Five GIST graduates land faculty posts at home and abroad

Appointments span Pusan National University, Chungnam National University, Keimyung University, Soonchunhyang University and a university in India

From left: Lee Woo-rim, Jung Hee-won, Seo Dong-ju, Lee Ji-su and Sunil Ghatage. [Provided by GIST]

A cohort of researchers who combined AI with environmental and energy technology have secured faculty positions at universities in South Korea and abroad.

The Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) announced Tuesday that four doctoral graduates from its Department of Environment and Energy Engineering had been appointed as professors at South Korean universities within the past year, while a former postdoctoral researcher had been appointed to a faculty post in India.

Lee Woo-rim was appointed assistant professor in the Department of Bio-Environmental Energy at Pusan National University in September last year. Last month, Jung Hee-won joined Chungnam National University's Department of Environmental Engineering, Seo Dong-ju joined Keimyung University's Department of Chemical Engineering, and Lee Ji-su joined Soonchunhyang University's Department of Life Science — all as assistant professors. Sunil Ghatage, who conducted postdoctoral research at GIST, was also appointed assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering at D.Y. Patil International University in India.

The five researchers have built strong research credentials across a wide range of fields, from AI-integrated environmental modeling and water treatment to resource recovery and environmental microbiology.

Jung conducted research at GIST using big data and AI to analyze and predict environmental systems covering water quality, aquatic ecosystems and air quality. She then studied environmental modeling techniques that incorporate the physical characteristics of environmental systems into AI at Korea University and the University of Waterloo in Canada.

Jung plans to pursue the development of "environmental physical AI," a framework combining the physical laws governing environmental systems with AI. Her goal is to develop technology that goes beyond predicting environmental problems and identifying their causes to support management and decision-making.

Lee Woo-rim researched the prediction of oxidation efficiency and byproduct formation in advanced oxidation processes using ultraviolet light. She subsequently worked on water quality management and industrial wastewater treatment and resource recovery at the Busan Waterworks Authority and the Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology in Pohang.

Seo studied the potential applications of clathrate hydrates — cage-like structures capable of trapping gas molecules — in the energy and environmental sectors. At UCLA, he researched technologies for recovering metal resources such as lithium and rare earth elements, and has since expanded his work into gas separation and hydrogen storage.

Lee Ji-su researched the removal and recovery of heavy metal contaminants using the biosorption properties of fungi. She has since worked at the National Institute of Agricultural Science and the World Institute of Kimchi, broadening her research to cover environmental, food and gut microbiome science.

Ghatage researched microbial enzyme and biocatalyst systems at GIST for biomass conversion, plastic biodegradation and pollutant remediation. He plans to develop sustainable biocatalyst platforms integrating synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and AI.

The GIST Department of Environment and Energy Engineering currently has 22 faculty members conducting research that applies AI and big data to atmospheric and climate science, water, ecology and environmental engineering, and sustainable energy engineering.

Park Young-jun, head of the department, said GIST would "expand education and research that integrates AI with expertise in the environment and energy fields, nurturing convergence talent capable of solving complex environmental and energy challenges."

nbgkoo@heraldcorp.com