Visiting TERA Lab at KAIST
From Maps and Engineering to a Geo Renaissance
KAIST is home to Professor Kim Joungho’s TERA Lab, as he approaches his retirement in August 2026.
There is a wonderful story behind Professor Kim’s name. His father was a teacher who deeply admired Kim Jeong-ho, the great Korean cartographer who created the Daedongyeojido, one of Korea’s most celebrated maps of the 19th century. He named his son after this remarkable mapmaker.
Perhaps that connection to maps has stayed with Professor Kim throughout his life. He once said that one of his happiest moments of the day is looking through maps in the morning.
Founded in 1996, TERA Lab has spent nearly 30 years advancing semiconductor packaging and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) technologies. Professor Kim is widely recognized as one of Korea’s leading experts in HBM and semiconductor packaging. He has also trained more than 120 students who now work across the global semiconductor industry, including Samsung, SK hynix, NVIDIA, Apple, Google, and Qualcomm.
What makes TERA Lab especially meaningful is its philosophy of connecting research with real-world problems. Professor Kim has emphasized that universities should not simply produce academic papers. Students should learn how to identify important problems, connect different technologies, and create solutions that work in the real world.
He describes the kind of talent needed in the AI era as an “orchestra conductor.” A conductor does not play every instrument, but understands the whole composition and knows how to bring different people, tools, and technologies together.
This idea strongly resonates with the vision of the Great Geographic Society.
At the first GG Summer School in 2024, Professor Kim’s book The Future of Engineering was selected as required reading. Students explored how technology is reshaping our world and raised many questions about engineering, AI, education, and the future of humanity.
*Introducing the book written by Prof. Kim Joungho
Two years later, visiting KAIST and TERA Lab gave us another opportunity to think about what it means to see the bigger picture.
A map does more than show us where things are. It helps us understand relationships, connections, and possibilities.
Perhaps engineering does something similar.
In the AI era, we need advanced technology, but we also need people who can connect knowledge across disciplines and understand how technology, people, industries, and places fit together.
In an unexpected way, the story comes back to a map.
A father who admired the great cartographer Kim Jeong-ho gave that name to his son. The son grew up to become an engineer who spent three decades connecting technologies, industries, and generations of students—and who still finds happiness in looking at maps.
This is where engineering and geography meet.
And it is also part of what we mean by a Geo Renaissance: rediscovering the power of maps, connections, and geographic imagination to understand a rapidly changing world.
KAIST / TERA Lab
Visiting KAIST and TERA Lab in Daejeon, Korea, in August 2026.
Professor Kim Joung-ho
Professor Kim Jung-ho has spent nearly 30 years advancing semiconductor technology and educating the next generation of engineers.
Daedongyeojido / Map
Professor Kim was named after the great Korean cartographer Kim Jeong-ho, creator of the Daedongyeojido. His father, a teacher, deeply admired the legendary mapmaker.
GG Summer School 2024
At the first GG Summer School in 2024, Professor Kim’s The Future of Engineering was selected as required reading.
Geo Renaissance
From maps to semiconductors, and from engineering to geography: connecting knowledge is becoming even more important in the AI era.
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#KAIST #TERALab #KimJungho #KimJeongho #Daedongyeojido #Maps #HBM #Semiconductor #FutureOfEngineering #AI #GeoRenaissance #Geography #GeographicImagination #GeographicLiteracy #GGS #GreatGeographicSociety #GGSummerSchool
(Source: HBM 대부 김정호 교수 정년···30년 '테.. : 네이버블로그 )
