Dr David Navarro-Alarcon

David is an Assistant Professor (Robotics) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and the Principal Investigator of the ROMI-Lab. Before joining PolyU in 2017, he worked as a Research Assistant Professor at the T Stone Robotics Institute from 2015–2017. His current research interests include perceptual robotics, adaptive systems and control theory. He received his PhD degree in 2014 from The Chinese University of Hong Kong under the supervision of Prof Liu Yun-hui. David is a Member of IEEE (S'06, M'14, SM'19) and of the RAS and CIS societies.

Maria Victorova

Maria Victorova joined ROMI-Lab in October 2017 as a PhD student. Her research interest is in medical robotics. She has research experience in virtual reality for training with haptic feedback, passive hand prosthesis for children, and automation of medical scanning systems. Maria received her BSc degree in biomedical engineering from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University and her MSc degree in space systems from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology with a certificate of merit for innovation contribution. She had three internships on developing exoskeleton applications, robotics and hand prosthesis assembly and design. Currently, she is developing a fully automated robotic system for ultrasound scoliosis assessment. Maria is a talented dancer, singer, and occasional master of ceremony.

Omar Zahra

Omar joined the ROMI-Lab in January 2018 as a PhD student. His research interest includes robotic manipulation, bio-inspired control, AI, and multi-modal perception. Omar received his BSc degree in electromechanical engineering from the Alexandria University, and his MSc degree in mechatronics and robotics engineering from the E-JUST (Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology), both in Egypt. His diverse background gives him a good insight into robotics from various perspectives. Currently, he is developing neuro-inspired methods for modelling and coordinating the motion of robotic systems. Besides developing advanced cognitive systems, Omar enjoys practising archery. 

Muhammed Muddassir

Muddassir joined the ROMI-Lab in February 2018 as a Research Assistant. Since September 2018, he is a PhD student in PolyU. He received his master's degree in control science and engineering from the Beijing Institute of Technology in China, and the bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences in Pakistan. He has received several academic scholarship awards including the Chinese Government Scholarship (China) and the National Prime Minister's ICT & R&D Funds (Pakistan). His research interests include 3D perception and hand-eye coordination. Currently, he is developing the world's first aesthetic dermatology automated system. Muddassir is a savvy video game player.

Zoë Ma

Zoë joined the ROMI-Lab in July 2018 as a PhD student. She graduated from the prestigious Harbin Institute of Technology in China, where she received her BEng degree and master's degree, both in control science and engineering. Her master's research work was on spacecraft attitude control based on neural networks. Her current research interests include robotics, machine intelligence, control systems, and biomimetics. Currently, she is developing RGB-D methods for computing the 3D shape of soft objects, and for adaptively controlling its deformations with robot arms. Zoë is a graphic artist and the official designer of the lab.

Victor Wu

Victor joined ROMI-Lab in May 2019 as a part-time PhD student. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical and electronic engineering from the Southall College of Technology, the UK, and his master's degree in computing from Imperial College London, UK. Since June 2017, Victor is a Senior Project Fellow of the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Steel Construction (Hong Kong Branch) of PolyU. Victor is a charted software, electronic and welding engineer. Currently, he is interested in welding technology especially robotic welding, and its effects on the mechanical properties of the heat affected zone. In his spare time, Victor likes to study the origins of human consciousness.

Rick Peng

Rick joined the ROMI-Lab in July 2019 as a research assistant. He received his BSc degree in measurement and control engineering from the Wuhan University, China, where he is currently finishing his MSc degree in electronic and communication engineering. His research interests include vision-guided motion control of robots and multi-sensor fusion. He also is a robot system engineer with experience at international competitions and had an internship in DJI. Currently, he is developing an adaptive model for automating welding tasks with manipulators. Besides enjoying hip-hop, Rick is a basketball player and marathon runner.

Luyin Hu

Luyin joined the ROMI-Lab in August 2019 as a Research Assistant and is currently a part-time MPhil student in PolyU. He received his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from PolyU in July 2019. His current research interests include the development of multimodal perceptual systems for improving human-robot interactions. Luyin likes to explore all kinds of interesting technologies and listen to music.

Luiza Labazanova

Luiza joined the group in August 2019 as a PhD student. She is the recipient of the prestigious 2019/20 Belt and Road Scholarship (Research Postgraduate). She received the specialist degree in applied mathematics and computer science from the Chechen State University and the MSc degree in space and engineering systems in Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, both with high distinction. Her research interests include human-robot interactions, artificial intelligence and haptics. She was a visiting research student in Kaji-lab at the University of Electro-Communications (Tokyo, Japan), working in the field of wearable devices and mechanoreceptors' stimulation. In her free time, Luiza enjoys creating visual media; She has diverse experience in video production, 3D graphics and animation.

Jiaming "Big Tom" Qi

Jiaming is a visiting research student at PolyU. He is PhD candidate at the Spacecraft Control State Key Laboratory (SCSKL), Harbin Institute of Technology. His research focuses on trajectory planning and multi-arm cooperative control. He obtained his BEng degree from the Northeast Agricultural University and his master's degree from the Harbin Institute of Technology, both with first-class honours. He was an intern at the Beijing Design Center, Analog Devices Inc in Beijing. Jiaming is (arguably) good at running, swimming and skating.

Jeffery Zhou

Jeffery joined the group in August 2019 as a PhD student. He received the master degree in software engineering from School of Software Engineering in Tongji University in 2017, with the "Excellent Student of Tongji" honours. In 2016, he won the China National Scholarship. Before joining the PolyU, he worked at the Advertising Engine & Data Algorithm Center of Tencent as a research assistant on and also at the Discover Finance Services as a senior modelling analyst. His current research interests include robot learning, deep reinforcement learning and human-robot interaction. Jeffery enjoys hiking, tennis and guitar.

Kyle Huo

Kyle joined the group in September 2019 as a MSc student (dissertation option). He received his BSc degree in vehicle engineering from the South China University of Technology, China. His research interests include motion planning, deep learning, and point cloud models. He has experience in formula student racing and had an internship in Xpeng. Currently, he is developing an autonomous robot for parts surface inspection with vision sensors. Besides enjoying Cantonese music, he is a basketball and football player.

Zeyu Wu

Zeyu joined the group in September 2019 as a MSc student with dissertation option. He received the bachelor degree in mechanical engineering from Shanghai University in 2019, with the "Shanghai outstanding graduates" honour. His current research interests include bio-inspired mechanisms, soft robotics, robotic hands, bionics and kinematics. Zeyu enjoys traveling, swimming and camping.

Mr KO Yuen

Mr K.O. Yuen is a seasoned Technical Officer at the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He had worked at the semiconductor field for more than 12 years and mainly focused on mechanical design and automation. He joined PolyU PTeC at 2005 and started to serve ME since 2007. He currently manages the technical operation of various research laboratories.

Jihong Zhu

Jihong was a visiting student at PolyU, during Jul-Oct 2019. He is PhD candidate at LIRMM, France. His research focuses on manipulation planning and control of deformable objects using vision. Jihong obtained his bachelor degree with First Class Honours from the University of Birmingham and Huazhong University of Science and Technology (a dual degree program). 

Domi Gomez

Domi completed his MSc degree in electrical engineering at the Technical University of Denmark and obtained a BEng degree from ETSI Huelva in Spain. He previously worked at the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN). He was with the ROMI-Lab as a research assistant, from Jan-Aug 2019, where he developed a system for monitoring thermal data of human faces in realtime. 

Dr Tiffany Yip

Dr Tiffany Yip worked at the ROMI-Lab during winter 2019. Her research interests include the design of mechanisms, mechatronic system integration, medical robotics, human-robot interaction, and vision-assisted control. She received the PhD degree in mechanical and automation engineering from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in 2017. 

Christian Trejo

Christian received his BSc degree in mechatronic engineering from Universidad Politécnica de Victoria, Mexico. He is currently a PhD student in robotics at CINVESTAV in Mexico. His research interests are modelling and control of non-linear mechanical systems by model-based and model-free control approaches. He was a visiting student at the ROMI-Lab during the summer of 2018.

Yo, Choi Ka Yuk

Yo Choi has a bachelor of arts degree in communication design from PolyU. She is the talented graphic and brand designer who in Autumn 2018 created the romi-lab logo and its website.

Man-kiu Chow

Research Assistant (mechanical design), 2017-2018. Man-kiu developed several mechanical prototypes for MRI applications. He was the very first member of the lab.