Hello, this is Junming “Jimmy” 👋

An Entrepreneur, Engineer, and Baller 🏀

Living in Menlo Park, CA 🏠

Previously in New York City, the Midwest, and China

Cofounder and CEO @ Path Mentors

Columbia University - M.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Purdue University - B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Alma Mater:

—Journey—

I’m currently the CEO and Co-founder of Path Mentors, an ed-tech startup that provides online Project-Based Mentorship to high school and college students. Our mentors are alumni of top schools such as the Ivy League, Stanford, and MIT, and now work at leading companies across a wide range of industries including technology, finance, medicine, science, film, design, animation, law, and more.

Before founding Path Mentors, I launched a startup in the ethnic grocery and food delivery space in New York City while studying at Columbia University. We focused on delivering ethnic foods to customers in Manhattan and partnered with stores like Mitsuwa (Edgewater, NJ) and J-Mart (Queens, NY).

I had Mechanical Engineering major for both my undergrad and master, mainly working on robotic research and design. From working on bio-inspired robotic fish to humanoid robot SEA (Series elastic actuator) joint, I have worked in various labs, research projects and paper publication.

Fun fact: I'm a basketball enthusiast and once designed a prototype shooting sleeve to help players improve their form based on Stephen Curry’s shooting mechanics

Life

I was born in China, where my father was an electrical engineer and my mother was a doctor. I later came to Troupsburg, NY as a high school cultural exchange student sponsored by the U.S. Department of State where I met my “American family.” Over the years, I’ve lived in the Midwest, on the East Coast, and now call Menlo Park, CA home, where I live with my wife and kids, plus our lovable fur friend, Bobba.

Basketball has always been a big part of my life since I was young. I played a lot of outdoor ball growing up, whether it was in below-zero winters or on scorching summer afternoons over 100°F. The spirit of the game grew with me. I started practicing dunks in middle school at just 5'8", inspired by Nate Robinson’s Slam Dunk Contest win at 5'9"; practiced fadeaway deep threes after watching Tracy McGrady drop an impossible 13 points in 33 seconds; and drew inspiration from the Mamba Mentality when Kobe sank two free throws with a torn Achilles. That mindset of never giving up and believing anything is possible has stuck with me ever since.

Over the years, I’ve played in various recreational leagues and intramurals, along with countless pickup games from the Midwest to the Upper West Side of NYC to the Bay Area. Last summer (2024), we just took second place in the Menlo Park City League A Division.

I enjoy every moment with friends on the court, whether it’s helping out a buddy in a Google intramural game or getting called up for a run at one of the Arrillaga gyms near Stanford. Ball is life.

I also love snowboarding, and since settling in the Bay in 2018, ski trips to Lake Tahoe with friends and neighbors have become a regular tradition.