Channyung was born and raised in South Korea. He received his B.S. and M.S degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Seoul National University. Channyung’s master’s research focused on the experimental characterization of micro-patterned solid oxide fuel cells. After building up three years of experience as an experimentalist, he has started a new life as a computational theorist here at UIUC, pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering & Science. His current research interests include first-principles characterization of the diffusion network of gallium oxide and high-throughput-based design of new functional wide band gap semiconductors. In his spare time, he enjoys playing golf and cooking spicy foods.