Portrait of Xiaorui Zhu

Short descriptions on my thoughts over robotics:

Inspired by science fictions and movies, I started my research career in robotics as a graduate student in 1998. The more I dig into, the more interested I feel in this research area. After I become a professor in robotics, I began to think over what industry impacts robotics could make, and then I put them in practice with my graduate students via entrepreneurships. Beyond this, I believe that artificial intelligence and robotics (AIR) would become one of the most important infrastructures in the coming human society and coexist with us like the air we breathe every day. Robotics makes our life better!

Current roles and career path:

Dr. Xiaorui Zhu received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Utah, USA, in 2006, in robotics. She is one of the most influential high-tech entrepreneurs in China. And she is currently the Cofounder and Chief Scientist of RoboSense Inc., the director of Galaxy Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research Institute, and the Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research (IJAIRR). Her main research interests include mobile robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous driving. Her achievements include:

• Entrepreneurship: cofounders and chief scientists of several high-tech companies in robotics, such as DJI International Inc. (the largest drone company in the world) and RoboSense Inc. (the global leading LiDAR provider for autonomous driving and robotics).
• Award: received the National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2012 (Beijing, China) for Archeological exploration robotic system, recognized as Notable Women in Robotics at IEEE ICRA 2015 (Seattle, USA), and Women in Tech 2022 by Forbes China.
• Leadership: organization committees of several flagship international conferences in robotics such as IEEE ICRA 2011 (Exhibit Chair), IEEE IROS 2014 (Exhibit Chair), and IEEE ICRA 2015 (PhD Forum Chair), and the founding organization committee (Program Chair) of Global Artificial Intelligence & Robotics Summits (GAIR Summits) since 2016.

Find out more about IFR's initiative "Women in Robotics".