Kwang-Je Kim of the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory has been named the recipient of the 2014 Robert R. Wilson Prize for Achievement in the Physics of Particle Accelerators. Kim was cited for “…his pioneering theoretical work in synchrotron radiation and free electron lasers [FELs] that laid the foundation for both third and fourth generation x-ray sources."

The Wilson Prize was established in 1986 by friends of the late Robert R. Wilson, founding Director of Fermilab; and the Division of Particles and Fields and the Division of Physics of Beams of the American Physical Society to recognize and encourage outstanding achievement in the physics of particle accelerators. It is presented annually.

Kim obtained his B.S. in Physics from Seoul National University, South Korea, in 1966, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Maryland in 1970. He started his career as a theorist in elementary particle physics, working at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the Max-Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics in Munich, and at Mainz University. He switched to accelerator physics when he joined the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1978. Since 1998 he has been at Argonne in the Accelerator Systems Division (ASD) of the APS, where he is currently an Argonne Distinguished Fellow. He is also Professor (part time) of Physics at the University of Chicago.

As noted on the Wilson Prize Website, Kim made pioneering theoretical contributions to the understanding of photocathode electron guns, synchrotron radiation, and free-electron lasers, including the theory of synchrotron radiation emission and the theory of self-amplified spontaneous emission from FELs. His theories led to the development of a formula to more accurately categorize light sources, which makes it easier to model x-ray brightness. This has become more important as light sources have become brighter and moved closer to the diffraction limit. Recently, he has revived the idea of an x-ray FEL in oscillator configuration employing Bragg crystals as x-ray cavity mirrors, showing that it could be a source of fully coherent x-ray pulses with extremely high spectral purity.

Kim has been active in teaching and mentoring scientists. He was elected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1995 and received the International Free-Electron Laser Prize in 1997.

He was awarded the US Particle Accelerator School Prize for Achievement in Accelerator Physics and Technology in 2013. This recognition and the Wilson Prize both honor his pioneering theoretical work in synchrotron radiation and free-electron lasers.

 

http://www.aps.anl.gov/News/APS_News/Content/APS_NEWS_20140107.php

 

 

Dear Cherished AKPA Members,

I am writing this message with a heavy heart and sincere prayers for the victims and their families of the ferry Sewol accident. Too many lives have been lost in the accident, especially young students who were about to step into the new world! Please join me in prayers for the victims to be in a good place. In addition, AKPA has lost a leader and a staunch supporter recently. Prof. Kiuck Lee has passed away on June 10, 2014. He was the first modern physics Ph.D. amongst Korean hysicists and had been a lighthouse for all of us to follow. Please join me in praying for him and his family.

The start of this year has been quite busy already. We have selected two winners of the annual Outstanding Young Researcher Awardees (OYRA), one of which was supported by the Korean Physical Society (KPS), and presented the awards at the Forum on International Physics (FIP) reception at the APS March meeting in Denver, CO. The ceremony was then followed by the annual AKPA meeting and the Korean Physicists Symposium organized by Prof. Seung-Hun Lee jointly with KPS members and supported by KUSCO and KSEA. As reported in this Newsletter, both events were very successful. The banquet dinner supported by KUSCO was attended by close to 100 Korean physicists including newly recruited fourteen new AKPA-KSEA members. 

The 2nd Nationwide High School Physics Contest (NHSPC) was held on Saturday, April 12, during the KSEA National Math and Science Contest, followed by the above annual events. NHSPC2014 was offered at 15 locations nationwide and had 82 students participating in the contest, of which 16 were female students. This can be compared to 52 participants in 9 locations in NHSPC2013. A 9th grader from the Silicon Valley KSEA chapter, Thomas Choi of Mission San Jose High School scored all 12, winning the 1st place nationwide. The NHSPC problem committee led by Prof. Cheung Ryong Ji of NCSU has done a wonderful job once again. We had several AKPA members working closely with KSEA local chapter NMSC committees to help administering the exam on the day. NHSPC is solidifying its place firmly as one of the excellent examples of AKPA, an Affiliated Professional Society of KSEA, working tightly with KSEA. This was in addition to the three lecturers, Profs Young-Kee Kim, Taek-Jip Ha, and myself, serving at the KSEA ProDew workshop in Chicago in March and Profs Cheung-Ryong Ji, Eun-Suk Seo and Bum-Hoon Lee organizing the physics symposium at UKC2014 soon to be held in San Francisco, CA.

 

Dr. Jaehoon Yu

In celebration of the 35th anniversary of AKPA, an AKPA-IBS symposium was held on the campus of the Univ. of Chicago, organized by Prof. Young-Kee Kim, a former deputy director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Louis Block Professor at the Univ. of Chicago. This symposium was one of the biennial AKPA symposia on special topics in physics. The Institute for Basic Science (IBS) of Korea, KSEA, American Physical Society, Consulate General of Republic of Korea in Chicago, Korean Physical Society and the Univ. of Chicago supported this event of celebrating the 35th year of AKPA’s establishment.

Along with many prominent members, we have presented a plaque to a long time AKPA member and the 2nd president of KSEA, Prof. Kiuck Lee in appreciation of his dedication to AKPA and a scholarship donation at the ceremony. The plaque was delivered to Prof. Lee in his hospital bed before his passing. In this ceremony, the history committee that consists of Profs. Ki-Hyun Kinney Kim (chair, NCSU), Yongwook Kim (LeHigh Univ.) and Yung Kee Yeo (AFIT) was officially commissioned with the goal of fully documenting the history of AKPA until its 40th anniversary in 2019.

With the amazing efforts and leadership of Drs. Youngho Seo and Sangwook Park, AKPA has been registered as the 501c3 non-profit organization in Texas as of April 6, 2014. This allows AKPA to be able to obtain tax-exempt donations for future of AKPA. In conjunction with this significant progress, the fund raising committee which consists of Profs Young-Kee Kim (Univ.of. Chicago, Chair), Ki-Hyun Kinney Kim (NCSU), Cheung-Ryong Ji (NCSU), Philip Kim (Columbia) and Youngho Seo (UCSF) is working on establishing fundamental guidelines for named scholarship and other donations.

Finally, with the tremendous help of KSEA, I was able to have three meetings organized during my visit to Korea with Korean funding agencies – two with the National Research Funds (NRF) and one with KOFAC(Korea Foundation for Advancement of Science and Creativity) and have discussed several potential projects for global science education efforts. In particular, the NRF global education team has put together an ad hoc meeting with its PI faculty members, in which Prof. Yoonseok Lee of U of Florida and I have participated in. Some of the PIs presented specific ideas with which AKPA can collaborate.

One of them was a potential support of NHSPC winners to travel to Korea and stay for about a month in the summer from 2015 and another was to have them participate in Junior Math and Science contest. Since AKPA is a leading organization in fundamental sciences, these efforts present a great potential for entering a more collaborative and cooperative efforts with Korean funding agencies. Prof. Yoonseok Lee gratefully agreed to take the lead in the efforts with NRF to solidify our relationship with them. I am sure that these will result in a great success and will help AKPA to be known to many other Korean agencies.

As you can see, we have been very busy and are preparing many events in remainder of this year of blue mustang. These events will only be successful with your strong supports and participations. We have dedicated officers who have been working very hard during the past year of this administration and are willing to help you play a strong role in this great stride of AKPA. Please contact any of the officers to inquire on opportunities for you to make a difference. AKPA is getting stronger and will be even more strengthened when we all roll up our sleeves and work together to overcome difficulties and accomplish challenging tasks!

 

With My Best Regards,

Prof. Jaehoon Yu

University of Texas

at Arlington

30th President of AKPA

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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Kiuck Lee Ph.D. Notice

Professor Kiuck Lee passed away on Tuesday, June 10, 2014, surrounded by his beloved family. He was one of the first three recipients of a Ph.D. in physics at Florida State University under the mentorship of Dr. Alex Greene. As the first doctor of modern physics in Korea, he spent his young professional career representing Korea at various international meetings, including President Eisenhower's Atoms For Peace.  As a physics professor at the Marquette University, he contributed significantly to the establishments and advancement of many premier scientists and engineers organizations in America, including establishment and strong support of AKPA.  He was one of the founding members and the second president of KSEA, professor.   Professor Lee's passing is tremendous loss for the entire AKPA community. 

Professor Lee had not only been a leader in new frontiers but also been a lighthouse to all of us who followed his footsteps. While in a better place, professor Lee will be with us forever, leading us and guiding us to be like him. His care and generosity will continue igniting the future generations of him. 

The family wishes contributions may be directed to the Professor Kiuck Lee Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers,

Receiving the donations on behalf of the Association of Korean Physicists in America is:

 

Please make the check payable to: Association of Korean Physicists in America

ATTN: Dr. Sangwook Park

Department of Physics

Box 19059

Room 108 Science Hall

University of Texas at Arlington

Arlington, TX 76019

 

We will remember Professor Lee's dedication and leadership for Korean physicists and the entire Korean-American scientists and engineers community. 

 

The 30th AKPA Executive Committee

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