Zih-Yun Chiu

Zih-Yun (Sarah) Chiu is an incoming tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, starting in Fall 2025. She is also a member of the Johns Hopkins Data Science and AI Institute, focusing on developing intelligent robots that emulate the expertise of skilled medical professionals in complex environments.

Chiu earned her PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering (2025) from the University of California, San Diego, advised by Michael Yip, and holds a BS in Electrical Engineering (2017) from National Taiwan University.

Her research centers on:

• Mathematical modeling of medical and general knowledge for robotic operation
• Integration of robotic perception, planning, control, and learning
• Advancing robot sensing, planning, and adaptability for autonomous interventions
• Uncertainty-aware trajectory optimization frameworks
• Deep reinforcement learning for surgical automation

Her publications reflect trends in:

• Medical Robotics (autonomous suturing, tool tracking)
• Reinforcement Learning (policy fusion, incremental learning)
• Perception Systems (pose estimation, uncertainty modeling)
• Motion Planning (biomechanically safe trajectories, time-optimal control)
• Robotic Simulation (reverse curriculum generation)

Scientific recognitions include:

• 2025 Robotics: Science and Systems Pioneer
• 2024 EECS Rising Star
• 2023 IEEE ICRA Best Paper Award in Medical Robotics
• 2023 ICRA Workshop Best Poster Award

Chiu is actively recruiting students at all academic levels (undergraduate, master’s, PhD) and leads research at the intersection of robotics, AI, and healthcare innovation. Her recent projects include open-source implementations for knowledge-grounded reinforcement learning algorithms and surgical needle tracking systems.