Hi, I am a 5th year Ph.D. candidate in the ECE department of The University of Texas at Austin. I am very fortunate to work with my supervisor Prof. Constantine Caramanis for my Ph.D.

Before moving to Austin, I got a Bachelor’s Degree at Electrical Engineering department, Seoul National University (SNU), Korea, in 2016.

Research Interest

My research interest lies in theoretical aspects of machine/statistical learning and optimization. My Ph.D. research has focused on latent-variable problems – how to learn from data with missing or unobserved information. I have specifically focused on the design and analysis of practically useful algorithms for them.

Currently, I am mostly focusing on Reinforcement Learning. In connection to my previous work on EM, I am specifically looking at problems with partial observability. While I am a bit biased to the theory side, I am also looking for an opportunity to working on applications where my theoretical discoveries could be useful.

News

• I am looking for a postdoctoral position.

• (9/28/21) Two papers accepted at NeurIPS 2021!

• (8/21/21) I got married with Siwan!!! <3^2

• (5/18/21) Presented my work on Latent MDPs at virtual RL Theory Seminar.

• (3/3/21) I received a UT graduate continuing fellowship for the 2021-2022 academic year.

• (1/15/21) Done with my proposal, and now become a Ph.D. candidate.

Some Personal Life

I used to play the piano, mostly the pieces of Beethoven and Chopin. My favoriate songs to play are Chopin’s Etude 25-11, Chopin’s Ballade 4, and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata 29 (hopefully upload recordings someday…). I am also a huge fan of rock and metal musics. My favorite bands are Skid row (in late 80s-90s), Stryper (glad that they are still active!). These days, I often listen to Game OST when I study or relax.

I love to play platformer games, starting from Rockman series to recent indi-games like Freedom Planet. Before I start my PhD, I have long played Starcraft and League of Legneds throughout my life, but these games are a little too intense in terms of difficulty and competition.