Ming Zhao

Ming Zhao is an Associate Professor at Arizona State University's School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence (SCAI) with additional affiliations at the School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering (SOMME). He directs the NSF-funded Center for Accelerated Real Time Analytics (CARTA) and the Research Laboratory for Virtualized Infrastructures, Systems, & Applications (VISA), focusing on experimental computer systems research at the intersection of cloud/edge computing, big data, and machine learning.

His educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida (2008)
• M.S. in Pattern Recognition and Intelligent Systems, Tsinghua University, China (2001)
• B.S. in Automation, Tsinghua University, China (1999)

Dr. Zhao's research centers on experimental computer systems with emphasis on cloud/edge infrastructure, big-data/machine-learning systems, and high-performance computing. His work bridges systems research with biomedicine, neuroscience, transportation, and social sciences, generating both fundamental scientific contributions and practical industry impact. His publications exceed 90 peer-reviewed articles with over 3,200 citations, and his research outcomes have been adopted in production systems.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications reveals strong trends in storage systems innovation (particularly ZNS SSDs and hybrid memory), edge computing optimization (benchmarks, privacy-preserving techniques), and machine learning efficiency (quantization, knowledge distillation). His work consistently addresses real-world constraints while pushing theoretical boundaries in systems research.

His scientific recognition includes:

• National Science Foundation CAREER award
• ASEE Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship
• AWS Machine Learning Research Award
• VMware and Intel Faculty Awards
• Best Paper award at International Conference on Autonomic Computing
• Multiple university-level excellence awards

As an educator and mentor, Dr. Zhao has created innovative courses in virtualization and cloud computing while revitalizing operating systems curriculum. He has mentored numerous doctoral, master's, undergraduate, and high-school students - with his PhD students receiving prestigious fellowships including McKnight Doctoral Fellowship and VMware Graduate Fellowship. His research is funded by National Science Foundation, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and industry partners through CARTA's collaborative model.

His leadership extends to the VISA Research Lab which explores virtualization and autonomics for large-scale computing systems, and CARTA which unites ASU, Rutgers, UMBC, and University of Miami in industry-collaborative research on real-time analytics. Current projects focus on cloud computing, high-performance computing, big data systems, and storage optimization for diverse domain applications.