Curriculum Vitæ

Yan-Bin Jia

Department of Computer Science
Iowa State University
207 Atanasoff Hall
Ames, IA 50011-1040
Tel: (515) 294-2577
Fax: (515) 294-0258
E-mail: jia@cs.iastate.edu
Web: www.cs.iastate.edu/~jia/



 

Education

1997 Ph.D. in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University.
1993 M.S. in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University.
1988 B.S. in Computer Science, University of Science and Technology of China.

Employment

2005- Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University.
Jan-Aug 2007 Visiting Associate Professor, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.
Sep-Dec 2006 Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University.
1999-2005 Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, Iowa State University.
1998-1999 Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Minnesota.
1998 Instructor, the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.

Research Areas

Robotics and artificial intelligence, tactile shape recognition and reconstruction, computation for curves and surfaces, localization and robot sensing, geometric modeling, sensor implementation, planning and control for robot dexterity, hacking robot interfaces, optimization, nonlinear control and observation, kinematics and dynamics of manipulation.

Research Statement

http://www.cs.iastate.edu/~jia/research/research-statement.html

Honors and Awards

2002-2007 CAREER Award, National Science Foundation.
1998 Finalist, Anton Philips Best Student Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.
1996 Semi-Finalist, Best Paper Award, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.
1990-1997 Graduate Fellowship, Carnegie Mellon University.
1985-1988 People's Scholarship (one 2nd prize and three 3rd prizes), University of Science and Technology of China.
1984 Admission to the Special Class for Gifted Young, USTC.
1983 First Place, Mathematics Competition, Yandaojie High School, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
1981 First Place, Mathematics Competition, Yandaojie Middle School, Chengdu.
1978 Second Place, Elementary School Mathematics Competition, City of Chengdu.

Professional Societies

American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1998-.
Association for Computing Machinery, 1991-1994.
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (Robotics and Automation), 1992-.
New York Academy of Sciences, 1995-2000.

Grants

2007-2008 National Science Foundation (IIS-0742334): "SGER: Modeling of Deformation under Grasping," $74,999.
2004-2005 National Science Foundation, REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates ): "Shape Recognition as Generalized String Matching," $6,000.
2002-2008 National Science Foundation (IIS-0133681), "CAREER: Shape Localization, Recognition, and Reconstruction through Touch Sensing," $349,621.
2000-2001 ISU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Faculty Development Grant, "Grasping Objects with Tactile Fingers through Rolling," $7,500.

Panels and Grant Reviewing

Mar 2008 Panelist, National Science Foundation.
May 2002 Panelist, National Science Foundation Information Technology Research (ITR).
Mar 2002 Reviewer, Hong Kong Research Grants Council.
May 2000 Panelist, National Science Foundation ITR.

Editing

2008- Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.
2006- Associate Editor, Conference Editorial Board of the IEEE Robotics & Automation Society.
2000 Co-editor, International Journal of Robotics Research, Vol. 19, No. 7. Special Issue on "Tactile Presence".

Program Committees

2008 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Robotics: Science and Systems
2007 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation
Robotics: Science and Systems
International Conference on Advanced Robotics
2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots & Systems
IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation
2005 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots & Systems
2004 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots & Systems
Sixth International Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics
2003 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots & Systems
1999 ACM Symposium on Computational Geometry

Journal and Conference Reviewing

Automatica
Computational Geometry: Theory and Applications
Computer-Aided Design
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering
IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation
International Journal of Computational Geometry and Applications
International Journal on Mechatronics
International Journal of Robotics and Automation
International Journal of Robotics Research
Mathematical Programming

ACM Symposium on Computational Geometry (1999)
IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (1993, 1998, 2006, 2007)
IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (1995, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
Robotics: Science and Systems (2007, 2008)
International Conference on Advanced Robotics (2007)
International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (1999)
International Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics (2004)

Journal Articles

  1. Rinat Ibrayev and Yan-Bin Jia. Semi-differential invariants for tactile recognition of algebraic curves [Abstract] (708K, 29 pages). International Journal of Robotics Research, vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 951-969, 2005.

  2. Yan-Bin Jia. Localization of curved parts through continual touch [Abstract] (343K, 9 pages). IEEE Transactions on Robotics, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 726-733, 2005.

  3. Yan-Bin Jia. Computation on parametric curves with an application in grasping [Abstract] (780K, 45 pages). International Journal of Robotics Research, vol. 23, no. 7-8, pp. 825-855, 2004.

  4. Yan-Bin Jia and Michael Erdmann. Pose and motion from contact [ Abstract] (1258 K, 44 pages). International Journal of Robotics Research, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 466-490, 1999.

  5. Yan-Bin Jia and Michael Erdmann. Geometric sensing of known planar shapes [Abstract] (1178 K, 45 pages). International Journal of Robotics Research, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 365-392, 1996.

Journal Submissions:

  1. Yan-Bin Jia and Jiang Tian. Surface patch reconstruction from minimal tactile data [Abstract] (288K, 7 pages). Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering.

Book Chapters

  1. Yan-Bin Jia and Rinat Ibrayev. Semi-differential invariants for recognition of algebraic curves [Abstract, Slides] (463K, 17 pages). In Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics VI, M. Erdmann et al. (eds.), pp. 267-282, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2005. Also presented at the Fifth International Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics, Zeist, the Netherlands, July 2004.

  2. Yan-Bin Jia. Computation on parametric curves with applications in localization and grasping [Abstract, Slides] (332K, 17 pages). In Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics V, J.-D. Boissonnat et al. (eds.), pp. 329-345, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg, 2004.

  3. Yan-Bin Jia and Michael Erdmann. Local observability of rolling [Abstract](286 K, 27 pages). In Robotics: The Algorithmic Perspective, P. K. Agarwal et al. (eds.), pp. 251-263, A. K. Peters, Boston, 1998.

  4. Yan-Bin Jia and Michael Erdmann. The complexity of sensing by point sampling [Abstract] (894 K). In Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics, K. Goldberg et al. (eds.), pp. 283-300, A. K. Peters, Boston, 1995.

Refereed Conference and Workshop Papers

  1. Jiang Tian and Yan-Bin Jia. Modeling deformable shell-like objects grasped by a robot hand [abstract](179K). Submitted to IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Kobe, Japan, May 12-17, 2009.

  2. Yan-Bin Jia, Matthew T. Mason, and Michael A. Erdmann. A state transition diagram for simultaneous collisions with application in billiard shooting [abstract](230K). To appear at the Eighth International Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics, Guanajuato, Mexico, December, 2008.

  3. Yan-Bin Jia and Jiang Tian. Deformations of general parametric shells: computation and robot experiment [abstract](529K). In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robotics and Systems, pp. 1796-1803, Nice, France, Sep 22-26, 2008.

  4. Rinat Ibrayev and Yan-Bin Jia. Surface recognition by registering data curves from touch[Abstract] (271K). In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 55-60, Beijing, PRC, Oct 9-15, 2006.

  5. Yan-Bin Jia, Liangchuan Mi, and Jiang Tian. Surface patch reconstruction via curve sampling[Abstract] (271K). In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1371-1377, Orlando, FL, May 16-18, 2006.

  6. Liangchuan Mi and Yan-Bin Jia. High precision contour tracking with a joystick sensor [Abstract] (274K). In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 804-809, Sendai, Japan, Sep 28 - Oct 2, 2004.

  7. Yan-Bin Jia and Rinat Ibrayev. Semi-differential invariants for recognition of algebraic curves [Abstract] (418K). Presented at the Sixth International Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics, Utrecht/Zeist, The Netherlands, July 11-13, 2004.

  8. Rinat Ibrayev and Yan-Bin Jia. Tactile recognition of algebraic shapes using differential invariants [Abstract] (234K). In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1548-1553, New Orleans, LA, Apr 26-May 1, 2004.

  9. Yan-Bin Jia. Contact sensing for parts localization: sensor design and experiments [Abstract](330K). In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 516-522, Las Vegas, NV, Oct 27-31, 2003.

  10. Yan-Bin Jia. Computation on parametric curves with applications in localization and grasping [Abstract](241K). Presented at the Fifth International Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics, Nice, France, Dec. 15-17, 2002.

  11. Yan-Bin Jia. Curvature-based computation of antipodal points [Abstract] (159 K). In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1571-1577, Washington D.C., May 11 - 15, 2002.

  12. Yan-Bin Jia. Localization on curved objects using tactile information [Abstract] (148 K). In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 701-706, Maui, HI, Oct 29 - Nov 3, 2001.

  13. Yan-Bin Jia. Grasping curved objects through rolling [ Abstract] (1778 K). In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 377-382, San Francisco, CA, May 2000.

  14. Yan-Bin Jia and Michael Erdmann. Observing pose and motion through contact [Abstract](430 K). In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation , pp. 723-729, Leuven, Belgium, May 1998.

  15. Yan-Bin Jia and Michael Erdmann. Local observability of rolling [Abstract, Slides] (433K, 27 pages). Presented at the Third International Workshop on the Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics, Houston, TX, March 1998. Also in Robotics: The Algorithmic Perspective, P. K. Agarwal et al. (eds.), pp. 251-263, A. K. Peters, Boston, 1998.

  16. Yan-Bin Jia and Michael Erdmann. Pose from pushing [ Abstract] (395 K). In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 165-171, Minneapolis, MN, Apr 1996.

  17. Yan-Bin Jia. On computing optimal planar grasps [Abstract] (292 K). In Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, pp. 3:427-434, Pittsburgh, PA, August 1995.

  18. Yan-Bin Jia and Michael Erdmann. Sensing polygon poses by inscription [ Abstract] (280 K). In Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 1642-1649, San Diego, CA, May 1994.

Talks

May 25, 2007 "Robotics and Tactile Sensing: Surface Recogntion and Reconstruction via Curve Sampling"
College of Computer Science, Sichuan University.
Apr 25, 2007 "Surface Patch Reconstruction and Recognition via Curve Sampling"
Foundations of Robotics Seminar, The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.
Oct 6, 2006 "Surface Patch Reconstruction and Recognition via Curve Sampling"
Manipulation Group Seminar, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University.
Jun 23, 2006 "Surface Patch Reconstruction and Recognition via Curve Sampling"
Chengdu Information Technology Co., Ltd., Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Aug 26, 2005 "Curvature and Shape from Touch"
Robotics Institute Seminar, Carnegie Mellon University.
Jun 16, 2005 "Curvature and Shape from Touch"
Chengdu Information Technology Co., Ltd., Chinese Academy of Sciences.
May 16, 2005 "Curvature and Shape from Touch"
Mathematics Mechanization Research Center, Institute of Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Mar 17, 2005 "Curvature and Shape from Touch"
AI, Vision & Robotics Seminar, Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
May 25, 2004 "Localization, Tracking, and Recognition of Curved Shapes through Touch"
National Laboratory for Intelligence Technology and Systems, Tsinghua University, Beijing, P.R. China.
Nov 15, 2002 "Grasping and Localization of Curved Objects"
Robotics Seminar, University of Minnesota.
Jan 21, 2000 "Rolling Fingers on Free Curved Objects"
Computer Science Dept, New York University.
Oct 28, 1999 "Grasping Curved Objects through Rolling"
Computer Science Dept, Iowa State University.
May 1999 Workshop on Integrating Sensors into Motion Planning (declined due to schedule conflict)
International Conference on Robotics and Automation.
Feb 11, 1999 "Robot Sensing: An Exploration of Geometry and Dynamics"
Computer Science Dept, Iowa State University.
May 1998 "Robot Sensing: An Exploration of Geometry and Dynamics"
Xerox Palo Alto Research Center.

Current Students

Theresa Driscoll (M.S. student)
Rinat Ibrayev (Ph.D. student)
Liangchuan Mi (Ph.D. student)
HyunTae Na (Ph.D. student)
Jiang Tian (Ph.D. student)

Graduated Students

Liangchuan Mi, M.S., July 2005 (now at nVIDIA)
Rinat Ibrayev, M.S., July 2004 (Rinat's thesis work received ISU Research Excellence Award).

Thesis Committees

Oksana Yakhnenko, Ph.D. student (CS)
Georgi Batinov, Ph.D. student (CS)
Adam Bogenrief, M.S. in ME, May 2006
John Burnett, M.S. in ME, May 2006
Mike Bezdek, M.S. in Cpr E, May 2006
Nurzhan Ustemirov, M.S. in CS, Apr 2006
Dongheng Li, M.S. in HCI, Apr 2006
Siddhartha Srinivasa, Ph.D. in Robotics, CMU, Aug 2005
Heng Xu, M.S. in Cpr E, ISU, Dec 2004 (expected)
Jason Timmerman, M.S. in Cpr E, ISU, May 2004
Justin Hare, M.S. in CS, ISU, Apr 2004
Anna Atramentov, M.S. in CS, ISU, Jun 2003
Libo Yang, M.S. in CS, ISU, Oct 2001
Peng Cheng, M.S. in CS, ISU, Jul 2001
Naci Zafer, Ph.D. in ME, ISU, Jun 2000
Ning Meng, Ph.D. in ME, ISU, Jul 2000

Undergraduate Research Guidance

Neil Kronlage (B.S. in Cpr E, 2004; working at Microsoft)
Stephen Collins (B.S. in Cpr E, 2003)
Jon Van Dis (B.S. in CS, 2002)
David Persky (B.S. in CS, 2001; Ph.D. student at U. Wisconsin-Madison)
Joe Mesterhazy (B.S. in CS, 2001; system support staff in ISU ECE)
Brian Grice (B.S. in ME, 2000)

Educational Services

Mar 2003 Team coach of ISU Cy-Random (43th place) in 2003 ACM/ICPC International Collegiate Programming Contest
Nov 2002 Team coach of ISU Cy-Random (3rd place) in 2002 ACM North Central North America Programming Contest
Sep 2001- ISU Computer Science Club Advisor.
Jan 2000- ISU School of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty Assembly.

Course Development

Problem Solving Techiques for Applied Computer Science (Com S 477/577), Iowa State University.

Course Instruction

   Iowa State University:
Introduction to Data Structures (Com S 228) [Spring 2005]
Advanced Programming Techniques (Com S 229) [Springs 2006, 2008]
Design and Analysis of Algorithms (Com S 311) [Springs 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003]
Discrete Computational Structures (Com S 330) [Falls 1999, 2000, 2001]
Computational Geometry (Com S 418/518) [Spring 2005, 2006]
Problem Solving Techniques for Applied Computer Science (Com S 477/577) [Falls 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007]

   University of Minnesota:
Data Structures and Algorithms I (CSci 3321-ext) [Spring 1999]
Introduction to Object Oriented Programming Using C++ (CSci 5113) [Spring 1999]
Discrete Structures of Computer Science (CSci 3311) [Winter 1999]

   Carnegie Mellon University:
Mathematical Fundamentals for Robotics (16-811) [Spring 1998]

Teaching Assistant

Artificial Intelligence (15-381), Carnegie Mellon University, Fall 1992.
The PASCAL Language, University of Science and Technology of China, Spring 1988.

Skills

Programming languages C++, C, Lisp, Pascal, Fortran, Prolog, Basic, Modula-2, assembly languages (68000, Z80/8000), V+ (robot programming language).
Operating systems UNIX, Linux, Windows XP & 2000 & NT, MS-DOS, Macintosh.
Theory Algorithms, computational geometry, computability and complexity, differential geometry, nonlinear control systems, theoretical mechanics, numerical methods, optimization, combinatorics, probabilities, mathematical and temporal logics, program semantics.

Other Work Experience

Summer 1996 Research intern, Interval Research Corporation, Palo Alto, CA.
1993-1997 Tourguide, the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.
1988-1990 Graduate research assistant, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), Hefei, Anhui; and Institute of Software (IS), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, P.R. China.

Hobbies

Hiking, workout, nature, music, movies, arts, classical Chinese poetry & literature, history, watching sports.

Personal Data

Born March 1969, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China.
Citizenship: P.R. China.
Permanent Residency: USA.