The “Employee Spotlight” series champions different SK hynix employees around the globe over various topics. Made up of over 36,000 talented, engaged, and motivated employees across global offices, we hold firm the belief that when our employees thrive, so does our business. And much like our high-performance products, they power every aspect of our company.
In this article, we are highlighting our colleagues at the DRAM Technical Marketing Team at SK hynix America, who are pathfinding on the technology needed for our upcoming products through future technology sensing. Through early technical collaboration and alignment, they are bringing a win-win to our customers and partners, contributing to a business success for SK hynix. They serve our American customers, one of the most important markets of SK hynix from the very heart of the Silicon Valley.
Leading the Way
It is very difficult to consistently satisfy both individuals and the group. Our team leaders strive to create an inclusive culture where team members with various needs can freely express their opinions and share insight to move the team forward.
The Way I See It: Keith Jangryul Kim (Team Leader)
Tell us about DRAM Technical Marketing team at SK hynix: “As the head of the DRAM Technical Marketing team in SK hynix America, I’m responsible for covering all future DRAM applications, such as the DDRx, HBMx, LPDDRx, GDDRx and CXL solution. My team is great, and I really do believe that we are part of a bigger family. I think it’s important to show trust, consideration, and respect for family members, and this is exactly what I strive for within my team.”
How would you describe the company culture: “I would describe SK hynix America as a half-and-half combo chicken: one half is spicy seasoned chicken, and the other half is fried chicken. There is a mix of Korean and American culture and I try to take advantage of the two cultures. Diversity in ideas (and also food) is great, and I try to bring the best features into a good mix.”
What’s next for DRAM Technical Marketing at SK hynix: “Memory will be a key driver for the 4th industrial revolution, and SK hynix will need to focus on how our products would enable faster computations, transport, and storage of data. We really feel great when we see our ideas and tech innovations are enabled in the field, with increased customer satisfaction and expanded business opportunities.”
The Way I See It: Yoosung Lee (Senior Manager)
Highlights of the job: “I joined DRAM Technical Marketing team in 2019 and have hosted many customer meetings and gathered their feedback on specific DRAM requirements. From the beginning of the DDR4 age, I collaborated technically with our business partners to support DDR4 launches. And now, I can proudly say that I’m one of the engineers preparing for the DDR5 era now.”
DRAM technology in simple terms: “DRAM is an essential technology in IT devices like mobile phones, data servers, laptops, and desktop computers, among others.”
Veterans
With many team members with over a decade of experience and a good understanding of customer needs, it is no wonder why our team is able to lead the industry. Our veterans demonstrate exceptional collaboration with customers and relentless market analysis that keep the team ahead of trends and drive new ideas and solutions.
The Way I See It: Steve Wang (Principal Engineer)
Role on the team: “I cover mobile, consumer, automotive, Network and ECO system from product, technology engagement and define industry trend.”
Key to team success: “We find and keep talented workforce. We have a good understanding of the industry and applications from both technology and business to focus on memory performance, capacity and efficiency. Our team has passion for the industry and we are willing to help each other with good communication skills and an open mind.”
Proudest moment: “I successfully collaborated with business partners for the HBM2E and developed an ecosystem within the industry. I also promoted SK hynix’s latest technology and products to market and defined industry, customer application trend.”
The Way I See It: Hsin-wei Tseng (Senior Manager)
Role on the team: “I lead engagement and alignment with some of our major customers for server, client and a type of SoC DRAM. I also lead a certain type of SoC company for DRAM technical marketing supports as well as survey emerging memory status and its trend for future memory direction.”
How the team keeps up with industry trends: “We listen to our customers’ needs, and build strong relationships with diverse customers, focusing on providing the right solution at right time at reasonable cost. DRAM is essential for today’s computer technology and our strategic planning is enabling all of the various advanced applications for the 4th industrial revolution.”
What’s next for DRAM Technical Marketing at SK hynix: “I am most excited about the DDR5 and CXL module solutions, which will enable a whole new class of applications at both server, consumer level of applications.”
The Way I See It: Jincheol Seo (Senior Manager)
Role on the team: “I engage with customers for pathfinding and business on new memory products.”
How the team keeps up with industry trends: “We relentlessly analyze the market. Especially, we collaborate with customers and propose our vision for future computing landscape. We look for ways for SK hynix to expand its wealth and growth. Sometimes, we even create new markets that allow us to grow as a company.”
Best qualities of your team: “My colleagues always strive to become an expert in their respective memory fields. Also, they are open to diverse cultures, providing a driving force in new solutions and ideas. A combination of new people and new endeavors create an advanced corporate culture of openness and acceptance. This fosters trust, making SK hynix America a better place to work.”
The Way I See It: Younsoo Kim (Senior Manager)
Role on the team: “I have been with SK hynix for 11 years, but have just joined the US team three months ago. I was dispatched from the engineering team at the headquarters to provide technical support for the HBMx/mobile enabling.”
How the team keeps up with industry trends: “We repeat engineering discussions with customers to sense future technical trends. However, we also need to look further than that and come up with solutions that haven’t existed before to heal customers’ pain points, through pathfinding and repeated engineering discussions.”
The 4th industrial revolution technology that DRAM would affect the most: “Probably the automotive and the health care and pharmacy industries where development using AI will become a new area where the computing industry helps treat patients.”
Newcomers
The team’s wealth of industry knowledge and supportive nature toward each other make it a fantastic place to start and grow your career. Our newest colleagues are given the opportunity to learn first-hand from our industry experts, address unique challenges, and contribute to the team from the day one.
The Way I See It: Jong Myung Lee (Senior Manager)
Role on the team: “Right now, I am providing technical support for DDR5 specific requirements. Additionally, I am participating in SoC customer meetings and working on the CXL-BME solution, which is a new computing interconnect standard.”
Key to team success: “We provide customized solutions to our customers by deeply understanding their key requirements, and I think that this is one of the key success drivers for SK hynix America. Our team is comfortable with communication with customers to find out their requirements, and can successfully read and predict trends in the market to prove that our recommendations are right to the customers.”
The 4th industrial revolution technology that DRAM would affect the most: “I find the automotive industry very exciting. With ADAS support and new convenience features in cars, there will be explosive growth in DRAM for cars, DRAM for controllers and sensors, and DRAM for connectivity solutions. Being a dominant memory supplier for the automotive market will be very successful for SK hynix in the future.”
The Way I See It: Timothy Kim (Specialist Engineer)
Role on the team: “I support our customers with any technical information related to HBM2E and HBM3, and also align with SK hynix headquarters on current issues and topics that I may discuss with customers on a regular basis. My role is to align with both customers and our headquarters on HBM requirements and work through any challenges we may encounter.”
Key to team success: “The team members work well together and are accountable for each other. Being a part of the DRAM TM team has helped me to expand my knowledge and skills, and I hope to gain more experience through career advancements.”
What’s next for DRAM Technical Marketing at SK hynix: “I am looking forward to the introduction of SK hynix’s DDR5 and successful enabling of HBM products. I believe that technological advancements will require more advanced memory solutions, and I will look forward to working with more SK hynix products that will help set future industry standards.”
The Way I See It: Hyeonji Kang (Sample Management Specialist)
Role on the team: “I am a sample management specialist in charge of a major business partner’s DDR4/DDR5 samples, and I communicate with both the business partner and SK hynix headquarters to support this.”
How would you describe the company culture: “It is very intellectually challenging and fun to work for SK hynix. Everyone in my team is very supportive and has respect for each other.”
DRAM technology in simple terms: “DRAM is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that is used for the data or program code needed by computers. It is the key component for all computing devices that we use on a daily basis.”
The Way I See It: Myung Ju Song (Specialist Engineer)
Role on the team: “I’m currently working on enabling of the CXL memory expander market with the team leader Keith and my fellow engineers at the headquarters.”
Highlights of the job: “So far this year, I was able to learn the DRAM operation, and why memory is such an important market in the silicon business. I am working on enabling the CXL memory expander. It will be a new, widespread adoption of memory expander through FlexBus (based on PCIe PHY) and it will usher in a new wave of server architecture in 2024.”
The 4th industrial revolution technology that DRAM would affect the most “I think AI has already impacted the world significantly even today, and its influence will only grow in the future. AI requires massive memory BW and capacity for the host CPU, and the memory requirements will only grow into the future. Perhaps with processing-in-memory technology, the future memory will be able to assist the SoCs in training and inference.”
The Way I See It: Myung Chan (Mickey) Choi (Senior Manager)
Role on the team: “I am working on the pathfinding for future products like DDR6 and finding solutions for hot issues (RAS, row hammer, etc.) in the industry. It is pretty challenging and interesting at the same time to come up with new ideas for solutions with team members.”
Key to team success: “My team collaborates with industry leaders, preparing and discussing future products and technology trends almost every day. This hard work allows my team to see future trends in advance and catch what customers need at an early time.”
