Shengchao Liu | Computer Science | Research Excellence Award

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.

Citation Metrics (Google Scholar)

4000
3000
2000
1000
  500
  100
      0

Citations
3510

Documents
40

h-index
22

Citations

Documents

h-index

View Google Scholar Profile

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

 

Kun He | Computer Science | Research Excellence Award

Assoc Prof Dr. Kun He | Computer Science | Research Excellence Award 

Renmin University | China

Dr. Kun He is an accomplished computer scientist and currently serves as an Associate Professor at Renmin University of China (since January 2023). His academic journey reflects a strong foundation in theoretical computer science, backed by extensive research experience across leading Chinese institutions. Before joining Renmin University, he worked at the Institute of Computing Technology (ICT), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), first as an Assistant Researcher (2021–2022) and later as an Associate Researcher (2022). He also completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Shenzhen University between 2019 and 2021. Dr. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from ICT, CAS in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Xiaoming Sun. He also holds a Master’s degree from ICT, CAS and a Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science from Wuhan University. His research centers on the theory of computing, with particular emphasis on probabilistic methods, sampling algorithms, quantum computing, combinatorial structures, and theoretical machine learning. His work has significantly advanced algorithmic techniques related to the Lovász Local Lemma (LLL), Holant problems, and random constraint satisfaction. Over the years, Dr. He has received numerous prestigious awards recognizing the impact and quality of his research. These include the New Hundred Stars of ICT (2021), the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award of the China Computer Federation (2020), the Special Award for the President of CAS (2019), and the National Scholarship of China (2018). These honors highlight his early and sustained contributions to theoretical computer science. Dr. He has published extensively in top-tier venues such as SODA, STOC, FOCS, ITCS, and Random Structures & Algorithms. His notable works include breakthroughs on the Moser–Tardos algorithm, deterministic counting versions of the Lovász Local Lemma, sampling solutions to random CNF formulas, and quantum extensions of classical combinatorial frameworks. Several of his papers have been widely cited and recognized, including a top-downloaded publication in Random Structures & Algorithms (2020). Recently, his research continues to push theoretical boundaries, with upcoming papers on the phase transition of the Sinkhorn–Knopp algorithm and efficient approximation schemes for Holant problems. Dr. He also actively works on emerging topics involving perfect sampling and permutation constraints within the Lopsided LLL regime, with multiple manuscripts currently under submission. With strong expertise, a prolific publication record, and multiple high-impact contributions, Dr. Kun He stands as a leading figure in modern theoretical computer science.

Profiles: Scopus | Google Scholar

Featured Publications

He, K., Li, L., Liu, X., Wang, Y., & Xia, M. (2025). Variable version Lovász Local Lemma: A tale of two boundaries. Information and Computation, 105386.

He, K. (2025). Phase transition of the Sinkhorn-Knopp algorithm. arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.09711.

He, K., Li, Z., Qiu, G., & Zhang, C. (2025). FPTAS for Holant problems with log-concave signatures. In Proceedings of the 2025 Annual ACM–SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA).

He, K., Qiu, G., & Sun, X. (2024). Sampling permutations satisfying constraints within the lopsided local lemma regime. arXiv preprint arXiv:2411.02750.

He, K., Qiu, G., & Sun, X. (2024). Sampling permutations satisfying constraints within and beyond the local lemma regime. arXiv e-prints, arXiv:2411.02750.

He, K., Li, Q., & Sun, X. (2023). Moser-Tardos algorithm: Beyond Shearer’s bound. In Proceedings of the 2023 Annual ACM–SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA).

He, K., Wang, C., & Yin, Y. (2023). Deterministic counting Lovász Local Lemma beyond linear programming. In Proceedings of the 2023 Annual ACM–SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA).

He, K., Wu, K., & Yang, K. (2023). Improved bounds for sampling solutions of random CNF formulas. In Proceedings of the 2023 Annual ACM–SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA).

He, K., Wang, C., & Yin, Y. (2022). Sampling Lovász Local Lemma for general constraint satisfaction solutions in near-linear time. In 2022 IEEE 63rd Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science (FOCS).

Mr. Pawan Gaire | Applied Electromagnetics | Best Researcher Award

Mr. Pawan Gaire | Applied Electromagnetics | Best Researcher Award

University of Nebraska Lincoln, United States.

Pawan K. Gaire is a Ph.D. candidate in Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, specializing in electromagnetic (EM) simulation, numerical modeling, and RF/antenna design. With expertise in tools like HFSS, ADS, and COMSOL, he has a strong background in designing innovative wireless communication and power transfer systems. His research focuses on advanced computational techniques, including Physics Embedded Neural Networks (PENN) for solving complex electromagnetic problems.

Profile

Scopus
Orcid

🎓 Education

Mr. Pawan Gaire is a dedicated scholar in the field of Electrical Engineering, currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2022-2025) with a perfect GPA of 4.0. Prior to this, he earned his M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Florida International University (2019-2022), achieving an impressive GPA of 3.96. His academic journey began at Howard University, where he completed his B.S. in Electrical Engineering (2015-2019) with Summa Cum Laude honors and a GPA of 3.89. With a strong academic background and a commitment to excellence, Mr. Gaire continues to contribute to advancements in electrical engineering.

💼 Experience

Mr. Pawan Gaire has extensive research experience in electrical engineering, specializing in electromagnetics, antenna design, and wireless power transfer. Currently serving as a Research Assistant at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2022-Present), he has developed PENN, a novel neural network-based approach for solving Maxwell’s equations. His work also includes designing and fabricating sub-100 MHz multi-band antenna arrays using multiferroic heterostructures and simulating vector vortex wave generation for high-capacity tunnel communication.

Previously, as a Research Assistant at Florida International University (2019-2022), Mr. Gaire contributed to the development of an ad-hoc wireless power transfer system for smartphone charging and pioneered clothing-integrated rectifiers for efficient RF-to-DC conversion. Additionally, he conducted market validation for wearable charging devices under the NSF I-Corps program, showcasing his ability to bridge engineering innovation with commercial applications.

🛠️ Internships

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (2018) – Designed testbench for Hard X-ray systems.

DiCarlo Lab, MIT (2017) – Benchmarked AI models against primate vision.

Center for Integrated Quantum Materials (2016) – Fabricated and characterized diamond field-effect transistors.

🏆 Research Interests

Electromagnetic (EM) Simulation & RF Design: Expertise in Ansys HFSS, COMSOL, and ADS for antenna and circuit design.

Physics Embedded Neural Networks (PENN): Development of AI-driven solutions for scientific computing.

Wireless Power Transfer (WPT): Innovative antenna designs for efficient energy transfer.

Numerical Modeling & Computational Electromagnetics: Application of Finite Element Method (FEM) in RF systems.

🏅 Awards & Recognitions

NSF I-Corps Grant Recipient – Validated market demand for wireless charging solutions.

IEEE Conference Presenter – Multiple research presentations at premier EM and RF conferences.

Summa Cum Laude – Graduated with highest honors from Howard University.

📚 Publications

Physics Embedded Neural Network: Novel Data-Free Approach Towards Scientific Computing and Applications in Transfer Learning
Neurocomputing, 2025-02 | Journal Article
DOI: 10.1016/j.neucom.2024.128936
Contributors: Pawan Gaire, Shubhendu Bhardwaj

Data-Free Solution of Electromagnetic PDEs Using Neural Networks and Extension to Transfer Learning
IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 2022-07 | Journal Article
DOI: 10.1109/TAP.2022.3186710
Contributors: Shubhendu Bhardwaj, Pawan Gaire

An Ergonomic Wireless Charging System for Integration With Daily Life Activities
IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 2021-01 | Journal Article
DOI: 10.1109/TMTT.2020.3029530
Contributors: Dieff Vital, Pawan Gaire, Shubhendu Bhardwaj, John L. Volakis