Sukyoung Ryu

Sukyoung Ryu is a Professor at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) specializing in programming languages and program analysis. With over 14 years of continuous research contributions since 2011, Dr. Ryu has established herself as a leading researcher in the programming languages community, serving in numerous leadership roles across major conferences including as Steering Committee Chair for APLAS 2023-2024 and New Faculty Symposium Co-Chair at ASE 2025.

Dr. Ryu's research focuses on bridging theoretical foundations with practical applications through:

• Static analysis of JavaScript and other programming languages
• WebAssembly specification and tooling development
• Programming language mechanization and formal semantics
• C-to-Rust translation for memory safety
• Binary lifting and program verification

Her recent publications reveal a strong trajectory toward formal specification of programming languages, particularly WebAssembly, with tools like SpecTec, WEST, and Wasm-R3. These works combine deep theoretical insights with practical implementations that improve language conformance, testing frameworks, and developer tooling. Her research consistently addresses real-world challenges in programming language implementation while maintaining rigorous formal foundations.

Dr. Ryu actively contributes to community building and mentoring through:

• Co-chairing the New Faculty Symposium at ASE 2025
• Organizing RTFM (Red-Hot Topics in Faculty Mentoring) panels
• Participating in PLMW (Programming Languages Mentoring Workshop)
• Serving on doctoral symposium committees