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Late Hall of Fame Korean American inventor to be honored

September 24, 2014
Kahng Da-won

Kahng Da-won

By the Korea Times Seoul staff

The late Korean-American physicist Kahng Da-won, whose inventions led to major advances in electronic technology, is being recognized by his alma mater Seoul National University, 22 years after his death.

Kahng invented the Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET), which is the basic element in most of today’s electronic equipment.

According to Money Today, SNU’s Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center will unveil a bust of Kahng on October 24.

In addition to the MOSFET, Kahng also invented the floating gate memory cell, which provides the foundation for many forms of semiconductor memory devices.

He was inducted into the National Inventor Hall of Fame in 2009 where Thomas Edison, Graham Bell and Wright brothers are also recognized.

After emigrating from Korea in 1955, he was a researcher at Bell Telephone Laboratories, also known as Bell Labs in New Jersey for 20 years.

According to an SNU official, Kahng’s bust is being created based on a photograph acquired from his family in the United States.