focusing on Korean Americans Founded the alumni association in the US and served as its first chairman First overseas YU alumni to receive the 'Proud YU Alumni Award' Selected in the '100 People of 100 Years of Immigration to the US' by the Maeil Business News [October 16, 2014] YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) gave an honorary PhD to CEO of Active USA Inc., Don Lee (60), who is a YU alumnus and a successful entrepeneur. The diploma ceremony was held at the third floor of the YU Cheonma Art Center Chamber Hall at 4 p.m. on the 16th. At the ceremony, YU General Alumni Association Chairman and Gyeongsangbuk-do Governor Kim Kwan-yong (Economics class of 65), Saenuri Party Floor Leader Lee Wan-gu, Saenuri Party Policy Committee Chairman Joo Ho-young (Law class of 78), International Rotary Club Chairman Lee Dong-geon, General Alumni Association Senior Vice Chairman Kim Moon-gi (Commerce class of 64), Daegu Superintendent of Education Woo Dong-gi (Public Administration class of 72), and YU Alumni Association of the US Chairman Kim Byeong-tak (Economics class of 66), visited among the 200 plus alumni and 15 VIPs from the United States. In his congratulatory address, YU President Noh Seok-kyun said, "Chairman Don Lee who overcame several crises in a foreign land to make a legendary success story through undying willpower is a proud alumnus of YU and a respected global CEO." He added, "I hope that Chairman Lee's business philosophy and love for his alma mater will be continued by his junior alumni. I am very happy to be able to give this honorary PhD in business under the name of YU." Dr. Lee, who is from the YU School of Architecture class of 73, moved to LA in 1986 and founded and ran a clothing fashion company called Active USA Inc. In 1992, his company was laid to ruins due to the LA riots, but he was able to bounce back thanks to his good reputation and diligence. Active USA Inc. has now grown into a leading company in LA's fashion industry. Furthermore, in 1994 Dr. Lee participated in the founding of the San Pedro Wholesale Mart Association and is currently serving as its chairman. The San Pedro Wholesale Association played a big role in shifting the center of power of LA's clothing fashion industry from the Jews to Korean immigrants. Dr. Lee is a successful businessman in terms of business diversification. After the LA riots, he entered the banking industry and served as the biggest shareholder and chairman of the board for Saehan Bank and normalized the bank after leading several capital increases after the Lehman Brothers incident in 2008. He also merged with Wilshire Bank to minimize losses for the Korean community. In 2002, he championed the founding of the fourth US alumni association among Korean universities and served as its first chairperson. He has also carried out scholarship programs for his juniors from YU studying in the United States showing his love for his alma mater even while abroad. Through the alumni association scholarship foundation and scholarships to YU, he donated the most amount of money among the 200,000 alumni and he is also sponsoring overseas internship programs to help his juniors strengthen their global capacities. Thanks to his support, about 70 YU students are currently working in companies in LA. In light of such contributions, Dr. Lee received the 'Proud YU Alumni Award' from the general alumni association in 2006 for the first time as a YU alumnus living abroad. Maeil Business Newspaper listed him in the '100 People of 100 Years of Immigration to the United States' in 2003 as a successful Korean-American businessman. Furthermore, Daegu MBC also covered Dr. Lee in the first episode of its 30th year anniversary show, '100 Years of Immigration to the US, People Who Made Daegu/Gyeongbuk Shine'.
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Contributions made to the development of Korean hospice palliative care YU Medical Center Hospice Palliative Care Committee Chairman [October 14, 2014] Medical School Professor Lee Gyeong-hee (53, Internal Medicine, photo) won the Minister of Health & Welfare Award for his contributions to the establishment and development of Korean hospice palliative care. On the 8th, the Ministry of Health & Welfare (Minister Moon Hyeong-pyo) held the '2nd Hospice Palliative Care Ceremony' in commemoration of the 'World Hospice Palliative Care Week' held annually in the second week of October. At this ceremony held at the Seoul Ferrum Tower Ferrum Hall, eight people received the Minister's award for contributions to hospice palliative care. At this award ceremony, Professor Lee received the Minister's Award for his contributions to the establishment and development of hospices in Korea by championing the opening of the 'palliative care ward' within the hospital while serving as the chairperson of the YU Medical Center Hospice Palliative Care Committee. Professor Lee lowered the pain and symptoms of terminally ill patients such as end-stage cancer, as well as comprehensive evaluation on physical, psycho-social, and spiritual fields and hospice holistic treatment to contribute in enhancing the quality of life for not only the patient but also their families. Professor Lee graduated from the YU College of Medicine (graduated in 1986) and conducted research at the 'MD Anderson Cancer Center' at the University of Texas, the top cancer hospital in America, and was awarded the best poster paper award of the World Gastric Cancer Society (2007), International Peace Price of the American Culture Association medical sector (2010), and the Dr. Paul Poster Paper Award from the Hospice Palliative Medical Society (2013). In April of this year, he was awarded the 'International Fellowship Peace Prize' for his contributions in prominent academic journals related to international medicine from IBC (IBC, International Biographical Center, Cambridge, England), one of the three major biographical journals.
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Ministry of Education's 'Regional Leading University Fostering Project' funds 10 billion won to 10 regional consortiums Regional leading universities such as YU to lead regional specialized industries Department of Samaeul Studies and International Development and School of Mechanical Engineering selected as 'excellent departments' [October 28, 2014] YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) became the only private university to be selected as a regional consortium leading university for the 'regional leading university fostering project' being pursued by the Ministry of Education. On the 28th, the Ministry of Education announced that they selected 10 regional leading university consortiums for the 'regional leading university fostering project' that supports joint growth with provincial universities, and that they will fund a total of 10 billion won. Leading universities of the consortiums selected were Kangwon National University (Gangwon region), YU and Kyungpook National University (Daegu-Gyeongbuk region), Gyeongsang National University, Pusan National University (Busan-Ulsan region), Jeju National University (Jeju region), Chungnam National University and Chungbuk National University (Chungcheong region), and Chonnam National University and Chonbuk National University (Honam region). YU is the only private university among them. The ten schools selected as regional leading universities will organize consortiums with nearby universities for five years until 2018 and act as a center that brings together regional universities through cooperation such as school credit exchange programs. This year's total budget is 10 billion won and approximately 1 billion won will be funded for each consortium. 15 billion won has been appropriated for next year's budget so the funding is expected to increase. As the Daegu-Gyeongbuk consortium leading university joined by Kyungil University, Daegu Haany University and Andong National University, YU is planning to strengthen its global competitiveness of its higher education by attracting more international students and enhancing its capacities based on its college cluster. Meanwhile, YU had two departments selected as 'excellent regional specialization departments' also called 'master departments'. In the internationalization sector of national support project types, the Regional and Welfare Administration Department (Changed name in 2015 to 'International Development Cooperation Department') and in the engineering sector of the regional strategy project types, the School of Mechanical Engineering were selected as 'master departments'. In order to foster regional college departments with high competitiveness equal to colleges in the Seoul area, the Ministry of Education began pursuing the 'excellent regional specialization departments' and selected a total of 60 departments, 15 each from four regions, such as the Daegu-Gyeongbuk-Gangwon areas, Southeast area, Chungcheon area, and the Honam-Jeju area. Master departments are selected from departments participating in the top 30% specialization project team selected in the regional university specialization project (CK-I), and they will receive an additional 100-200 million won in national funding. The budget for the entire project is 10 billion won.
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In recognition of his contributions to enhancing architectural technology levels and development of the architecture industry by publishing exceptional papers [October 14, 2014] School of Architecture Professor Kang Joo-won (51, major in architecture, photo) received the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Award. At the '2014 Architecture Day' n the 6th at the Baekbeom Kim Gu Memorial Hall Conventional Hall, Professor Kang received the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Award for his contributions in enhancing the architectural technology level of Korea through domestic and foreign construction projects, as well as publications of outstanding studies. The Architecture Day is an event held to praise the contribution of architects for the creation and development of Korea's unique architectural culture, and aims at creating harmony and unity of architects to enhance their sense of responsibility as experts. This year, it was hosted by the Federation of Institute Korean Architects (FIKA) and sponsored by the Presidential Commission on Architecture Policy, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Professor Kang published 19 SCI-grade papers and applied for four patents in the past five years. Furthermore, he has published 81 domestic theses and presented 46 theses in domestic and foreign academic conferences, while staying highly active in researching the architectural structure sector. In addition, Professor Kang carried out projects for various national institutes such as the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement and the National Research Foundation to contribute to the enhancement of architecture structure related research and technology levels. He also co-authored many architecture structure related book such as 'KBC 2009 Steel Structure Design' and 'Cable Structure Design Standard and Commentary', thus contributing to maintaining design standards for domestic architectural structures. Moreover, he is contributing to the development of the architectural industry through various activities in architecture-related societies such as the Architectural Institute of Korea, Korean Association for Spatial Structures, Korean Society of Steel Construction, and the Korean Structural Maintenance Institute.
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A team of Department of Statistics wins 'Bronze Medal' at the SAS Mining Championship. The 3 members show off their talents as data scientists at a big data analysis contest. [October 10, 2014] “Leave big data analysis to us!” YU (President Noh Seok-kyun) students showed off their talents as data scientists at a big data analysis contest. A team of students from the Department of Statistics won the bronze at the '12th SAS Mining Championship'. They are seniors Kin Sung-hyun (24), Bae Eun-ji (22) and Jung Min-jeong (22). The 'SAS Mining Championship' is a data analysis and idea contest for college and graduate school students to foster data scientists who will lead the coming age of big data hosted by SAS Korea (CEO Cho Sung-sik), a business analysis software and service company, and it is the most prominent competition for college students with goals of becoming analysis experts. This contest, which was co-hosted by SAS Korea and the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (Director Sohn Myeong-se, 'HIRA'), was joined by 750 college students in 250 teams around the country. Applications started in May and after first evaluations that assessed the accuracy of the analysis model and the second evaluation on presentations to assess the utilization, the YU Department of Statistics team won third place on the 30th of last month and received a 1 million won prize and plaque. They will receive priority when selecting the SAS Korea internship and they will also receive additional bonus when consideration for hiring new employees. The theme of this contest was 'development of prediction model for areas to open hospitals' by analyzing the risk and predicting future sales of regions that desired opening of hospitals and clinics. The objective of this contest was to provide information to predict the risk of newly opening clinics from having to close down in the region and the predicted sales in the future for convalescent institutes in specific regions. Participants collected data provided by HIRA and other public information needed for prediction analysis to deduce analysis results. In this contest, the fact that other modeling was deduced according to variables from outside data acted as an important variable. Participants selected and reflected information that they judged to have value to their team among the public data disclosed by Statistics Korea, National Health Insurance Service, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. In result, the teams submitted different modeling results. The YU team mainly used information related to convalescent hospitals provided by HIRA and regional demographic information of national statistic portals provided by Statistics Korea to develop their prediction model. Kim Sung-hyun who led the team said, "From the basic convalescent hospital information of HIRA, we analyzed the distance between hospitals using latitude and longitude to extract data from competitors and analyzed the number of residents, age, housing type, and number of insured persons per region according to Statistics Korea and analyzed accurate predicted sales and risk of closing." Kim said, "I am attracted to the big data analysis that predicts the future and establishes strategies by extracting useful information from data," and added his aspirations to become a big data expert by stating, "After graduating I would like to find a job related to big data analysis to gain more expertise."
