Zhou Wang

Timeline

1. 1993–2001

   Degrees in China and Texas

   He completes a bachelor's degree in electronic and information engineering, with a minor in applied mathematics, at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in 1993, a master's degree in electronic and communication engineering at South China University of Technology in 1995, and a doctorate in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin in 2001.

2. 2001–2004

   The structural similarity index

   With Alan Bovik, he develops the Universal Quality Index in 2001. With Alan Bovik, Hamid Sheikh and Eero Simoncelli, he publishes the structural similarity index in IEEE Transactions on Image Processing in April 2004.

3. 2013–2022

   Co-founding SSIMWAVE

   In 2013 he co-founds SSIMWAVE with Abdul Rehman and Kai Zeng. In 2021 the company wins a Technology and Engineering Emmy for the development of perceptual metrics for video encoding, and he is chief science officer. IMAX acquires SSIMWAVE in September 2022.

4. 2014

   A Steacie Fellowship

   In 2014 he receives a Steacie Memorial Fellowship. In 2014 he is elected an IEEE Fellow for contributions to perceptual image processing and quality assessment.

5. 2015

   A Primetime Engineering Emmy

   In 2015 he shares a Primetime Engineering Emmy with Eero Simoncelli, Alan Bovik and Hamid Sheikh for Structural Similarity, a formula used in the television industry.

6. 2016–2019

   Fellowships and a research chair

   In 2016 he becomes a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. In 2018 he becomes a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada's Academy of Science. In 2019 he is named a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair.

7. As of October 2026

   Professor at Waterloo

   He is a professor and Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Multimedia Quality-of-Experience in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. In 2025 he teaches image processing, and his research interests include machine learning and computational vision.