Jaejun Kim of Seoul National University Named May Scientist and Engineer of the Month

Development of Lightweight AI Models and
Design of Dedicated Semiconductor Accelerators (Chips) for Lightweight Models

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea announced on April 30 that Professor Jaejun Kim of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University has been selected as the recipient of the May Scientist and Engineer of the Month Award.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation explained that Professor Kim was recognized for his significant contributions to the field by developing methods to streamline artificial intelligence (AI) models and creating semiconductor accelerators that efficiently process these lightweight models. His work has enabled the development of AI-based technologies that can be utilized in various environments with low power consumption.

Professor Jaejun Kim, Seoul National University. Courtesy of Ministry of Science and ICT

Professor Kim's research achievement is a new design methodology that supports AI lightweight models with variable bit precision using a single accelerator circuit. Instead of the conventional approach of independently implementing circuits for each precision level, he applied a novel method of changing the overall computation sequence. This allows the use of a simpler arithmetic unit structure while still efficiently supporting variable precision.

The results of this research were published in June 2022 in the international journal Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSC), and his achievements related to low-power AI semiconductors were presented in May 2023 at the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR).

Professor Kim stated, "I want to continue focusing on research into low-power integrated circuit design that can minimize power consumption and contribute to the sustainable development of AI," adding, "I expect that this research will serve as a core foundational technology enabling AI computation even in mobile environments where power consumption is critical."

The 'Scientist and Engineer of the Month Award' is presented each month by the Ministry of Science and ICT to one researcher who has contributed to the advancement of science and technology through outstanding research and development achievements. The award includes a ministerial citation and a prize of 10 million won, and is funded by the Science and Technology Promotion Fund and the Lottery Fund of the Ministry of Science and ICT.