Meet Our Team: Rob Kim, Co-op extraordinaire

As an electrical engineer co-op, Robert Kim has spent the last few months taking on design challenges, building production-representative parts and impressing the heck out of us. Though he just turned 22, Rob has blown the team away with his knowledge and expertise, and plans to return to ecovent upon his graduation next summer.

In our second “Meet Our Team” interview, Rob tells the tale of how he ended up at ecovent, gives us a glimpse into the future of fitness and health and offers some insightful fast food recommendations for Moscow.

Describe your job at ecovent in five words.

“I make the boards work.” It’s a limiting question – he does that and much more.

So, you’re from Moscow originally, Da? What brought you to Boston?

I came to Boston the summer before my senior year of high school to take a Kaplan SAT prep course. It was my first exposure into American universities. Spending time in Boston got me familiar with the campus scene here, and I applied to BU and Northeastern as some of my top schools.

How’d you choose electrical engineering?

When I was looking at attending MSU (Moscow State University), I considered getting a crisis management degree. My father has his own business, so I wanted to learn more about business management. Then, I learned that most CEOs and politicians in Russia have their bachelors degree in engineering. Out of all the engineering majors, I decided to go with electrical because it is one of the hardest ones. I love it because I know I can use electronics to build pretty much anything I can think of. It’s very empowering.

You joined as a co-op under some unusual circumstances. How’d it come to be?

After my previous co-op in China, I decided I wanted to work at a startup. I definitely wanted to work for a company that focuses on innovation and was super excited when I secured a co-op at Basis, a San Francisco startup that makes healthcare wearables.

A few weeks after I signed my offer letter, my would-be supervisor gave me a call and told me that they have been bought by Intel and that he wasn’t sure how things would work out with my co-op. A few weeks later, I was told that due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Intel (a government contractor) was restricted by the US Government from hiring Russian Citizens, so I couldn’t work for Basis.

At that point it was May. I started up school for the summer semester (NE has classes over the summer). In August my coop advisor gave me a call and told me that ecovent was a new startups that was hiring co-ops. At the time ecovent didn’t have much information online, but after visiting the office and meeting the team, I was super pumped to start working here.

China, that’s far out for a co-op. What did you do there?

I worked in a hardware engineering group that manufactures speakers for high end speaker companies. It was three hours from Shenzen in a small city called Xinxu. I learned a lot from the engineers there – they taught me the skill set that I use at ecovent. That’s really where I learned to be an EE. I learned how to solder there and how to test circuits. Then they taught me PCB design. I got to know Altium (circuit design software) really well, and taught everyone in the department how to use version control features in the software. They were way more experienced than me, but I got to teach them something as well.

What’s the worst co-op/internship experience you’ve ever had?

When I was working for a big company on my first co-op, my supervisor came to my desk and told me that I should at least look like I am doing work when I was reading the news online. Worst attitude I have ever heard in my life.

At the office party a few weeks ago, you performed an unexpected and awesome breakdance performance. What else do you like to do on your spare time?

I’m an action sports junky. Whatever looks like it’s crazy and fun, sign me up. In the summers in Moscow, I love to wakeboard. You can go slide off boxes and jump ramps at a park in the city. The wakeboarding culture is really amazing too.

In the winter, I like going to the mountains with my family. I’ve done 9 years of skiing and 4 years of snowboarding. My mom thinks that snowboarding is too dangerous, so I try to split my time to make her happy. I don’t like backcountry snowboarding as much as I do park ridging – grinding on rails and jumps.

 

You do some pretty cool side projects with robotics. If you had an infinite budget for a side project, what would you make?

I’ve had some big ideas on my mind around healthcare and fitness. One would be to make a gym that generates power efficiently. Everyone spends so much energy in the gym. If I could find a smart team that believed in the idea, I’d love to spend an infinite budget on building gym equipment that captures exercises to make energy.

Another idea I’ve had is around helping people not have to worry about their health. I’d love to work on research around electrical systems that go through our body. The electrical signals that go through our body power us and make the impulses to make us move. If we had a better understanding of these systems, we could send signals to our body to make our mind function better and make people stronger. Those are just two crazy ideas I have.

What’s been the most surprising thing about working at ecovent?

How awesome of a public speaker Dip is. I didn’t know people like that actually exist. He’s amazing. I’ve never heard anyone so passionate and clear about product. He could become President. One time that sticks out to me was the first time I heard him present at the MIT Media Lab. He presented at an event there as one of four CEOs that presented. He was way better than everyone else. He sounded like he’d been speaking for 20 years.

Time for the Lightning Round.

Favorite movie? I have a lot of favorite movies. I’ve re-watched Iron Man the most. I think it’s possible that a smart millionaire can make a suit like that.
Favorite book? Erich Maria Remarque - Heaven Has No Favorites
Favorite band? I listen to hip hop, my favorite hip hop artist is G-Unit
Winter sports or water sports? That’s a tough one. Winter Sports. I love the feeling of being on top of a mountain with that fresh breeze in your face.
Hockey or football? These are so tough. Since I’ve started watching football thanks to the office fantasy league, I’d say football.
Теремок (popular Russian fast food joint) or McDonalds? Definitely Теремок. I wish they had it here. McDonalds in Moscow is also much better than here.
Fly at the speed of sound or run at the speed of light? Run at the speed of light.