Lin Feng Zhang, a Rising Star in Efficient AI: From Tsinghua PhD to Shanghai Jiao Tong University Professor

Lin Feng Zhang, a Rising Star in Efficient AI: From Tsinghua PhD to Shanghai Jiao Tong University ProfessorA recent academic report published on the website of the College of Information and Electrical Engineering at China Agricultural University revealed that Dr. Lin Feng Zhang, born in 1997, has officially joined the School of Artificial Intelligence at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) as an assistant professor and doctoral supervisor

Lin Feng Zhang, a Rising Star in Efficient AI: From Tsinghua PhD to Shanghai Jiao Tong University Professor

A recent academic report published on the website of the College of Information and Electrical Engineering at China Agricultural University revealed that Dr. Lin Feng Zhang, born in 1997, has officially joined the School of Artificial Intelligence at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) as an assistant professor and doctoral supervisor. This young scholar, a graduate of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences at Tsinghua University, has quickly risen to prominence in academia for his outstanding contributions to the field of Efficient AI.

Zhang's research focuses on efficient AI, encompassing several crucial areas including large language models, image and video generation models, and the compression and acceleration of AI datasets. His academic achievements are impressive: he has published over 20 first-author and corresponding-author papers in high-level academic conferences and journals, including CCF-A class publications. These papers have garnered over 2000 citations, reflecting the wide influence and academic value of his research. Furthermore, he actively participates in academic peer review, serving as a reviewer for numerous top international academic conferences such as NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, CVPR, and ICCV, contributing to the advancement of the AI field.

His outstanding academic contributions have earned him numerous honors and accolades. Zhang has received awards including the Beijing Outstanding Graduate Award, Tsinghua University Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, Microsoft Scholarship (one of twelve recipients in Asia), and the Tsinghua University Jiang Nanxiang Scholarship. These awards fully affirm his exceptional academic abilities and research potential. Significantly, he also won the Tsinghua University Graduate "Qihang Award" Gold Award, a testament to his future prospects.

Tsinghua University's Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences announced in July of this year that Dr. Zhang had turned down lucrative offers from several companies to dedicate himself to education and research, demonstrating his passion for academic research and commitment to cultivating talent. He chose SJTU's School of Artificial Intelligence as the next step in his career, where he will continue his research in efficient AI.

Zhang's research work not only holds significant theoretical importance but also possesses notable practical application value. His self-distillation algorithm, proposed in 2019, stands as a major milestone in his academic career. This algorithm, for the first time, proved that a teacher model is not necessary in knowledge distillation, completely overturning the conventional wisdom in this field and driving the development of teacher-free knowledge distillation. It has received widespread recognition from international peers. Professor Kuk-Jin Yoon of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology highly praised this algorithm, noting its significant advantages over sequential algorithms, exhibiting better generalization and higher efficiency. Associate Professor Song Han of MIT even dedicated a section of his course to introduce the self-distillation algorithm, highlighting its academic impact.

Zhang's research achievements are not confined to theoretical work; he successfully applied knowledge distillation and model compression techniques to various practical applications, including 2D detection, 3D detection, multi-view image detection, instance segmentation, image generation, and video super-resolution. These have been deployed in real-world applications. His research genuinely serves people's lives, translating advanced AI technology into practical applications, showcasing his responsibility and mission as a scientist.

The School of Artificial Intelligence at SJTU, where Zhang chose to join, is a dedicated school established by the university in response to national strategies and to serve Shanghai's leading industries. It is a specially developed school committed to cultivating independent, high-caliber AI talent in China, utilizing a high-level positioning and a new institutional mechanism to provide strong support for China's high-level technological self-reliance and self-strengthening.

The school boasts a strong faculty team, bringing together top domestic and international experts and scholars in AI and related fields, including 2 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, 1 foreign academician, 14 IEEE Fellows, 66 recipients of the National Outstanding Youth Science Fund and Changjiang Scholars Program, 110 "Four Youth" talents, and over 700 doctoral supervisors (including the medical school) engaged in AI and related research across various disciplines. The school's innovative talent introduction and cultivation mechanism provides strong support for attracting and cultivating excellent talent.

Dr. Zhang's addition will undoubtedly further enhance the research strength and academic influence of SJTU's School of Artificial Intelligence. This promising young scholar is certain to make even greater contributions to the development of AI in China. His research journey is only just beginning, and we have reason to believe he will achieve even more brilliant accomplishments in the future, driving the progress and application of AI technology. He represents the burgeoning power of a new generation of young Chinese AI scholars, who will, with their intelligence and passion, propel the Chinese AI field forward. His choice also reflects the return of AI talent to China and the confidence in the development of domestic academics. This is not only Dr. Zhang's personal success but also a microcosm of the vibrant flourishing of the Chinese AI field.

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