Suji Yan is a well-known personality in the technology sector, renowned for his contributions to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain technology. Yan has positioned himself as an industry pioneer by launching two ground-breaking companies: DimensionalMechanics, Inc. and Mask Network.

Yan's contributions have had far-reaching effects on the state of technology, and have garnered him widespread acclaim in his field. He has helped pave the path for more democratic and decentralized applications and platforms by contributing to the growth of social media and distributed computing.

The ongoing development of technology and the rising desire for decentralized, transparent systems attest to the significance of Suji Yan's work. Yan's work will definitely have a lasting impact as the industry continues to move towards a more transparent and accessible paradigm.

Education

Suji Yan was born in China and spent much of his early life there. He attended the University of Tokyo for a year and spent two years studying Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) but dropped out to start his company in 2017. Prior to that, he was an independent reporter for Caixin Media and Qdaily. He also partnered with several news platforms in Japan, China, and the United States.  

His decision to drop out of UIUC was influenced by his early interest in artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and machine learning.

I was inspired by the students and their entrepreneurial spirit, and I launched my company before I even finished college.

Career and Accomplishments

He picked his interests in these topics while working as a journalist where he met several prominent CEOs who introduced him to the potential of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies between 2014 and 2017[1]. Less than a year after its inception, it has already secured financing of around $1 million (about 100 million yen) from world-renowned investor Li Toyo, who expects it to develop in the future. ^[11]

While working as an Independent Journalist, Suji Yan published articles on several topics. He wrote articles about business reviews for various companies and conducted interviews on various fields of study, including getting into the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

Suji Yan's career has been marked by a series of impressive accomplishments, from co-founding DimensionalMechanics, Inc. to founding and leading Mask Network. Through his work, Yan has established himself as a leader in developing innovative technologies and a champion of decentralized, user-controlled systems.

In addition to his work with DimensionalMechanics, Yan founded Mask Network in 2018. The platform, which is built on the Ethereum blockchain, enables users to share encrypted messages and data, as well as access decentralized applications, and participate in decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions ^[2].

Through his work with Mask Network, Yan has been a vocal advocate for decentralized, user-controlled systems, and has worked to challenge traditional models of social media and online communication. The platform has gained a significant following and has been recognized for its innovative approach to privacy and security.

Talking about the potential of the Mask Network, he stated that

“I think Mask is the bridge between Web 2.0 and Web 3 especially for social networking just like DeFi (Decentralized Finance) revolution against banks and trading NFTs was a revolution against Hollywood and media. I think Mask and the decentralized social army are against traditional social networks.”^[7]

He however understood and predicted the difficulty of migrating every user on the existing traditional social media to decentralized ones. According to him:

“I think it’s super hard and even impossible for the users to migrate, especially thinking about the billions of users we have on Facebook and Twitter. I think the best way is to add a layer on top of it to bridge the gap between Web 2 and Web 3. ^[7]

Key Features of the Mask Network

Rather than forcing users to switch social networks, Mask Network is a decentralized portal that facilitates encrypted messaging, and the use of DApps such as crypto payment, decentralized finance, decentralized storage, e-commerce (digital goods / NFTs), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) ^[3].

• Some of its key features include
• Decentralized Social Networking
• End-to-End Encrypted Messaging
• Transaction Encryption
• Decentralized identity management ^[10]

Suji Yan's potential impact on the Future of Technology and Society

Suji Yan has made significant contributions to the technology industry, particularly in the areas of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and decentralized systems. His work has had a significant impact on the industry and has the potential to shape the future of technology and society as a whole.

Besides being the Founder and CEO of Mask Network, Suji Yan is also the Co-founder of Takefive Interactive. Takefive Interactive pushes student innovations with mobile apps and open-source projects.

Influence on the development of decentralized systems and social media

The evolution of decentralized systems and social media is one area where Yan's work is anticipated to have a big influence. Yan's contributions to Mask Network have paved the way for a new age of decentralized social media in which users enjoy more privacy and freedom of speech. This method may have far-reaching consequences for the development of human civilization as a whole since it has the potential to revolutionize the way we see social media and electronic communication.

Awards

• JASSO Scholarship issued by Japan Student Services Organization - March 2016
• Hach Illinois 2016 Top Software Hack & Google's Best Hack - February 2016
• Hp x Intel Hackathon@Beijing Champion - July 2015 ^[13]

Projects

Suji Yan worked on a series of projects. Some of the notable ones include:

• TedkOS sponsored by Microsoft - 2015
• WeatherMap - 2015 ^[15]
• Hack Illinois 2015: PaperPlane^[14]