This Summer I was lucky enough to have two trips to South Korea. My last trip in 2010 seems like a long time ago. Again, I was impressed by the quality of the science, the food and the people. The visit had three parts:
1. Opening of the Global E3 Institute at Yonsei University
The tradition and formality that comes with the opening of a new institute came as a surprise (white gloves, gold scissors, red carpet). The international links between science, engineering were clear from the start with a mixture of speakers from the US, UK, Korea and Japan. The talks covered everything from post-Fukushima energy policy in Japan to the development of improved thermoelectric devices, and the issues associated with educating children about nano-science and energy materials. I hope that the University of Bath will become part of this consortium in the future, which is being led by Prof. Bob Chang in Northwestern.
2. Seminar at KAIST
The Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is considered the MIT of east Asia. The city of Daejeon is less than an hour from Seoul by fast train, and has a very different feel. The campus is massive, in a beautiful location at the edge of a mountain range. My host was Prof. Yong-Hyun Kim, a former colleague at NREL, and who is now leading the Quantum Nano-Bio Materials Simulation Group. They tackle issues ranging from hydrogen storage and graphene modification to microscopic theories of pH. The graduate school in Nanoscience sets the research bar very high, and I had some very stimulating discussions, as well as delicious food (below is fried kimchee & tofu, along with a special black bean pasta).
3. MTG Tutorial Seminar on Defect Chemistry at Yonsei University
One of the challenges about working on the science of lattice defects in materials is that the description, notation and understanding varies greatly between different disciplines (chemistry, physics and engineering). The group of Prof. Soon is particularly diverse (including students from materials science to civil engineering), so one of the principal goals from such a lecture is to put everyone on the same page with some of the fundamentals. Hopefully it succeeded. Afterwards, we were treated to a very special group Korean barbeque, which I will take as a good sign!
*During a mini-typhoon, I also found some time for shopping in Gangnam at COEX mall (underground, so a safe hideout), visiting a student market in Hongdae, and a little more socialising with the MTG. 감사합니다!
