About Us | Noom Inc.

Saeju Jeong (Co-Founder/Co-CEO) (The Money Guy) provides the core of the WorkSmart Labs spirit and drive. His entrepreneurial journey started at age 19 in Korea, when he established BuyHard Productions, an independent music label chosen as the most promising e-business in Korea in 2001. After early success in Asia, his ambition led him towards global markets and to New York, where he was the sole representative of an international music company. Saeju has always pursued technology, studying Electrical Engineering at Hong Ik University, working as an IT specialist in the Korean defense industry for 3 years, and completing a variety of IT certifications. At WorkSmart, Saeju delivers his integrity and passion to the team, investors, partners and users.

Artem Petakov (Co-Founder/Co-CEO) (The Product Guy) fell in love with programming at age nine, and has not stopped making software since. In his teens, he took key roles in several dot-coms, before going on to study at Princeton University. While earning his B.A. in Computer Science (Finance Minor), he interned at Microsoft's SQL Server and Sun Solaris groups, learning life-long lessons in running software teams. He won the Robocup World Championship in 2005. From 2005-2008, he founded and then led the User-Created Map Content team at Google, a project described as a "pioneering" effort that will "transform" GIS. At WorkSmart Labs, Artem oversees all software engineering and product development efforts.

Mark Simon (Senior Software Engineer) (Senior Software Engineer) always took his robots seriously, and got quite upset when his mother gave away his childhood Lego creations. While majoring in Computer Science at the Free University of Berlin, he was the mastermind behind the FU-Fighters Robotic Soccer Team, leading the team to two world championship wins and numerous second place finishes. He earned the RoboCup Engineering Award for his real-time vision system, and has published numerous papers. After graduating with honors, Mark co-led the Autonomous Vehicle Group, and earned a place in the semi-finals at the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge Competition. At WorkSmart Labs, like in all of his previous endeavours, Mark is a crucial part of all development efforts.

Ketill Gunnarsson (Senior Hardware Engineer) (Senior Hardware Engineer) graduated with a Master's Degree in Computer Science with an award-winning thesis on automatic robot color calibration. After graduation he became an Assistant Professor in the Artificial Intelligence Group at the FU-Berlin. There, he organized and co-led the group's entry into the 2007 Darpa Urban Grand Challenge Competition, where his team earned a place in the semi-finals. In 2008, Ketill co-authored the paper "Using Reinforcement Learning in Chess Engines" which received the Best Paper Award at CONCIBE SCIENCE 2008, and appeared in the "Journal Research in Computing Science". Ketill joined WorkSmart Labs in 2008 where he creates innovative software and hardware, as well as does the dishes.

Jane Oh (Executive Chef) (Chief of Tasty Operations) graduated from the French Culinary Institute and began her career as a line cook at Cafe Gray, where she developed her commitment to quality and discipline. She then worked as a line cook at Hotel Le Parker Meridien, as well as a variety of top catering companies in New York City. In June 2007, Jane moved to Los Angeles where she worked as a restaurant consultant, and also created her famous braised short rib stuffed burger which was voted the #1 best burger in LA three weeks in a row. Jane returned to New York, and a year later joined WorkSmart Labs. Every dish that she prepares features her special ingredient: love.

Vera Kern (Engineering Artiste) (Engineering Artiste) Vera's earliest childhood memory is visiting an art exhibition by Jean Tinguely. Since then she has never stopped going to museums and art galleries, or caring deeply about art and design. Vera majored in Computer Science at the Free University of Berlin and in Art History at the Humboldt University of Berlin. She started working for internet projects in the art history department. For the past 6 years Vera has programmed research databases, art websites, and e-learning platforms.

Charlie Sneath (Director of Communications) (Typography Junkie) brings a rich background of talent and experience to the WorkSmart Labs team. A graduate of Princeton University, his bachelor's degree from the School of Architecture reflects his continued interest in technology and design. Charlie was involved in a number of creative projects for both web and print, extensions of his senior thesis work on typography, before joining WorkSmart Labs. He is responsible for communicating both the technical work of the engineering team and important company news to our dedicated group of users and business partners.

Johannes Krämer (Awesome Software Engineer) (Lead Gamification Evangelist) has been fascinated with computers and games ever since he was given a C64 at age 6. He soon discovered that making games was more fun than playing them, and devoted much of his time working on 3D graphics and writing code. Johannes attended university at FH Augsburg, where he studied Design and Computer Science earning a Masters in Multimedia Design. For his final thesis project, he created a 3D game in an unconventional visual style, using a water-color painting aesthetic for the entire experience. For the past three years, he has been developing mobile browser-based social games and Android applications. In his spare time he enjoys exploring all the different food New York City has to offer, and burning off those calories biking across Manhattan and beyond.

Amado Batour (Design Guru) (Design Guru) holds a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture, a Master's in Mechanical Engineering, and a love of typography, industrial design, graphic design, and anything that involves interaction. In short, Amado sure knows how to build an eclectic resume. Right out of Architecture School, Amado created AXB Group, a multidisciplinary design and consultation firm; the firm engaged in a wide variety of work including - 3D design, multimedia, identity, exhibit design, marketing, architecture, graphic design, and other types of creative projects. As an adjunct professor, he went on to teach design studio to undergraduates at the School of Architecture and a variety of other courses at the College of Computing Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Amado also founded joymonger.com and online gift card trading site that allowed users to merge the values of various gift and trade them with other users. Amado then completed a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Product Architecture from Stevens Institute of Technology. During his Engineering training, Amado founded Switch2Health (S2H). He designed a wrist worn product that would track your physical activity and let you earn online points for Rewards. S2H.COM is currently the top online destination for getting rewards for earned physical activity. If there's a design challenge out there, Amado's ready to be seriously distracted!

Gennadiy Shafranovich (Code Whisperer) (Code Whisperer) was born in Ukraine and spent his adolescence in NYC, learning BASIC before Algebra, SQL before Calculus. He obtained a B.S. in Computer Science from Pace University while trying to get a start-up off the ground. Gennadiy has worked in a diverse set of industries, from online dating to banking to media in an attempt to always keep learning. He's an amateur guitar player, avid bicyclist, skiier, snowboarder, and all around fan of getting outside, even in a concrete jungle.

John Edwards (In-House Trainer; Preload and Partner Relationships Manager) (Hat Specialist) comes to WorkSmart Labs from the energy field, where he worked in project development. He focused on project finance and project feasibility at OEN, a MicroGrid development company, and at Anbaric Transmission. He runs his own language consulting firm, assisting professionals in international business communications, specifically linguistic and cultural barriers related to international investments. He is also currently the Fast Food Columnist for SeriousEats.com. John is fluent in 3 languages and holds a Bachelor's degreee from Princeton University where he played on the Men's Squash Team. He is an avid fitness enthusiast and enjoys kettlebells, tennis, and squash.

Stacy Lee (Director of Recruiting) (Multi-Hat Logistician) graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in Middle Eastern Studies and Spanish. She spent half of her junior year studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and traveling throughout the Middle East, mastering the fine art of haggling. In Jerusalem, she worked on a Palestinian hip hop project for the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace. She spent the second half of the year in southern Spain as a student at the Universidad de Càdiz. Upon graduating, she continued her studies in modern Middle Eastern history and politics while working at Harvard University as a research assistant on the Minerva Project. She joined Worksmart Labs as an operations specialist and technical recruiter.

Tom Joynt (Agile Engineer) (Total Badass) grew up in the "other" Southampton (the one in Ontario, Canada) and currently studies Software Engineering at the University of Waterloo. When he's not learning about programming, he indulges in topics like quantum mechanics and quantum computation. He hacks routers, phones and computers, and isn't afraid to break something to make it better. His professional background consists of mobile, web and application development from large companies to startups. While he's an active guy who enjoys a good workout or a long run, he also makes time to watch ample amounts of comedy, and plays guitar when the mood strikes. All of this keeps him pretty busy, but he's always ready to take on more.

Juni So (Pixel Masseuse) (Pixel Masseuse) completed her degree in Visual Communication Design at the Yonsei University in South Korea. During the summer of 2011, Juni spent time with a small team at the Pangalaktik App Campus, an intensive mobile interface design program in Hungary, to build Crowdspottr. Her portfolio also features logo and branding work she has done for previous clients while in school. At Noom, Juni works on graphics, illustration, user interface design, and concepts for future projects and applications. She loves photography with film (forget the digital stuff), collecting key-rings from the cities she visits around the world, and watching her clothes spin while she's doing the laundry.