Science programs in CU and Korea sign a research agreement

Sung June Kim, seated, left, director of Nano-Bioelectronics and Systems research center (NBS) in Korea, and Mike Shuler, Cornell professor of chemical engineering and director of the Bioengineering Program, shake hands after signing a memorandum of understanding on research collaboration July 26 in 165 Olin Hall. In the back row, from left, are: Barbara Baird, director of the Cornell Nanobiotechnology Center; Harold Craighead, interim dean of Cornell's College of Engineering; Tai Hyun Park, a Korean researcher currently visiting in Shuler's lab; Byung Gee Kim, a researcher at NBS; and Byung Ho Lee, a professor of electrical engineering at Seoul National University. Richard Killen/University Photography

The Bioengineering Program of Cornell's College of Engineering and the Nano-Bioelectronics and Systems research center (NBS) at Seoul National University, Korea, have agreed to join in a long-term research collaboration to study the use of nanotechnology in biological research. The two institutions will carry on an exchange of researchers and hold joint scientific meetings.

The program officially launched on July 26 at Cornell as Sung June Kim, director of NBS, and Mike Shuler, Cornell professor of chemical engineering and director of the Bioengineering Program, signed a memorandum of understanding.

Following the signing in Olin Hall, researchers from Cornell and Seoul took turns describing their research programs and Sandip Tiwari, director of the Cornell Nanofabrication Facility, described the facility's capabilities.

NBS involves several research institutions in Korea and is funded by the Korea Science and Engineering Program (KOSEF), roughly the Korean equivalent of the National Science Foundation in the United States. NBS pursues research on the use of neural chips for prostheses, microscale systems to collect and sort individual cells, biosensor chips to detect disease-causing proteins and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

The collaborative program was created at the suggestion of Sung June Kim, who approached Shuler with the idea in January. Kim received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Cornell in 1983.