Every January, at the tick of midnight, one year ends and another begins.
Another tour around the sun. It’s a ritual as long and as old as the calendar itself, and one that we, as a society, have come to count on as a matter of fact. We prepare each December, looking back on the year that’s been, and emerging each January with a fresh perspective, or at the very least, a breath of fresh air before returning to our old ways.
But in a year as unusual as this one, this annual, obligatory, passage of time hangs a bit heavier. To think of what we have endured, have contended with, and have overcome in the last twelve months — and to now see ourselves safely on the other side.
We’ve clocked the same hours, lived the same number of days, but somehow, the promise of this new year holds even greater meaning. This month, we celebrate what we have accomplished this past year, and what we hope to accomplish in the year to come.
What 2021 Means to our Employees
To recognize our year and celebrate the new one, we talked with 6 SK hynix employees from around the world – Belarus, Korea and the United States – to discuss reflections on the year that was 2020, and resolutions for the year that will be 2021.
Chris Park
Strategic Planning Team, Business Planning Analyst, San Jose, CA
What do you do at SK hynix? I work as a business planning specialist on the strategic planning team, and I am in charge of building executive-ready materials, analyzing KPIs, and establishing informed decision-making on strategic issues.
What’s your favorite part of the work? Since my job requires me to identifying any risks as well as opportunities that need to be brought to our attention on time, it is important to define the market circumstances and make a go-to-market strategy—this is my favorite part of my job at SK hynix.
What are your New Year’s traditions? How are you adjusting this year? I normally drink wine on the very first day of New Year with my family or friends. But this time, I will invite my friends virtually to celebrate the New Year!
Any personal projects for the New Year? I am a big fan of Christopher Nolan, and I watch his movies from time to time. I watched his latest epic sci-fi movie called TENET a quite few times, but I still struggle with grasping it. I hope that next year I can get to the point where I understand more of the metaphorical expressions in the movie and his worlds!
Nayeon Cho
DRAM Design, TL, SK hynix Inc.
Tell us about your role at SK hynix. I am currently in charge of Auto PnR in SoC Design. The attraction of the role is that only one person, not dozens of people, can PnR large blocks.
What’s your morning routine? I drink a cup of green tea every morning and put on noise-cancelling headphones to relax my mind and body before I start work.
What’s your New Year’s resolution? My new hobby last year was learning to play the piano, and my goal for 2021 is to play it well enough to proudly play it for someone this year.
What are your New Year’s traditions? How are you adjusting this year? In a typical year, I would eat rice cake soup in the morning of the New Year and celebrate with my family. Due to the pandemic, we are planning to move these celebrations with close friends and family online.
What motivates you? Sufficient compensation, fair evaluation, and a pleasant working environment serve as my motivations for work.
Dmitry Pinchukov
FW Development, Team Lead, Minsk, BY
Tell us about your role at SK hynix. I lead a team that works on the Atomos Prime project from our Belarus site. The project is the latest continuation of my exciting journey with the fantastic SK hynix global team.
What drives you? The feeling that we are creating cutting-edge second to none products.
What do you wish for 2021? Like many others, I am looking forward to leading a normal social life after COVID-19. Travelling and meeting relatives and friends offline are two of my great hopes for the year to come. Among my new year’s resolutions, I would love to achieve a better work-life-education balance and get my PMP certification.
What’s on your New Year’s reading list? These days, I prefer to read anything unrelated to my professional field. These are the books on my current reading list:
• “Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage” by Paul Ekman
• “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow” by Yuval Noah Harari
• “Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever” by Ray Kurzweil
Aliaksei Kalesnikau
Design Verification, Team Lead, Minsk, BY
What do you do at SK hynix? I am a Team Lead in Design Verification living in Minsk, and I have been working for the company for over six years as a verification engineer.
What did you learn this year? The outgoing year was full of interesting projects and challenges that allowed me not only to use my full potential, but also to develop it. In my personal life, the quarantine also allowed me to devote more time to my family and our hobbies.
How did your team handle the challenges of 2020? Despite the distance, our team has fully maintained its performance and showed that no pandemic can interfere with our daily tasks. By staying in touch with each other, we did not lose the most important thing: team spirit and mutual support.
What do you wish for 2021? We hope that in 2021 we will be able to return to the usual way of life and activities that we had to temporarily postpone in 2020. We will again be able to walk without masks, travel freely, meet friends, and visit interesting places. Our team will return to the office and we will be able to see each other not on the computer screen, but in reality.
Julie Wei Dong
CIS Product Development, Senior Staff Engineer, San Jose, CA
Tell us about your role at SK hynix. Having just joined the team in June 2020, I am an analog designer in the CIS business unit, working on high resolution ADCs for CMOS image sensors.
What brings you into work each day? I am constantly amazed by the ability of silicon technology at capturing the image of the world. These simple devices, grouped together, really can pull off big tricks. I am also excited by the promising growth of the CMOS image sensor, and the potential we have in helping SK hynix expand in this area.
What inspires you? I am inspired by people who make a whole-hearted effort to do a good job. No matter if their role is big or small, they inspire me through their kindness and diligence.
What are your New Year’s traditions? At the beginning of every year, we take a family photo to document how much we have grown. It is always fun to look back on these memories. In addition, we also have a big family dinner.
Yusuke Yamamoto
HR Team, Senior Specialist, San Jose, CA
Tell us about your role at SK hynix Memory Solutions.
I am an HR Specialist and my main responsibilities are recruitment, immigration and company communications. I am currently working from home in Santa Clara, CA and I have been with the company for just a little over a year.
What’s your favorite part of the work?
My favorite part of the job is the ability to interact with great talents and bring some of them on board. It is very rewarding to see those I recruited excel in their roles and love what they do. Knowing that the hiring managers entrust me with recruiting the talent they need is what brings me to work every day.
What is your New Year’s resolution?
My new year’s resolution is to become more active. Most of the time, I am content to sit on my couch and watch TV or play video games. My snowboard hasn’t touched any snow in over 2 years, so I hope to get out more.
Looking Towards 2021
So, as we enter 2021, charged anew with the empty pages of a year barely begun, all of us at SK hynix share a feeling of gratitude and hope.
For the progress and potential of the days and weeks to come. For the innovation and the impact that our technologies will continue to provide. And for the power within each of us to drive for better.
