On October 23rd, 2021, approximately hundred well-dressed, passionate, and smart young scientists and engineers gathered at the Union Square, Manhattan in the evening for the 2021 Young Scientists’ Night hosted by New York Metropolitan Chapter (NY Metro Chapter) to network, connect, and share ideas and expertise. Note: All attendees were required to present the proof of vaccination, and NYS Covid Health Guidelines were enforced during the event.
This event is a continuation of the annual flagship event for the NY Metro chapter, Young Scientists’ Night (YSN), which was kick-started with great success in 2017. This event is a membership drive event, attracting more of the younger generation of KSEA members; including but not limited to, young professionals, and graduate students to bridge the gap between undergraduate/graduate KSEA members to regular members. With this aim, the event was held in Manhattan on a Saturday evening and marketed towards young professionals and students working/studying in and near NYC.
The event concluded successfully with approximately 100 attendees from various institutions despite the ongoing Covid outbreak, a total of 74 different affiliations. Among the attendees, 26% were from Columbia University, 11% were from New York University, and 4% from Cooper Union. 23% of the attendees were from Health/Medical Field, 21% from Computer/Data Science, 16% from Engineering, 15% from Life Science, 6% from Finance/Business, 6% from Physical Science, 6% from Visual Art/Music/Performing, 4% from others, and 2% from Math/Statistics. Also, 44% of the attendees held a Doctoral Degree, 24% were graduate students, 18% held Master’s Degree, 9% held a Bachelor’s Degree and 6% were undergraduate students.
Our proposed goal, membership drive, was met, having 36 new members, and membership renewals. It was also a great event connecting returning members with new members. Also, bringing back old members to KSEA, encouraging them to actively participate again.
The event started with a coffee hour, followed by a panelist session. We had six panelists for the STEM Industries Panel, led by Joanne Lee, Financial Director of KSEA NY Metropolitan Chapter. We had a total of three industries represented in the panelist session; Computer Science, Finance, and Management Consulting. Paul Wong from Ebay, Shashi Liyanage from Twitter, Youngho Jung from JP Morgan Chase, James Hill from BNP Paribas, Nancy Lu from Qral Group, and Joanne Lee from Qral Group joined us as panelists to discuss STEM industries and answer questions from participants.
Following the panelist session, dinner was served. After the dinner, cocktail hour and speed networking session started. The speed networking was led by Kevin Kim, VIce President II, and Uriah Kim, Young Professional Director of New York Metro Chapter. During the evening program, hosted by Kevin Kim, attendees were once again welcomed by the welcome remarks from Dr. Mingi Hong, KSEA New York Metro Chapter President, and followed by networking events.
The event was a huge success with positive feedback. The momentum built up from this event will continue to strengthen the young generation and young professional group in New York City, also improving and strengthening other KSEA events, such as KMSO (KSEA Math and Science Olympiad), NRC (North Regional Conference), Ygnite, UKC (US-Korea Conference), and others. This annual event Young Scientist’s Night will continue to grow and improve to become a “must-attend” event for young generations and professionals in not only New York but in the East Coast, and the entire United States.
Reported by Kevin WooJong Kim
Socotec US
Vice President, New York Metro Chapter
Key Leadership: Mingi Hong, President of KSEA New York Metropolitan Chapter
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