Ziqi Wang is an Assistant Professor at the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Before joining HKUST, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Creative Computation Lab and Sycamore at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in 2024, under the supervision of Prof. Stefana Parascho and Prof. Maryam Kamgarpour. Prior to that, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Computational Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich, advised by Prof. Stelian Coros. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2021 from the Geometric Computing Laboratory at EPFL, where he was advised by Prof. Mark Pauly. He completed his bachelor's degree in Mathematics in 2017 at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).
Ziqi is interested in interdisciplinary projects that connect architecture, robotics, and computer graphics. His current research focuses on the computational design, analysis, and fabrication of complex assemblies, with applications ranging from toys and furniture to buildings. The goal is to create a seamless end-to-end workflow that enables users to design and fabricate personalized items using artificial intelligence and robotics. He has years of experience collaborating with researchers from various disciplines, including robotics, architecture, and civil and mechanical engineering. He has applied his research to constructing several large-scale architectural demonstrators. He has published several works in the top computer graphics journal, ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), and received a Best Paper Honorable Mention Award at SIGGRAPH 2022.
29 October 2024
5:00 PM
Room 5619 (Lift 31 & 32), Academic Building, HKUST
The modern urban built environment has been a contributor to the social, health and ecological crises faced by cities around the world, while the emergence of artificial intelligence and the new multi-polar global order present both opportunities and existential threats.
Congratulations to Prof. Sai-Kit YEUNG (Professor, Division of Integrative Systems and Design, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Department of Ocean Science) and Mr. Ziqiang ZHENG (PhD Candidate, Department of Computer Science and Engineering) for getting their groundbreaking research paper accepted as an oral presentation at one of the top-tier conferences - European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) 2024. The research team develops the first foundation model for image analysis for marine realms with instance visual description, together with the largest marine image dataset.
The oceans, covering 70% of the Earth’s surface, are teeming with life and play a pivotal role in global climate regulation, yet remain largely unexplored and poorly understood due to their vastness and inaccessibility. Therefore, analyzing and understanding marine imagery has gained increasing attention within both computer vision and marine communities. However, building a foundation model for marine visual analysis is very challenging. The scarcity of labeled data is the most hindering issue, and marine photographs illustrate significantly different appearances and contents from general in-air images. Based on their previous work MarineGPT, the first vision-language model specifically on the marine domain with extensive marine knowledge, Prof. YEUNG and his team created MarineInst20M, the largest marine image dataset to date, with 2.42 million images and 19.2 million masks in total and introduced MarineInst, a foundation model for marine visual analysis which can segment and describe the marine object instances. The dataset and model support a wide range of marine visual analysis tasks, from image-level scene understanding to regional mask-level instance understanding. What’s more, the model exhibits strong generalization ability and flexibility to support various downstream tasks with state-of-the-art performance.
European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) ranks top 2 on Research.com’s 2023 Best Computer Science Conference List. Getting the paper accepted as an oral presentation with only 2.33% (200/8585) of total submissions in ECCV 2024 recognizes the innovative capacity of ISD and Prof. Yeung’s team. The research contributes to progress in AI for Science at large and indicates HKUST’s advanced ability in frontier research on Marine AI.
For more information about MarineInst, please visit the website: https://marineinst.hkustvgd.com.
(Article reposted from HKUST Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies)
22 October 2024
10:00 AM
Room 4503 (Lift 25-26), Academic Building, HKUST
This talk consists of two parts: the first part introduces the F1tenth and F1/16th teaching platforms for autonomous driving. It includes an ROS 2 simulator and 1/10- or 1/16-scale toy cars equipped with edge computing device and sensors. The teaching modules include reactive algorithms such as gap following and path planning algorithms such as SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) and Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT)/RRT*.
Dr. Shao is an Assistant Professor in the ISD division at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Prior to that, he received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Columbia University, his Master's degree from Dartmouth College, and his Bachelor's degree from UESTC. He has previously worked at Philips Research, Snap Research, and Samsung Research, where several of his proposed algorithms are being deployed in real-world products.
His research focuses on mobile computing, ubiquitous computing, and human-computer interaction. His work has been published in top conferences and journals in his field (e.g., MobiSys, IMWUT/UbiComp, MobiCom, NSDI, CHI) and has been recognized by MobiSys Best Paper Award (2024), MobiSys Best Demo Award (2024), MobiCom Best Demo Award (2023), UbiComp Best Teaser Award (2023), Hotmobile Best Demo Award (2020), and NSF Awesome Discoveries (2019). He was also named among ACM MobiSys Rising Stars, NSF Rising Stars in Cyber-Physical Systems.
Haosong ZHONG (Year 4 undergraduate student) and Xupeng LU (year 1 PhD student) from the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD) have recently published a research paper titled “Seeing Through Muddy Water: Laser-Induced Graphene for Portable Tomography Imaging” on Advanced Science as the first authors under the supervision of Prof. Mitch LI of ISD.
Advanced Science is a premium interdisciplinary open access journal covering cutting-edge research in materials science, physics, chemistry, medical and life sciences, and engineering. It publishes high-quality research as a leading open access journal in various scientific fields.
The study explores the potential of graphene in imaging by utilizing laser-induced graphene (LIG) electrodes for detection in turbid water through an Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) application. A fiber laser marking machine with a wavelength of 1064 nm is used for fabricating the LIG electrode array, and later is placed in a beaker of water for testing. The portable four-terminal EIT prototype enables easy identification of items with varying conductivity levels under muddy water via wireless (Bluetooth) communication.
The discovery not only demonstrates that LIG fabricated by a 1064 nm fiber laser could serve as EIT electrode material but also proposes a new, cost-effective method for long-term underwater monitoring due to its high corrosion resistance. The device produces satisfactory image quality and resolution at a low cost, and the technology causes less environmental degradation compared to existing methods, which is an ideal nanomaterial that could integrate into underwater robotics or marine automation devices.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is committed to fostering the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship, and has incubated over 1,700 active start-ups, including 10 unicorns and 11 listed companies, creating more than HK$400 billion of economic benefits for the community, and nurturing tens of thousands of innovative talents rooted in a wide range of industries. Today, Clear Water Bay has become a cradle of technology innovations with rich resources and a strong eco-system.
The Master of Philosophy in Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship (TIE) is a major attempt by HKUST to reshape the education system and make the school a real driving force for continuous innovation in society after 30 years of focus on education. The entire training model will be transformed from the traditional model to a problem-oriented, multidisciplinary, project-based learning model, designed for innovators and entrepreneurs who aspire to take the lead in the deep technology field.
The program provides a comprehensive new engineering education experience, combining in-depth technical knowledge with necessary entrepreneurial skills. Students will work in dynamic teams, participate in rigorous research training, and gain valuable industry experience opportunities. Each student must complete a thesis independently under the guidance of faculty members and collaborate on team projects that combine theoretical insights with practical applications. If you have a solid foundation in science and engineering, a courageous entrepreneurial spirit, a good team spirit, and a desire to learn interdisciplinary thinking, come and apply!
The TIE program encapsulates HKUST’s accumulated experience in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship and propels students to the forefront of technological advancement and enterprise creation. TIE has three key features:
Students are required to take a total of 12 credits of coursework (including 6 credits of core courses, i.e. Design Thinking, Entrepreneurial Literacy, and 6 credits of elective courses), to fulfill HKUST graduation requirements, and complete individual thesis research. Besides the required courses, students will be equipped with Graduate Teaching Assistant Training, Professional Development Courses, and Language courses for full-person development. The detailed curriculum can be found in the Program Catalog.
Besides the required courses, Industrial Engagement Workshops, Field Trips & Exhibitions, as well as Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Seminar will be provided.
Students in teams of 4 to 5 will collaboratively develop a product prototype or service throughout the program, and conduct a product demonstration. Each team will be assigned a prime supervisor and include additional supervisors based on the specialized expertise or guidance necessary from faculty members.
Students are required to complete an individual thesis related to the group-based product prototype or service they worked on.
The 2-year program journey and milestones are illustrated as above. On successful completion of the program, graduates will be able to:
The TIE MPhil program is designed to bridge the gap between academic research and real-world application. Our program collaborates with a diverse range of academic institutions and industrial partners to provide students with a comprehensive learning experience.
Our academic partners include leading universities and research institutions, including UC Berkeley, Olin College of Engineering, Shenzhen InnoX Academy, etc. Collaborative research projects and joint seminars can foster an environment of innovation, encouraging students to engage with current trends and challenges in technology.
We also collaborate with various industrial partners, including HKSTP, HKCRC, XBot Park, etc. By working closely with industry leaders, students will gain practical experience and insights into the entrepreneurial landscape.
TIE requires a period of two years of study in full-time mode. For details on admission requirements and the application process, please visit the Program Catalog.
Typically, all qualified students accepted to HKUST MPhil programs will receive postgraduate studentship (PGS) which carries financial assistance sufficient for an individual’s cost of living in Hong Kong. For detailed regulations, please visit the FYTGS webpage and Handbook for Research Postgraduate Studies for details.
Please apply through https://fytgs.hkust.edu.hk/admissions/Admission-to-Hong-Kong-Campus/submitting-an-application/online-application
For inquiries, please contact the Program Office (isdtie@ust.hk).
A team of UG students from the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD) won the Bronze Award of ASMPT Technology Award 2024.
Five of our undergraduate students Shijie WANG, Mukai YU, Yui Kai TSE, Wang Lok LUK and Chen SONG came up with a practical innovation under the supervision of Prof. Chi-Ying TSUI and Dr. Jac LEUNG for their final year project, titled “Facade Installation Robotic System (F.I.R.S): Modernizing Working at Heights”. F.I.R.S is a smart construction robot that could handle the most high-risk procedures of mounting panels at heights with Computer Vision-powered Automation, and IoT connectivity while giving construction workers control to monitor and intervene safely from the ground. This solution could empower the construction workers to install the Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV).
Nominated to participate in the competition, the team stood out from the rest of the final year projects among universities in Hong Kong in engineering or science fields and won the Bronze Award with their outstanding design and presentation.
The ASMPT Technology Award is the initiative of ASMPT Limited that aims to recognize and reward students with exceptional final year projects which demonstrate excellence in technology and innovation.
Congratulations to the winning team!