Robotics and Artificial Intelligence — Cheng Kar-Shun Robotics Institute, the Von Neumann Institute and HKUST's Intelligent Landscape

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) ranks among the leading institutions in Asia for research in robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and data science. In 2025, the Research Grants Council (RGC) awarded HKUST more than HK$212.5 million across three projects combining AI, robotics and data science — the largest allocation among Hong Kong universities^※. This strength does not rest on scattered individual achievements; it is underpinned by a set of institutionalised flagship bodies: the Cheng Kar-Shun Robotics Institute (CKSRI) for robotics, the Von Neumann Institute (VNI), an AI flagship established in 2025, along with the Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAiRE), the Big Data Institute (BDI) and several centres under the InnoHK framework. This article sets these institutions side by side to map out HKUST's full "robotics + AI + data science" landscape.

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# 1. Cheng Kar-Shun Robotics Institute (CKSRI): The Flagship Robotics Platform

# Origins: From "Robotics Institute" to "Cheng Kar-Shun Robotics Institute"

If DJI is the most dazzling "fruit" of HKUST's robotics entrepreneurship gene, then the Robotics Institute is one of the soils that nurtured it. According to the webpage of the Office of the Vice-President for Research and Development (VPRD), HKUST established the Robotics Institute in 2015 as a major new interdisciplinary research initiative^※. The timing is symbolically significant: around 2015, HKUST-affiliated robotics companies such as DJI were rising in reputation, and the global robotics industry was entering a phase of explosive growth. The creation of a dedicated robotics institute can be read as an institutional response to this trend — consolidating robotics research scattered across departments under a single interdisciplinary platform.

According to the same page, in June 2021, following a HK$100 million donation from the Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation^※, the institute was renamed the Cheng Kar-Shun Robotics Institute (CKSRI) in honour of Dr. Cheng Kar-Shun, honorary chairman of the Foundation. The naming ceremony was hosted by Dr. Adrian Cheng, eldest son of Dr. Cheng Kar-Shun and Chief Executive Officer of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. The naming follows HKUST's established practice of "naming important academic institutions after donors" (for the broader naming lineage, see Donations and Naming^※).

# Positioning: An Interdisciplinary Robotics Platform

According to the institute's webpage^※, CKSRI is a multi-disciplinary platform that supports and promotes robotics-related research, development and education^※, dedicated to building machines that can learn, act and sense emotions^※, with applications spanning home-use and service robots. It integrates innovations across sensors, devices, systems, networks, neuroscience, data analytics and machine learning^※ to advance research aimed at broad applications and social impact.

The "interdisciplinary platform" positioning is key. Modern robotics is not a single discipline — it spans mechanical engineering, electronics, computer science, control, materials and even neuroscience. CKSRI's value lies precisely in breaking down the boundaries between schools and departments, bringing these dispersed strengths together under one research framework, consistent with HKUST's overall interdisciplinary orientation (see the section on the Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study in Key Laboratories and Research Institutes (Part 1)^※). The Institute is known for translating research outcomes into market products, has developed an extensive network of industry partners, and runs entrepreneurship incubation programmes.

# Research Landscape: More Than a Dozen Robotics Directions

CKSRI's research coverage is exceptionally broad. According to the institute and School of Engineering pages^※, its research areas include:

This list covers nearly all the major frontiers of contemporary robotics research. Autonomous driving and humanoid robots attract particular attention because they align closely with global capital and industry hotspots; meanwhile, directions such as marine robotics and miniature robotics reflect HKUST's distinctive strengths anchored in its Clear Water Bay seaside location and its accumulation in micro-/nano-fabrication.

# Li Zexiang and the Robotics Education System

Prof. Li Zexiang, Chair Professor in the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering (now Colin Lam Ko Yin Professor of Engineering), is a central figure at CKSRI and a principal driver of HKUST's robotics entrepreneurship ecosystem. According to a report by the HKUST School of Engineering^※, Li advocates a "new engineering" (新工科) educational philosophy, hoping students will "use technology to create new things, rather than go to Silicon Valley or Wall Street." Companies he founded or co-founded with his students include Googol Technology, DJI, QKM Technology, CiDi and ePropulsion Technology (for the detailed founding stories of these ventures, see HKUST Entrepreneurship and the Unicorn Ecosystem (Part 2)^※).

# Coupling with the HKUST Entrepreneurship Lineage

CKSRI cannot be understood apart from HKUST's robotics entrepreneurship lineage. The HKUST-affiliated companies — from DJI (consumer drones), Googol (motion control) and Yunzhou Tech (unmanned surface vessels) to the string of hard-tech ventures incubated by the "Li Zexiang school" (see Notable Alumni^※ and HKUST Entrepreneurship and the Unicorn Ecosystem (Part 2)^※) — form an industrial cluster built around robotics and autonomous systems. As the University's flagship robotics research platform, CKSRI maintains a two-way "academia–industry" coupling with this cluster: on one hand, the Institute's basic research supplies the technological seeds and talent for industry; on the other, the vibrant industrial ecosystem feeds back real-world application scenarios and insights. This coupling is the most concrete expression of HKUST's "deep integration of industry, academia and research" narrative in the robotics domain.

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# 2. The Von Neumann Institute (VNI): An AI Flagship Founded in 2025

As artificial intelligence becomes the main battlefield of global technological competition, research universities everywhere are standing up flagship AI institutes. HKUST's answer is the Von Neumann Institute (VNI), established in 2025.

# Establishment: Responding to Hong Kong's AI Core-Industry Strategy

According to an HKUST announcement, the University established the Von Neumann Institute (VNI) in 2025 in response to the Hong Kong SAR Government's strategy of developing artificial intelligence as a core industry^※ (see also the University History Timeline^※, 2025 entry). Around 2025, global AI — particularly generative AI and large models — entered an explosive phase, and Hong Kong likewise designated AI as a core industry for priority development. In establishing VNI, HKUST consolidated its accumulated strengths in computer science (see School of Engineering in Depth: Department of Computer Science and Engineering^※), robotics (see the CKSRI section above) and beyond into a single AI-focused flagship platform, answering the dual call of the era and of policy.

# Naming: Honouring the "Father of Modern Computing"

The Institute's name carries profound meaning. According to the HKUST announcement, VNI is named after the Hungarian-American mathematician John von Neumann, hailed as the "father of modern computing"^※. Von Neumann was one of the greatest mathematicians and computing pioneers of the 20th century; his "von Neumann architecture" laid the foundation of modern computers, and he spent many years at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Naming its AI institute after him is both a tribute to the origins of computing science and a spiritual resonance with the partnership between HKUST's Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and Princeton's IAS (see Key Laboratories and Research Institutes (Part 1)^※) — von Neumann was, after all, one of the legendary figures of Princeton's IAS. The naming connects HKUST's AI ambitions to the great tradition of modern computing.

# Leadership: Computer Vision and AI Scholar Jiaya Jia

VNI is headed by HKUST Chair Professor Jiaya Jia. According to the HKUST Research Portal^※ and public sources, Jia is a world-class expert in computer vision, artificial intelligence and computational imaging, and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)^※. Jia is himself a figure in HKUST's entrepreneurship lineage — he is a co-founder of the computer vision company SmartMore (see HKUST Entrepreneurship and the Unicorn Ecosystem (Part 2)^※ and Notable Professors^※). Placing a scholar who combines top-tier academic credentials with hands-on entrepreneurial experience at VNI's helm fits perfectly with HKUST's long-standing "deep integration of industry, academia and research" orientation — VNI is meant both to pursue cutting-edge academic research and to drive AI's industrial translation and talent development.

Note: Jiaya Jia is a living scholar; his academic honours (ACM/IEEE Fellow, Institute Director) are neutral, factual records. This archive records him by his full name based on public sources.

# Research Directions: Multimodal AI, Robotics and Healthcare

According to the HKUST announcement, under Jia's leadership VNI will pursue transformative research in multimodal AI, robotics and healthcare, while nurturing future talent through educational initiatives^※. It has been reported that VNI focuses on five key areas of AI, including developing next-generation multimodal AI systems capable of processing multiple data types such as images, audio and text, as well as enhancing AI's logical reasoning capabilities to create trustworthy, reliable solutions^※. These directions sketch out VNI's ambition:

• Multimodal AI — unified intelligence across image, audio and text, at the frontier of current large-model research;
• Trustworthy reasoning — strengthening AI's logical reasoning and reliability, addressing industry pain points such as "AI hallucination" and untrustworthiness;
• Robotics and healthcare — combining AI with HKUST's robotics strengths and the newly planned medical school (see Planning of the Medical School^※) to open up "AI + industry" application scenarios. The "AI + healthcare" direction in particular forms a strategic synergy with HKUST's 2025 approval to plan a medical school^※, one of whose distinctive features is embedding AI, data science and robotics in clinical training — VNI's AI capabilities could well become the technological pillar of the medical school's "technology-driven medical education."

Placing VNI within the HKUST narrative: its establishment responds to Hong Kong's strategy of developing AI as a core industry, making it the flagship of HKUST's AI layout; its name honours the "father of modern computing," linking HKUST's AI ambitions to the great tradition of modern computing; its leader, a scholar with both academic and entrepreneurial backgrounds, embodies the University's "deep integration of industry, academia and research" orientation; and its "AI + robotics + healthcare" directions create strategic synergies with CKSRI and the new medical school. Together with the Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (basic research and interdisciplinarity), CKSRI (robotics) and the State Key Laboratories (neuroscience / optoelectronics / climate), VNI completes an "institute matrix" — and VNI is the pole within that matrix dedicated to AI.

At a broader level, VNI's establishment marks the "institutionalisation" stage of HKUST's AI strategy: previously, the University's strengths in AI, computer vision and machine learning were dispersed across the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, various laboratories and the entrepreneurship lineage; VNI brings these scattered forces together into a flagship platform with a unified banner, a named leader and five clearly defined directions. In the global wave of universities racing to establish AI institutes, HKUST's entry under the von Neumann name is at once a confident assertion of its own computer science tradition and an active response to Hong Kong's "AI as a core industry" strategy.

Note: The establishment year of CKSRI (2015), its renaming date (June 2021), the founding year of VNI (2025), and the lists of director and research directions are as stated on HKUST's official pages and are time-sensitive; the Institute's directions and projects are continuously updated. Please refer to the latest official announcements before citing.

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# 3. Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAiRE) and the Big Data Institute (BDI)

CAiRE was the first AI research centre established by a local Hong Kong university^※. Announced in September 2018, it integrates interdisciplinary resources from the Schools of Engineering, Science and Business, as well as multiple research centres, including the Big Data Institute (BDI), the Robotics Institute, the Centre for Human Language Technology and the HKUST Shenzhen Research Institute. Its research spans the scientific, technological, social, commercial and educational dimensions of AI.

The Big Data Institute (BDI) was formally established on 1 February 2016^※. Oriented towards industry needs and social applications, it operates on a multi-centre model, with each centre having its own strategic focus and external industrial support. Core research directions include smart cities, business intelligence, healthcare and genomics, e-commerce, privacy policy and robot design.

CAiRE and BDI — one focused on interdisciplinary integration of AI itself, the other on industry-oriented big data research — join CKSRI and VNI in forming HKUST's "AI + robotics + data" institutional matrix.

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# 4. AI and Robotics Centres under the InnoHK Framework

Under the Hong Kong SAR Government's AIR@InnoHK research cluster, HKUST leads four research centres^※:

HKGAI integrates the strengths of five top Hong Kong universities and showcased cutting-edge AI projects to the public for the first time at InnoEx 2024^※.

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# 5. Autonomous Driving and Industry Joint Laboratories

# Hong Kong's First Self-Driving Car

In 2017, Prof. Liu Ming invented Hong Kong's first self-driving car at HKUST^※; during the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, his autonomous systems were deployed for disinfection and delivery in mainland Chinese communities. He serves as Acting Director of the Robotics and Autonomous Systems thrust at HKUST (Guangzhou), holds a concurrent appointment in the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering at HKUST (Clear Water Bay), and leads the Intelligent Autonomous Driving Centre.

# Joint Laboratory with the Hong Kong Productivity Council

HKUST and the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) have launched a joint research laboratory^※ — the University's first joint research lab established with a Hong Kong statutory body. Combining HKPC's expertise in smart manufacturing with HKUST's research capabilities in AI and robotics, the lab addresses practical industrial challenges.

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# 6. Data Science Research Directions

According to the Office of the Vice-President for Research and Development^※, HKUST lists "autonomous systems and robotics" as one of eight core research areas and separately designates "data science" as a key focus, with specific application scenarios including:

• Smart city infrastructure and traffic management
• Healthcare data analytics and genomics
• Financial data and risk modelling
• Environmental monitoring and climate data

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# 7. Summary: Three Tiers of Institutions Sustain the "Robotics + AI Powerhouse" Image

Viewed together, HKUST's strengths in robotics and AI are upheld by three tiers of institutions:

1. CKSRI (robotics) — integrates scattered robotics research forces and serves as the academic wellspring of HKUST's remarkable robotics entrepreneurship lineage;
2. VNI (AI flagship) — founded in 2025, named after the "father of modern computing," focused on multimodal AI, trustworthy reasoning and "AI + healthcare";
3. CAiRE / BDI / InnoHK centre cluster — fills in AI's interdisciplinary integration, big data industrialisation and dedicated government funding channels.

Alongside star spin-offs such as DJI, these institutions jointly sustain HKUST's public image as a "robotics powerhouse"; and as VNI's synergies with the new medical school and CKSRI deepen, "AI + industry" is becoming one of the main threads of the University's next-phase research narrative.

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