School of Engineering welcomes Songyee Yoon PhD ’00 as visiting innovation scholar | MIT News

Songyee Yoon PhD ’00, an entrepreneur, innovator, investor, and chief in AI and the gaming trade, has been appointed as a Faculty of Engineering visiting innovation scholar for the 2023-24 tutorial 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 position in founding the NCSOFT AI Middle, a state-of-the-art AI analysis facility that has helped the corporate develop and combine the most recent AI and machine studying applied sciences into their merchandise.   

In 2021, Yoon based Chamaeleon, an early-stage enterprise capital agency. As a managing associate 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 interact in a wide range of actions with college, college students, and workers throughout MIT’s Faculty of Engineering. She’s going to present steering to the dean of engineering on strategic initiatives, cutting-edge packages, 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 lots of philanthropic pursuits has been a ardour for selling inclusivity and supporting future leaders.

“As expertise 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 Faculty of Engineering bridge the hole between inspiration and realization, and nurture the subsequent era of trailblazing leaders who will form the world with their brilliance.”

Yoon acquired a bachelor’s diploma in electrical and electronics engineering at Korea Superior Institute of Science and Expertise and a PhD in computational neuroscience from MIT. She additionally acquired a juris physician from Santa Clara College Faculty of Legislation 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 information providers 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 plenty of advisory boards. She is an inaugural member of the Advisory Council of Stanford College’s Human-Centered AI Middle 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 mother and father, Yoon personally oversaw the event of the “Laughing Peanut,” a 400-child daycare facility situated on the NCSOFT R&D middle, and “Projectory,” for nurturing and fostering creativity.

Yoon has acquired plenty of awards and accolades for her contributions to expertise and enterprise. She is a member of the Nationwide Academy of Engineering of Korea, was named one of many 50 Girls to Watch in Enterprise by The Wall Road Journal, and was named a Younger International Chief by the World Financial Discussion board.

“Dr. Yoon is a real visionary. Her in depth expertise in AI applied sciences, coupled together with her ardour for supporting entrepreneurs and championing variety in engineering, make her a perfect match as visiting innovation scholar,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, dean of the MIT Faculty of Engineering and the Vannevar Bush Professor of Electrical Engineering and Laptop Science. “The college, college students, and workers within the Faculty of Engineering will all profit from her experience and imaginative and prescient.”