About

Download Full CV (Updated Oct. 28, 2024)

I am a systems engineer focused on advancing the design and development of complex engineering systems.

Note: My first name, Heekun (희건), is pronounced like “he’s gone,” without the final “s”: HE-GONE.

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT, where my research focuses on the intersection of systems theory and space systems. I am advised by Professor Olivier L. de Weck and collaborate with Professors Edward F. Crawley and Johannes J. Norheim.

Before joining MIT, I served as an associate GNC systems engineer at Satrec Initiative, Co., Ltd. There, I contributed to the development of attitude determination and control systems for Earth-observation satellites and conducted mission-capability analyses to assess overall system designs. I also developed flight-control software for several Earth-observation satellites, including SpaceEye-T, a 25 cm very-high-resolution commercial satellite that has been in orbit since March 2025.

I earned a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Spring 2019 under the supervision of Professor Min-Jea Tahk. I previously received a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Engineering and Electrical Engineering, graduating summa cum laude in Spring 2017. During my studies, I was a KAIST Presidential Fellow.