AI scientist Ling Haibin, the acclaimed computer scientist behind the world’s first mobile plant identification app, has left his position in the United States to take up a full-time role at Westlake University in Hangzhou, eastern China.
One of Ling’s PhD research projects, which involved using computers to recognise leaves of different shapes, led to the creation of the identification app LeafSnap. The app teaches users about plant diversity, how to care for houseplants, diagnose disease and track their own plant collections.
Ling, a former Empire Innovation Professor at Stony Brook University in New York and IEEE Fellow, the highest grade of membership in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is widely recognised as a pioneer in computer vision and AI.
Traditional AI fields have become highly mature, and genuine breakthroughs require fresh exploration
He will now serve as chair professor in Westlake’s Department of Artificial Intelligence, leading its Intelligent Computing and Application Lab, the university announced on social media on December 29.
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Ling, 51, said he made the career move because Westlake University offered greater freedom for exploring novel research avenues.
“Traditional AI fields have become highly mature, and genuine breakthroughs require fresh exploration,” Ling said, adding that he felt a greater sense of freedom and inclusivity at Westlake and that the university provided substantial support.
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Ling’s research centres on areas including computer vision, augmented reality (AR), medical image analysis, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) for science.
