PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Ajay Kumar

Ajay Kumar is a biometrics researcher whose work has included contactless 3D fingerprints and deep-learning methods for palmprint recognition. He earned B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in 1990 and 1992 and a PhD at the University of Hong Kong in 2001, then worked in postdoctoral roles in Hong Kong and as an assistant professor at IIT Delhi. A 2013 paper presents a single-camera 3D fingerprint identification system, and his 2018 technical report with Yang Liu describes deep learning for contactless palmprints. He became an IAPR Fellow in 2016 and an IEEE Fellow in 2018, then served as President of the IEEE Biometrics Council from 2021 to 2022. He received the 2026 IEEE Biometrics Council Leadership Award; as of October 2026, he is a professor and Associate Head (Research) at PolyU.

Works
230
Citations
11,664
h-index
58
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1990–2001

    Engineering degrees and a doctorate

    He earns a B.Eng. in 1990 and an M.Eng. in 1992, then completes a Ph.D. at the University of Hong Kong in 2001.

  2. 2001–2007

    Postdoctoral work and IIT Delhi

    At HKUST, he works as a postdoctoral researcher from October 2001 to December 2002, then as a postdoctoral fellow at PolyU from 2003 to 2005. At IIT Delhi, he serves as an assistant professor in electrical engineering from 2005 to 2007.

  3. 2013

    Single-camera 3D fingerprints

    In 2013, he and Cyril Kwong develop a contactless 3D fingerprint identification system that uses one camera and 3D finger-surface codes.

  4. 2016–2018

    IAPR and IEEE fellowships

    He becomes an IAPR Fellow in 2016 for contributions to human identification using biometrics, then an IEEE Fellow in 2018.

  5. 2018

    Deep learning for palmprints

    In 2018, he and Yang Liu present a technical report describing a deep-learning framework that detects and recognizes humans using contactless palmprint images in the wild.

  6. 2021–2022

    President of the IEEE Biometrics Council

    He serves as President of the IEEE Biometrics Council from 2021 to 2022.

  7. 2026

    A 2026 council leadership award

    In September 2026, he receives the IEEE Biometrics Council Leadership Award at IJCB 2026 in Rome.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and associate head at PolyU

    As of October 2026, he is Associate Head (Research) and Professor in PolyU's Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

A language model matched the links in this timeline to people, organizations and papers (provisional, model-judged).

Career

  1. Since 2003Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityPostdoctoral Fellow
  2. 2005–2007IIT DelhiAssistant Professor in Electrical Engineering
  3. 2001–2002Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyPostdoctoral Researcher

Education

  1. 2001University of Hong KongPh.D.

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. Computer-Vision-Based Fabric Defect Detection: A Survey2008 · IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics · 722 citations
  2. Human Identification Using Finger Images2011 · IEEE Transactions on Image Processing · 624 citations
  3. Personal Verification Using Palmprint and Hand Geometry Biometric2003 · Lecture notes in computer science · 504 citationsWith Anil K. Jain
  4. Defect detection in textured materials using Gabor filters2002 · IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications · 475 citations
  5. Comparison and combination of iris matchers for reliable personal authentication2009 · Pattern Recognition · 399 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 33%Includes Hong Kong Polytechnic University. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 33% in 2020–2024.
  2. Stanford University trained or employed 27 of the 113 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Stanford University trained or employed 27 of the 113 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.
  3. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes IIT Delhi. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Prof. KUMAR Ajay | Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence polyu.edu.hk. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. Cognitive Computing Lab at Hong Kong Polyu coglab.comp.polyu.edu.hk. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. CVPR 2013 Open Access Repository openaccess.thecvf.com. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. IAPR Fellows for 2016 iapr.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. A Deep Learning based Framework to Detect and Recognize Humans using Contactless Palmprints in the Wild arxiv.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. Past Committee Members | IEEE Biometrics Council ieee-biometrics.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  7. Prof Ajay KUMAR honoured with the prestigious 2026 IEEE Biometrics Council Leadership Award polyu.edu.hk. Checked 18 October 2026.