Assistant Professor
Construction Engineering and Management
The University of Hong Kong
Address: HW6-07, Haking Wong Building, The University of Hong Kong
Phone: +852 3917 2673
Fax: +852 2559 5337
Email: shell.x.li@hku.hk
CI³ Lab Director
Professor Xiao LI is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Xiao’s research mainly contributes to smart and industrialized construction, which includes assembly systems, production systems, and smart work packaging methodology for collaborative planning and control in construction.
He obtained his BEng (2009-2013) and MEng (2013-2016) from Chongqing University and did his PhD at HKPolyU (2016-2019). After one year of industry experience at Qianhai, Shenzhen (2019-2020), he returned as an RGC postdoctoral fellow at HKU (2020-2021) and research assistant professor at HKPolyU (2021-2022). He has authored 60+ papers in peer-reviewed academic journals with 6,095 citations. He is a Top 1% Scholar by Clarivate Analytics and World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University, a fellow of the SYLFF Association, a National Registered Construction Engineer (Class 1), a member of the HKIE, ASCE, IEEE, and CIB, and guest editors of several leading journals in construction engineering and management. He held several international academic awards, including the 49th Geneva Inventions Gold Medal, CIC Innovation Award, SYLFF Research Grant Award/Research Abroad Award, and CIB Sebestyén Future Leaders Award, as well as the Best Paper Award of CIB/ASCE/CRIOCM/CIOB(HK).
He led various research projects (over HK$20 million) in the following fields:
- Blockchain and distributed collaboration in inspection planning and safety monitoring
- Human-robot collaboration-based production robotics system in modular construction
- Collaborative robots for the assembly process in modular construction
- Interactive configuration for modular buildings
- Maintenance optimization for modular buildings
- Multi-stakeholder cross-regional collaboration in construction
- Intelligent and distributed carbon monitoring system in modular construction
Research Assistant Professor
Songnan Bai
PhD @ CityU
MSc @ CityU, 2017-2018
BSME @ XJTU, 2013-2017
Collaborative robots:
Assembly robots, Production robotics systems, Cable-driven robots, Micro aerial vehicle, and Hopping robots.
Contact: snbai@hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Assembly robots, Production robotics systems, Cable-driven robots, Micro aerial vehicle, and Hopping robots.
Contact: snbai@hku.hk
Postdoctoral Researcher
Zhiyi Huang
Postdoc，since 2025
PhD (Industrial Engineering) @ HKU
M.Eng & B.Eng (SE) @ NPU
Collaborative scheduling:
Stochastic modelling, Reliability analysis, Maintenance optimization
Contact: hzyra@hku.hk
Zhiyi Huang
Collaborative scheduling:
Stochastic modelling, Reliability analysis, Maintenance optimization
Contact: hzyra@hku.hk
Tingtian Li
Postdoc, since June, 2025
PhD@HKPolyU
Collaborative robots:
Computer vision, Multimodal learning, Visual reasoning
Contact: tingtian@hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Computer vision, Multimodal learning, Visual reasoning
Contact: tingtian@hku.hk
Jie Hong
Postdoc, since 2025
PhD (School of Computing) @ ANU
M.Eng @ NTU
Collaborative robots:
Computer vision, Machine learning, Robotics
Contact: jiehong@hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Computer vision, Machine learning, Robotics
Contact: jiehong@hku.hk
Wenshuo Li
Postdoc, since 2025
PhD in Mechanical Engineering, 2020–2024
@ Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)
BSc & MSc (Mechanical Engineering)
@ Dalian Maritime University (DLMU)
Collaborative robots:
Robotics — Kinematics, Dynamics & Control
Focus: Cable-driven serial/redundant manipdulators
Contact: jiehong@hku.hk
Wenshuo Li
Collaborative robots:
Robotics — Kinematics, Dynamics & Control
Focus: Cable-driven serial/redundant manipdulators (CDSM/CDRM)
Contact:
Yujia Wang
Postdoc，since 2025
PhD @ Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT)
Collaborative robots:
Optimal control, Machine learning, Reinforcement learning
Contact: hzyra@hku.hk
Yujia Wang
Collaborative robots:
Optimal control, Machine learning, Reinforcement learning
Contact:
PhD / MPhil Students
Juan Wang
PhD, since 2023
BSc & MSc (Economics) @ Wuhan U
Distributed collaboration:
Consensus & Incentive mechanisms in blockchain
Contact: juanwang@connect.hku.hk
Distributed collaboration:
Consensus & Incentive mechanisms in blockchain
Contact: juanwang@connect.hku.hk
Yinyi Wei
PhD, since 2023
BSc & M.Eng (CS) @ Peking U
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Knowledge engineering for BIM
Contact: wyyy@connect.hku.hk
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Knowledge engineering for BIM
Contact: wyyy@connect.hku.hk
Nianmin Zhang
PhD, since 2023
M.Eng (Mechanical) @ Peking U
Collaborative scheduling:
MARL for scheduling
Contact: nianmin.zhang@connect.hku.hk
Collaborative scheduling:
MARL for scheduling
Contact: nianmin.zhang@connect.hku.hk
Jianhuan Zeng
PhD, since 2023
M.Eng (EE) @ Columbia
B.Eng @ Sun Yat-Sen U
Distributed collaboration:
Federated learning for safety and health monitoring
Contact: joy2023@connect.hku.hk
Distributed collaboration:
Federated learning for safety and health monitoring
Contact: joy2023@connect.hku.hk
Ruiqi Jiang
PhD, since Jan, 2024
M.Eng (Robotics) @ Chongqing U
Collaborative robots:
Robotics in construction
Contact: richj233@connect.hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Robotics in construction
Contact: richj233@connect.hku.hk
Jintao Xue
PhD, since May, 2024
M.Eng (EE) @ Zhejiang U
B.Eng @ Xi’an Jiaotong U
Collaborative robots:
Human-Robot collaboration
Contact: xuejt@connect.hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Human-robot collaboration
Contact: xuejt@connect.hku.hk
Qing Dong
PhD, since Sep, 2024
B.Eng (CE) @ South China University of Technology U
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Quality control in modular construction
Contact: dong_qing@connect.hku.hk
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Quality control in modular construction
Contact: dong_qing@connect.hku.hk
Ruixuan He
Mphil, since Sep, 2024
BSc (Statistics) @ HKU
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Language models & Scheduling
Contact: ruixuan@connect.hku.hk
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Language models & Scheduling
Contact: ruixuan@connect.hku.hk
Chen Qian
PhD, since Sep, 2024
M.Eng (AI) @ Chinese Academy of Sciences
B.Eng (RE) @ Northeastern U
Collaborative robots:
Robot motion control
Contact: qianc2024@connect.hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Robot motion control
Contact: qianc2024@connect.hku.hk
Wentao Zhu
PhD, since Sep, 2024
MSc (AI) @ HKU
BM (NIM) @ Sun Yat-Sen U
Distributed collaboration:
Blockchain for payments in construction
Contact: zhuwt@connect.hku.hk
Distributed collaboration: Blockchain for payments in construction
Contact: zhuwt@connect.hku.hk
Yuanyang Qi
PhD, since Jan, 2025
MSc (Control and Optimization) @ IC
B.Eng (Automation) @ HIT
Collaborative robots:
Multi-sensor fusion
Contact: yuanyang.qi@connect.hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Multi-sensor fusion
Contact: yuanyang.qi@connect.hku.hk
Chen Chen
Mphil, since Jan, 2025
BEng (CS) @ Shanghai Jiao Tong U
MSc (Construction & Real Estate) @ PolyU
Distributed collaboration:
Blockchain integration in carbon monitoring
Contact: chen.chen@connect.hku.hk
Distributed collaboration:
Blockchain integration in carbon monitoring
Contact: chen.chen@connect.hku.hk
Shichen Sun
Mphil, since Sep, 2025
B.Eng (Mechanical Engineering) @ HKPolyU
Collaborative robots:
Robotics in construction
Contact: koalasun@hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Robotics in construction
Contact: koalasun@hku.hk
Hongxu Chen
PhD, since Sep, 2025
M.Eng (EIE) @ Tsinghua University
B.Eng (M&C) @ Beihang University
Collaborative robots:
Lidar signal processing, Image processing
Contact: hongxu.chen@connect.hku.hk
Collaborative robots:
Lidar signal processing, Image processing
Contact: hongxu.chen@connect.hku.hk
Research Staffs
Yanchen Liu
RA, since Jul, 2024
MPhil & BEng (Architecture) @ Harbin Institute of Technology
Collaborative scheduling:
Development and application of intelligent scheduling system
Contact: liuyanch@hku.hk
Yanchen Liu
Collaborative scheduling:
Development and application of intelligent scheduling system
Contact: liuyanch@hku.hk
Siqian Ma
RA, since Oct, 2024
MSc(IEM) @ HKU
B.Eng (Architecture) @ Xiamen U
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Knowledge engineering for BIM
Contact: u3649524@connect.hku.hk
Knowledge collaborative intelligence: Knowledge engineering for BIM
Contact: u3649524@connect.hku.hk
Yuxuan Lan
RA, since Feb., 2025
M.Eng. (ME) @ Xi’an Jiaotong U
B.Eng. (ME) @ Chongqing
Collaborative robots:
Robotics in construction
Contact: lucas.lan@polyu.edu.hk
Collaborative robots:
Robotics in construction
Contact: lucas.lan@polyu.edu.hk
Ziyang Lin
RA, since Feb 2025
MSc (AI) @ HKU
BSc (Mathematics) @ Sun Yat-Sen U
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Large language models
Contact: galliuml@hku.hk
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Large language models
Contact: galliuml@hku.hk
Jiahua Chen
RA, since Jul, 2025
M.Eng(CS) @ Peking U
B.Eng @ Xidian U
Collaborative robots:
Federated learning
Jiahua Chen
Collaborative robots:
Federated learning
Lan Lou
RA, since Aug., 2025
MSc(AI) @ HKU
HBSc(Statistics) @ UofT
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Knowledge graph construction
Contact: u3637380@connect.hku.hk
Knowledge collaborative intelligence:
Knowledge graph construction
Contact: u3637380@connect.hku.hk
Yafei Zhang
SRA, since Sep, 2025
B.Eng (Robotics engineering) @ Southern University of Science and Technology
Collaborative robots:
Reconfigurable robots and mehcanisms, Soft robots，Bioinspired robots
Collaborative robots:
Reconfigurable robots and mehcanisms, Soft robots，Bioinspired robots
Xuyi Lian
RA, since Sep, 2025
B.Eng @ ZJU
Collaborative robots:
Bio-inspired robotics, aerial vehicles and Neurorobotics.
Contact: xylian.hku.hku
Collaborative robots:
Bio-inspired robotics, aerial vehicles and Neurorobotics.
Contact: xylian.hku.hku
Yuxiao Tian
RA, since 2025
MSc(AI) @ HKU
B.Eng(SE)@Tongji University, China
Collaborative robots:
Artificial intelligence
Contact: u3660958@connect.hku.hk
Yuxiao Tian
Collaborative robots:
Artificial intelligence
Contact: u3660958@connect.hku.hk
Yuxiao Tian
RA, since 2025
MSc(AI) @ HKU
B.Eng(SE)@Zhejiang University
Distributed collaboration:
AI agent simulation
Contact: u3651276@connect.hku.hk
Distributed collaboration:
AI agent simulation
Contact: u3651276@connect.hku.hk
Alumni
Yaning Zhang
RA, 2022
PhD @ NPU & PolyU
B.Eng @ Northeast Forestry U
Yuqing Guo
RA, 2024
PhD @ HKU, since 2024
MLA @ Cornell University
B.Eng @ HZAU
Yuqing Guo
Zirui Weng
Summer Intern, 2025
B.Eng @ University of Washington-Seattle
Ying Wang
RA, 2025
M.Sc. @ Chongqing U
B.Eng. @ Ocean University of China
Ying Wang
Jihuan Zhuo
RA, 2025
M.Sc. @ Chongqing U
Jihuan Zhuo
Jianing Yin
Postdoc, 2025
PhD @ University of Chinese Academy of Sciences
BEng @ Southeast University
Furui Man
RA, 2025
M.Sc. (DS) @ HKCityU
B.Sc. (CS) @ HKPolyU