Dr. Zhongyu Li received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2025 and 2020, respectively. He obtained his B.Eng. degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Zhejiang University in 2019 and was a visiting student researcher at Carnegie Mellon University in 2018. He joined the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in 2025. His research focuses on developing the next generation of dynamic robots, such as legged, humanoid, and other bio-inspired robots, to make them more intelligent, agile, robust, and safe, and ultimately, truly useful in real-world environments. His work has been published in leading robotics journals, including The International Journal of Robotics Research and IEEE Transactions on Robotics, and has received multiple recognitions, including finalists for Best Amusement Paper (IROS 2020), Best Service Robot Paper (ICRA 2021), and Best RoboCup Paper (IROS 2022). In 2023, he was selected as an RSS Pioneer (in Robotics) and a Rising Star in Mechanical Engineering.
- Legged and Humanoid Robotics
- Robot Learning and Embodied AI
- Safety-Critical Control
- Learning for Control
Journal Papers (in the recent five years)
- Z. Li, X. B. Peng, P. Abbeel, S. Levine, G. Berseth, K. Sreenath. “Reinforcement Learning for Versatile, Dynamic, and Robust Bipedal Locomotion Control.” International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), 2024.
- Z. Li, J. Zeng, S. Chen, K. Sreenath. “Autonomous Navigation of Bipedal Robots in Height-Constrained Environments.” International Journal of Robotics Research (IJRR), 2023.
- Z. Li, X. B. Peng, P. Abbeel, S. Levine, G. Berseth, K. Sreenath. “Robust and Versatile Bipedal Jumping Control through Reinforcement Learning.” Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2023.
- Z. Li, J. Zeng, A. Thirugnanam, K. Sreenath. “Bridging Model-based Safety and Model-free Reinforcement Learning through System Identification of Low Dimensional Linear Models.” Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS), 2022.
- Z. Li, X. Cheng, X. B. Peng, P. Abbeel, S. Levine, G. Berseth, K. Sreenath. “Reinforcement Learning for Robust Parameterized Locomotion Control of Bipedal Robots.” International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2021.
Honours and Awards
- Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering, 2023
- Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS) Pioneers, 2023
- IROS Best RoboCup Paper Finalist, 2022
- ICRA Best Service Robot Paper Finalist , 2021
- IROS Best Entertainment and Amusement Paper Finalist, 2020