The World needs leaders because we have so many problems we must solve in the 21st century. At KAIST, we call these problems by the acronym “EEWS”. The first E represents energy; the second E stands for environment; W for water; and S for the sustainability of nature and natural resources. These are challenging problems that must be solved during your lifetime. KAIST is investing in ideas and devoting its scarce resources to make critical contributions toward solving these challenging problems of the 21st century. We want to cooperate with other institutions of the world in solving the problems associated with EEWS. Some of you will have opportunities to make contributions to solving these EEWS problems through your involvement in research and development at KAIST. We want you to come up with your own ideas and to work with professors on their ideas.

KAIST is a wonderful university, one of the best of its kind in the world. KAIST has outstanding professors, hard working staff, and above of all, the most intelligent students. Since its founding 37 years ago, the alumni, alumnae, and professors of KAIST have achieved a great deal as scientists, engineers, managers, and scholars. They contributed to the rapid industrialization of Korea.

We will work together to make KAIST one of the best research universities in the world.

Thank you again for your many important contributions.