About Professor Yongqiang Cheng
My research interests span artificial intelligence (AI), trustworthy computing, machine learning, smart systems, digital healthcare technologies, robotics, wireless sensor networks, and computer networking. I have extensive experience leading interdisciplinary research and have contributed to numerous research and innovation projects funded by EPSRC, Innovate UK, NIHR, the Royal Society, and industry partners.
I have authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications in leading international journals and prestigious conferences. I am a member of the BCS, IEEE, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, and the Chinese Automation and Computing Society UK (CACSUK), and I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA). I serve as an Associate Editor for Neurocomputing (Elsevier) and IEEE Access, and have also served as Guest Editor for numerous reputable international journals.
I lead the Trustworthy AI and Security Research Group, co-lead the Research Centre for Emerging Technologies and Innovation (rCETI), serve as AI Workstream Lead at the John Dawson Drug Discovery and Development Institute, and act as REF Lead for UoA11 and UoA12.
I welcome enquiries from prospective PhD students and research collaborators interested in AI, trustworthy AI, digital healthcare, smart systems, and related areas.
Teaching and supervision
I contribute to a number of modules and project supervisions at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
Research
Recent projects:
- 2025–2028 Dynamic Team Fostering System, Innovative UK, £286k, PI
- 2025–2026 Vietnam–UK Network on Human Adaptive Cyber-Physical Systems (Industry 5.0) – Stage 1: Building Human-Centric Innovation Pathways, £10k, CI
- 2024–2027 Harnessing routinely collected data for timely healthcare decisions in LMICs amidst pandemics (AUTOMATE), NIHR, £938,358, CI
- 2024–2025 Redesign of Point of Care Analysis Tools (PoCAT), NCS ltd, £19,880, PI
- 2022–2023, Sensors, big data, and AI-based Intelligent Decision Assistant for agricultural enterprises. Innovative UK, £170k, CI
- 2020–2023, Point of care integrated vital sign monitor, Innovative UK KTP, £329K, PI.
PhD supervisions:
Current:
- Ms H Maraha, Intelligent System for Biomedical Images Analysis, co-supervisor
- Mr Aziz Alhanini, printing defects detection and print process enhancement in printed electronics, co-supervisor
- Mr Hassan Bukhari, Neuro-Symbolic Conflict Resolution and Temporal Consistency in Autonomous Knowledge Graphs, co-supervisor
- Ms Tehleel Arif, AI-enabled non-invasive biomarker analysis for early detection of cardiovascular diseases.
Completed:
- Dr F Cao, acoustic localisation using deep learning. (CSC scholarship)
- Dr H Alkaraawi, Machine learning-based assistance to improve quality of life of cancer patients, co-supervisor
- Dr Y Chang, Autonomous Navigation for Quadrotor UAV in complex indoor environments based on Image Enhancement and Sensor Fusion, lead supervisor (CSC scholarship)
- Dr Y Xue, AI in plastic circular economic, co-supervisor
- Mr James Morris, MSc by research, Lead supervisor, Design and implementation of a wheelchair ergometer for interactive, entertaining rehabilitation and data capturing, lead supervisor
- Dr Albert Dulian (part-time), Short-term motion prediction of autonomous vehicles in complex environments: A Deep Learning approach, lead supervisor
- Dr T Dang, Deep learning and sentiment analysis for high-frequency stock prediction, lead supervisor
- Dr P Quintero, AI for radiotherapy, co-supervisor
- Dr G Lacey, Using Artificial Epigenetic Models to Develop Modularity and Transparency within Biologically Inspired Connectionist Architectures, lead supervisor
- Dr A Schoene, AI for emotion detection in tweets, co-supervisor
- Dr D Xue, A smart healthcare robot using ambient intelligence, lead supervisor (CSC scholarship)
- Dr M Al Khaldy, Autoencoder for clinical data analysis and classification: data imputation, dimensional reduction, and pattern recognition, co-supervisor
- Dr R Munnoch, Personal data gathering and management for a patient-centred health care system, co-supervisor.
Areas of expertise
- Artificial intelligence (AI)
- Trustworthy computing
- Machine learning
- Smart systems
- Digital healthcare technologies
- Robotics
- Wireless sensor networks.