Woongbi Kwon

woongbi

Email: woongbi.kwon@mcness.com

Work phone: 815-990-8273

I grew up in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do, a small town in South Korea, Where my family owns a swine farm. As a result, I was naturally exposed to pigs at an early age, and this early exposure to swine and my interest in them inspired me to study animal science. I attended Chonbuk National University with a major of animal science. During my freshman and sophomore years, I learned the basic concepts of animal and its feed. To get an additional understanding in animal science, I decided to transfer to Konkuk University where I would eventually graduate with my bachelor’s degree.

I became interested in swine nutrition when I was a junior at Konkuk University. At that time, I started to participate in Laboratory of Swine Nutrition and began to study with a professor, Dr. Beob Gyun Kim, who was my principal investigator in Master’s degree. While I was involved in the laboratory, I earned a lot of opportunities to conduct research projects regarding swine nutrition. After successfully completing these research, I earned my Master’s degree in Animal Nutrition and Resources at Konkuk University.

My strong interest in participating in a Ph.D. program in University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was developed by doing a student internship with Dr. Hans Stein in the Monogastric Nutrition Laboratory at UIUC from 2011 to 2012. While working at the Dr. Stein’s laboratory, I realized that my understanding in this field is still very minute and the lack of it inspired me to appreciate swine research. My knowledge expanded drastically during my internship but more importantly, I developed a greater passion and respect for the research in this animal nutrition field. This valuable experience fortified my decision to study further in a Ph.D. program under the guidance of Dr. Hans Stein. It would be an honor for me to pursue my goal under his supervision and guidance.

I am privileged to work with Dr. Hans Stein and I am very proud to be part of his team as a Ph.D student. 

Woongbi successfully defended his PhD dissertation in July 2020 and started working as a post-doctoral research fellow in our lab. Currently Woongbi is working at The Furst-McNess Company in Iowa and his job title is: Applied research nutritionist.

 

Master's thesis: 
Nutritional evaluation of inorganic phosphate sources and phosphorus digestibility in pigs