Byung Man Kwak

Byung Man Kwak
OccupationsMechanical engineer and academic
AwardsKorea Engineering Award, a Presidential Award (2005)
Academic background
EducationB.S., Mechanical Engineering
M.S., Mechanical Engineering
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering
Alma materSeoul National University
University of Iowa
Academic work
InstitutionsKorea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology

Byung Man Kwak is a mechanical engineer and academic who is professor emeritus at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

Kwak's research primarily focuses on optimization and optimal design in mechanical structures. He received the Korea Engineering Award in 2005, a presidential award, and is a fellow of both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology.

Education

Kwak earned his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Seoul National University in 1967, followed by a master's degree in mechanical engineering from the same institution in 1971. He then completed his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Iowa in 1974.[1]

Career

Kwak began his career as a signal officer in the Korean Army, serving from 1967 to 1969. In 1977, he joined the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) as a professor and later served as the Samsung Distinguished Professor from 1997 to 2015. From 1981 to 1982, he was a special project associate at the Mayo Clinic. At KAIST, he was dean of the College of Engineering from 2000 to 2001 and director of the Mobile Harbor Project from 2009 to 2015. In 2001, he was also appointed president of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers. He currently holds the title of professor emeritus at KAIST.[2]

Research

Kwak's research centers on optimization theory and its applications in engineering and biomechanics. In biomechanics, he developed an optimization-based method[3] to address muscle force distribution during flexion,[4] employing min-max formulations to reduce muscle stress[5] with the aid of electromyographic data.[6] He has also formulated three-dimensional frictional contact problems as nonlinear complementarity problems, facilitating numerical analysis.[7]

Kwak's contributions also extend to theories of shape sensitivity through boundary integral equations[8] and to design-space optimization, where the size of the design domain itself becomes a variable.[9] He introduced the Advanced First Order and Second Moment (AFOSM) approach, a performance-measure framework applied in reliability analysis.[10] In collaboration with colleagues, he helped develop and optimize a cantilever-type piezoelectric energy harvester that converts rotary motion into electrical energy, using design optimization to improve power output.[11]

Kwak's later research explored probabilistic design methods, proposing a propagation technique[12] based on a design of experiments framework[13] to handle non-normal distributions through weighted three-level schemes.[14] He applied Gauss-type quadrature formulas to compute statistical moments of system responses with fewer samples in low-dimensional uncertainty cases.[15] His additional research includes the design and application of adjustable threshold accelerometers,[16] microswitch mechanisms,[17] and the design optimization of mechanical systems accounting for link-length tolerances and joint clearances.[18]

Awards and honors

Selected articles

  • An, Kai-Nan; Kwak, Byung Man; Chao, Edward Yuan-Chun; Morrey, Bernard F. (November 1984). "Determination of muscle and joint forces: A new technique to solve the indeterminate problem". Journal of Biomechanical Engineering. 106 (4): 364–367. doi:10.1115/1.3138507. PMID 6513533.
  • Choi, Joo Ho; Kwak, Byung Man (1988). "Boundary integral equation method for shape optimization of elastic structures". International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering. 26 (7): 1579–1595. Bibcode:1988IJNME..26.1579C. doi:10.1002/nme.1620260709.
  • Seo, Hyun Seok; Kwak, Byung Man (2002). "Efficient statistical tolerance analysis for general distributions using three-point information". International Journal of Production Research. 40 (4): 931–944. doi:10.1080/00207540110095709.
  • Lee, Sang Hoon; Kwak, Byung Man (2006). "Response surface augmented moment method for efficient reliability analysis". Structural Safety. 28 (3): 261–272. doi:10.1016/j.strusafe.2005.08.003.
  • Park, Juil; Lee, Soobum; Kwak, Byung Man (2012). "Design optimization of piezoelectric energy harvester subject to tip excitation". Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology. 26 (1): 137–143. doi:10.1007/s12206-011-0910-1.

References

  1. ^ "Byung Man Kwak". ieeexplore.ieee.org. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Member-KAST". kast.or.kr. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
  3. ^ An, K. N.; Chao, E. Y.; Cooney, W. P.; Linscheid, R. L. (January 1985). "Forces in the normal and abnormal hand". Journal of Orthopaedic Research. 3 (2): 202–211. doi:10.1002/jor.1100030210. PMID 3998897.
  4. ^ Eckstein, Felix; Löhe, Florian; Hillebrand, Susanne; Bergmann, Mathias; Schulte, Erik; Milz, Stefan; Putz, Reinhard (November 1995). "Morphomechanics of the humero-ulnar joint: I. Joint space width and contact areas as a function of load and flexion angle". The Anatomical Record. 243 (3): 318–326. doi:10.1002/ar.1092430306. PMID 8579251.
  5. ^ Morrow, Melissa M.B.; Kaufman, Kenton R.; An, Kai-Nan (September 2010). "Shoulder model validation and joint contact forces during wheelchair activities". Journal of Biomechanics. 43 (13): 2487–2492. doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.05.026. PMID 20840833.
  6. ^ Erdemir, Ahmet; McLean, Scott; Herzog, Walter; van den Bogert, Antonie J. (February 2007). "Model-based estimation of muscle forces exerted during movements". Clinical Biomechanics. 22 (2): 131–154. doi:10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2006.09.005. PMID 17070969.
  7. ^ Chauhan, Vikash (2018). "A Review on Effect of Some important Parameters on the bending Strength and Surface Durability of Gears". International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications. 6 (3).
  8. ^ Bonnet, M. (September 1995). "Regularized bie formulations for first- and second-order shape sensitivity of elastic fields". Computers & Structures. 56 (5): 799–811. doi:10.1016/0045-7949(95)00009-6.
  9. ^ Li, Chao; Kim, Il Yong; Jeswiet, Jack (February 2015). "Conceptual and detailed design of an automotive engine cradle by using topology, shape, and size optimization". Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization. 51 (2): 547–564. doi:10.1007/s00158-014-1151-6.
  10. ^ Yuan, Xiukai; Zheng, Weiming; Zhao, Chaofan; Valdebenito, Marcos A.; Faes, Matthias G.R.; Dong, Yiwei (March 2024). "Line sampling for time-variant failure probability estimation using an adaptive combination approach". Reliability Engineering & System Safety. 243 109885. doi:10.1016/j.ress.2023.109885.
  11. ^ Muthalif, Asan G. A.; Ali, Abdelrahman; Renno, Jamil; Wahid, Azni N.; Nor, Khairul A. M.; Nordin, Nor Hidayati Diyana (1 December 2021). "Geometrical Investigation of Piezoelectric Patches for Broadband Energy Harvesting in Non-Deterministic Composite Plates". Materials. 14 (23): 7370. Bibcode:2021Mate...14.7370M. doi:10.3390/ma14237370. PMC 8658260.
  12. ^ Chen, Xin; Molina-Cristóbal, Arturo; Guenov, Marin D.; Riaz, Atif (January 2019). "Efficient method for variance-based sensitivity analysis" (PDF). Reliability Engineering & System Safety. 181: 97–115. doi:10.1016/j.ress.2018.06.016.
  13. ^ Choi, Chan Kyu; Yoo, Hong Hee (January 2012). "Uncertainty analysis of nonlinear systems applied the first-order reliability method". Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology. 26 (1): 39–44. doi:10.1007/s12206-011-1011-x.
  14. ^ Aldosary, Muhannad; Wang, Jinsheng; Li, Chenfeng (18 October 2018). "Structural reliability and stochastic finite element methods: State-of-the-art review and evidence-based comparison". Engineering Computations. 35 (6): 2165–2214. doi:10.1108/EC-04-2018-0157.
  15. ^ Huan, Zhao; Zhenghong, Gao; Fang, Xu; Yidian, Zhang (1 July 2019). "Review of Robust Aerodynamic Design Optimization for Air Vehicles". Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering. 26 (3): 685–732. doi:10.1007/s11831-018-9259-2.
  16. ^ Younis, Mohammad I; Alsaleem, Fadi M; Miles, Ronald; Su, Quang (1 July 2007). "Characterization of the performance of capacitive switches activated by mechanical shock". Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering. 17 (7): 1360–1370. Bibcode:2007JMiMi..17.1360Y. doi:10.1088/0960-1317/17/7/019. PMID 21720493.
  17. ^ Mohammad, Tausiff F.; Ouakad, Hassen M. (January 2016). "Static, eigenvalue problem and bifurcation analysis of MEMS arches actuated by electrostatic fringing-fields". Microsystem Technologies. 22 (1): 193–206. Bibcode:2016MiTec..22..193M. doi:10.1007/s00542-014-2372-8.
  18. ^ Tian, Qiang; Flores, Paulo; Lankarani, Hamid M. (April 2018). "A comprehensive survey of the analytical, numerical and experimental methodologies for dynamics of multibody mechanical systems with clearance or imperfect joints". Mechanism and Machine Theory. 122: 1–57. doi:10.1016/j.mechmachtheory.2017.12.002. hdl:1822/50107.
  19. ^ "The American Society of Mechanical Engineers" (PDF). asme.org. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  20. ^ "The Korean Academy of Science and Technology". kast.or.kr. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
  21. ^ "NEWS". news.kaist.ac.kr. Retrieved October 20, 2025.
  22. ^ "Byung Man Kwak". naek.or.kr. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
  23. ^ "CAS-KAIST". caf.kaist.ac.kr. Retrieved October 15, 2025.
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