PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Jenq–Neng Hwang

Also known as Jenq-Neng Hwang, Jeng-Neng Hwang, 黃正能

Jenq-Neng Hwang is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Washington whose work spans machine learning, multimedia signal processing and computer vision. After BS and MS degrees at National Taiwan University in 1981 and 1983 and a PhD at the University of Southern California, he joined Washington in 1989 and became a full professor in 1999. He won the 1995 IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Journal Paper Award, became an IEEE Fellow in 2001, and published the textbook Multimedia Networking with Cambridge University Press in 2009. His Information Processing Lab won two of the three AI City Challenge tracks at CVPR 2018 and the traffic-flow track in 2019. He is co-director of the Cross-Pacific AI Initiative, the U.S.–Japan partnership that held its launch ceremony in 2025.

Badges

Timeline

  1. 1981–1983

    Electrical engineering degrees

    He earns BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering at National Taiwan University in 1981 and 1983, then a PhD at the University of Southern California.

  2. 1989–1999

    Joining Washington's ECE faculty

    He joins the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle in the summer of 1989 and is promoted to full professor in 1999.

  3. 1995

    A best journal paper award

    He receives the 1995 IEEE Signal Processing Society Best Journal Paper Award.

  4. 2001

    Named an IEEE Fellow

    He becomes an IEEE Fellow in 2001, after serving from 1996 to 2000 as the Signal Processing Society's representative to the IEEE Neural Network Council.

  5. 2009

    A multimedia networking textbook

    Cambridge University Press publishes his book Multimedia Networking: From Theory to Practice in 2009. The book covers data compression, quality of service, wireless broadband and digital rights management for networked multimedia.

  6. 2018–2019

    AI City Challenge wins

    His Information Processing Lab wins two of the three AI City Challenge tracks at CVPR 2018 in Salt Lake City, including the traffic-flow analysis track and the multi-sensor vehicle re-identification track. In 2019, at CVPR in Long Beach, the team wins the traffic-flow track and places second in the other two.

  7. 2025–2026

    X-PAI launch and AI City win

    In April 2025, the University of Tsukuba hosts the launch ceremony of the Cross-Pacific AI Initiative (X-PAI), a U.S.–Japan partnership of Tsukuba, the University of Washington, NVIDIA and Amazon with USD 50 million in support over ten years, and he presents there as the University of Washington co-director. His 2026 honours include winning Track 3 of the AI City Challenge, on anomalous events in transportation.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and X-PAI co-director

    He serves as Associate Chair for Research in 2003–2005 and 2011–2015 and as Associate Chair for Global Affairs in 2015–2020, and is now the department's International Programs Lead and co-director of X-PAI. His more than 450 papers and book chapters cover machine learning, multimedia signal processing and computer vision.

Career

  1. Since 1989University of WashingtonProfessor; promoted to full professor in 1999, Co-director of Cross-Pacific AI Initiative (X-PAI)

Education

  1. 1983National Taiwan UniversityBS and MS in Electrical Engineering
  2. University of Southern CaliforniaPhD

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 Jenq–Neng Hwang. 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. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Washington. 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.
  3. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Washington. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  4. Of 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google, 446 work there nowIncludes University of Washington. Our estimates of where the 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google and Google DeepMind work now: 446 at Google and 452 across 278 other organizations.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Jenq–Neng Hwang yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Jenq-Neng Hwang | UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering ece.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Special Seminar: Jeng-Neng Hwang (5 June 2024) · Indico indico.cern.ch. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Preface - Multimedia Networking cambridge.org. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Hwang’s team wins competition in AI challenges | UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering ece.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. ECE team, led by Professor Jenq-Neng Hwang, wins competition in AI challenges | UW Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering ece.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. Kickoff Ceremony Held for X-PAI, the U.S.–Japan AI Partnership | X-PAI / Cross-Pacific AI Initiative xpai.air.tsukuba.ac.jp. Checked 21 October 2026.