| Saeju Jeong (Co-Founder/CEO) provides the core of the WorkSmart Labs spirit and drive. His entrepreneurial journey started at age 19 in Korea, when he established BuyHard Productions, an independent music label chosen as the most promising e-business in Korea in 2001. After early success in Asia, his ambition led him towards global markets and to New York, where he was the sole representative of an international music company. Saeju has always pursued technology, studying Electrical Engineering at Hong Ik University, working as an IT specialist in the Korean defense industry for 3 years, and completing a variety of IT certifications. At WorkSmart, Saeju delivers his integrity and passion to the team, investors, partners and users. | |
| Artem Petakov (Co-Founder/CTO) fell in love with programming at age nine, and has not stopped making software since. In his teens, he took key roles in several dot-coms, before going on to study at Princeton University. While earning his B.A. in Computer Science (Finance Minor), he interned at Microsoft's SQL Server and Sun Solaris groups, learning life-long lessons in running software teams. He won the Robocup World Championship in 2005. From 2005-2008, he founded and then led the User-Created Map Content team at Google, a project described as a "pioneering" effort that will "transform" GIS. At WorkSmart Labs, Artem oversees all software engineering and product development efforts. | |
| Mark Simon (Senior Software Engineer) always took his robots seriously, and got quite upset when his mother gave away his childhood Lego creations. While majoring in Computer Science at the Free University of Berlin, he was the mastermind behind the FU-Fighters Robotic Soccer Team, leading the team to two world championship wins and numerous second place finishes. He earned the RoboCup Engineering Award for his real-time vision system, and has published numerous papers. After graduating with honors, Mark co-led the Autonomous Vehicle Group, and earned a place in the semi-finals at the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge Competition. At WorkSmart Labs, like in all of his previous endeavours, Mark is a crucial part of all development efforts. | |
| Ketill Gunnarsson (Senior Hardware Engineer) graduated with a Master's Degree in Computer Science with an award-winning thesis on automatic robot color calibration. After graduation he became an Assistant Professor in the Artificial Intelligence Group at the FU-Berlin. There, he organized and co-led the group's entry into the 2007 Darpa Urban Grand Challenge Competition, where his team earned a place in the semi-finals. In 2008, Ketill co-authored the paper "Using Reinforcement Learning in Chess Engines" which received the Best Paper Award at CONCIBE SCIENCE 2008, and appeared in the "Journal Research in Computing Science". Ketill joined WorkSmart Labs in 2008 where he creates innovative software and hardware, as well as does the dishes. | |
| Jane Sakong (Executive Chef) graduated from the French Culinary Institute and began her career as a line cook at Cafe Gray, where she developed her commitment to quality and discipline. She then worked as a line cook at Hotel Le Parker Meridien, as well as a variety of top catering companies in New York City. In June 2007, Jane moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a restaurant consultant, and also created her famous braised short rib stuffed burger which was voted the #1 best burger in LA three weeks in a row. Jane returned to New York, and a year later joined WorkSmart Labs. Every dish that she prepares features her special ingredient: love. | |
| Vera Kern (Web Programmer/Designer) Vera's earliest childhood memory is visiting an art exhibition by Jean Tinguely. Since then she has never stopped going to museums and art galleries, or caring deeply about art and design. Vera majored in Art History at the Free University of Berlin, with a minor in Computer Science. She started working for internet projects in the art history department. For the past 6 years Vera has programmed research databases, art websites, and e-learning platforms. At WorkSmart, she designs, programs, and curates our website. | |
| Charlie Sneath (Director of Communications) brings a rich background of talent and experience to the WorkSmart Labs team. A graduate of Princeton University, his bachelor's degree from the School of Architecture reflects his continued interest in technology and design. Charlie was involved in a number of creative projects for both web and print, extensions of his senior thesis work on typography, before joining WorkSmart Labs. He is responsible for communicating both the technical work of the engineering team and important company news to our dedicated group of users and business partners. | |
| Lance Nanek (Programmer) grew up playing with computers and ended up making a career out of it. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Biology from Stevens Institute of Technology and an M.S. in Computer Science from State University of New York (SUNY) University at Albany. He has worked for IBM doing web metrics and also as a lead programmer at SUNY System Administration. In addition to WorkSmart Labs, Lance is heavily involved with projects in New York City's Java Mobile Study Group, and a number of his own games are available on Android Market (AutoTrafego and Ski Classic). In the few moments when he's away from his computer, Lance is busy running, kayaking, and growing sprouts for WorkSmart Labs' salads. | |
| Advisors | |
| Jin W. Park (Financial Advisor) has been a personal, small business and corporate accounting and tax advisor for over twenty years. He also serves as the treasurer of The Beautiful Foundation USA, a publicly supported charitable organization. Mr. Park graduated with a B.A in Economics from Seoul National University, and an M.S. in Accountancy from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in both Korea and the USA. At WorkSmart Labs, Mr. Park applies his experience to provide extensive financial and business advice. | |
| Michael D. DiSanto (Legal Representative) is a partner in the Corporate & Securities Group at Reed Smith LLP. He counsels clients on a broad range of corporate and securities law matters, including formation, initial capitalization, private and public financings; mergers and acquisitions and related matters. From 2003 to 2006, Michael was the Founder/CEO of a start-up that provided on-demand personal training solutions to the health and fitness industry. At WorkSmart Labs, he tirelessly serves as outside General Counsel, providing advice on everything from equity grants to intellectual property protection. | |
| Vishy Venugopalan (Business advisor)
is on the investment team at Longworth Venture Partners, an early-stage VC firm in the
Boston area, where he helps assists partners with all stages of the investment process,
including sourcing deals, performing due diligence on potential investments and supporting
Longworth portfolio companies. Before Longworth, Vishy was an industry analyst at The 451
Group, a enterprise IT research firm, where he provided research insights to technology
companies and investors on enterprise software market segments. Vishy's professional
experience also includes stints as a software developer at Morgan Stanley and Hewlett Packard.
Vishy graduated from MIT with a Master of Engineering degree in Computer Science.
He also received Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science and Cognitive Science
from MIT.
At WorkSmart Labs, Vishy serves as a business advisor, advising the company on product direction, fundraising and general business matters. |
|
| Alexey Spiridonov (Senior Engineer/Researcher) graduated from Princeton University with high honors at age 19, with a B.A. in Mathematics and minor in Computer Science. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics at MIT, and is a recipient of the MIT Presidential and NSF Graduate Fellowships. He already has 13 publications in Mathematics, Bioinformatics and Computer Science. Alexey started programming at age 10, and has won national programming competitions. He has held internships at the NIH, Microsoft, VMWare, and Google, making significant research contributions at each. As Chief Researcher, Alexey was the innovator behind some of our most sophisticated technologies and prototypes. | |
| Sangjin Yun (Senior Platforms Engineer) was the number one ranked Computer Science graduate from Hongik University, Seoul. He was a member of the Samsung Software Membership from 2004 to 2006, and won numerous competitions such as the A.I. Robot and Embedded Software contests. He worked for Samsung R&D from 2006 to 2008 as a kernel engineer, winning industry awards for dramatically improving embedded kernel performance. At WorkSmart Labs, he utilizes his talents in mathematics and computer science to build reliable and high-quality products. | |
| Avi Ma'ayan (Fitness Advisor) is an accomplished long-distance runner with an extensive background in medicine and technology. He has a PhD in Biomedical Science from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he is currently Assistant Professor in Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles, and many have appeared in top scientific journals such as Science and Nature. Avi was a web technology developer for Runner's World, the top running magazine in the world, and also created the RunningResource training log program. As an athlete, Avi was the Israeli National Champion for the 3000sc in 1993, as well as the NCAA Division 1 Northeast Conference Champion in the 5000m and 10000m in 1995 and 1997. More information on his medical research and accomplishments can be found on faculty his profile at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine here. | |
| Judy Ko (Graphic Design Advisor) is a multi-disciplinary designer with a passion for translating content and ideas into visually compelling designs. Judy graduated with a BFA in Communications Design and a minor in Business Management from Carnegie Mellon. At WorkSmart Labs, she is involved in the creative direction of our brand identity and products. |