Shengchao Liu | Computer Science | Research Excellence Award

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Dr. Shengchao Liu | Computer Science | Research Excellence Award

The Chinese University | Hong Kong

Shengchao Liu is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, whose research lies at the intersection of machine learning, geometry, and scientific discovery. His work focuses on developing foundation models and physics-inspired learning frameworks for molecules, proteins, and materials, with the long-term goal of accelerating discovery in chemistry, biology, and materials science. By integrating multi-modal data, symmetry principles, and domain knowledge, his research bridges theoretical advances in AI with real-world experimental impact. A central theme of Dr. Liu’s research is geometric and symmetry-informed representation learning. He has pioneered group-equivariant and manifold-constrained generative models that respect the underlying physical laws of molecular and material systems. His contributions include SE(3)-invariant pretraining methods, group-symmetric stochastic differential equation models, and rigid flow matching techniques, which have significantly improved the fidelity and interpretability of molecular generation and dynamics modeling. These methods form a unifying framework for learning across molecules, proteins, and crystalline materials, as demonstrated in his influential works at ICLR, ICML, NeurIPS, and AISTATS. Dr. Liu’s work is deeply collaborative and interdisciplinary. He has worked closely with leading researchers across academia and industry, including Mila, UC Berkeley, NVIDIA Research, and national laboratories. As a Principal Investigator, he has led NERSC-supported projects on foundation models for material discovery, leveraging large-scale GPU resources to push the frontier of generative AI for science. His research has also contributed widely used open-source resources, including geometric graph learning benchmarks and toolkits adopted by the broader AI-for-science community.

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Featured Publications


Pre-training Molecular Graph Representation with 3D Geometry

– International Conference on Learning Representations , 2021 | Cited by 574


N-Gram Graph: Simple Unsupervised Representation for Graphs, with Applications to Molecules

– Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, 2019 | Cited by 295


A text-guided protein design framework

– Nature Machine Intelligence, 2025 | Cited by 225

 

Boyan Bontchev | Computer Science | Best Researcher Award

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Prof Dr. Boyan Bontchev | Computer Science | Best Researcher Award

Prof Dr. Boyan Bontchev | Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics | Sofia University | Bulgaria

Prof Dr. Boyan Bontchev is a respected academic and industry leader who has built a career that bridges software engineering practice and research. After completing advanced studies in parallel processing, he gained international specialization in leading European institutions. His professional journey included roles as a software engineer and project manager across several countries before taking on leadership of Bonea Ltd. He later advanced to a professorship in software engineering at Sofia University. His expertise, international collaborations, and leadership roles highlight his significant influence in both academia and industry.

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Education

Prof Dr. Bontchev holds a doctorate in parallel processing from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He further expanded his knowledge through specialization in prominent European universities, where he gained exposure to advanced computing environments and emerging technologies. This academic foundation enabled him to pursue innovative directions in both industrial applications and university-level teaching, ensuring a strong link between theoretical understanding and real-world practice.

Experience

Prof Dr. Boyan Bontchev began his career as a software engineer and project manager in private companies located in several European countries, gaining hands-on experience in diverse cultural and technical environments. Later, he established himself as the managing director of Bonea Ltd., where he oversaw strategic software projects. His role as a professor of software engineering at Sofia University complements this industrial background, as he combines practical leadership with teaching, mentoring, and guiding research initiatives.

Research Interest

Prof Dr. Boyan Bontchev research is centered on adaptive e-learning platforms, serious games, computer architectures, and semantic web technologies. He has played leading roles in both national and international projects, contributing to innovation in educational software systems and interactive digital solutions. His ability to integrate academic research with industrial applications has made him a valuable collaborator and thought leader in advancing digital learning technologies and computing methods.

Award

Prof Dr. Bontchev has been invited to deliver talks at many European scientific conferences, reflecting recognition from his peers for his expertise and contributions. His active involvement in significant research initiatives and continuous innovation in educational technology have earned him professional respect and acknowledgment in both academic and professional communities.

Publication Top Notes

Teachers’ Views on STEM Education in Bulgaria: A Qualitative Survey
Authors: Elena Paunova-Hubenova, Boyan Bontchev, Valentina Terzieva, Yavor Dankov
Journal: Education Sciences

Raising Awareness of Climate Heritage Resilience and Vulnerability by Playing Serious Video Games
Authors: Boyan Bontchev, Valentina Terzieva, Luciano De Bonis, Rossella Nocera, Dessislava Vassileva, Giovanni Ottaviano
Journal: Applied Sciences

How to Tailor Educational Maze Games: The Student’s Preferences
Authors: Valentina Terzieva, Boyan Bontchev, Yavor Dankov, Elena Paunova-Hubenova
Journal: Sustainability

Personalization of Serious Games for Learning
Authors: Bontchev, B.P., Terzieva, V., Paunova-Hubenova, E.
Journal: Interactive Technology and Smart Education

“Let Us Save Venice”—An Educational Online Maze Game for Climate Resilience
Authors: Boyan Bontchev, Albena Antonova, Valentina Terzieva, Yavor Dankov
Journal: Sustainability

Conclusion

Prof Dr. Boyan Bontchev embodies the successful fusion of industry expertise and academic scholarship. His contributions to adaptive learning, serious gaming, semantic technologies, and computer systems demonstrate a career committed to innovation and progress. As both a leader in private enterprise and a professor shaping future generations, he continues to impact the fields of software engineering and digital education at both national and international levels.

Prof. Dr. Chih-Hsien Hsia | Image Processing | Best Researcher Award

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Prof. Dr. Chih-Hsien Hsia | Image Processing | Best Researcher Award

National Ilan University, Taiwan.

Chih-Hsien Hsia is a distinguished professor and researcher in computer science, specializing in DSP IC Design, Computer Vision, Image Processing, and Cognitive Engineering. He holds dual Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Science from National Cheng Kung University and Electrical & Computer Engineering from Tamkang University, Taiwan. Currently, he serves as a Distinguished Professor at National Ilan University and holds key positions in AI research, industry collaborations, and professional organizations. His contributions to AI, image processing, and intelligent systems have earned him prestigious awards and widespread recognition.

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🎓 Education

Prof. Dr. Chih-Hsien Hsia holds dual Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Science from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, and Electrical & Computer Engineering from Tamkang University, Taiwan. His expertise spans multiple engineering disciplines, with a strong focus on cutting-edge technological advancements and interdisciplinary research.

💼 Experience

Prof. Dr. Chih-Hsien Hsia is a Distinguished Professor at National Ilan University (2024 – Present) and serves as the Executive Director of the AI Promotion Office at the same institution. He is also the Director of the AIoX Research Center at National Ilan University (2024 – Present).

Beyond his role at NIU, he has been an Honorary Distinguished Professor at Chaoyang University of Technology since 2022 and a Board Member of the Chinese Society of Consumer Electronics since 2018. Additionally, he holds the position of Vice Chair of the IEEE Taipei Chapter Signal Processing Society (2024 – Present).

Previously, he served as a Professor at National Ilan University (2020 – 2024) and was the Chairperson of the Department of Computer Science at NIU from 2021 to 2024. His leadership and research contributions have significantly advanced AI, signal processing, and computer science education.

🔬 Research Interests

🖥 DSP IC Design

📷 Computer Vision & Image Processing

🧠 Cognitive Engineering

🏆 Awards & Honors

🥇 Taiwan International Science Fair (2025) – First Prize in Computer Science & Engineering

🏅 Best Paper Awards at IEEE Eurasia Conference on IoT, IET International Conference, National Defense Technology Academic Conference (2024)

🌟 World's Top 2% Scientists (2022)

🎖 Outstanding Young Scholar Award – Computer Society of the Republic of China (2018, 2020)

📚 Notable Publications

Finger Vein Recognition Based on Vision Transformer with Feature Decoupling for Online Payment Applications
IEEE Access, 2025 | DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3552075
Contributors: Liang-Ying Ke, Yi-Chen Lin, Chih-Hsien Hsia

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Sensing and Image Processing
Sensors, 2025-03-18 | DOI: 10.3390/s25061870
Contributors: Jing Chen, Miaohui Wang, Chih-Hsien Hsia

An Edge-Cloud Collaborative Scalp Inspection System Based on Robust Representation Learning
IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, 2024 | DOI: 10.1109/TCE.2024.3474911
Contributors: Sin-Ye Jhong, Guan-Ting Li, Chih-Hsien Hsia

Tucker Decomposition and Log-Gabor Feature-Based Quality Assessment for the Screen Content Videos
IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2024 | DOI: 10.1109/TIM.2024.3381267
Contributors: Hailiang Huang, Huanqiang Zeng, Jing Chen, Junhui Hou, Chih-Hsien Hsia, Kai-Kuang Ma

Width-Adaptive CNN: Fast CU Partition Prediction for VVC Screen Content Coding
IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, 2024 | DOI: 10.1109/TMM.2024.3410116
Contributors: Chao Jiao, Huanqiang Zeng, Jing Chen, Chih-Hsien Hsia, Tianlei Wang, Kai-Kuang Ma