Patrick P. Hong

Biography

Patrick P. Hong is a Lecturer in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, where he has taught upper-division technical communications since 2013. He is also the Founder and CEO of Prenostik, LLC, an AI-powered educational technology company that received a National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I award of $275,000 to develop a personalized student learning dashboard designed to improve retention and graduation rates, particularly in STEM fields.

Hong's career spans over three decades in media, entrepreneurship, and academia. Before entering higher education, he served as Executive Editor at Road & Track Magazine, where he led a 15-person editorial team and developed content across print and digital platforms. He holds a dual MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles and the National University of Singapore, as well as an M.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California. He also holds a patent for a machine learning algorithm—Method of Quantitative Analysis (US 8,762,874)—that underpins Prenostik's analytic software.

At UC Irvine, Hong's work centers on technical communication pedagogy and the application of AI in higher education. He serves as a Principal Investigator on a university-funded Writing-Across-the-Curriculum initiative and as a Co-Investigator on a University of California Office of the President grant supporting adaptive learning course design. He has presented on AI in education at conferences including EDUCAUSE, the Gardner Institute Symposium on Postsecondary Success, the International Writing Centers Association Annual Conference, and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Annual Conference. He previously served as a Faculty Fellow with the UC Irvine Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation.

Education

• Dual MBA, University of California, Los Angeles and National University of Singapore, 2007
• M.S. in Aerospace Engineering, University of Southern California, 1997
• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, 1995

Distinctions

• Samueli School of Engineering Hall of Fame Inductee, UC Irvine, 2015
• Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation Faculty Fellow, UC Irvine, 2022-2023
• Lecturer of the Year Honorable Mention, UC Irvine, 2022
• Writing Awards – Best Public or Professional Writing by students, UC Irvine, 2021-2023, 2024-2025
• Distinguished Alumni for the Samueli School of Engineering, UC Irvine, 2007
• Active Learning Certified, UC Irvine Division of Teaching and Innovation, 2019
• TiE SoCal Best Startup Idea Fast Pitch Competition Winner, 2017
• Connect San Diego Capital Competition Winner, 2014
• Orange County Tech Coast Angels Fast Pitch Competition Finalist, 2010