Electrical and Electronic Engineering

November 13, 2025 (Thursday) 4:00pm-5:00pm
Rigid and flexible optoelectronics devices (OEDs), e.g., solar cells (SCs), LEDs, and photodetectors (PDs) have been widely investigated for potential applications from solar farms to buildings, wearable electronics, and biomedical sensors. The poor heterogeneous interfaces between different layers of OED structures will cause irreversible degradation. In this talk, we will discuss new approaches to enhance the interfaces from electrodes to active layers to achieve high-performance foldable OEDs. While typical transparent electrodes, e.g., indium tin oxide (ITO), are costly and brittle, we developed a new class of foldable transparent electrodes through the unique triple atomic interfacial integrations of composite materials[1], showing superior device stability against mechanical-electrical-moisture operation with a folding radius of 0.75mm. We further improve device performance by several strategies, including sublattice structuring, adhesion enhancement, and strain relaxation of SCs[2-7], synergetic ligand designs of LEDs[8-10], and crystallization enhancement of PDs[11-12]. We demonstrated SCs with 25.8% efficiency and over 2000 hours operational stability[3], pure primary-color ultra-flexible LEDs with prolonged stability[8] and PDs with detectivity surplus III-V semiconductor ones[11].

November 6, 2025 (Thursday) 4:00pm-5:00pm
The advancement of Rydberg atoms in quantum information technology is driving a paradigm shift from classical receivers to Rydberg atomic receivers (RARE). RAREs utilize the electron transition phenomenon of highly-excited atoms to interact with electromagnetic (EM) waves, thereby enabling the detection of wireless signals. Operating at the quantum scale, such new receivers have the potential to breakthrough the sensitivity limit of classical receivers, sparking a revolution in wireless communications. In this talk, I will first introduce the fundamentals of RAREs, covering their definition and properties, the interaction of Rydberg atoms with EM waves, as well as the electromagnetically-induced-transparency based quantum measurement. Then, the pros and cons of of RAREs compared as opposed to classical receivers will be discussed. The second part of this talk will present our latest progress in RARE aided communications and sensing, ranging from MIMO communications, sensing architecture, and integrated communication and sensing. The talk will be concluded with some promising future directions on integration of RARE into modern wireless communication systems.

November 4, 2025 (Tuesday) 4:00pm-5:00pm
As we move towards Sixth Generation (6G) wireless networks, the focus shifts from speed and capacity to building intelligent, adaptable, and resilient systems. This talk explores the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into 6G networks, focusing on developing resilient intelligence for dynamic and resource-constrained environments. We present a novel framework that combines reinforcement learning, multi-agent coordination, and reward modeling to tackle challenges in wireless optimization, especially in environments with sparse, noisy, and delayed feedback. Our methods enable continuous adaptation to dynamic changes in traffic, mobility, and energy constraints, enhancing the resilience of 6G systems for critical applications like autonomous transport, industrial IoT, and emergency response. Through practical case studies, we demonstrate how adaptive intelligence can optimize network performance and improve the scalability of future wireless systems, offering insights into the path towards resilient, intelligent 6G networks.

June 19, 2025 (Thursday) 4:30-5:30pm
With modern AI seemingly transforming all aspects of our modern society like magic, it is easy to forget the impacts such modern technology marvel is causing to our fragile environment. From massive industry-scale training of large neural networks of epic sizes, to the proliferation of folding AI inference in our everyday activities, AI applications are rapidly increasing the stress to our global energy and water infrastructure. The coming era of AI demands not only the smartest AI models, but also a new generation of sustainable AI mindset that rethinks the when and how to apply AI intelligence.
In this talk, Professor So will discuss one angle that addresses the “how” question with intelligent algorithm-architecture co-designed systems that reduce both energy consumption and computing latency using dynamic sparse processing. Sharing the same “more is less” principle, a series of works from a dynamic sparse processing system for event cameras to token-steering in modern diffusion models will be discussed. Together, these works illustrate that by doing a little bit more upfront intelligently, it is possible to drastically reduce the amount of work necessary to perform the same AI inference operation during run time without affecting the accuracy of a model. The results are solutions that not only are fast, but they are also orders of magnitude more energy-efficient than typical GPU-accelerated systems.

October 10, 2024 (Thursday) 4:30-5:30pm
Despite a half-century of advancements, global MRI accessibility remains limited, hindering its full potential in health care. Initially, MRI development focused on low fields around 0.05 Tesla, but progress halted after the introduction of the 1.5 Tesla whole-body superconducting scanner in 1983. Using permanent 0.05 Tesla magnets and deep learning for electromagnetic interference elimination, we developed highly simplified 0.05 Tesla MRI systems that operate using a standard wall power outlet and without radiofrequency and magnetic shielding. We demonstrated its wide-ranging applicability for imaging both brain (Nature Communications 2021) and various anatomical structures at whole-body level (Science 2024). Furthermore, we developed three-dimensional deep learning reconstruction methodologies to boost image quality by harnessing extensive high-field MRI data (MRM 2023, Science Advances 2023, Science 2024). We hope these advances will eventually lead to a new class of affordable and computing–powered ultra-low-field MRI scanners for point-of-care applications, addressing unmet clinical needs in diverse health care settings.

June 27, 2024 (Thursday) 4:30-5:30pm
Speaker: Professor Leo Tianshuo Zhao, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, HKU
This talk will highlight our previous works about developing heavy-metal-free NC materials and efficient surface modification for near-infrared optoelectronic devices and advancing scale-up fabrication of NC sensor devices for IoT technologies. The talk will also include our recent work on the nanoprinting of NCs to acheive multi-material and multi-functional devices.

June 06, 2024 (Thursday) 4:30-5:30pm
Humans live in a 3D world, continually acquiring diverse skills and engaging in various activities through perceiving, understanding, and interacting with it. Our long-term research objective is centered on simulating the 3D world and empowering AI systems with 3D spatial understanding capabilities. In this talk, I will start by discussing our recent research efforts in creating 3D interactive environments by reconstruction, decomposition, and generation. Subsequently, I will explore how we can equip machines with the ability to comprehend and reason within a 3D environment by adopting a data-centric approach. Lastly, I will examine the possibilities of integrating 3D environment simulation and understanding to facilitate the emergence of closed-loop active intelligence. In summary, this talk will encompass our latest efforts in 3D reconstruction, comprehension, and creation, ultimately aiming for AI systems that can effectively navigate and engage with our 3D world.