Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences Intranet
Prof Yang Liu
Associate Professor in Dynamics and Control
Location: Harrison 278
Telephone: 01392 724654
Extension: (Streatham) 4654
Education:
- BEng in Automation, Hunan University, China, 1999 - 2003
- MSc in Control Systems, University of Sheffield, UK, 2004 - 2005
- PhD in Control Engineering, Staffordshire University, UK, 2006 - 2010
Employment History:
- Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK, 2010 - 2013
- Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK, 2013 - 2016
- Lecturer in Engineering, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK, 2016 - 2019
- Senior Lecturer in Engineering, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK, 2019 - 2022
- Associate Professor in Dynamics and Control, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK, 2022 - now
- Honorary Lecturer, Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, UK, 2018 - now
Research Interests:
- Controlled gastrointestinal endoscopies (Project 1) (Project 2)
- Early detection of bowel cancer (Project 1) (Project 2)
- Microrobots for metastatic cancer detection and therapy (Project 1) (Project 2)
- Control of non-smooth dynamical systems (Project 1) (Project 2)
Awards & Achievements:
- Stanford & Elsevier's Global Top 2% Scientists list since 2019
- Ali H. Hayfeh Prize, Int. Nonlinear Dynamics Conference 2021
- 1st place, poster competition at the 4th Annual IEEE UK and Ireland RAS Chapter Conf.
- Lab Science Bursary Award, British Society of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting 2019
- IMechE Group Project Award
- Young Delegates Award, the 14th IFToMM World Congress
- Best Student Paper Award, the 15th Int. Conf. Automation & Computing
Media Coverage:
- "Micro robots in the gut could detect early signs of colon cancer" by CORDIS
- "A pill sized robot that can drive inside large intestines" interviewed by Robohub
- "New Horizons for research through adventurous projects" by UKRI
- "Pioneering a new self-propulsion technique for small bowel endoscopy" by Exeter Research and Innovation Blog
Research Activities:
- Executive board member, International Society of Mechanical System Dynamics, from 2023 to 2026
- Program committee member, the Int. Conf. on Manipulation, Automation and Robotics at Small Scales (MARSS), since 2024
- Editorial board member, Subject Editor in Nonlinear Dynamics, since 2023
- Scientific committee member, the 2nd Int. Conf. on Mechanical System Dynamics, China
- Symposium chair, Biomechanics and Small-Scale Robots, the 3rd Int. Nonlinear Dynamics Conference 2023, Italy
- Symposium chair, 2022 Exeter International Symposium on Small-Scale Robots, Exeter (online), UK
- Associate editor, the 9th IEEE RAS/EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics & Biomechatronics 2022, Korea
- Lead guest editor, SI: Self-propelled robots: from theory to applications at Meccanica
- Symposium chair, Biocapsule Robots, the 2nd Int. Nonlinear Dynamics Conference 2021, Italy
- Symposium chair, Biomechanics and Capsule Robots, the 1st Int. Nonlinear Dynamics Conference 2019, Italy
- Symposium chair, Modelling of Friction and Dynamics of Frictional Oscillators, Int. Conf. Engineering Vibration 2017, Bulgaria
Live and Forthcoming Projects:
- Development of the initial prototype of a pill sensor to detect colonic polyps and early bowel cancer, MRC (MR/Y503411/1), PI, £247,147, 02/2024-07/2025
- Late proof-of-concept demonstration of a clinician-controlled capsule device for lower gastrointestinal endoscopy, EPSRC IAA, PI, £53,180, 11/2023-03/2024
- Preclinical assessment of a vibrational device for early bowel cancer diagnosis, MRC IAA, PI, £44,857, 07/2023-04/2024
- WORMS: When micro-robots encounter metastatic cancer in the adjacent capillaries, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship (EP/Y016017/1), PI, €236,748, Secondment supervisor: Prof. Antoine Ferreira (INSA Centre Val de Loire), 10/2023-09/2025
- AGENT: Targeting high efficient energy harvesting via controlling multistability, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowship (EP/Y016130/1), PI, €236,748, Secondment supervisor: Prof. Przemysław Perlikowski (Lodz University of Technology), 10/2023-09/2025
- On the piecewise-smooth dynamics of robot-cancer interaction at microscale, EPSRC Mathematical Sciences DTP (2581433), PI, £88,503, 10/2021-09/2025
- On the dynamics of two contacting bodies under frictional sliding, Royal Society, PI, £11,685, 03/2021-03/2024 (ranked in Top 7th of 56 funded projects, see News)
Finished Projects:
- OMEGA: On the modelling of micro-robots in the gut: a non-smooth dynamics approach, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (101018793), PI, €212,933, Secondment supervisor: Prof. Bradley J. Nelson (ETH Zurich), 10/2021-09/2023 (marked 97 out of 100, ranked in Top 2.95% in Engineering Panel, and about 1,630 funded projects out of 11,300 applications)
- When a micro-robot encounters a bowel lesion, EPSRC New Horizons (EP/V047868/1), PI, £202,450, 05/2021-06/2023 (about 100 funded projects out of over 1,200 applications, see EPSRC News)
- Developing AI enabled low-cost microcontrollers, EPSRC SMM CDT, PI, £80,000, 11/2019-10/2023
- Development of a mathematical tool for piecewise-smooth delay differential equations: a micro-robot’s perspective, EPSRC (EP/W52265X/1), PI, £TBC, 10/2021-02/2022
- EPSRC Capital award for core equipment (EP/T023635/1), Co-I, £269,363, 11/2019-07/2021
- Controlling multistability in vibro-impact systems: theory and experiment, EPSRC (EP/P023983/1), PI, £101,147, 10/2017-06/2019
- Utilising the vibro-impact self-propulsion technique for gastrointestinal endoscopy, EPSRC (EP/R043698/1), PI, £31,674, 08/2018-02/2019
- Control of multistable dynamical systems with applications in oil and gas industry, the Carnegie PhD scholarship, PI, £54,159, 10/2015-03/2019
- Mathematical modelling and optimisation of a downhole anti stick-slip tool for reduction of torsional vibrations, ETP PhD Studentship collaborated with Tomax Ltd., Co-PI, £82,423, 10/2014-03/2018
- Agri-Tech in China: Newton Network+, Pathfinder Awards (PF002), PI, £4,914, 07/2017
- Design, modelling and implementation of a capsule system for pipeline pigging inspection, IMechE Group Project Award, £2,500, 10/2015-03/2016 (News 1, News 2)
- Development of an experimental test rig for a vibro-impact capsule system, the Carnegie Trust Small Research Grant (No 31841), PI, £2,140, 08/2014-07/2015