BACKGROUND

Short Bio

Dr. Kai Tang was born and grew up in the ancient capital city Nanjing of China. He graduated from the No. 13 middle school of Nanjing in 1977 and was fortunate to continue on to go to college after the universities in China had been virtually shut done for 10 years due to the Cultural Revolution. He went to his hometown university the Nanjing Institute of Technology and received BEng in Mechanical Engineering in the Spring of 1982 (class of 21-77-1). Afterward, among the first selected by China’s Education Ministry, he went to the University of Michigan in 1984, enrolling in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, where he received MSc in 1986 and PhD in 1990, both in Computer Engineering. From 1991 to 2001 for 10 years, he worked as a software specialist in software industry, mostly in the area of Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing software development. He also for a short period of one year worked as the chief engineer in a start-up company focusing on voice recognition technology. In June 2001, he “went back” to school and joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Education

• PhD (Computer Engineering), University of Michigan, 1990
• MSc (Computer, Information, and Control Engineering)., University of Michigan, 1986
• BEng (Mechanical Engineering), Nanjing Institute of Technology, China, 1982

Academic Employment

• Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,  since July  2011
• Associate Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology,  July 2006 - June 2011
• Assistant Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, July 2001 - June 2006

Industrial Employment

• Chief Engineer, Allvox Inc., Michigan, USA, 2001
• Senior Software Specialist, Applicon Inc., Michigan, USA; May 1991-June 2001
• Senior Engineer, Optimal CAE Inc., Michigan, USA; 1987-1990

RESEARCH

Dr. Tang has extensive industrial and research experiences in CAD/CAM and design and manufacturing automation software development. His research interests concentrate on designing efficient and practical algorithms for solving real world computational, geometric, and numerical problems.

Research Areas

• Geometric Modeling
• Computer-aided design/manufacturing
• Robust and gouge-free tool path generation algorithms for multi-axis NC machining
• Feature recognition
• Modeling of sculptured and deformable objects
• Motion planning in robotics
• Computational algorithms and methodologies in bioengineering
• Application of neural networks
• Numerical algorithms in design/manufacturing
• Computer graphics
• Geometric optimizations
• Virtual reality and haptic technologies and their applications in engineering

Past And Current Projects

• "5-axis tool path generation from the perspective of minimizing the dynamic loading on the machine’s rotary axes and local gouging", PI, RGC-GRF/620409, HK$733,000, 01/09/2009 - 31/08/2011.
• "A New MRG Algorithm for 3D Shape Matching", PI, RGC07/08 EG.620307, HK$382,000, 01/09/2007 - 31/08/2009.
• "A unified tool path planning algorithm for 5-axis sculptured surface machining based on variational energy minimization", PI, RGC05/06.EG.620105, HK$360,000, 01/09/2005 - 31/08/2007.
• "Optimal boundary triangulation of an interpolating ruled surface", PI, HKUST DAG04/05.EG.36, HK$69,000, 01/01/2005 - 31/12/2005.
• "Next generation online multimedia collaboration system", PI, HK ITF WebEx Project UIM103, HK$8,000,000, 01/12/2004 - 30/11/2006.
• "Design of a reliable interlocking system for the landing gates of material hoists", PI, HK OSHC Research Grant CM/4R/2004-01, HK$290,000, 01/07/2004 - 30/06/2005.
• "A geometric method for determining intersection relations in the plane and its applications", PI, HKUST DAG02/03.EG.33, HK$67,150, 01/02/2003 - 31/01/2004.
• "Optimal loop connection in laminated object manufacturing", PI, HKUST DAG01/02.EG.10, HK$100,000, 15/12/2001 - 14/12/2002.

Publications

TEACHING

• MECH106     "Mechanical Engineering for Modern Life"
• MECH107     "Introduction to mechanical engineering -- automobiles"
• MECH251     "Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided Manufacturing"
• MECH4740   "Numerical Methods for Engineering"
• MECH5520   "Principles of CAD/CAM/CAE"
• MECH691o   "Geometric Modeling"
• MECH691w  "Optimizations"
• MECH1901   "Automotive Engineering"

HERE AND THERE

Now and then, here and there, I occasionally write something, not on PDE, not on geometry, just some instantaneous thoughts on life, the world peace, love, etc. My dream since child is to be a writer, well, perhaps in my second life.

LET'S SING

I like to sing, and wish I had some formal vocal training.  These songs are recorded by a MP3 player using a HK$80 microphone. Drop me a line if you feel they are not too annoying.

SOME OTHER PEOPLE'S ARTICLES

Very often, when I read an article, I can't help but want to take off my hat and salute to the author and say "THANK YOU!". These are some collections and I hope they will enrich my and your lives.

(since Feb. 2003)