UST Recruits "Hands-On Mentors" for Deep Tech Startups... Appoints Chiho Choi and Cheolhwan Kim as Special Faculty Members

Experts in Technology Commercialization and Startup Investment Join
Accelerating the Transition from National Research Outcomes to Startups

Experts in technology commercialization from government-funded research institutes and successful entrepreneurs are stepping up to foster student entrepreneurship at national research laboratories. The University of Science and Technology (UST) has appointed Chiho Choi, CEO of Korea Science & Technology Holdings (KST), and Cheolhwan Kim, Chairman of KAITE Entrepreneur Foundation, as its first special faculty members in the field of entrepreneurship. This move is drawing significant attention from the industry, as it aims to accelerate the commercialization of laboratory technologies and expand the deep tech startup ecosystem.

On June 1, UST announced the appointment of these two individuals as special faculty members specializing in entrepreneurship. Over the next three years, they will be responsible for every stage of the UST Start-up Track, from program design and student selection to mentoring and commercialization support.

(from left) Chiho Choi, CEO of Korea Science and Technology Holdings, Daeim Kang, President of UST, Cheolhwan Kim, Chairman of Kite Entrepreneurs Foundation. Courtesy of UST

Through this initiative, UST plans to connect research outcomes generated at 30 national research institute schools to deep tech startups and to actively promote a “professor-student co-entrepreneurship model,” in which students and their academic advisors launch startups together.

Chiho Choi, CEO of Korea Science & Technology Holdings, is an expert in the commercialization of public research and development (R&D) results. After earning a Ph.D. in law from Soongsil University, he served as the Head of the Technology Commercialization Division at Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), Head of the Seoul Hongneung Innovation District, and President of the Korea Association of Research Institute Technology Transfer. He currently leads Korea Science & Technology Holdings, which is jointly funded by 17 government-affiliated research institutes, where he is responsible for identifying core technologies from these institutes and nurturing them into deep tech companies.

Cheolhwan Kim, Chairman of KAITE Entrepreneur Foundation, is a technology entrepreneur with a doctorate in chemical engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). After founding Image & Materials in 2006 and selling it to LG Display, he established the KAITE Entrepreneur Foundation in 2012 with his personal funds. Since then, he has contributed to building Korea’s technology startup ecosystem by providing investment and mentoring to more than 80 early-stage deep tech startups.

The two special faculty members will be responsible for designing the start-up track, establishing student selection criteria, running educational programs, connecting with external experts, mentoring students, and supporting commercialization efforts. They will also play a key role in establishing a practical entrepreneurship education system that covers the entire process from technology commercialization and investment attraction to actual startup execution.

UST is running a start-up track program that enables students hoping to launch startups based on national research institute technologies to balance their academic work and preparation for entrepreneurship. The program operates in two formats: a “transition track” for current students and a “master track (entrepreneurship-focused master’s program),” which separately selects students with strong entrepreneurial aspirations.

In particular, UST aims to enhance the commercialization potential of laboratory technologies by establishing a deep tech entrepreneurship model in which students and their academic advisors, as the primary agents of national R&D achievement, jointly participate in startup creation.

In October last year, UST signed a business agreement with Korea Science & Technology Holdings, and in December of the same year, it formed joint agreements with five national research institute schools: Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI), Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), and Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM). These agreements have established a support system for student entrepreneurship.

Daeim Kang, President of UST, stated, “We will fully support the transformation of outstanding research outcomes from national research institute schools into globally innovative startups by integrating the entrepreneurship experience, expertise, and know-how of these special faculty members into the UST education system.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.