PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Huamin Qu

Also known as 屈華民

Huamin Qu is a computer scientist whose visual analytics research connects e-learning, urban data and explainable AI. He earned a BS in mathematics from Xi'an Jiaotong University and MS and PhD degrees in computer science from Stony Brook University, then joined HKUST as an assistant professor in 2004. At HKUST, he became a professor in 2015, led a team that developed VisMOOC, and applied visualization to telecommunications data for transportation crowd management; he received a Huawei Noah's Ark Lab award in 2016. He coauthored RuleMatrix for classifier rules; IEEE recognized his visualization work with awards in 2023 and 2025, and a generative AI job-scheduling paper he coauthored won the IEEE T-ASE Best Paper Award in 2026. As of October 2026, he is Dean of HKUST's Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies and Chair Professor in Computer Science and Engineering; he also leads the Computational Media and Arts Thrust at HKUST (Guangzhou).

Badges

Timeline

  1. 2004

    A PhD and HKUST appointment

    He earns a BS in mathematics from Xi'an Jiaotong University and MS and PhD degrees in computer science from Stony Brook University. In 2004, he joins HKUST's Department of Computer Science and Engineering as an assistant professor.

  2. 2009–2010

    An IBM award and promotion

    In 2009, he receives an IBM Faculty Award. In 2010, he becomes an associate professor at HKUST.

  3. 2015

    VisMOOC and urban data

    In 2015, he becomes a professor in HKUST's Department of Computer Science and Engineering. His research includes visualization, urban informatics, e-learning and explainable AI. A team he leads develops Visual Analysis of MOOC (VisMOOC), and he applies visualization to large telecommunications datasets for smart-city work such as transportation crowd management.

  4. 2016

    A Huawei collaboration award

    In 2016, he receives the Distinguished Collaborator Award from Huawei Noah's Ark Lab.

  5. 2018

    RuleMatrix for classifier rules

    In 2018, he coauthors RuleMatrix with Yao Ming and Enrico Bertini, a paper on visualizing classifiers with rules.

  6. 2023

    An IEEE VGTC award

    In 2023, he receives the IEEE VGTC Visualization Technical Achievement Award for contributions that include urban informatics and human-AI collaboration.

  7. 2025–2026

    Word clouds and job-scheduling awards

    In 2025, he receives the IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications Test of Time Award for his 2010 paper on dynamic word-cloud visualization. In 2026, he coauthors a generative-model paper that wins the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering Best Paper Award.

  8. As of October 2026

    Dean and chair professor

    As of October 2026, he is Dean of the Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies and Chair Professor in HKUST's Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He is also Founding Head of the Computational Media and Arts Thrust and director of the Interdisciplinary Program Office at HKUST (Guangzhou).

Career

  1. Since 2004Hong Kong University of Science and TechnologyAssistant Professor, Chair Professor
  2. NowHKUST (Guangzhou)Founding Head

Education

  1. Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityBS
  2. Stony Brook UniversityMS

From the biography.

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Huamin Qu. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and 5+ year employment links, career timing and current workplaces for 187 major-prize and 1,111 best-paper winners.
  2. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  3. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  4. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. We estimate that Google holds the highest combined h-index at 8,016, while universities account for 73% of the deduplicated total across AI organizations.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Huamin Qu yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Huamin QU - The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Research Portal researchportal.hkust.edu.hk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Huamin Qu cma.hkust-gz.edu.cn. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. CSE Faculty received IBM Faculty Award 2009 | HKUST CSE cse.hkust.edu.hk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. HKUST Develops First Visual Analytic System on E-learning Behavior VisMOOC Won HKICT Innovation Award | HKUST School of Engineering seng.hkust.edu.hk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Personalized E-learning | Office of the Vice-President for Research and Development vprd.hkust.edu.hk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. [1807.06228] RuleMatrix: Visualizing and Understanding Classifiers with Rules arxiv.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Prof. Huamin Qu Received the IEEE VGTC Visualization Technical Award 2023 | HKUST CSE cse.hkust.edu.hk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Prof. Huamin Qu Received the 2025 IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications (CG&A) Test of Time Award | HKUST CSE cse.hkust.edu.hk. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering Best Paper Award - IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Website ieee-ras.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. Prof. QU Huamin’s Team Secured IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering Best Paper Award | HKUST School of Engineering seng.hkust.edu.hk. Checked 21 October 2026.