Hansol Hong grew up surrounded by innovation.

"My father was a serial entrepreneur," he explains. "He founded four different companies, so from a very young age I was affected by startups. My dream was to start a company, start something fun. Education was something I was always passionate about, and I wanted to get into the IT area and robotics. So the combination is how I started Robolink."

Robolink, which has been around for about four years and held a successful Kickstarter campaign last June, is an educational kit that teaches students about coding and robotics in a hands-on manner. It's been tested on about 7,000 students to date, mostly fourth graders through high school students.

"Being in robotics is a really interesting area, but the education portion makes it even more exciting," says Hong. "It's really a fun role, because it’s not only developing an exciting platform, but also since we’ve been using this kit, we see how students learn. It’s really exciting when we see the initial interaction with the robot."

Hong finds his inspiration in the progress he sees students make. "Every student has a different learning process and different speed," he says. "When you see them smile or make progress, you know they’re now one step closer to an engineering career. They’re seeing the world differently, and that’s really rewarding."

The company employs not only classroom education, but also online tools like YouTube videos as teaching methods.

Overall, Hong is extremely passionate about robotics and coding in the classroom. "Not all students need to go into robotics engineering, but I think it’s important for everyone to understand how a robot works," he says. "It lets you think differently. I believe robotics will be crucial, and I think it’s important for everyone to learn the basics."

He believes it's important for kids to learn these skills and technologies at an early age. "I’m originally from Korea," he explains. "The coding education there is going to be one of the core programs, just like math or English — everyone is learning coding education in Korea. I’m expecting something similar to happen in other countries as well."

Currently, Robolink has a foothold in Korea, in the U.S. and in China, and the company has plans to expand globally.

At CES, the company announced a new kit that teaches students how to program through drones. "It makes it 10 times more fun when a program flies," he says with a grin.

When asked what robot Hong would specifically like to see in his own home, he admits to being a diehard Star Wars fan.

"I want R2D2," he says.