General Information
Dr. Zhang Li (張立)
Professor, Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Email: lizhang@cuhk.edu.hk
Tel: (852) 3943-1150; Fax: (852) 2603-6002
Biography
Li Zhang is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering (MAE) and a Professor by Courtesy in the Department of Surgery at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He is also a director of the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) - CUHK Joint Laboratory of Robotics and Intelligent Systems. Before he joined CUHK as an Assistant Professor in 2012, he worked in Prof. Bradley Nelson’s group as a postdoc and then as a senior scientist and lecturer in the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems (IRIS), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland.
Dr. Zhang's main research interests include small-scale robotics and their applications for translational biomedicine. His postdoc research work at ETH Zurich was indexed by the Guinness Book of World Records 2012 for the "Most Advanced Mini Robot for Medical Use." Dr. Zhang is a senior member of IEEE, who has won several awards or in the Finalist from IEEE international conferences, including ICRA, IROS, CASE, ROBIO, ICARM, NANOMED, and Living Machines. He has authored and co-authored over 260 papers, including Science Robotics, Nature Machine Intelligence (News & Views), Science Advances, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Matter, ACS Nano, AFM, TRO, IJRR, SoRo, Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, as the corresponding author. He won the Hong Kong Research Grants Committee (RGC) Early Career Award in 2013, CUHK Young Researcher Award 2017, United College Early Career Research Excellence Merit Award 2018, CUHK Research Excellence Award 2019-20, and RGC Research Fellow Award 2021/22. He currently serves as Associate Editor/Editorial Board Member of ten international journals, such as IEEE TRO, IEEE/ASME T-MECH, IEEE T-ASE, Advanced Intelligent Systems, Biomicrofluidics, etc. Dr. Zhang is a Distinguished Lecturer appointed by IEEE NTC in 2020 and 2021. Since 2012 (after he joined CUHK), he has been acted/acting as PI for 22 competitive grants from RGC (11 projects including Early Career Award and RFS Award in 2021), ITC (8 projects including MRP), the Croucher Foundation (2 projects) and NSFC (1 project).
Selected Awards and Honours
Research Fellow Award by the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong | 2021 |
IEEE 3M-NANO Best Conference Paper Award | 2021 |
Toshio Fukuda Best Paper Award in Mechatronics in IEEE ARM2020 | 2020 |
Best Student Paper Award in the IEEE CASE2020 (as the PhD supervisor) | 2020 |
IEEE Nanotechnology Council (IEEE NTC) Distinguished Lecturer | 2020 |
CUHK Research Excellence Award 2019-20 | 2020 |
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (TMECH) Best Paper Award Finalist | 2019 |
1st Prize in International Bionic Innovation Competition 2019 | 2019 |
IEEE Nanotechnology Council (IEEE NTC) Distinguished Lecturer | 2019 |
CUHK United College Early Career Research Excellence Merit Award 2018 | 2018 |
CUHK Young Researcher Award 2017 | 2018 |
Best Paper Award in Biomimetics – Finalist in IEEE ROBIO2014 | 2014 |
Early Career Award by the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong | 2013 |
2013 JALA Ten Award | 2013 |
Best Paper Award of Living Machines 2013 | 2013 |
Helical swimming microrobot, Artificial Bacterial Flagella (ABF), is reported in the Guinness Book of World Records 2012, described as "Most Advanced Mini Robot for Medical Use" | 2012 |
Best Student Paper Award in IEEE IROS2012 | 2012 |
Best Paper Award in IEEE NANOMED2010 | 2010 |
Best Student Paper Award in IEEE ICRA2010 | 2010 |
Best Automation Paper Award–Finalist in IEEE ICRA2007 | 2007 |
Chinese government award for outstanding self-financed students abroad | 2005 |
Main Research Interests
Micro- and nanorobotics: develop micro-/nanorobots and integrated platforms for translational biomedicine.
Develop intelligent micro-/nanorobotic swarm and understand the collective behavior.
Bridging micro-/nanotechnology and functional materials with sensors, actuators, and robotics at small scales for realizing miniature medical devices.
Representative Journal Publications
(For full publications list, please visit: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=noZFyGsAAAAJ&hl=en )
D. D. Jin^, K. Yuan^, X. Z. Du, Q.Q. Wang, S. J. Wang, L. Zhang*, Domino reaction encoded heterogeneous colloidal microswarm with on-demand morphological adaptability, Advanced Materials, (10.1002/adma.202100070)
B. Wang, K. F. Chan, K. Yuan, Q. Wang, X. Xia, L. Yang, H. Ko, Y.-X. J. Wang, J. J. Y. Sung, P. W. Y. Chiu, L. Zhang*, Endoscopy-assisted magnetic navigation of biohybrid soft microrobots with rapid endoluminal delivery and imaging, Science Robotics, Vol. 6, eabd2813, 2021.
QQ Wang, KF Chan, K Schweizer, XZ Du, DD Jin, SCH Yu, BJ Nelson, L Zhang*, Ultrasound Doppler-guided real-time navigation of a magnetic microswarm for active endovascular delivery, Science Advances, eabe5914, 2021.
LD Yang, L Zhang*, Motion Control in Magnetic Microrobotics: from Individual and Multiple Robots to Swarm, Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Vol. 4, 509-534, 2021.
Y. Dong^, L. Wang^; K. Yuan^, F. T. Ji, J. H. Gao, Z. F. Zhang, X. Z. Du, Y. Tian, Q. Q. Wang, L. Zhang*, Magnetic Microswarm Composed of Porous Nanocatalysts for Targeted Elimination of Biofilm Occlusion, ACS Nano, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 5056-5067, 2021.
D. D. Jin, L. Zhang*, Microrobotics - Embodied intelligence weaves a better future ("News & Views"), Nature Machine Intelligence, Vol. 2, 663–664, 2020.
T. Y. Huang^, H. W. Huang^, D. D. Jin^, Q. Y. Chen, J. Y. Huang, L. Zhang, H. L. Duan*, Four-dimensional micro-building blocks, Science Advances, Vol. 6, no. 3, eaav8219, 2020.
F. T. Ji, D. D. Jin, B. Wang, L. Zhang*, Light-driven hovering of a magnetic microswarm in fluid, ACS Nano, Vol. 14, Issue 6, 6990-6998, 2020.
L. D. Yang, J. F, Yu, L. Zhang*, Statistics-based automated control for a swarm of paramagnetic nanoparticles in 2D space, IEEE Transactions on Robotics, Vol. 36, Issue 1, 254-270, 2020.
L. D. Yang, Y. B. Zhang, Q. Q. Wang, L. Zhang*, An automated microrobotic platform for rapid detection of C. diff toxins, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, Vol. 67, Issue 9, 1517-1527, 2020. (featured article)
J. F. Yu^, D. D. Jin^, K. F. Chan, Q. Q. Wang, K. Yuan, L. Zhang*, Active generation and magnetic actuation of microrobotic swarms in bio-fluids, Nature Communications, Vol. 10, 5631, 2019.
D.D. Jin^, J. F. Yu^, K. Yuan, L. Zhang*, Mimicking the structure and function of ant bridge in reconfigurable microswarm for electronic applications, ACS Nano, Vol. 13, Issue 5, 5999-6007, 2019. (highlighted by SITN @ Harvard University, C&EN and Chemistry World)
Y. B. Zhang, L. Zhang, L. D. Yang, C. I. Vong, K. F. Chan, W. K. K. Wu, T. N. Y. Kwong, N. W. S. Lo, M. Ip, S. H. Wong, J. J. Y. Sung, P. W. Y. Chiu, L. Zhang*, Real-time tracking of fluorescent magnetic spore–based microrobots for remote detection of C. diff toxins, Science Advances, Vol. 5, no. 1, eaau9650, 2019.
J. F. Yu and L. Zhang*, Reversible swelling and shrinking of paramagnetic nanoparticle swarms in bio-fluids with high ionic strength, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Vol. 24, Issue 1, 154-163, 2019. (2020 IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (TMECH) Best Paper Award Finalist)
J. F. Yu, B. Wang, X. Z. Du, Q. Q. Wang and L. Zhang*, Ultra-extensible ribbon-like magnetic microswarm, Nature Communications, Vol. 9, 3260, 2018. (highlighted in Nature News, Nature video, Nature News and Comment Facebook page and CNN news)
J. F. Yu, L. D. Yang and L. Zhang*, Pattern generation and motion control of a vortex-like paramagnetic nanoparticle swarm, International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), Vol. 37, Issue 8, 912-930, 2018.
X. Yan, Q. Zhou, M. Vincent, Y. Deng, J. F. Yu, J. Xu, T. Xu, T. Tang, L. Bian, Y. Wang, K. Kostarelos, L. Zhang*, Multifunctional biohybrid magnetite microrobots for imaging-guided therapy, Science Robotics, Vol. 2, Issue 12, eaaq1155, 2017. (highlighted in Science News)
T. Petit, L. Zhang*, K. E. Peyer, B. Kratochvil, B. J. Nelson, Selective Trapping and Manipulation of Microscale Objects Using Mobile Microvortices, Nano Letters, Vol. 12, 156-160, 2012. (highlighted in Nature, Research Highlights, Nanotechnology - Swirls move tiny objects, Vol. 480, 294, 2011)
L. Zhang, J. J. Abbott, L. X. Dong, B. E. Kratochvil, D. Bell, B. J. Nelson, Artificial Bacterial Flagella: Fabrication and Magnetic Control, Applied Physics Letters, Vol.94, 064107, 2009. (highlighted in Nature, News and Views, Miniature devices: Voyage of the microrobots, Vol. 458, 1121-1122, 2009)
L. Zhang, E. Ruh, D. Grützmacher, L. X. Dong, D. J. Bell, B. J. Nelson, C. Schönenberger, Anomalous Coiling of SiGe/Si and SiGe/Si/Cr Helical Nanobelts, Nano Letters, Vol. 6, 1311-1317, 2006. (highlighted twice in Science magazine. Editor's Choice: All Wound Up, Science, Vol. 312, 2006, 1719, also highlighted in Scinece, News Focus, “Pretty as You Please, Curling Films Turn Themselves Into Nanodevices”, Vol. 313. 164-165)
Representative Conference papers
Lidong Yang, Li Zhang*, Large-Workspace and High-Resolution Magnetic Microrobot Navigation Using Global-Local Path Planning and Eye-In-Hand Visual Servoing, Proc. of 2020 IEEE International Conference on Automation Science and Engineering (IEEE CASE 2020), Hong Kong, China, Aug. 20-21, 2020. (Best Student Paper Award)
Xingzhou Du, Lidong Yang, Jiangfan Yu, Kai Fung Chan, Philip Wai Yan Chiu, Li Zhang*, RoboMag: A Magnetic Actuation System Based on Mobile Electromagnetic Coils With Tunable Working Space, Proc. of 2020 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics (IEEE ARM 2020), Shenzhen, China, Dec. 18-21, 2020. (Toshio Fukuda Best Paper Award in Mechatronics)
Q. Zhou, T. Petit, B. J. Nelson, L. Zhang*, Dumbbell Fluidic Tweezers: Enhanced Trapping and Manipulation of Microscale Objects Using Mobile Microvortices, Proc. of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics 2014 (IEEE ROBIO 2014), Bali, Indonesia, 510-515, 2014. (Best Paper Award in Biomimetics – Finalist)
K. E. Peyer, E. C. Siringil, L. Zhang, M. Suter, B. J. Nelson, Bacteria-Inspired Magnetic Polymer Composite Microrobots, Proc. of The International Conference on Biomimetic and Biohybrid Systems (Living Machines 2013), London, UK, July 2013. (Best Paper Award)
K. E. Peyer, F. Qiu, L. Zhang, B. J. Nelson, Movement of Artificial Bacterial Flagella in Heterogeneous Viscous Environments at the Microscale, Proc. of IEEE/RSJ 2012 International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IEEE IROS2012), Algarve, Portugal, Oct. 7-12, 2012. (Best Student Paper Award)
L. Zhang, T. Petit, K. E. Peyer, B. E. Kratochvil, J. Lou, B. J. Nelson, Noncontact and Contact Micromanipulation Using a Rotating Nickel Nanowire, IEEE International Conference on Nano/Molecular Medicine and Engineering (IEEE NANOMED 2010), Hong Kong, Dec. 5-9, 2010. (Best Paper Award)
K. E. Peyer, L. Zhang, B. E. Kratochvil, B. J. Nelson, Non-ideal Swimming of Artificial Bacterial Flagella Near a Surface, Proc. of 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (IEEE ICRA 2010), pp. 96-101, 2010. (Best Student Paper Award)
L. X. Dong, X. Y. Tao, L. Zhang, X. B. Zhang, B. J. Nelson, Nanorobotic Spot Welding by Attogram Precision Metal Deposition from Copper-filled Carbon Nanotubes, Proc. of the 2007 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation (IEEE ICRA 2007), April 2007. (Best Automation Paper Award–Finalist)
Editorial Services
Biomicrofluidics (American Institute of Physics); Editorial Advisory Board member, 2020-Present.
Advanced Intelligent Systems, Wiley-VCH; International Advisory Board member, 2019- Present.
IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO); Associate Editor, 2020 - Present.
IEEE Transactions of Automation Science and Engineering; Associate Editor, 2019 – Present.
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics (TMECH); Associate Editor, 2019 – Present.
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L); Associate Editor, 2018 – Present.
Journal of Micro-Bio Robotics (Springer); Associate Editor, 2016 - Present.
Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group); Editorial Board Member, 2015 - Present.
Automation (MDPI); Editorial Board Member, 2021 - Present.