Ben Armstrong

Executive Director, MIT Industrial Performance Center

Ben Armstrong is the executive director of MIT’s Industrial Performance Center, where he co-leads the Work of the Future initiative. His research examines how workers, firms, and regions adapt to technological change. His current projects include a working group on generative AI, as well as a book on American manufacturing competitiveness. His work has been published or featured in academic and popular outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, and Sloan Management Review. He received his PhD from MIT and formerly worked at Google Inc.

Ariel Furst

Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, MIT

Ariel L. Furst is an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. Her lab combines biological, chemical, and materials engineering to solve challenges in human health and environmental sustainability, developing technologies for implementation in low-resource settings to ensure equitable access. She completed her Ph.D. in the lab of Prof. Jacqueline K. Barton at the California Institute of Technology developing new cancer diagnostic strategies based on DNA charge transport. She was an A. O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Prof. Matthew Francis at UC, Berkeley developing sensors to monitor environmental pollutants. She is the recipient of the NIH New Innovator Award, the NSF CAREER Award, the Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and the Sloan Fellowship. She is the cofounder of three startups: Seia Bio, Helix Carbon, and Ouroloop. She is passionate about STEM outreach and increasing participation of underrepresented groups in engineering.

Mark Bathe

Professor of Biological Engineering, MIT

Mark Bathe is a Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT and affiliated with several research communities, including the Harvard Medical School Initiative for RNA Medicine and the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. He earned his PhD at MIT, working across biological, chemical, and mechanical engineering, and continued his postdoctoral training at the University of Munich before returning to MIT as a faculty member in 2009. Mark leads an interdisciplinary research group that designs and engineers nucleic acids to address major global challenges in medicine, technology, and science—from treating disorders of the central nervous system to enabling new forms of quantum sensing to generating molecular systems for data storage and computing. He is also an academic co-founder of two biotechnology start-ups, Cache DNA and Kano Therapeutics, which are translating advances from his lab into real-world impact. Outside the lab, Mark enjoys spending time outdoors and going on adventures with his family and dogs.

Yong Sik Ok

Yong Sik Ok is a Full Professor of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering at Korea University and President of the International ESG Association. Ranked the world’s No. 1 environmental scientist by ScholarGPS, he is a Highly Cited Researcher across environmental ecology, engineering, and biology/biochemistry. His work integrates climate science, soil biodiversity, biochar-based mitigation, plastic pollution, and ESG systems. He has led major international initiatives through the International Society of Trace Element Biogeochemistry and the Association of Pacific Rim Universities, fostering collaborations with institutions such as Stanford University. Professor Sik-Ok translates sustainability science into corporate strategy and public policy, advising global companies and developing national ESG evaluation frameworks. With over 133,000 citations and an h-index of 188, he advances integrative solutions at the interface of science, engineering, and governance.

Kevin D. Johnson

Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management

Kevin D. Johnson is a Senior Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, where he teaches Building an Entrepreneurial Venture: Advanced Tools and Techniques, the most advanced course in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation track. His project-based class has inspired many students to launch successful ventures—several have gone on to participate in the world-renowned Y Combinator accelerator and raise tens of millions of dollars for their startups. Kevin earned his MBA from MIT Sloan, where he was a Leadership Fellow. He is also President and CEO of Johnson Media Inc. and a serial entrepreneur with years of experience leading his award-winning marketing and communications company, serving global brands such as Porsche, Chase, and The Coca-Cola Company. As an innovative leader, Kevin has been featured on ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS, CNN, and in Forbes, The New York Times, FastCompany, and The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of the international bestselling book The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs, which appeared on the “Best Entrepreneurship Books of All Time” list by BookAuthority. Before founding his companies, Kevin worked as a software developer for IBM, CNN, and Accenture. Beyond his professional work, he is passionate about mentoring entrepreneurs, sharing his insights at conferences and universities around the globe, traveling internationally, and playing classical piano.

Nayul Lina Kim

Co-founder & CEO, CLIKA, Clika

Nayul Kim is the Co-founder and CEO of CLIKA, an AI infrastructure startup delivering an automated model compression and compilation toolkit that makes AI models faster, smaller, and instantly deployable across diverse hardware platforms. As a passionate startup operator and proud kool-aid brewer, Nayul is focused on building a world-class team and translating cutting-edge research into real-world enterprise impact. Before founding CLIKA, she led innovation initiatives across both public and private sectors as a consultant and business development manager. Born in Korea and raised across four continents—including Spain, Uruguay, and Argentina—Nayul brings a global perspective to everything she builds. She now resides in San Francisco, where she’s scaling CLIKA and shaping the future of efficient AI deployment.

Sebastian Barriga

Co-Founder and GP, milemark•capital

Sebastian Barriga, in his role as founder and GP at milemark•capital, invests in and mentors early-stage startup founders from MIT and Harvard, deploying deep AI models rooted in scientific research. He is a mentor in accelerator programs, such as Techstars Boston, The Engine Blueprint, MIT delta v, MIT designX, NYU's Endless Frontier Lab, among others. He's invested in 30+ startups via his fund and individually; he also has PE investing and board experience in 8 large enterprises in his role with The Carlyle Group. Seb also has experience as interim CFO of a publicly-traded Brazilian animal-protein company during a turnaround situation. His initial experience includes 10 years in Investment Banking including Citigroup / Salomon Brothers. He currently serves on the board of a Nike distributor in South America, an AI consulting firm in Chile and an Explainable AI deployment firm in Spain. He is part of the Advisory Council of the MIT Visiting Fellows Program and a mentor at the business school in EM-Lab and GLAB (taught by Nobel Laureate Simon Johnson); he's also a member of the American Society for AI and YPO.

Macauley Kenney

Entrepreneur in Residence and Lecturer at MIT Sloan School of Management, Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship

Macauley Kenney, MIT MS '16 is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the MTC and a lecturer at MIT Sloan and MIT D-Lab. She is the former COO of SurgiBox, where she oversaw the launch of the first ultraportable operating room, a 2023 Time Design of the Year, taking the product through the design for manufacturing process and into use on the battlefield in Ukraine. She is passionate about and teaches courses in product design, user research and social impact. A serial entrepreneur, Macauley has specialized in scaling organizations in emerging markets, and has led operational systems for ventures in the U.S., Rwanda, and Uganda. Her research has been featured in multiples news outlets, including Forbes and Engineering for Change.

Junho Cho

CEO, Cliwant

2024 OpenAI selected partner , 2024 Google AI APAC Startup

Yeo Joon (Ethan) Cho

Chief Investment Officer of TheVentures

Ethan Cho is Chief Investment Officer at TheVentures and a global venture investor with a background spanning Google, Qualcomm Ventures, and leading Korean investment firms. He focuses on where technology, capital, and human behavior intersect—particularly AI, consumer platforms, and cross-border expansion. Having lived and worked across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, Ethan brings a global lens to identifying asymmetric opportunities and translating emerging signals into durable business strategy.Ethan earned his Bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Seoul National University and his MBA from Columbia Business School in New York.

Joosik Choi

Founder/CEO, DWD Healthcare, DWD Healthcare

Former President at Celltrion (Japan, Australia, Israel, Colombia, Chile, the Philippines). Previously in Marketing/Sales at Johnson & Johnson Korea.

Jung-eun Kim

CEO, MotiForm Inc., Founder & CEO

Kim Jungeun is the CEO and Founder of MotiForm Inc., with extensive experience spanning startups, venture investment, and corporate innovation. She has previously served as Team Manager of Customer Success at Quotalab Inc. and worked as a venture capitalist at Donghoon Investment, where she supported early-stage companies and technology commercialization. Her background also includes a role as Senior Researcher at the Chungbuk Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, contributing to ecosystem development and startup support. Earlier in her career, she held positions in IT planning and operations at Kakao, Yellomobile, and UltraCaption Inc., as well as a Senior Researcher role at LG Household & Health Care.

Jekyung Kim

Co-founder, FS2

Jekyung Kim is the co-founder and CEO of FS2, a startup from MIT developing next-generation 2D materials and 3D chips. He leads technology development and business strategy for next generation semiconductor chips with low power and low latency. Throughout his Ph.D. postdoc at MIT, and experience at Samsung, he has worked extensively on silicon and post-silicon materials with a semiconductor background. headshot photo: please see the attached

Eric Sooyong Park

Senior Principal, Bluepoint Partners, Bluepoint Partners

Sooyong is a Senior Principal at Bluepoint Partners, a leading early-stage deep tech venture capital firm in South Korea. He focuses on investments at the intersection of biotechnology, medical technology, and AI, with a strong emphasis on translating frontier research into globally scalable healthcare solutions. Prior to his investing career, he worked at the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), where he was involved in healthcare policy, R&D strategy, and industry development initiatives, gaining deep insight into the regulatory dynamics shaping medical innovation. He also serves as a member of the Medical Device Commercialization Committee (MDCC), providing evaluation and strategic guidance on the translation of medical technologies from research to market. Sooyong is actively engaged in building glocal innovation ecosystems, connecting Korean deep tech startups with global partners and investors.

Changyoung Park

Principal Researcher in Materials Informatics, LG

Changyoung Park is an AI scientist at LG AI Research, where he leads materials intelligence initiatives focused on AI-driven design and optimization of advanced battery materials. His work spans electrolytes, Mn-rich cathodes, chemical structure recognition, and next-generation cooling materials for high-performance systems. He received his PhD in Physics from KAIST and previously conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Cristian Quijada Torres

Senior Private Sector Development Specialist, World Bank

Cristian Quijada Torres is a Senior Private Sector Development Specialist at the World Bank, based in the Seoul office (Seoul Finance and Innovation Center). Areas of expertise and interest include private sector development, innovation, technology diffusion and adoption, entrepreneurship, clean production, clusters and value chain development, smart and competitive cities, impact evaluation and investment climate. He is a chemical engineer who started his career as a research and process engineer with the Eastman Kodak Company. He later pursued graduate studies at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and MIT's Urban Studies and Planning Department, focusing on economic development. He has work experience in various countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Ki Bum Kim

World Bank

Kibum Kim is a Private Sector Development Specialist at the World Bank's Finance, Competitiveness, and Investment (FCI) Global Department. Based in Korea at the Seoul Center for Finance and Innovation (SCFI), he works with countries in the East Asia and the Pacific region on science, technology, and innovation, as well as entrepreneurship policies. Prior to joining the World Bank, he worked at the KPMG as a Technology, Media, and Telecommunications sector analyst. He holds a Master's degree in Economics from Seoul National University (TEMEP), and a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Yonsei University.

Youngdug Kim

CEO, The Wave Talk

Youngdug Kim is a deep-tech serial entrepreneur who has led disruptive innovation in the fields of energy and water quality sensors for 30 years. He laid the foundation for technical innovation by leading the development of Korea's first lithium polymer battery at LG Chem, and subsequently experienced the pinnacle of technology commercialization through two successful startups. Currently, he has founded THE.WAVE.TALK to solve the common human challenge of "Safe Water for All," practicing human-centered technical innovation through real-time water quality monitoring sensor technology.

Young Jun Park

IOMTEK startup, CEO

Young Jun (Joseph) Park is the CEO of IOMTEK, a deep-tech impact company developing advanced materials for climate-resilient agriculture. He brings extensive experience in industrial R&D, commercialization, and global collaboration across developing and emerging markets.

Peter Shin

Outsome, CEO of outsome and has prior experience as a founder

Bio coming soon.

Yelim Woo

Director of Strategy & Operations, MEPSGENUS Co-founder/Nucleate Korea

Yelim Woo is a biotech and healthcare professional with over a decade of experience spanning global commercialization, product strategy, and ecosystem development across South Korea and the United States. With a background in biochemistry and an MBA and MS in Data Technology, she has led product launches, global marketing, and market entry initiatives at multinational healthcare and biotech companies, while also advising and supporting early-stage biotech ventures through strategy, partnerships, and go-to-market execution. In parallel, she has played a key role in building entrepreneurship ecosystems through her leadership in Nucleate, including co-founding Nucleate Korea, where she has worked closely with students, founders, investors, and academic institutions to strengthen sustainable pathways for biotech innovation.

Dr. Young Bin Park

CSO / Calici. Co.

Dr. Young Bin Park is the Co-Founder of Calici and CSO of Calici Therapeutics, where he leads the development of AI-driven platforms for structure-based drug discovery. He holds a PhD in Public Health/Virology from Seoul National University and completed postdoctoral training at Baylor College of Medicine. His background spans molecular biology, infectious disease, and bio-AI, with prior experience at Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases. At Calici, he oversees the Pharmaco-Net® platform, which integrates AI-based docking, ADMET prediction, and experimentally validated drug discovery workflows.

Heui Jae Pahk

Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Founder and CEO of SNU Precision, former National CTO and former President of Strategic R&D Planning at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Heui Jae Pahk is a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University. He earned his PhD at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in precision metrology and machine systems and conducted postdoctoral research with the UK National Physical Laboratory. He founded SNU Precision Co., Ltd. in 1998, developing precision measurement systems for the semiconductor and display industries, growing it into a global company listed on KOSDAQ. He is a senior member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and served as Korea’s National CTO and President of Strategic R&D Planning at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (2013–2017). With over 200 publications, 170 patents, and more than 100 graduate students supervised, he received a Higher Doctorate (DEng) from The University of Manchester in 2019 for his contributions to computer-aided metrology and precision system design.

Edmund (Yun Gu) Lee

Co-founder / Co-CEO, Dcircle

Yun Gu (Edmund) Lee is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of Dcircle, a Korea-based deep-tech startup focused on connecting academic research, government-funded R&D, and industry partners to accelerate commercialization. He has extensive experience working with technology transfer offices, public research institutions, and startups to design AI-driven partner matching and R&D collaboration strategies. His work centers on bridging the gap between research outcomes and market-ready innovation, with a strong emphasis on glocal entrepreneurship.

Donggyu Kim

CEO, OQT Inc., Assistant Professor of Physics, KAIST

Donggyu is the Founder and CEO of OQT Inc., a quantum computing startup spun out of KAIST, and an Assistant Professor of Physics at KAIST. His mission is to bridge fundamental invention and real-world impact by engineering atom–photon interactions. Before joining the KAIST faculty, he was a member of the founding team at QuEra Computing, where he contributed to the development of a 256-qubit neutral-atom quantum computer publicly accessible through the Amazon Web Services.

Jongho Lee

Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (SNU) and former Minister of Science and ICT

Professor Lee Jong-Ho received his Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from Seoul National University (SNU) in 1993 and worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the MIT Microsystems Lab in the United States. He served as a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at SNU before serving as the Minister of Science and ICT of the Korean government from May 2022 to August 2024. He has since returned to the ECE Department at SNU and is currently a full professor. Professor Lee is renowned in the field, having invented and licensed the bulk FinFET, which has been mass-produced by semiconductor companies worldwide. He is also recognized as a world-renowned expert in low-power AI semiconductors. He was promoted to the prestigious IEEE Fellow in 2016, became a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, and served as the Director of the Inter-University Semiconductor Research Center.

Jinyoung Seo

CTO, Pascal

Jinyoung Seo is the co-founder and CTO of Pascal, a startup commercializing solid refrigerant technologies for high-performance cooling. His work focuses on creating new technologies at the intersection of materials science and systems engineering. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University in 2023, where his research investigated phase transitions and barocaloric effects in solid-state materials. He also holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Seoul National University.

Yangho Chung

Professor at Seoul Metropolitan University and Former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Yangho Chung is a professor at the University of Seoul and currently serves at the Industrial Cooperation Foundation of the university. He is also the Chairman of the Korea Association of Industrial Technology Security. Over the past 40 years, he has worked extensively across government and public sectors, including the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Public Procurement Service, where he played a key role in building and advancing industry–academia–research collaboration systems. His career has been dedicated to strengthening industrial technology protection, technology transfer, and cooperative innovation frameworks in Korea. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea, contributing his expertise to national discussions on industrial competitiveness, technology security, and sustainable innovation.

Tomasz Bednarz

Director, NVIDIA

Bio coming soon.

Jaeho Pyeon

Professor, San Jose State University

Dr. Jaeho Pyeon is a tenured professor at San José State University (SJSU). He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Florida and brings together deep academic expertise with extensive industry engagement across the U.S. and South Korea. He also served as a Visiting Scholar at KAIST, where he contributes to smart city digital twin research and entrepreneurship education for KAIST-affiliated founders. Dr. Pyeon's research focuses on AI-driven project management, smart construction technologies, and digital twin systems. Since joining SJSU, he has authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications, conference papers, and technical reports, and holds two patents in smart construction. His work has been supported by multiple federal and state government-funded research programs, and he has played an advisory role in the successful KOSDAQ technical listings of an AI startup, Simplatform, Inc. Since 2014, Dr. Pyeon has served as a key bridge between Silicon Valley and the Korean startup ecosystem. Through a program funded by Daejeon Techno Park and hosted at SJSU, he has guided Korean companies through the process of entering the U.S. market. He advises the Korea Innovation Center (KIC) Silicon Valley, mentors startups at accelerators Bootup World and Thinktomi, and consults for JC Valley, a San Jose-based firm supporting Korean companies pursuing global expansion. Since 2023, he has also served as an advisor to Carrot Global, supporting the development of global competency training programs, leadership development initiatives, HR solutions, and customized Silicon Valley corporate training programs. He is also a partner at Pathway Partners, co-managing the Insight Fund, and serves as an advisor to the Confin Value-Up Fund. Dr. Pyeon currently serves on the advisory boards of several technology ventures, including Predictiv (genomic digital twin), Linarc (AI construction management), and HanuInnoTech (healthcare AI analytics). As an Executive Advisor, he supports a portfolio of startups spanning AI, robotics, edtech, and platform services. His personal investments include companies in custom nutrition, educational robotics, global media, and Web3. Dr. Pyeon remains actively committed to connecting academic research with real-world innovation across both the Silicon Valley and Korean technology ecosystems.

Seungrok Park

Deputy Commissioner, Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Bio coming soon.

Myungwoo Cho

CEO, Vine Ventures

Myungwoo Cho is a seasoned venture capital executive with over 20 years of experience across venture investment, investment banking, and commercial banking. He currently serves as CEO of ViNe Ventures and previously led JB Investment (formerly Mega Investment) as CEO, overseeing fundraising, fund management, portfolio construction, governance oversight, and exit strategy execution. He has deployed over KRW 160 billion across deep tech, AI, biotechnology, and secondary investments, demonstrating disciplined capital allocation and multi-cycle investment execution. His experience spans venture capital firms, IPO advisory at IBK Securities, and commercial banking at Industrial Bank of Korea, providing integrated expertise across private and public capital markets. Investment Philosophy: Invest in companies that create meaningful market impact through innovation or structural transformation, with a focus on scalable technology and long-term enterprise value creation.

Nakyee (Nick) Choi

CEO, TeamNubiz

Nick Choi is the Founder and CEO of Team NUBIZ, a deep-tech partner for med-tech startups. Leveraging over 30 years of engineering and management expertise—including his tenure as an Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics—Nick bridges the gap between complex engineering and global regulations to accelerate commercialization. Currently, Nick is strategically focusing on Neurology Wearables, driving innovations in tremor suppression and digital rehabilitation solutions. His technical leadership also encompasses high-voltage pulse stimulation technologies, including Intravascular Lithotripsy (IVL) applications, Real-World Workflow (RWW) platforms for regulatory automation, and Low-Power Medical IoT connectivity. As an adjunct professor and international lead assessor (ISO 13485), Nick is dedicated to building a sustainable ecosystem where engineering excellence meets clinical safety.

JongRyn Mo

Professor, Yonsei Univ.

Bio coming soon.

Sunghee Yun

Co-Founder & CTO, Erudio Bio

Sunghee Yun is a distinguished technology leader and AI pioneer currently serving as Co-Founder & CTO of Erudio Bio, Inc., Co-Founder & CEO of Erudio Bio Korea, Inc., the Leader of Silicon Valley Privacy Preserving AI Forum (K-PAI), Advisor to Korean American Semiconductor Professional Alliance (KASPA), and KFAS-Salzburg Global Leadership Initiative Fellow of Salzburg Global Semianr. His extensive experience in semiconductor and AI technologies includes notable contributions at Samsung Semiconductor, where he developed AI and optimization tools for chip design and manufacturing, followed by impactful work at Amazon.com where his innovations led to a $200M revenue increase through the Amazon Mobile Shopping App. His current company, Erudio Bio, recently received $1M Grant from Gates Foundation supporting bioTCAD, an AI drug discovery platform. He holds BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Seoul National University and MS & Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University under Prof. Stephen P. Boyd, the world’s singular authority on Convex Optimization. Sunghee’s expertise spans agentic AI, large language models (LLMs), and multimodal generative AI (genAI), while serving in active roles as a Visiting Professor at Sogang University, Advisory Professor at DGIST, and Global Advisory Board Member for Innovative Future Brain-Inspired Intelligence System Semiconductor at Sogang University.