PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Yew-Soon Ong

Also known as Ong Yew Soon

Yew-Soon Ong is a computer scientist whose research on memetic computing and evolutionary multitasking spans AI, machine learning and evolutionary optimization. After a PhD in artificial intelligence in complex engineering design at the University of Southampton in 2003, he directed the Centre for Computational Intelligence at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) from 2008 to 2015 and chaired its School of Computer Science and Engineering from 2016 to 2019. He became an IEEE Fellow in 2018, won the 2019 IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation Outstanding Paper Award for "Multifactorial Evolution: Toward Evolutionary Multitasking", and served as Chief Artificial Intelligence Scientist of A*STAR from 2019 to 2026. Clarivate named him a Highly Cited Researcher in 2025. Today he is Endowed Yidan Professor in Artificial Intelligence at NTU and a Distinguished AI Fellow at A*STAR.

Works
701
Citations
28,443
h-index
81
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. By 2003

    Degrees from NTU and Southampton

    He earns bachelor's and master's degrees at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), then a PhD in artificial intelligence in complex engineering design from the University of Southampton in 2003.

  2. 2008–2017

    Memetic computing at NTU

    He directs NTU's Centre for Computational Intelligence from 2008 to 2015 and serves from 2013 to 2017 as programme principal investigator of the Data Analytics & Complex System Programme in the Rolls-Royce@NTU Corporate Lab. In July 2010, he gives the lecture "Towards Memetic Computing" for the IEEE Kansai Section at Osaka Prefecture University, presenting memetic computation as a paradigm that uses memes as units of information in computational representations for problem solving.

  3. 2016–2020

    Leading NTU's computing school

    He chairs NTU's School of Computer Science and Engineering from 2016 to 2019, and under his stewardship the school launches the Bachelor of Science in Data Science and Artificial Intelligence flagship programme. In December 2017, NTU, Singtel and the National Research Foundation Singapore establish SCALE@NTU, a S$42.4 million corporate lab for AI, data analytics, robotics and smart computing, and he is a director of the lab from 2017. He also directs NTU's Data Science and AI Research Centre from 2017 to 2020.

  4. 2018

    Elevated to IEEE Fellow

    In 2018, the IEEE elevates him to Fellow for contributions to memetic computation and applications.

  5. 2019

    An award for evolutionary multitasking

    He, Abhishek Gupta and his former PhD student Liang Feng receive the 2019 IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation Outstanding Paper Award for "Multifactorial Evolution: Toward Evolutionary Multitasking". The article unveils evolutionary multitask optimization.

  6. 2019–2026

    Chief AI Scientist at A*STAR

    In May 2019, he becomes Chief Artificial Intelligence Scientist of A*STAR, a post he holds until 2026. Between 2019 and 2026 he is also President's Chair Professor of Computer Science at NTU's College of Computing & Data Science. He helps establish A*STAR's Centre for Frontier AI Research, which advances resilient AI, sustainable AI and next-generation AI systems.

  7. 2025

    Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher

    Clarivate names him one of its Highly Cited Researchers 2025 in the Cross-Field category, and A*STAR announces the recognition. A*STAR lists him as Advisor at its Centre for Frontier AI Research.

  8. As of October 2026

    Yidan Professor in AI at NTU

    He is Endowed Yidan Professor in Artificial Intelligence at NTU's College of Computing & Data Science and holds a joint appointment as Distinguished AI Fellow at A*STAR.

Career

  1. Since 2019Agency for Science, Technology and ResearchChief Artificial Intelligence Scientist
  2. Since 2008Nanyang Technological UniversityDirector, Programme principal investigator
  3. 2014–2019Science and Engineering Research Council
  4. 2013–2017University of Malaya

Education

  1. 2003University of SouthamptonPhD in artificial intelligence in complex engineering design
  2. Nanyang Technological UniversityBachelor’s degree

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

  1. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology trained or employed 44 of the 187 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes Yew-Soon Ong. 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 Nanyang Technological University. 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 Nanyang Technological University. 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 Nanyang Technological University. 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 named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Yew-Soon Ong yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. MIND 2026: Keynote Speakers ic-mind.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Day 1 Speakers | Nanyang Environment & Water Research Institute (NEWRI) | NTU Singapore ntu.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. IEEE Kansai Section 第60回技術講演会 ieee-jp.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Prof Ong Yew Soon a-star.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Scaling up to the future | Research | NTU Singapore ntu.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. IEEE Computational Intelligence Society: 2018 Newly Elevated IEEE Fellows in CIS ieee-cis.blogspot.com. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. IEEE TEVC Outstanding Paper Award | College of Computing and Data Science | NTU Singapore ntu.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Clarivate's List of Highly Cited Researchers 2025 a-star.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. AI Faculty | NTU College of Computing and Data Science ntu.edu.sg. Checked 20 October 2026.