AsianScientist (Sep. 16, 2014) – Song Kiseok, a Ph.D candidate at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), has been selected as a 2014 Marconi Society Paul Baran Young Scholar, recognizing his academic achievements and leadership in the field of communications and information science.
Credit: KAIST.
“Our committee was impressed with Kiseok’s outstanding work developing bio-medical system on a chip (SoC), his excellent academic record and his demonstrated entrepreneurial capabilities,” says Robert Tkach, a Marconi Fellow and chairman of the Marconi Society’s Young Scholar Selection Committee. “He is already making an impact in the bio-medical field with several extremely promising inventions.”
KAIST Professor Yoo Hoi-Jun, Song’s primary advisor, points to the wide range of 26-year-old Song’s achievements, which include the invention of compact bio-medical patch systems connected to smart phones, smart electro-acupuncture and transdermal drug delivery and multi-modal non-invasive glucose monitors, among others.
“All of these bio-medical systems open a new healthcare paradigm to improve people’s quality of life in combination with the current mobile smart phones,” says Prof. Yoo. “The challenge was to take into account wide design considerations, such as high performance, convenience, and safety for bio-medical system design, from transistor (bottom) level to system (top) level, covering biological background, circuit technique, system and application design.”
The Seoul native became interested in the idea of using smartphones to help people at an early age, envisioning the potential of combining electrical engineering knowhow and bio- medical technology. His research focused on bio-medical circuitry. One important feature of his inventions is low power consumption; another is that bio-feedback is integrated into the electrical stimulation.
“For example, there have been many types of transdermal drug delivery systems such as my beauty mask and pain relief patches,” Song says. “But the previous ones could not monitor the drug delivery status because they don’t have any feedback from the patient. I integrate various types of bio-signal sensors to monitor the drug delivery status and patient’s status. As a result, I can achieve the bi-directional or active transdermal drug delivery.”
In addition to academic and research achievements, the Marconi Young Scholar Awards recognize entrepreneurship. Song’s bio-medical SoCs have been integrated into practical bio-medical systems and he demonstrated the live operation of his systems at conferences such as the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2012/2013 and the Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BioCAS) 2013. He also visited a number of Korean and Chinese bio-medical system companies and medical schools to collaborate on commercialization of his systems.
The Young Scholar Awards winners are selected from nominations submitted by faculty members, department chairs, or managers with whom they have worked closely. The awards include a financial stipend and an invitation and travel funds to attend the annual Marconi Award Dinners and other events.
The Marconi Society was established in 1974 through an endowment set up by Gioia Marconi Braga, daughter of Guglielmo Marconi, the Nobel laureate who invented radio (wireless telegraphy). Through symposia, conferences, forums and publications, the Marconi Society promotes awareness of major innovations in communication theory, technology and applications with particular attention to understanding how they change and benefit society.
——
Source: The Marconi Society.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
