Professor Ning Xi received D.Sc. degree in Systems Science and Mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA in December 1993. Currently he is the Chair Professor of Robotics and Automation in the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing System, and the Director of Emerging Technologies Institute of the University of Hong Kong. Before joining the University of Hong Kong, he was a University Distinguished Professor, the John D. Ryder Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Director of Robotics and Automation Laboratory at Michigan State University in United States. He also served as the founding head of the Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at City University of Hong Kong (2011-2013).
Prof. Xi has extensive research experience in control theory and applications, in particular in the area of robotics and automation. He and his graduate students have developed advanced robot planning and control methods for nuclear waste clean-up and environment restoration. He developed the event-based multiple robots coordination scheme that was implemented on a dual-robot system in Sandia National Laboratories, and successfully demonstrated in the US Department of Energy Robotics Technology Forum. He also developed the function-based sharing control method for Modified Light Duty Utility Arm (MLDUA), which has been implemented and tested in nuclear waste retrieval operations in Gunite Tanks at Oak Ridge National Laboratories. He and his graduate students have successfully developed micro crawler robots and perceptive control methods for mobile robots in the projects funded by DARPA. In addition, Prof. Xi and his graduate students have developed CAD-guided tool planning method for surface manufacturing, which has been successfully applied in Ford Motor Company and other companies. Recently, he has developed an augmented reality enhanced nano manipulation system. It has enabled human to directly manipulate nano scale objects in a nano environment. It lays down a foundation for assembly of nano scale devices and systems. He has been the PI and Co-PI of more 100 research projects funded by US Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, National Institute of Health and industries.
Prof. Xi has published more than four hundreds technical papers in professional journals and conferences. He is the co-inventor more than 20 invention patents. Prof. Xi received the Best Paper Award in IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) in August, 1995, and the Best Paper Award in the 1998 Japan-USA Symposium on Flexible Automation. Prof. Xi was awarded the first Early Academic Career Award by the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society in May, 1999. He also received The Best Paper Award of IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering in 2007. Prof. Xi was awarded SPIE Nano Engineering Award in 2007. In addition, he is a recipient of US National Science Foundation CAREER Award. Prof. Xi is a fellow of IEEE. He also served as the President of IEEE Nanotechnology Council (2010-2011), a member of Administrative Committee of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (2013-2015). He has been elected as the President of IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (2018-2019). His research interests include robotics, manufacturing automation, micro/nano manufacturing, nano sensors and devices, and intelligent control and systems.