Songyee Yoon PhD ’00, an entrepreneur, innovator, investor, and chief in AI and the gaming trade, has been appointed as a College of Engineering visiting innovation scholar for the 2023-24 educational yr.
Yoon, who’s as a member of the MIT Company, serves as president and chief strategic officer of NCSOFT, a world chief in recreation publishing and digital leisure. Underneath her management, NCSOFT has expanded to incorporate places in seven international locations on three continents. She performed a pivotal function in founding the NCSOFT AI Heart, a state-of-the-art AI analysis facility that has helped the corporate develop and combine the newest AI and machine studying applied sciences into their merchandise.
In 2021, Yoon based Chamaeleon, an early-stage enterprise capital agency. As a managing accomplice on the agency, Yoon focuses on client software program, content material and media, and deep and frontier tech. She notably helps entrepreneurs working on the intersection of AI, leisure, and social platforms.
As a visiting innovation scholar, Yoon will have interaction in quite a lot of actions with school, college students, and employees throughout MIT’s College of Engineering. She’s going to present steerage to the dean of engineering on strategic initiatives, cutting-edge applications, and the entrepreneurial ecosystem inside the faculty.
“I’m each humbled and excited to embark on my journey as an innovation scholar, the place I’ll champion entrepreneurship and empower feminine engineers to flourish inside various profession paths,” says Yoon.
A central theme all through Yoon’s profession and plenty of philanthropic pursuits has been a ardour for selling inclusivity and supporting future leaders.
“As know-how continues to rework our world, there’s a rising want for inclusive innovation. All through my profession, I’ve seen firsthand how amplifying all voices fosters extra creativity and provides richness to constructing,” provides Yoon. “I’m honored to assist the College of Engineering bridge the hole between inspiration and realization, and nurture the following technology of trailblazing leaders who will form the world with their brilliance.”
Yoon obtained a bachelor’s diploma in electrical and electronics engineering at Korea Superior Institute of Science and Know-how and a PhD in computational neuroscience from MIT. She additionally obtained a juris physician from Santa Clara College College of Regulation and is a graduate of Stanford College’s Government Program.
After receiving her PhD, Yoon labored at McKinsey and Co., then served as vice chairman of communications intelligence at wi-fi service supplier SK Telecom, the place she used AI applied sciences to develop a wise, personalised knowledge companies platform. In 2008, she joined NCSOFT.
As a member of the MIT Company, Yoon has served on a number of visiting committees at MIT and is the present chair of the Governance and Nominations Committee. She serves on quite a lot of advisory boards. She is an inaugural member of the Advisory Council of Stanford College’s Human-Centered AI Heart and a board of trustees of Carnegie Endowment for Worldwide Peace.
Yoon is chair and founding father of the NCSOFT Cultural Basis, a nonprofit that promotes company social duty and helps the socially deprived. In an effort to assist working dad and mom, Yoon personally oversaw the event of the “Laughing Peanut,” a 400-child daycare facility situated on the NCSOFT R&D heart, and “Projectory,” for nurturing and fostering creativity.
Yoon has obtained quite a lot of awards and accolades for her contributions to know-how and enterprise. She is a member of the Nationwide Academy of Engineering of Korea, was named one of many 50 Ladies to Watch in Enterprise by The Wall Avenue Journal, and was named a Younger World Chief by the World Financial Discussion board.
“Dr. Yoon is a real visionary. Her in depth expertise in AI applied sciences, coupled along with her ardour for supporting entrepreneurs and championing variety in engineering, make her a super match as visiting innovation scholar,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the MIT College of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Pc Science. “The college, college students, and employees within the College of Engineering will all profit from her experience and imaginative and prescient.”
