Robots are moving from research labs into industry and into our daily lives, frequently featuring in technology headlines described as “the next big thing”. This talk will start with a brief review, taking a look the current state of the field of robotics and the challenges it faces, followed by a rundown of exciting developments at the newly established HKUST Robotics Institute. Through a series of vignettes covering our frontier research efforts on robotics, such as autonomous systems and unmanned vehicles, smart manufacturing and human-robot interaction, we will take the audience on a journey through this fascinating topic.

Michael Y. Wang is the Founding Director of the Robotics Institute, the Director of HKUST-BRIGHT DREAM ROBOTICS Joint Research Institute, and a Chair Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Electronic and Computer Engineering of HKUST. He has numerous professional honors–National Science Foundation Research Initiation Award; Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from Society of Automotive Engineers; LaRoux K. Gillespie Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award from Society of Manufacturing Engineers; Boeing–A.D. Welliver Faculty Summer Fellow, Boeing; Chang Jiang (Cheung Kong) Scholars Award from the Ministry of Education of China and Li Ka Shing Foundation (Hong Kong); Research Excellence Award of CUHK. He is Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Trans. on Automation Science and Engineering. His main research interests are in robotic manipulation, manufacturing automation, and additive manufacturing. Before joining HKUST in 2015, he served on the engineering faculty at University of Maryland, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and National University of Singapore. A recipient of ASME Design Automation Award, Professor Wang is a fellow of ASME, HKIE, and IEEE.