Bio

2023 Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley advised by Prof. Ron Fearing and Prof. Hannah Stuart)

Thesis : Enhancing Soft Robotic Locomotion: Deformable Body-Environment Interaction Design

2017 M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at SNU advised by Prof. Kyujin Cho

Thesis : Morphing Voxel: Development of the Physical Programmable Matter Composed of Distributed Self-Folding Origami Modules

2015 B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU)

2024 Feb - Current : Postdoc at EPFL (Advisor: Josie Hughes) 

Future Food Initiative Fellow

Oct 2023 - Dec 2023 : Interim Postdoctoral Researcher at Biomimetics Millisystems Laboratory CA, USA 

Ideation and project initiation for soft locomotive surgical robot for endonasal surgery 

2022 - 2023  GAMI CTO and Co-founder CA, USA 

Developed a Reconfigurable Robotic Floor with Origami Block Module 

Berkeley SkyDeck Batch 15 Pad 13 Alumni 

Mar 2017 - Aug 2018 Researcher at Soft Robotics Research Center (SRRC), SNU 

1. • (Nov 2024) The Rising StarsWomen in Engineering [Link] Asia Dean’s Forum 

   • (May 2023) Catalyst Award UC San Francisco Innovation Venture 

Soft Locomotive Robot Driven by Multiple Independent Pouch Motors to Perform Minimally Invasive Paranasal Sinus Biopsies (co-authored proposal) 

1. • (May 2021) Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award Graduate Division, UC Berkeley 

   • (2018-2023) Kwanjeong Educational Foundation Scholarship for PhD Program 

   • (Aug 2014) Compliant Mechanism Award at ASME/IDETC 38th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference Aug 2014 The American Society of Mechanical Engineers 

   • (Feb 2017) Best Paper Award 28th HCI Korea Conference 

   • (Feb 2017) Samsung Humantech Paper Award, Bronze Medal Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. 

   • (2011-2015) National Science & Technology Scholarship for Undergraduate Study Korea Student Aid Foundation (KOSAF) 

   • (2014) Undergraduate Research Fund ($ 5,000) Seoul National University (SNU) Proposal on "A Study about Active Origami Design and Fabrication for Soft Morphing Robot" 

   • (May 2013) Best Undergraduate Paper Award at 8th Korea Robotics Society Annual Conference May 2013 Korea Robotics Society (KRoC) 

   • (2015) Best Undergraduate Thesis Presentation Award SNU, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering