Two leading Lingnan scholars designated Highly Cited Researchers 2024.
Trusted, independent data analytics organisation Clarivate has included Lingnan University's Prof Xin Yao, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and Tong Tin Sun Chair Professor of Machine Learning, and Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research), Acting Dean of the School of Data Science, Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and J.K. LeeChair Professor of Computational Intelligence, on their latest list of Highly Cited Researchers 2024. The two scholars’ multiple frequently referenced papers ranking in the top 1 per cent by citations for their fields and publication year over the past decade have made a significant and wide-ranging impact.
Commending the two professors as international leaders in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) research, Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science, said, “This honour not only recognises the research excellence of these two leading scientists, but also reflects the far-reaching impact of Lingnan's academic outputs in innovation and technology. These achievements contribute to Hong Kong’s development as an international post-secondary education hub. As of November this year, Lingnan has already attracted 17 high-calibre researchers through the Lingnan-60 Global Talent Recruitment campaign. There is significant potential for Lingnan’s growth in the future. We will continue to pursue academic excellence by capitalising on the advantages of internationalisation, fostering high-level research collaborations, and achieving our goal of recruiting 60 top-notch scholars from around the world, so as to build Lingnan into a comprehensive university in arts and sciences in the digital era, with impactful research and innovations.”
Prof Yao specialises in AI, machine learning, evolutionary computation, and intelligent optimisation, and was on the Highly Cited Researchers list in 2016, 2020, 2022 and 2023. Since 2021, he has been a Stanford University World’s Top 2% Scientist and is ranked 5th in China for the career-long influence of his citations in Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing. He has also been named as one of the top scientists in Research.com’s latest edition of 2024 Best Scientists, ranking 10th in Computer Science. According to Google Scholar, Prof Yao’s research studies have been cited over 79,500 times by other scholars, with an H-index of 127.
Prof Yao said “The global community is constantly changing, especially in the digital age where AI technology is prevalent. I see education and research as two sides of a coin that cannot be separated. Students need to be aware of technological trends and how they affect their lives and society. We will endeavour to educate the next generation to be inventors and knowledge creators.”
Prof Kwong has dedicated many years to evolutionary computation, AI solutions, and image/video processing, researching Computer Science, Engineering, Telecommunications, Automation & Control Systems, and Imaging Science & Photographic Technology. He was acknowledged as a Highly Cited Researcher in 2022 and 2023, and been one of the Stanford University’s World’s Top 2% Scientists since 2021, and one of the foremost scientists in Computer Science in Research.com’s latest edition of 2024 Best Scientists. His development of AI technology to enhance image quality in low-light environments won the Silver Award at the 49th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions.
Prof Kwong said “I am convinced that AI-related research can make a sustainable difference in people's lives and contribute to the betterment of society. When developing AI technologies, we emphasise environmental and social responsibility to showcase the unique advantages of innovative research. At the same time, we aim to equip students with the skills to pursue independent and critical thinking, creativity, and innovation.”
Clarivate’s World's Highly Cited Researchers is published annually, and to date a total of 6,636 scholars from 59 countries and regions around the world have been named.
