Yongjing graduated from the University of Birmingham with a first-class BEng (Hons) in 2013, in a joint degree with Harbin Institute of Technology, China. His final year project, under the supervision of Professor Mietek Brdys, encouraged him to study for a PhD at the same institution.
Yongjing’s PhD research supervised by Professor Duc Pham focused on smart and active materials and structures with self-healing capabilities. His work on achieving high-level recovery at ultra-low temperatures has been reported in over 20 news media reports.
After obtaining his PhD degree in 2016, Yongjing continued to work in Professor Duc Pham’s group on robotic disassembly technologies, as part of the £2M EPSRC project AUTOREMAN. He was a core member of the AUTOREMAN research team, the lab manager of the Autonomous Remanufacturing Laboratory, where he co-authored over 20 academic publications.
In 2020, Yongjing was appointed as an Assistant Professor at the newly established School of Engineering. In 2021, he was awarded the EPSRC New Investigator Award (ie. ATARI) to investigate self-learning robotics for manufacturing automation.
ATARI has led to over 30 academic publications (e.g. the IEEE, Science, Royal Society, SME, IMechE series), 16 new collaborations and partnerships including world-leading engineering and technologies companies (e.g. Airbus, Dyson and Boston Dynamics), 1 patent and 5 award/recognition events (e.g. members of the UN advisory committees and keynote speakers at international conferences and exhibitions).
Yongjing was promoted an Associate Professor in 2023. He later received further £2.5M investments from the EPSRC on STAMAN and RoboTriage in 2024 to create a portfolio of robotic technologies to support sustainability and value retention in the future manufacturing.