News

February 2026

Professor Eunji Jun received the "Best Lecture Award" for her lecture on AE100, Sky and Space. The lecture focused on the fundamental principles of aerospace engineering.

February 2026

Prof. Eunji Jun’s KNGPDL (KAIST Non-equilibrium Gas & Plasma Dynamics Laboratory) in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at KAIST has been selected for a joint research project with Justus Liebig University Giessen under the Korea–Germany Partnership Program (GEnKO).

December 2025

Professor Eunji Jun received the KAIST Impact Research Award for outstanding research impact, recognizing contributions to enhancing KAIST's international visibility through high cited publications.

November 2025

Geonwoong Moon received the "Best Presentation Paper Award" at the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers.

Title : Assessment of System Components and Operational Requirements for Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion in Very-Low-Earth-Orbit

December 2025

Insang Park received the "Best Master's Thesis Award" at the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers.

Title : Characterization of ion oscillation and neutralization in the exhaust plume of electrospray thruster based on fragmentation

September 2025

Professor Eunji Jun was invited to deliver a lecture at the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) Short Course, held in conjunction with the 2025 DSMC Workshop hosted by Sandia National Laboratories. The DSMC Short Course is a prestigious event originally inaugurated by Dr. G. A. Bird, the creator of the DSMC method. It is an honor for Professor Jun to contribute to this tradition as a lecturer at the same course where Dr. Bird himself once taught.

For more information:  https://www.sandia.gov/dsmc/short-course/

September 2025

Inchan Kim has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Master’s Research Encouragement Grant Program, supported by the National Research foundation of Korea (NRF).

August 2025

Professor Eunji Jun received the Outstanding Teaching Award at KAIST Aerospace Engineering for excellence in teaching Advanced Gas Dynamics.

August 2025

Dr. Sanghun Kim has been appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Kyungpook National University as of September 2025, in recognition of his outstanding research achievements and academic excellence.

June 2025

Woonghwi Park has been selected for the 2nd Presidential Science Scholarship for Graduate Students, supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Student Aid Foundation.

April 2025

Professor Eunji Jun received the 2025 KAIST Representative Research Achievement in the 14 Future Leading Technologies for pioneering research on VLEO Heterogeneous Satellite Constellation Technology.

April 2025

Songhyun Huh received the "Best Paper Presentation Award" at the Korean Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences.
Title: Particle-based Drag Analysis of Atomic Oxygen Adsorption and Desorption in Very-Low-Earth-Orbit

March 2025

KNGPDL was selected for the Mid-Career Researcher Program supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea. This selection recognizes the KNGPDL’s achievements from the previous mid-career research project. The follow-up project, entitled “Development of Particle-Based Numerical Methods for Hypersonic Polyatomic Gas Mixtures with Chemical Reactions,” will receive approximately 673.7 million KRW in research funding over the next three years.

February 2025

Dr. Sanghun Kim received the "Best PhD Dissertation Award" in the College of Engineering.
Title: A stochastic particle Fokker-Planck method for multiscale rarefied gas flows

December 2024

Professor Eunji Jun received the KAIST Q-Day Special Commendation Award for Communication and Trust in recognition of outstanding contributions to fostering trust through open communication and advancing KAIST's organizational culture.

December 2024

Joonbeom Kim's paper was selected as "Editor's Pick".
Title: A spatial interpolation for a stochastic particle Fokker-Planck model using a polynomial reconstruction

November 2024

Yeongho Shin received the "Best Master's Thesis Award" at the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers.
Title: Particle-based two-phase flow simulation of solid rocket motor plume at high altitudes

November 2024

As part of the 1 Lab, 1 Volunteering (L.O.V.E) program, KNGPDL members visited the Yuseong District Office to learn about CPR procedures. 

November 2024 

Geonwoong Moon received the "KAIST Best Paper Award".
Title: Design and operational concept of a cryogenic active intake device for atmosphere-breathing electric propulsion

October 2024

Woongwhi Park received the "Best M.S. Dissertation Award" at the 2023 KAIST Air&Space.
Title: Evaluation of Stochastic Particle Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook Method Based on Velocity Distribution Function and Variance-Reduced Method for Low-Speed Flows

September 2024

Suyeon Ma was awarded the "Encouragement Award" (3rd place) at the 2024 Winter/Spring Undergraduate Research Participation (URP) Program Workshop, KAIST.

September 2024

KNGPDL secured sponsorship from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) for their proposal titled "Prediction of Gas-Surface Interaction in Very Low Earth Orbit Using Atomic Oxygen (AO)-Surface Chemistry Models." The program will provide funding totaling $90,000 over a three-year period.

January 2024

KNGPDL's research on Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) has recently been showcased in "KAIST AE News"

https://ae.kaist.ac.kr/boards/view/board_news_en/13228

November 2023 

Geonwoong Moon received the "Best M.S. Dissertation Award" at the 2023 KAIST Air&Space.
Title: PIC-DSMC Simulation of Electric Propulsion Plasma Plume and Application to Atmosphere-Breathing Mode

November 2023 

As part of the 1 Lab, 1 Volunteering (L.O.V.E) program, KNGPDL members visited the Daejeon National Cemetery, paying homage to the fallen and participating in the site's upkeep.

October 2023

KNGPDL's research on Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) has recently been showcased in "College of Engineering News"

September 2023

KNGPDL's research on Atmosphere-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP) has recently been highlighted in "KAIST Breakthroughs", a biannual webzine showcasing key research findings at KAIST.

February 2023

Youngil Ko and Sangwon Kim, both undergraduate researchers in KNGPDL, were awarded the "Excellent Award" (2nd place) at the 2022 Summer/Fall Undergraduate Research Participation (URP) Program Workshop, KAIST.

August 2021

Professor Eunji Jun received the "Best Lecture Award" for her lecture on AE620, Advanced Gas Dynamics. The lecture focused on the governing equations and numerical techniques of solving transonic and supersonic flows.