Research Assistant Professor B.Eng. (WUST, China), M.Sc. (CUHK), Ph.D. (PolyU), SrMCMES, MIEEE |
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Research Interests: Soft robotics, biomedical robotics, mechatronics, robot perception, sensorimotor control, robophysics, robot intelligence |
http://www.ee.cuhk.edu.hk/jwlai/
Resume of Career
Jiewen Lai received his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2022. Prior to that, he obtained a master’s degree in mechanical and automation engineering from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2017. From April 2022 to June 2023, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at CUHK. In August 2023, he joined the electronic engineering department as a Research Assistant Professor under the University Research Committee Research Assistant Professorship Scheme. He has authored/co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed research papers and a book chapter in the past five years.
Current Research Interests
Soft robotics, biomedical robotics, mechatronics, robot perception, sensorimotor control, robophysics, robot intelligence
Honors and Awards
- IdeaBooster Fund Award, CUHK, June 2023
- Dr. Barbara Kwok Young Postdoctoral Researcher Travel Grants Award, March 2023
- Best Poster Award, ICRA workshop on New Evolutions in Surgical Robotics, May 2023
- Best Paper Finalist Award, IEEE ROBIO, December 2019
External Service
- Associate Editor, ICRA’25, ICRA’24
- Organizing Co-chair, IEEE ICRA workshop on Continuum, Compliant, Cooperative, Cognitive Surgical Robotic Systems in the Embodied AI Era, 2024
- Guest Editor, Actuators
Taught Course
- ELEG4701 Intelligent Interactive Robot Practice
Selected Publications in the past 5 years
- Z. Min*, J. Lai*, and H. Ren, “How can Large Vision Models Innovate the Robot-Assisted Surgery,” Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering, 2025 (in press)
- J. Lai, B. Lu, and H. Ren, “Kinematics Concepts in Minimally Invasive Surgical Flexible Robotic Manipulators: State-of-the-Art,” in Handbook of Robotic Surgery, Cambridge, MA: Academic Press, 2025, 27-41
- J. Lai, B. Lu, K. Huang, and H. K. Chu, “Gesture-Based Steering Framework for Redundant Soft Robots,” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 29 (6), 4651-4663, 2024
- J. Lai, T.-A. Ren, W. Yue, S. Su, J. Y.-K. Chan, and H. Ren, “Sim-To-Real Transfer of Soft Robotic Navigation Strategies That Learns from The Virtual Eye-In-Hand Vision,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, 20 (2), 2365-2377, 2024
- Z. Zhang, A. Zhang, J. Lai, H. Ren, R. Song, Y. Li, M. Q.-H. Meng, Z. Min, “GHMM: Learning Generative Hybrid Mixture Models for Generalized Point Set Registration in Computer-Assisted Orthopedic Surgery,” IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, 6 (3), 1285-1295, 2024
- K. Huang, J. Lai, H. Ren, C. Wu, X. Cheng, H. K. Chu, “Large-Scale Selective Micropatterning with Robotics nDEP Tweezers and Hydrogel Encapsulation,” ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 16 (37), 49973-49984, 2024
- Y. Yang, J. Lai, C. Xu, Z. He, P. Jiao, and H. Ren, “A Lightweight Pneumatically Elastic Backbone Structure with Modular Construction and Nonlinear Interaction for Bending Actuators,” Soft Robotics, 11 (1), 57-69, 2024
- M. S. Xavier, C. D. Tawk, A. Zolfagharian, J. Pinskier, D. Howard, T. Young, J. Lai, S. M. Harrison, Y. K. Yong, M. Bodaghi, and A. J. Fleming, “Soft pneumatic actuators: A review of design, fabrication, modeling, sensing, control and applications,” IEEE Access, 10, 59442 – 59485, 2022 (ESI Highly Cited Papers in Engineering)
- G. Wang, T.-A. Ren, J. Lai, L. Bai, H. Ren, “Domain Adaptive Sim-to-Real Segmentation of Oropharyngeal Organs,” Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, 61, 2745-2755, 2023
- Z. Cui, W. Ma, J. Lai, H. K. Chu, Y. Guo, “Coupled Multiple Dynamic Movement Primitives Generalization for Deformable Object Manipulation,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 7 (2), 5381-5388, 2022
- J. Lai, B. Lu, Q. Zhao, and H. K. Chu, “Constrained Motion Planning of A Cable-Driven Soft Robot With Compressible Curvature Modeling,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 7 (2), 4013-4820, 2022
- Q. Zhao, J. Lai, and H. K. Chu, “Reconstructing External Force on The Circumferential Body of Continuum Robot with Embedded Proprioceptive Sensors,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, 69 (12), 13111-13120, 2021
- Q. Zhao, J. Lai, K. Huang, X. Hu, and H. K. Chu, “Shape Estimation and Control of A Soft Continuum Robot Under External Payloads,” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 27 (5), 2511-2522, 2021
- J. Lai, K. Huang, B. Lu, and H. K. Chu, “Verticalized-Tip Trajectory Tracking of A 3d-Printable Soft Continuum Robot: Enabling Surgical Blood Suction Automation,” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 27 (3), 1545-1556, 2021
- J. Lai, B. Lu, and H. K. Chu, “Variable-Stiffness Control of A Dual-Segment Soft Robot Using Depth Vision,” IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 27 (2), 1034-1045, 2021
- J. Lai, K. Huang, B. Lu, and H. K. Chu*, “Toward vision-based adaptive configuring of a bidirectional two-segment soft continuum manipulator,” in Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), pp. 934-939, 2020.
- J. Lai, K. Huang, and H. K. Chu*, “A learning-based inverse kinematics solver for a multi-segment continuum robot in robot-independent mapping,” in Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), pp. 576-582, 2019 (Best Paper Finalist Award)