Meet Rotarian Keong Kam
Keong was born in South Korea as the oldest of two sons of a typical middle class family, with his dad working as an engineering manager at an automotive company and mom staying at home to care for the family. Keong was destined for a career in climbing, until one day, he sprained his ankles badly following a jump from a second floor balcony.
During the economic downturn in South Korea in 1999, Keong’s family moved to the US, where his maternal grandparents lived in Kansas. His parents attended community college during the day and worked as office cleaners at night during this tough period.
Everything took a turn for the better, when Keong started attending Missouri University of Science and Technology in a tiny town called Rolla. Keong decided to pursue his PhD in Electrical Engineering after trying various engineering majors during college. His doctorate research project led Keong to Apple, where he completed summer internships for four years prior to accepting a full-time engineer in 2011. That was also the year when he married best friend Sehwa An, also Korean-American.
Keong’s team at Apple specializes in device design that reduces radio interference. He considers Apple his second home.
Becoming a parent of two young girls, Lauren and Zoey, changed Keong’s life and made him more dedicated to helping the next generation achieve success and happiness. Keong is passionate about youth development and education, besides serving the community and giving back through Saratoga Rotary.