About us
We are a public-benefit nonprofit organization.
Founders
Tong Jin (TJ) Kim/ CEO
Tong Jin (TJ) Kim is a professor of Industrial design at Purdue University, and as a design leader, he has created many community platforms to help educate young minds with design thinking and experiential learning.
Danny Oh/ CFO
Danny Oh is an entrepreneur and business consultant. He has a passion for helping close the gap between education and industry by connecting the dots in our community.
Team Leaders
Rebecca Goodman
Director of Engagement
Rebecca Goodman received her Masters in Nonprofit Management in 2008 from the University of Arizona. She has worked or volunteered in the nonprofit sector for the last 25 years.
Sharon Park
Director of Education
Sharon Park earned her master’s degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has been in the educational field for almost 20 years, teaching, counseling, writing, and volunteering. She is also a certified Korean Language Teacher.
Board Members
Bob Dearing
President of Dearing Group/ a full-service advertising agency located in West Lafayette, IN
Dana Weinstein
Associate Dean of Graduate Education in the College of Engineering
Timothy VanderPlaats
Vice President & Senior Commercial Lender · First Farmers Bank & Trust
Technical Advisors
Guillermo Melantoni
Senior Product Line Manager: Tinkercad & Fusion 360 · Autodesk
Guillermo has been involved in apps for Education at Autodesk for the last 10 years and has been heading Tinkercad since 2013. He has a passion for opening up a world of possibilities around design and fabrication to all curious kids, promoting a design thinking mindset.
Barbara Young
Assistant Professor of Interior Design at Purdue University.
Barbara Young is an NCIDQ certified Interior Designer, registered in the State of Indiana, and LEED Accredited Professional with practice experience in commercial and education environments. Her research areas include design process and participation in the design of public and academic spaces.
Our Location
Our Current Location
We are currently partnering with Temple Israel to provide STEAM, such as 3D printing, CAD, Media-Tech, coding, and cultural education, such as dance and languages.
Our Future Location
Our goal is to build an experiential learning/community center for kids and youth, where the young generations can learn through engagement with others. So, we are looking for founding individual, industry, and organization partners to share and grow the vision.
Learn about us
Our vision for the future/ design by Barbara L. Young, Laura Bittner, TJ Kim