Alice Min Soo Chun (born 1975) is the founder and CEO of Solight Design and the inventor of the SolarPuff.

Early life

Born in South Korea in 1975, to an architect father and painter mother. Chun and her parents moved to the United States in 1978, settling in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

. As a teen Chun and her parents moved back to South Korea, but Chun wished to study and learn in the United States. Chun later returned to the US to study at and later graduate from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

Work

Chun became a professor of architectural design and material technology at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and

Parsons School of Design The Parsons School of Design is a private art and design college under The New School located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhattan art ...

. Chun focused her work on solar energy and ways to bring solar energy into everyday living, beginning to prototype an inflatable solar light in 2008. In 2010, following the

Haiti earthquake Some of the earthquakes in Haiti have been very destructive to the country. The widespread damage and high-number of casualties of events in 2010 and 2021 can be partially blamed on the fact that most of the population in Haiti resides in structur ...

, Chun challenged her class of design students to create a solar light solution that could be used immediately in disaster relief situations. In 2011, Chun designed the SolarPuff, based on origami techniques to create a cube that inflates on it own, without the requirement to be inflated by mouth, which can pass on germs. By 2015, she launched a company Solar Design and crowdfunded the SolarPuff, raising nearly half a million dollars. At this time Chun stopped teaching to focus full-time on being a social entrepreneur. As of 2019, the solar puff is available in twenty countries and sold commercially in the United States, with 10% of profits going to Chun's charity Studio Unite, benefiting refugees and people living in the developing world. The solar light has been extremely useful in reducing crime in refugee camps, with a 20% reduction in rape and sexual assault in Syrian camps. In 2020, in response to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

and the waste seen in using non-recyclable surgical masks Chun and her team of designers produced the Seeus95 mask. The reusable mask is adhesive and made from clear silicone. As of January 2020, the

kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

has raised over $380,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chun, Alice Min Soo 1965 births American women chief executives American chief executives of manufacturing companies University of Pennsylvania alumni American company founders American women company founders Living people Columbia University faculty 21st-century American women