Tae-Hyuk Kwon

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Google Profile Scopus ID

ORCiD: 0000-0002-1610-8281

ResearchID: F-2183-2013  

I. EDUCATION

Ph.D    08/2008    Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Deajeon, Korea.

M.Sc    02/2004    KAIST, Daejeon, Korea.

B.Sc    08/2002    KAIST, Daejeon, Korea.

II. EMPLOYMENT

03/2018-Present    Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, Korea.

09/2024-08/2025   Visiting Scholar in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California San Diego (UCSD), San Diego, CA, USA, hosted by Prof. John McCartney.

01/2020-06/2020   Visiting Scholar in Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA, hosted by Prof. Jason T. DeJong.

06/2018-09/2018   Visiting Fellow in School of Engineering and Information Technology, University of New South Wales, UNSW Canberra, Canberra, Australia, hosted by Dr. Ilhan Chang.  

05/2013-02/2018    Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST, Korea.

09/2011-05/2013    Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Washington  State University, Pullman, WA, USA.

07/2009-07/2011    Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Earth Science Division, LBNL, Berkeley, USA

09/2008-06/2009    Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST,  Korea

01/2005-11/2005    Visiting Scholar, in Geosystems Engineering Program, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA

09/2002-08/2008   Graduate Research Assistant, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, KAIST,   Korea

III. RESEARCH AREA AND INTEREST

Main Research Directions: (1) energy and sustainable geotechnology, (2) biogeophysics and microbially engineered bio-soils, (3) physics and mechanics of porous and particulate materials, and (4) near-surface geophysical characterization and smart sensor application.

Methodology: theoretical/experimental studies of particle-level, pore-scale and macro-scale phenomena in particulate materials and porous media (mechanical, chemical, thermal, electrical, hydrological, and biological). Experimentation involves distinct laboratory devices and procedures, with emphasis on low-perturbation wave-based characterization and process monitoring (both elastic and electromagnetic waves), X-ray CT imageries (both micro- and core-scales), and related inverse problems.

Problems: resource recovery (petroleum, natural gas, EOR, methane hydrate, shale gas), geo-environment (geologic CO2 storage, soil remediation), and engineering systems (soil improvement, dynamic soil response, underground excavations).

IV. HONORS AND AWARDS

Byoung Cho Fellowship Award of Korea Geotechncial Society (KGS), Tae-Hyuk Kwon, in recognition of outstanding research achievement, March 21, 2024. 

2024 KAIST Global Excellence Laboratory, The award was bestowed to the labs that are the most active in global research collaboration and harvests international scholars to KAIST, and nine laboratories were selected, February 14, 2024.

KAIST Breakthroughs Spring 2024, The research on “RootBot: Root-inspired soft-growing robot for high-curvature directional excavation” was chosen as the KAIST Breakthroughs in Spring 2014 (URL: https://breakthroughs.kaist.ac.kr/sub03/view/id/505).

Young member of Korea Academy of Science and Technology (Y-KAST) elected for Years 2024–2026, December 13, 2023. 

2023 Commendation by Minister of Science and ICT (MSIT), Tae-Hyuk Kwon, in recognition of outstanding research achievement, April 21, 2023.   

2021 Commendation by Minister of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MoTIE), Tae-Hyuk Kwon, in recognition of outstanding research achievement, November 19, 2021.   

2018 Excellent Lecture Award. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (KAIST). May 2019. 

Visiting Fellowship at University of New South Wales, UNSW Canberra Appointed as the visiting fellow at UNSW Canberra from 30 June 2018 to 30 September 2018. The University made a contribution of AU$3,500 to support the living expenses during the visiting period. 

International Collaboration Fund by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). July 2018. KRW 6.2 million. 

First Innovative Laboratory of Young Researcher 2018 selected by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF). May 2018. KRW 97 million. 

KGS Award, Korean Geotechnical Society. March 31st, 2018. 

ExCEEd 2012 Teaching Fellowship (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education). June 2012. The ExCEEd Teaching Workshop is a six-day practicum that provides engineering educators with an opportunity to improve their teaching abilities. It is funded by a grant from the ASCE Foundation. Each year, about 50 applicants are selected, based primarily on the extent to which their individual needs, motivations, and commitment to attend are consistent with the focus of the workshop.

Travel Funds For USUCGER 1st Early Career Geotechnical Engineering Conference. July 2012. USD750.

Post-Doctoral Fellowship by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), 08/2009-07/2010, KRW23,000,000. 

International Research Internship by Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF), 01/2005-11/2005, USD19,151.