By Taeg-sang Cho

With the upcoming final exams, many students are probably anxious to be assured that they are fully prepared for such important tests. Of course, exams are not everything in university life, but they are one of the most important factors considered when evaluating one's ability.

Students sometimes wish they could have a perfect consultant who could evaluate their abilities and weaknesses. However, having such a consultant all to oneself is not quite realistic. Fortunately, professor Sung-ho Kim will now provide you with a mentor for your academic achievement.

Who is Professor Kim?

Professor Kim, now a professor at the Department of Mathematics specializing in applied math, has been very interested in the field concerning the brain and statistical representation of systems. Because he has worked in many educational institutions, such as ETS and other universities, he has been very interested in evaluating students' talents in academic areas. He received his degree from Carnegie Mellon University and is mainly interested in developing graphical representations of large scale systems.

Professor Sung-ho Kim Department of Mathematics Educational Background 1989: Carnegie Mellon University (Ph.D., Statistics major) 1982: Seoul National University (Masters, Statistics major) 1980: Seoul National University (Bachelors, Mathematics major) Career Experience 1993-present: KAIST, professor 1989-1993: ETS, researcher 1983-1985: Chonbuk University, lecturer

At the Statistics Laboratory for Knowledge and Inference, Professor Kim and many other researchers are applying statistical and probability characteristics to analyze the current state through mathematical modeling. Presently, the researchers at this laboratory are mainly interested in developing a program called "Soo-neung Do Ooh Mi," an aide to the Korean High School Final Exam. If the exam result is entered into the program, the program accurately judges the ability of the student after conducting some mathematical algorithms. These algorithms very closely resemble the situations going through the teachers' minds.

Of course, there are an infinite number of factors that can have a crucial impact on the students' academic accomplishments. However, from such factors, the most important aspects are the traits of the questions and the method of evaluation. Therefore, researchers are endeavoring to grasp the relationships between questions.

How is the statistical approach superior to other methods?

Now, the statistical approach comes into play: when a student has taken a multiple-choice exam consisting of 50 questions, each student must choose from 4E50 different combinations. Multiplying these combinations by the number of students makes this number too large to calculate. However, by resorting to statistics, the calculation can be reduced dramatically. At the Statistics Laboratory for Knowledge and Inference, a mathematical model which can be used to denote such complex situations is being investigated rigorously.

The Statistics Laboratory is trying to find a simpler answer from the division and combination of the system. The data we nowadays encounter mostly represent meaningless facts. Therefore, we must cross-reference various facts to obtain the desirable data in most cases. To do so, it's very important to express such data: it's done through graphical methods.

The facts from the data are linked together by a line or an arrow. When two factors are in a cause and effect relationship, they are linked by an arrow. When two factors are independent from one another, they are linked by a line. This method reduces the amount of calculation, but when too many factors are intricately linked together, the graph becomes too big to analyze.

There are also some dilemmas related to this approach. How is Professor Kim trying to resolve the problem?

Therefore, the Statistics Laboratory for Knowledge and Inference is attempting to resolve this problem by dividing such a large system to parts, then combining them to get the system as a whole. This method is denoted as "Partial Model Fusion."  By using this approach, one can analyze any large system accurately and efficiently.

For example, let's consider the applied differential equation course. The course can be subdivided into different sectors, such as constant coefficient differential equations, variable coefficient differential equations, and Laplace transformations. These sectors can again be divided into smaller sectors that can accurately reproduce the relationships between sectors that define the system as a whole.

This approach will eventually allow us to evaluate one's ability which cannot be tested just from the exam results. "We have conducted several tests on Oe-eun Middle school students. We let them take a math exam and evaluated the result in accordance with our programs. This test revealed that although a student got a low grade on the exam, he might possess incredible potential. We have seen such occasions from our tests," stated professor Kim. To test yourself on the web, go to http://amath.kaist.ac.kr/~slki/oldslki/oldksis/ and check out your talents.

Apart from conducting research, what do you enjoy the most?

Well, using my spare time, I read important news in the field of brain investigation. Some might think this is burdensome and monotonous, but to me, it is very helpful because I will eventually try to build a mathematical model of brains.

What do you think of KAIST in general? In its educational and academic environment?

I personally like the atmosphere of KAIST. KAIST is unique in its quiet and studious environment. It is very important to become competitive in the field of each student's major, and KAIST provides excellent means to achieve such goals. If students can make use of such an environment, I am quite sure that the students will become global leaders. However, I think it is important to create some unique features during their festivals. Canoeing at Princeton and riding un-powered wheelers at Carnegie Mellon University are examples of such uniqueness. It would be nice to have such traditions at KAIST as well.

Do you have any other comments to students?

I have noticed that over the years, students have become more expressive regarding their opinions, which is a good sign. Furthermore, unlike students at universities in Seoul, such as Seoul National University, Yonsei University and Korea University, students at KAIST still preserve the purity instilled in people. I like this and hope this trend continues in the future. However, I hope that students do realize what the priority is in life. Although studying is not everything in life, without talents, we cannot survive in this world of competition. Some students may whine that the life at KAIST is too tough to carry on, but it¹s going to be beneficial to them, not to anyone else. Therefore, I hope students stay strong on their path.