Choi Soon-dal
Choi Soon-dal (Korean: 최순달,; b. 1931 June 20 in Daegu – d. 2014 October 18 in Seoul)[1] was a scientist who pioneered South Korea's satellite-building program, and greatly advanced Korea into the new digital information era.
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Choi was instrumental in helping Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute develop the Electronic Switching System (TDX), the world's tenth such system which propelled Korea to join the digital information era.[2] He served as a minister in the Ministry of Information and Communication (South Korea).[3] He was the visionary first dean of Korean Institute of Technology, which later became a part of KAIST. As a professor at KAIST, he created KAIST Satellite Technology Research Center and lead a collaboration with students from KAIST and University of Surrey to successfully engineer the first Korean satellite, KITSAT-1, also named "Our Star".[4] The satellite was successfully launched from Guiana Space Centre in 1992.
Choi became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences in 1985.
Choi died on October 18, 2014 at the age of 83.[5] He was posthumously awarded a national medal of honor for his contribution to science and technology on October 21, 2014. He is the 4th civilian allowed to be buried at the National Cemetery in Daejon.[6]
He is survived by his wife, Hong Hae Jung; and his 4 children. He has 6 grandchildren who currently reside in the United States.
References
- "send off ceremony of Choi Soon-dal". yonhapnews.co.kr/. 2014-10-22. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- Oh, Myung, Larsen, James F. (2011). Digital Development in Korea: Building an Information Society. London, UK: Routledge. pp. 32–33. ISBN 0415857627.
- http://www.koreaherald.com/common_prog/newsprint.php?ud=20141019000324&dt=2
- http://www.kaist.edu/_prog/schedule/index.php?year=2014&month=10&day=22&site_dvs_cd=en&menu_dvs_cd=010303&mode=E1&site_dvs=
- "S. Korean satellite scientist dies". koreaherald. 2014-10-19. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/bulletin/2014/10/21/0200000000AKR20141021122700017.HTML?from=search