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"Professor Park Will heighten Korea's voice for international standardization, certification and presentation of policy agendas…" He participated as Korean representative for general meeting of 26 countries in photovoltaic power generation [August 7, 2012] Professor Park, Chin-ho (54, School of Chemical Engineering) was appointed as the Korean representative for the PVPS sector of IAE(International Energy Agency). The 'IEA' was established in 1974 as an energy collective security system under the OECD and its head office is within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development headquarters in Paris, France. Only OECD member countries are allowed to join the IEA and Korea officially joined in March 2002. Its main objective at the time of its foundation was to address the issue with lower supply of oils and rising prices of oil by OPEC, but recently, it focuses on leading international cooperation for international issues such as oil distribution in times of emergency, development cooperation for alternative energy, and energy environment cooperation. As part of this, the IEA established the Photovoltaic Power Systems (PVPS) Department in 1993 within its organization recognizing the need for the photovoltaic sector in order to substitute the dwindling supply of fossil fuels, and to stop global warming and environment destruction. There are currently 26 'PVPS' members including Australia, the US, Germany, Netherlands, Japan and Korea. The representatives of each country, including Professor Park, will explain the current status of photovoltaic power generation systems of their respective countries at the PVPS general meeting, while exchanging information on technological development trends with each country. In particular, it drafts an international survey report based on each country's policy reports, while leading international standardization and certification projects of related technologies. Furthermore, it looks for international collaborative agendas and pursues joint research, while suggesting guidelines on the establishment of photovoltaic policies for each country, in its leading role for international cooperation in the solar photovoltaic sector. On this, Professor Park said, "It has only been 4 years since we have begun full-fledged investments in photovoltaic power generation. Since 2008 when we began photovoltaic power generation, we were busy trying to catch up to the more advanced countries in the sector, so we have nothing to say about our international status on this. However, it is now time for change." He added with an air of strong tenacity, "Since I am representing Korea at the IEA PVPS, which is basically the headquarters for the world's photovoltaic sector, I will do my best so that Korea's voice will be heard and acknowledged in the photovoltaic sector." Professor Park earned his PhD at the University of Florida in the US and engaged in research on semiconductors and Hyundai Electronics. He has served as a professor at the YU School of Chemical Engineering since September 1994 and is also working as the director of the Solar Cell Materials and Process R&D Workforce Cultivation Program, director of the Institute of Solar Energy, and the chief of the Regional Innovation Center for Solar Cell & Module, where he has accumulated much experience in the solar power sector. In June 2011, he was picked up by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning and will be working as the program director for knowledge economy solar power until April 2013.
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International high school students come and learn Korean at YU Klaudia Wiktoria from Poland who came for the Hallyu, Oyama Kouta from Japan in search of his roots [August 6, 2012] "I don't think the Korean wave, or Hallyu, is something short fad. Polish high school students are in love with K-pop. Interest in K-pop is resulting in interest in Korean culture, Korean history and its language. I will come back to YU next year so I can learn proper Korean." Klaudia Wiktoria is the high school senior in Poland and Oyama Kouta is the high school freshmen in high school in Tokyo International School, Japan. They came to the YU Korean Language Institute to learn Korean during their summer vacation. The Hallyu frenzy that captivated the entire world is attracting international high school students to Korea. They are taking short-term Korean language courses during the vacation. Currently, there are 112 foreigners from 20 different countries learning Korean at the YU Korean Language Institute. Two of them are high school students who are really enjoying learning Korean. They are Klaudia Wiktoria Buza-Blonska (16) from Poland and Oyama Kouta (14), a fourth generation Korean-Japanese. Klaudia is currently in her third year in high school in Warsaw and Kouta is in his first year at an Tokyo International School. Klaudia is a bashful girl with brown hair. She wanted to learn Korean during summer vacation so she looked around over ten Korean universities. She chose YU because of the prompt and satisfying response, the reasonable tuition, and the systematic education system and flew over to YU in Korea from Warsaw, Poland in early July. Poland is a cultural powerhouse famous as the 'Chopin's country'. Despite this, the Hallyu is taking over Poland. Klaudia went with her friends to the K-Pop concert held in France in June of last year. She said, "My friends who did not know anything about K-pop just a year or two ago, now have high interest in Korean pop culture and have natural conversations saying, 'I like SHINee' or 'Super Junior is my favorite'. Korean TV dramas are also popular. 'Boys Over Flowers' is especially popular." Klaudia fell in love with Korea in not even a month staying here. She said, "Last night I talked with my mom on the phone and told her that I didn't want to leave Korea," adding, "Koreans are very warm and loving people. I became interested in Korea through K-pop, but the more I learn about Korea, the more I become attracted to Korea. I want to study Korean harder in the future and major in something related to K-pop and dubbing." Another international high school student came to the YU Korean Language Institute during summer vacation to learn Korean as well. He is Oyama Kouta (14). He is the youngest student at the YU Korean Language Institute and is a fourth generation Korean-Japanese. "When I was in the first grade in elementary school, I first became aware that I was Korean and that I had a Korean name, 'Kwak, Tae-sang'. I was surprised at first, but after some time passed, my interest in Korea grew." By studying Korean whenever he could, he is currently taking classes for second-level Korean. He said that his friends gave him a mission to bring back photos and albums from Girls' Generation and KARA. He stated, "I want to enroll in a university that has sister relations with YU and come back to YU later." He also added with a smile, "I want to work in a field related to international exchange such as student exchange between Korea and Japan. For this, I need to really study more about Korea and the Korean language." Director of the Korean Language Institute, Professor Suh, Jong-hak (61, Department of Korean Language Education), explained, "The Hallyu on pop-culture such as K-pop, TV dramas and movies, is leading to interest in Korean language, the Korean people, and the Korean society." He added, "We must make more preparations and efforts to improve the education environment and quality so that they can return to their homes and spread Hallyu even more."
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Baja SAE Korea at Yeungnam Univ. ends on the 4th with the participation of 45 teams from 34 universities Many attractions including the First-ever all-women's Team, 10th Grade Student Team of Daegu Science High School, and the Electric Vehicles Team [August 4, 2012] Neither heat wave nor dust could stop the Youth's Need for Speed! The 2012 Baja SAE KOREA at Yeungnam Univ., where automobiles designed and manufactured by university students race, attracted 45 teams from 34 universities. It was held amidst an air of excitement at the Yeungnam University Gyeongsan Campus from the 1st to the 4th. The Baja SAE, which was first hosted in Korea by YU in 1996 with the goal of enhancing creativity and challenge-oriented spirits of engineering students, while integrating theory into practice, was certified by the US SAE(Society of Automotive Engineering) in 2001 and is an international competition, which is proceeded with according to the regulations of SAE. Celebrating its 17th anniversary this year, over 1,000 automobile fans including judges, volunteers and teams attended the competition, staying at YU for 4 days, and competed after a year-long preparation. On the 1st, the first day of the competition, vehicles transported from different parts of the country began arriving from 2pm. On the 2nd, teams began registration and conducted static tests from 9am. Static tests include tests on the vehicle's design, safety, uniqueness, convenience to drive, ease of maintenance, and mass production, and lasted until 7pm. In the evening, meetings were held to explain the rules and re-training was conducted for volunteers. The opening ceremony started at 9am on the third at the YU playground. Following the opening ceremony, dynamic tests on the mobility, acceleration, max speed, and braking force was performed at the playground. Rock crawling, which is in its fifth year, provided an interesting thing to see. In order to test the ability to send the engine's power, a 10-15m course was used to install rockwall obstacles in an oval shape with a width of 5m and height of 1.5m. The highest score goes to the team that passes this in the shortest amount of time. This is a difficult course that is hard even just to pass. On the last day on the 4th, the highlight of this competition, the endurance race, began at about 10am on a hill at the back of YU Gyeongsan Campus. Racers have to complete the 4km off-road track as many times as they can go around in a period of 3 hours. The race is suspended immediately when an vehicle breaks down or there is a crash. Once the maintenance team takes the vehicle off the track and to the pit outside, the race is resumed. Vehicles that are repaired by the maintenance team can return to the race whenever they are ready and begin racing again in the remaining amount of time. Teams that cannot complete the course are disqualified. Therefore, endurance races is not only used for judging the performance of the vehicles that were partially tested through static test and dynamic test, but is also a good opportunity to evaluate the teams' unity and quickness to solve problems. The teams participating in this year's race complete the endurance race, despite the sweltering heat and dust, thanks to the highly improved vehicle performance and capacities. After the four day event, the closing ceremony and awards ceremony was held at the YU playground at about 5pm. The 'Ja.Yeon.In' team of the Korea University of Technology and Education won overall championship. The first place team is given the Minister of Knowledge Economy award, winner's flag, trophy, and a prize money of 2 million won. Second place was given to the 'MIRACLE-Blue' team of Hanbat National University, who were awarded the Gyeongbuk Province Governor's award and a cash prize of 1.5 million won. Third place was taken by the 'Speed Violation Team' of Keimyung University winning the YU President's award and a prize money of 1 million won. This year, 'YU CMDM Team', which was the first women's team, was applauded by many for winning the max speed test, while also receiving the 'friendship award', and thus showing their 'girl power'. The 'STEAM' team, which was made up of 10th grade students of the Daegu Science High School, won the 'prospective talent award' and they vowed to become leaders of Korea's future automobile industry. The results of the competition will be reported to the entire world through the SAE homepage (www.sae.org) and publications. Static test (above) for testing the safety of the automobile design and the originality of the design, rock crawling (middle) for testing the gradability and instant acceleration, and the endurance race (bottom) to see how many times the 4km off-road track can be completed in a period of three hours
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New Quarantine Regulation for Dogs & Cats Importation to Korea Effective from 01 Dec 2012 Quarantine regulation regarding imported dogs and cats to Korea are going to be changed and will be put in force on 01 December 2012. [From NON Rabies free country] For Over 90 days old dogs & cats 1. Microchip : Mandatory for over 90 days old cats/dogs and also under 90 days old cats/dogs for identification. Microchip number should be stated on official health certificate. 2. Rabies Antibody Test for over 90 days old cats/dogs : Result should be equal or greater than 0.5IU/ml and this result should be stated on health certificate. Also test should be done between 30 days and 2 years prior to travel to Korea and Original test result should be accompanied with animals. 3. Rabies Vaccination : Rabies vaccination should be older than 30 days and within its expiration date (1yr~3yrs) at the time of travel. 4. Official Health certificate issued by official veterinarian and this must travel with animals. For under 90 days old dogs & cats 1. Microchip : Mandatory for over 90 days old cats/dogs and also under 90 days old cats/dogs for identification. Microchip number should be stated on official health certificate. 2. Official Health certificate issued by official veterinarian and this must travel with animals. [From Rabies free country] Japan, Taiwan, Cyprus, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Iceland, Guam, Hawaii, Samoa, Cayman Islands, French Polynesia, Martinique, Department of Reunion, Wails and Futuna, Albania, Dominican Republic, Macedonia, Lichtenstein, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Fiji, Singapore, Jamaica, United Kingdom 1. Microchip : Mandatory for over 90 days old cats/dogs and also under 90 days old cats/dogs for identification. Microchip number should be stated on official health certificate. 2. Official Health certificate issued by official veterinarian and this must travel with animals. And if one of them doesn’t match with the regulation, animal will be quarantined. 1. Microchip missing : until implantation 2. Blood test missing : until getting the right result and test will be done by Korean government. 3. Blood test result is not greater than 0.5IU/ml : until getting the right result after rabies vaccination Note. And Korea considers the Rabies free country according to recent OIE standard. Korea allows 4 animals max. per one person / company to import. Please refer this list of laboratory for rabies antibody test : http://ec.europa.eu/food/animal/liveanimals/pets/approval_en.htm In case that microchips don’t belong to internationally standardized products(ISO 11784/11785), Importers should prepare themselves for appropriate readers regarding these microchips. ☎ Contact number of animal quarantine service in international airport and seaport Gimpo airport : +82-2-2664-2601, Incheon airport : +82-32-740-2660-1 Incheon seaport : +82-32-883-4938 Gimhae airport : +82-51-971-1925 Daegu airport : +82-53-763-5016 Pusan seaport : +82-51-469-0822 Muan airport : +82-62-975-6033 Gunsan seaport : +82-63-442-5071 Jeju airport : +82-64-746-0761 ☞ Homepage URL : www.qia.go.kr
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32 New Students from 15 Developing Countries of Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and South America YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul is Korea's only International Special Graduate School named after a president, and spreads the Korean economic development model to the world [August 27, 2012] First International students of Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul pose for a photo with VIP guests. "The African continent is suffering hunger because of the long-lasting political instability. I applied to YU in order to find a way to help them. I am confident that the Saemaul Movement and Korea's public policies and leadership will be the solution. Once I finish the course, I will become a seed and put into practice the Saemaul Movement at my village and make it successful first. It will soon become a ray of hope for the African continent, and will result in great changes based on the confidence that 'all of us can do it." Reshad Kemal SEID (33), a public official of Ethiopia, Africa, is now a YU student. He enrolled in the master's degree program (major in Public Policy and Leadership) at the 'YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul‘, which is the first in Korea, and the only program named after a former president. YU (president Lee, Hyo-soo) held the 2012 matriculation ceremony for the 1st International students to the Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul at the Sapphire Hall located on the 3rd floor of the Chunma Arts Center at 4:30pm on the 27th. On this day, Gyeongbuk Governor Kim, Kwan-yong, chairperson of the Saemau Center Lee, Jae-chang, Minister of the Korea Forest Service Lee, Don-koo, president of YU Lee, Hyo-soo, and a number of professors attended to congratulate the admissions of the first batch of students to this program. The 32 new students came from 15 countries (including 2 from Korea) such as Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa and South America. The backgrounds of the international students were quite astonishing. There were high-ranking public officials, executives of public corporations, politicians, professors, law-makers, local members of KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency), social activists, and others who already have promising jobs and high social status. However why did they come all the way to the YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul? Their answers are all the same. They want to give hopes and courage to the people of their nations who suffer from absolute poverty and under-development. They opted for the difficult and lonely life of studying abroad in order to achieve their dreams. In order to help them achieve their dreams, YU allotted 14 full-time professors from diverse majors including business administration, economics, finances, social sciences, regional studies, public welfare and administration, landscape architecture, forest resources, environmental engineering, and political science and diplomacy. All classes, research and administrative services are offered in English, and though it is a special graduate school, it offers classes all day so that students can complete their master's degree course in one year and six months. International students are offered full scholarships, dormitories, and a monthly allowance of 1 million won. This was because YU took into consideration that it would not be an easy to choice to go abroad to study from an under-developed country. For this, YU has already raised about 800 million won in scholarship funds by signing agreements with Gyeongsangbuk-do, Daegu City, and the Korea Forest Service and is looking for ways to cooperate with related institutes such as KOICA. Through this, YU is expected to △support the poverty eradication in developing countries, △support the national development of developing countries, △foster leaders for developing countries, △accelerate the National Advancement of Korea, △create Saemaul as an academic discipline and globalize it, and △enhance the image of both YU and the nation of Korea. On this, president of YU Lee, Hyo-soo, stated, "Demand for wanting to learn the successful Korean development model such as the leadership, Saemaul Movement, and five year economic development plan of President Park Chung-hee is spreading quickly around the world focusing mainly on developing countries." He added, "The founding of the 'Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul', which is an international special graduate school, will act as an intellectual support for Korea to fulfill its responsibilities towards the international society after switching from a nation that received aide to one that gives aide. It will be a way to make the Saemaul Movement into a new Hallyu brand." Meanwhile, the YU Park Chung Hee School of Policy and Saemaul was opened on November 1, 2011 and is operating a master's degree program offering three majors (major in Saemaul Undong Theory and Practices, major in Forest Resources and Ecological Restoration, and major in Public Policy and Leadership). Graduate schools named after national leaders in the world include the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and the National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
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YU Attracts 2 core researchers and 8 billion won worth of the high-tech equipment. YU Constructs the Global research cooperation and the corporate support infrastructure in the medical and bio fields. YU Starts developing first FDA approved anti-cancer medicine [August 27, 2012] Yeungnam University (president Lee, Hyo-soo) hired Kanegasaki Shiro (金ヶ崎 史朗, 74), an honorary professor of the University of Tokyo Medical Science, who is known to be one of the top scholars in the world in the BT field as a endowed chair professor. Professor Kanegasaki who will begin working at the YU Department of Nano, Medical and Polymer Materials from the second semester as the 'First Foreign Endowed Chair Professor', is the founder of ECI (Effector Cell Institute), a listed venture company dealing with stem cells in Japan, and is a prominent figure in terms of development of next-generation anti-cancer medicine and new anti-inflammation drugs. After earning his doctorate's at Tufts University in the US, he worked as a visiting professor at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, and has won a number of awards such as from the Japanese Society for Bacteriology, Japanese Biochemical Society, and International Society of Immunity Deficiency. Furthermore, he published over 150 theses in prominent international journals including 'The LACENT', which is a top academic journal in immunology equal to 'Science' and 'Cell'. Recently, he has developed a comprehensive next-generation anti-cancer medicine using the immune system of the human body, and is clinically testing the medicine in both the US and Japan. It is expected that the medicine will be launched in the market within the next several years. Professor Kanegasaki, who is currently serving as the honorary chairman of ECI, came to YU together with two of his core researchers who he worked with for over ten years, as well as advanced high-tech research equipment and facilities amounting to over 8 billion won. In particular, 'TAXIScan', which can easily measure the cell functions and the cell reaction process for the newly developed drugs, is a cutting-edge equipment that can monitor the movements of cells in real time using special video scanning and was developed by Professor Kanegasaki. The automatic TAXIScan is the one and only equipment of its kind in the world, and a total of four TAXIScan were brought to and installed at YU. Accordingly, the process for development of new drugs, which does not have any anti-cancer medicine that received FDA approval in Korea yet, was reduced drastically. In particular, it has now become possible for YU to upgrade from the basic research stage for the development of new drugs and medical materials, to the stage for applying them at actual clinical stages. Furthermore, it is expected that the research capacities of participating manpower including graduate school students will be enhanced, and thus effectively foster and supply outstanding human resources needed in the Daegu-Gyeongbuk High-tech Medical Complex. It is also expected to contribute greatly in constructing the infrastructure for the establishment of the 'global open innovation research center' together with business support systems involved in the Daegu High-tech Medical Complex and the YU Polymer Gel Research Cluster Project Team. Professor Kanegasaki, who is also developing drugs for diseases such as diabetes and dementia, stated, "My goal is to develop the first FDA approved anti-cancer medicine in Gyeongbuk. The research philosophy and accumulated technologies of ECI, with the addition of the creative research personnel of YU, will make it possible to achieve this goal in the near future." He also added, "By allowing many graduate school students to participate in the process of developing new drugs and medical materials, we will allow them to learn about creative research and how they are applied on the field so that they may become core human resources that will guarantee a healthy and happy future for humanity." YU President Lee, Hyo-soo also stated, "In addition to the capacities of YU school of medicine and YU college of pharmacy that has a long and rich history, the addition of advanced engineering technologies such as BT and IT will be integrated and converged to make YU a hub university that opens new horizons in the medical and bio fields."
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First Women's Team participated in the Baja SAE KOREA at Yeungnam University 2012 August 1st to 4th, 10th Grade Team of Daegu Science High School, Electric Vehicles Team, and More [Jul 31, 2012] "You're stereotyping if you think girls don't care or don't know about cars. We wanted to show that girls are not only good drivers, but can also complete the entire process from automobile production, maintenance and even racing. We are making new headways!" Lee, Hyo-jin (21, driver in photo) is a senior at the YU School of Mechanical Engineering. Instead of preparing to find a job, she decided to spend her last summer preparing for an automobile competition. Leading her female colleagues driven by a fiery passion for automobiles, she will be competing in the 'Baja SAE' that will be held at the YU Gyeongsan Campus from August 1 to 4. The 'CMDM' team (photo) is made up of 5 female students of the YU School of Mechanical Engineering, and has become the 'first female team' in the 16 year history of this competition that was first held in 1996. The entire team is made up of former members of the 'Chunma DM', a self made automobile club of YU, and have experience in the field spanning from 6 months to three and a half years. Lee, Hyo-jin, a senior, is the team leader and in charge of the suspensions, while Lee, Joo-hee (22) and Ahn, Soo-kyung (20), juniors, is in charge of the brake parts and power train parts, respectively. Lee, Joo-hee is currently in rehab following a back disk surgery, but joined the team with an undying passion for automobiles. Also, Lim, Eun-joo (19) and Park, Bo-seul (19), freshmen, are in charge of the engine and power train parts, and SNS advertising and photographing, respectively. For over six months from late last year, they designed, produced, test-drove and conducted maintenance. The first hand-made automobile produced purely by female students was named 'Triumph W'. The fact that the first all-girls' team entered the competition is even more significant than victory itself. The CMDM Team, which plans to overcome their lack in human resources through the spirit of '1 person worth a 100 persons', stated, "We will do our best to the very end with a sense of responsibility and will that 'we can do it' as the first ever all-girls' team for this competition. Meanwhile, at the 'Baja SAE KOREA at Yeungnam University 2012' (competition chairman, Hwang, Pyung, professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering), 42 teams will be participating from 32 universities from August 1 to 4 with their 125cc engine self made automobiles. On the first day, the automobiles will enter the sheds from 2pm, followed by presentations of theses, training for volunteers, and technical seminars. From 9am on the second day, participants will complete registration, followed by static tests on the creativity, safety, ease of maintenance, and mass production for the vehicles from 10am to 7pm. From 9am on the third day, the official opening ceremony will be held followed by dynamic tests to check acceleration, top speeds, traction force, and rock-climbing until 7pm. On the final day of the competition, an endurance race will be conducted for 210 minutes on a 4 kilometer off-road track at a mountain behind YU. The overall winner will be awarded the Minister of Knowledge Economy Award, winner's flag and trophy. The results of the competition will be published worldwide through SAE's official homepage (www.sae.org). In addition, the 'STEAM' team made up of eight 10th graders including Song, Young-woon (15) of the Daegu Science High School will be making a special presentation sponsored by the Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Creativity, together with two electric automobile teams of the YU School of Mechanical Engineering. - static test - - rock-climbing -
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YUMC is Being Reborn as a Leader in the Molecular Imaging Age [Jul 23, 2012] The YU Medical Center(YUMC) is being reborn as a medical institute leading the molecular imaging age. It completed the installation of the 'Biograph mMR' (also known as single-unit PET-MR), which is a world-class cancer diagnosis device, for the first time in Korea and began its operation from the 23rd. For this, the PET-MR opening ceremony was held at the Department of Nuclear Medicine at 9am on July 25. The Biograph mMR is the world's first single-unit molecular magnetic resonance imaging system that was successfully developed by combining MR(Magnetic Resonance) and PET (Positron Emission Tomography) devices by Siemens Health Care to acquire data on full-body scans simultaneously. It is said to be an advanced device that will open new doors in the imaging diagnosis sector because of its 3T-class hybrid system that boasts high resolution. After being introduced in 2010, only about 20 of these machines were distributed throughout the world, including the US Harvard Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Brigham. This cutting-edge imaging medical instrument was first introduced in Korea by the YU Medical Center, and YU is armed with the world-class cancer diagnosis facilities. The Biograph mMR can cut the time needed for full-body scans that required more than an hour when filming separately with MRs and PETs into half, allowing patients to complete examinations more simply and in less amount of time. Furthermore, by taking advantage of the device's advantage that it does not emit ionizing radiation, it can be safely used to examine cancer patients who regularly take PETCT scans, without concerns over radiation. In addition, doctors can also minimize concerns on margins of errors caused by movements of patients and patients' organs to acquire accurate inspection results, in order to use it for not only general examinations, but also on diagnosis tumors as well as heart and nervous system diseases. Ha, Jung-ok, director of the YU Medical Center, stated, "By introducing Korea's first single-unit PET-MR, the YU Medical Center is now equipped with advanced medical examination equipment not only in terms of Korea, but worldwide." He also added, "It will not only provide early diagnosis of diseases and observation of its progress, but also customized treatment for individual patients based on these, and it is also expected to be useful in helping cancer patients by lowering the radiation quantity emitted from the system."
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Kim, Kyung-hee and Kim, Kuen-tae, Mother and Son of Multi-cultural Family Volunteer as Mentors Mother a Bilingual Instructor, Son a Mentor for Children of Multi-cultural Families [Jul 27, 2012] “I remember having a hard time because everything was so unfamiliar when I first came to Korea 19 years ago. I want to use my experiences to help women of multi-cultural families settle down in the Korean society more easily." Mother and son of a multi-cultural family, who successfully settled down in the Korean society, is catching the attention of many as they are now working as mentors for multi-cultural families in Daegu. They are Kim, Kyung-hee (47, bilingual instructor), a mother from Shenyang, China, and her son, Kim, Kuen-tae (18, freshman at YU Department of Urban Planning and Engineering). Kim, Kyung-hee, who completed the YU Multi-cultural Family Leader School and her son Kim, Kuen-tae, who is a mentor for children of multi-cultural families Mrs. Kim met her Korean husband in China and soon after their wedding, she moved to Korea in 1993. Though she had difficulty getting used to the Korean society, she was able to settle down in Korea by overcoming many difficulties with the help of family and neighbors. Mrs. Kim said that whenever she hears news about women of multi-cultural families being given the cold shoulder, and sometimes even being abused, she sympathized greatly. That is why she applied for the 'YU Multi-cultural Family Leader School' two years ago as part of the 2nd class (Feb 15-Dec 31, 2010), and began helping multi-cultural families having difficulties. Mrs. Kim also said, "I am living a new life after studying at the YU Multi-cultural Family Leader School." In 2011, she completed the bilingual instructor course and is currently working as a bilingual instructor teaching Chinese and multi-cultures in elementary schools in downtown Daegu. The 'Multi-cultural Family Leader School', which gave Mrs. Kim a new life, is offered by YU every year with the goal of fostering leaders for the multi-cultural society in order to contribute in the successful adaptation and settlement of multi-cultural families in the community for married immigrants. Students receive 156 hours of education from February to December and then become leaders in creating regional multi-cultural communities in various sectors such as language instructors and consultants for home abuse. Since 2009, 138 people completed this program. Mrs. Kim's son, Kim, Kuen-tae (18) is also a mentor for multi-cultural families. Kim learned Korean together with his Chinese mother and after enrolling at the YU Department of Urban Planning and Engineering in March of this year, he applied for the multi-cultural family college mentor program, and is currently teaching Korean and schoolwork to children of multi-cultural families. He sometimes assumes the role as a big brother who children can talk anything about with him. He said, "I look like a Korean so I didn't have too much problems, but in high school, I was heartbroken over the fact that I was teased because of being Chinese." He also said that he hoped to help children of multi-cultural families saying that he knows how they feel. Mrs. Kim said, "I am very proud of my son who is now a university student and helping children that are a lot like him," and added with a smile, "I hope our society becomes one that is open to multi-cultural families and that tolerates and respects other societies. Though it might not be much, my son and I will do all we can to help." On another note, YU was selected as a regional hub university for the 2012 Multi-cultural/North Korean Defector Student Mentoring project in the Yeungnam region by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Korea Student Aid Foundation, and is fulfilling its role as a leader in creating a multi-cultural community culture.
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Silver Medal at ‘IDEA 2012’ and Bronze Medal at ‘Spark Design Awards’ Displayed at IDSA International Conference and Exhibited Permanently at the 'Henry Ford Museum' [Jul 25, 2012] An undergraduate student at YU won awards at the top two design awards of the US. Yang, Joon-won (25, photo), a senior at the YU Department of Industrial and Interaction Design, won the silver medal at 'IDEA 2012' (International Design Excellence Awards 2012) hosted by the US IDSA(Industrial Designers Society of America) and the bronze medal at the 'Spark Design Awards'. The IDEA international design contest is one of the world's top three industrial design contests. The three major design awards that lead the global industrial design trends are the US IDEA, Singapore's Reddot Design Awards, and Germany's iF (International Forum) Design Awards. IDEA is being held in the first half of every year since 1980 in order to help business and the public better understand just how important the quality of designs are in the quality of life and the economy. Judges focus on creativity, artistry, eco-friendliness, business feasibility, and problem-solving abilities. Awarded pieces are displayed on the IDEA online gallery and America's top industrial design portal site, 'Core77' (www.core77.com), which is an annual publication of IDSA. The gold medal winning work and the silver medal winning work are displayed on the IDSA International Conference that will be held in Boston in August. In addition, it will be permanently placed on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Henry Ford, known as 'the King of the Automobile', successfully popularized the 'Ford Model T' and pioneered today's automobile industry. Over 10,000 pieces competed in this year's contest. With professional and aspiring designers all over the world participating in the event, Yang won second place among students with 'Easy to Press'. 'Easy to Press' uses the lever principle to design thumbtacks that have new uses. It was judged to have made a revolution for existing thumbtacks. Yang's 'Easy to Press' also won the bronze medal at the US 'Spark Awards'. The 'Spark Awards' are also opened to professional and amateur and student designers around the world, and it is a world-class design contest sponsored by companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Autodesk. Yang, Joon-won, said, "I was highly interested in creating 'better harmony' in everyday life" and added, "I prepared this design thinking that even a small item like a thumbtack can be completely changed. I am happy to have great results. I will not give upon my efforts to create more comfortable and more beautiful designs by looking at everyday items from a different perspective."
