Ka-Wai Kwok received the B.Eng. and M.Phil. degrees from Department of Automation and Computer-aided Engineering (aka Mechanical and Automation Engineering (MAE) currently), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2003 and 2005, respectively. In 2012, he obtained the Ph.D. degree from the Hamlyn Centre for Robotic Surgery, Department of Computing, Imperial College London. After then, he was awarded the Croucher Foundation Fellowship 2013, which supported his research jointly supervised by advisors in The University of Georgia, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. From 2014, he had joined Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), for being a faculty. His research interests focus on surgical robotics, intra-operative image processing, and their uses of intelligent systems. He has participated in various designs of robotic devices/interfaces for endoscopy, and MRI-guided interventions.
Currently, Ka-Wai serves as Professor at MAE, CUHK. To date, he has co-authored >160 peer-reviewed articles with >80 clinical fellows and >160 scientists/engineers. His multidisciplinary work has been recognized by various (>10) awards in international conferences/journals, e.g. the largest flagship conferences of robotics, ICRA and IROS. He was the recipient of ICRA Best Conference Paper Award in 2018, and IROS Toshio Fukuda Young Professional Award in 2020. He also obtained awards in his early career for robotics, e.g. the Early Career Awards 2015/16 offered by Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong, Actuators 2020 Young Investigator Award, HKU 2019-2020 Outstanding Young Researcher Award, HKU Young Innovator Award 2020 and HKU Research Output Prize 2021-22.
Being IEEE Senior Member, Ka-Wai serves editor boards for IROS 2017-22, ICRA 2019-21, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine (RAM), as well as Annals of Biomedical Engineering (ABME) and Proc. IMechE Part I: Journal of Systems & Control Engineering (JSCE). He is the principal investigator of group for Interventional Robotic and Imaging Systems (IRIS) at HKU. The group has (>5) inventions licensed/transferred from university to industry in support for their commercialization. He is a co-founder of Agilis Robotics Ltd. aiming at advancing the interventional endoscopy with small, flexible robotic instruments and their intelligent control systems.
- Surgical Robotics
- Intra-Operative Image-Guided Robot Systems
- Control and Intelligent Systems
- High-fidelity tendon-driven robotic assistant with multimodal sensing for joint arthroplasty
- Soft-robot-empowered acoustic phase and amplitude modulation for high-efficacy MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatments
- AI-assisted microrobotic platform for minimally invasive interventions (Co-PI)
- Minimally Contiguous Intubation and Tracheostomy for Severe COVID-19 Patients with Teleoperated Endotracheal cum Percutaneous Dual Robotic Modules and Multi-Modality Guidance (Co-PI)
MAEG5090 Topics in Robotics
Selected Journal Papers
- Z. He, J. Dai, J.D.L. Ho, H.S. Tong, X. Wang, G. Fang, L. Liang, C.L. Cheung, Z. Guo, H.C. Chang, I. Iordachita, R.H. Taylor, W.S. Poon, D.T.M. Chan, K.W. Kwok, “Interactive Multi-stage Robotic Positioner for Intra-operative MRI-guided Stereotactic Neurosurgery,” Advanced Science, 2305495, 2023
- J. Dai, B. Zhu, X. Wang, Z. Jiang, M. Wu, L. Liang, X. Xie, J. Lam, H.C. Chang, K.W. Kwok, “Learning-based Efficient Phase-Amplitude Modulation and Hybrid Control for MRI-guided Focused Ultrasound Treatment,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (Accepted)
- J. Dai, X. Wang, Y. Li, Z. Liu, Y. L. Ng, J. Xiao, J.K.M. Fan, J. Lam, Q. Dou, V. Vardhanabhuti, K.W. Kwok, “Automatic Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Based Prostate Lesions Assessment with Unsupervised Domain Adaptation,” Advanced Intelligent Systems, 2200246, 2023
- J. Liu, X. Gong, Y. Cui, J. Lam, K.W. Kwok, “Further Improvements on Nonnegative Edge Consensus of Networked Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics (Early Access)
- K.W. Kwok, H. Wurdemann, A. Arezzo, A. Menciassi, K. Althofer, “Soft Robot-Assisted Minimally Invasive Surgery and Interventions: Advances and Outlook,” Proceedings of the IEEE, 110(7), 871-892, 2022
- G. Fang, M.C.K. Chow, J.D.L. Ho, Z. He, K. Wang, T.C. Ng, J.K.H. Tsoi, P.L. Chan, H.C. Chang, D.T.M. Chan, C. Holsinger, J.Y.K. Chan, K.W. Kwok, “Soft Robotic Manipulator for Intra-operative MRI-guided Transoral Laser Microsurgery,” Science Robotics, 6(57), eabg5575, 2021 [HKU Research Output Prize 2021-22]
- K. Wang, C.H. Mak, J.D.L. Ho, Z. Liu, K.Y. Sze, K.K.Y. Wong, K. Althoefer, Y.H. Liu, T. Fukuda, K.W. Kwok, “Large-scale surface shape sensing with learning-based computational mechanics,” Advanced Intelligent Systems, 2100089, 2021
- Z. Dong, X. Wang, J.D.L. Ho, Z. He, G. Fang, W.L. Tang, X. Xie, C.K. Ching, K.W. Kwok, “Shape Tracking and Feedback Control of Cardiac Catheter Using MRI-guided Robotic Platform – Validation with Pulmonary Vein Isolation Simulator in MRI,” IEEE Transactions on Robotics (TRO), 38(5), 2781-2798, 2022 [Best Technical Experimental Paper 2022-2023, selected by the Society for Cardiac Robotic Navigation (SCRN)]
- Y. Chen, J. Lam, Y. Cui, J. Shen, K.W. Kwok, “Reachable Set Estimation and Synthesis for Periodic Positive Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, 51(2):501-511, 2021
- Y.L. Ng, C.K. Lo, K.H. Lee, X. Xie, T.N.Y. Kwong, M. Ip, L. Zhang, J. Yu, J.J.Y. Sung, W.K.K. Wu, S.H. Wong, K.W. Kwok, “Development of an open-access and explainable machine learning prediction system to assess the mortality and recurrence risk factors of Clostridioides difficile infection patients,” Advanced Intelligent Systems, 3(1):2999188, 2020