My Story
A brief timeline of my journey from entrepreneurship to industry and back to academia.
The Beginning
Born in South Korea.
From Garage to Exit (Polariant)
I co-founded Polariant, a tech startup developing a novel indoor positioning system using polarized light. We successfully validated our technology with major partners and even sold our solution to Amazon Lab126. This journey culminated in a successful M&A (exit) to SOCAR, marking my first major milestone as an entrepreneur and engineer.
Scaling IoT for Mobility (SOCAR)
Following the acquisition of my startup, I joined SOCAR, South Korea's largest car-sharing platform. I led the IoT System Engineering team, where I designed the hardware and firmware that connected over 18,000 vehicles. My work reduced device failure rates significantly and saved millions in operational costs by optimizing data transmission protocols.
Architecture at Scale (AWS)
As a Solutions Architect at AWS, I worked with Korea's top high-tech manufacturers (LG Energy Solution, Hyundai Motor, etc.). I helped design cloud architectures for MLOps, digital twins, and global IoT fleets, gaining a macro-perspective on how AI is deployed at an enterprise level.
The Return to Research
After impactful years in the industry, I joined KAIST as a graduate researcher to deepen my understanding of AI. Joining the Rise Lab, I shifted my focus to Physical AI, aiming to solve fundamental problems in how robots perceive and interact with complex human environments.