Ilmi Yoon
Teaching Professor and Director of Computing Programs, Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Biography
Dr. Ilmi Yoon joined the faculty at Northeastern University in Silicon Valley in 2024. Previously, she spent more than two decades at San Francisco State University, drawn by the opportunity to engage with a new educational model that reaches a broader and more diverse student body. At Northeastern, she teaches Discrete Structures and Deep Learning, where she finds immense reward in mentoring students from their first semester and watching them flourish.
Dr. Yoon’s research focuses on human-centered AI, video accessibility, and socially responsible computing, with a commitment to increasing participation in computing among underrepresented and marginalized communities.
Outside of academia, she enjoys gardening, planting, and cooking.
Education
- PhD in Computer Graphics, USC
- MS in Computer Science, USC
- BS in Computer Science, Yonsei University
Publications
Research Interests
Dr. Ilmi Yoon’s research centers on developing inclusive technologies that bridge the gap between cutting-edge AI systems and underserved communities. Her work focuses particularly on enhancing the accessibility of video content through the design and implementation of automated captioning and description systems.
Projects
- Drone Ranger: An intelligent, automated drone system that uses AI and autonomous flight to non-lethally deter deer and other wildlife from residential gardens.
- Nurse Town: An AI-powered simulation platform using large language models to provide nursing students with realistic, interactive virtual patient encounters for skill development.
- YouDescribe: A platform leveraging AI and human collaboration to make short-form and user-generated videos accessible to blind and low-vision users through audio descriptions.
