Hong Zhang

Professor Hong Zhang serves as Chair Professor in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China, having transitioned from his full professorship at the University of Alberta where he maintains an adjunct appointment. He directs the Centre for Intelligent Mining Systems (CIMS) and affiliates with the Robotics Research Laboratory, establishing new robotics research groups at both institutions.

His academic foundation includes a BSc from Northeastern University (USA), PhD from Purdue University, and postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania, joined the University of Alberta in 1988.

Zhang's research spans robotics, computer vision, and image processing with emphasis on visual navigation, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), and biologically-inspired collective robotics. His work develops cooperative multi-robot systems for challenging environments like mining and underwater inspection, addressing practical industrial challenges through vision-based sensing and navigation solutions.

Recent publications (2019-2020) demonstrate leadership in robotic perception, particularly moving object detection under illumination changes and HDR reconstruction from polarization data, reflecting consistent innovation in computer vision applied to real-world robotics.

• ASTech Award (2008)
• IEEE Millennium Medal
• Best Conference Paper at IEEE ROBIO 2019
• 2018 IROS Distinguished Service Award
• Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering (2015)
• Fellow of IEEE (2014)
• NSERC Industrial Research Chair (2003-2017)

Mentoring notable students including Xuesong Wu, Sean, and Moein who produced award-winning conference papers, Zhang's research has secured substantial funding through a decade-long Syncrude Canada partnership (NSERC/Alberta Innovates), the NSERC Industrial Research Chair, and a recent $7.1M Alberta Government grant for the Centre for Autonomous Systems.

He leads the Centre for Intelligent Mining Systems at the University of Alberta while establishing a new robotics research group at SUSTech focused on intelligent sensing systems for industrial automation and navigation.