Dr. Tingjun Lei

Assistant Professor
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
University of North Dakota
Email: Tingjun dot Lei at UND dot edu

About Me

Dr. Tingjun Lei is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at University of North Dakota. He received his Ph. D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Mississippi State University under Dr. Chaomin Luo. His research spans across multiple areas, including bio-inspired artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and autonomous systems, optimization and evolutionary computation, human-autonomy teaming (HAT), intelligent transportation systems, and applied machine learning.

Call for Papers: “Biologically Inspired Neural Networks and Learning Systems for Robotics and Mechatronics” Special Session in IJCNN 2025
As the Special Session Main Organizer for the special session “Biologically Inspired Neural Networks and Learning Systems for Robotics and Mechatronics” in 2025 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (Flagship Conference in Neural Networks Theory), I invite researchers to submit their work on the latest developments of the related track. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2025.

Call for Papers: “Bio-inspired Intelligence and Evolutionary Computation for Robotics and Autonomous Systems” Special Session in IEEE CEC 2025
As the Special Session Main Organizer for the special session “Bio-inspired Intelligence and Evolutionary Computation for Robotics and Autonomous Systems” in 2025 IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation (Flagship Conference in Evolutionary Computation), I invite researchers to submit their work on the latest developments of the related track. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2025.

Call for Papers: “Smart Robotics and Autonomous Systems” Special Issue in Electronics MDPI Journal
As the guest editor for the “Smart Robotics and Autonomous Systems” Special Issue in the Electronics MDPI journal, I invite researchers to submit their work on the latest developments in Robotics and Autonomous Systems. The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2025.

News

  • [12/2024] Tingjun organized Special Session: “Bio-inspired Intelligence and Evolutionary Computation for Robotics and Autonomous Systems” in IEEE CEC 2025!

  • [12/2024] Tingjun organized Special Session: “Biologically Inspired Neural Networks and Learning Systems for Robotics and Mechatronics” in IJCNN 2025!

  • [11/2024] Tingjun received UND’s Early Career Scholars Program (ECSP) Award (Co-PI) to support our Anomaly Behavior Analysis research. Thanks, UND!

  • [11/2024] Tingjun served as Publicity Chair of International Conference on Computer Vision, Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence (CVPRAI 2025)!

  • [10/2024] Tingjun served as Session Chair of IEEE 4th Cyber Awareness and Research Symposium 2024 (CARS’24)!

  • [09/2024] Our paper “Human Autonomy Teaming-Based Safety-Aware Navigation through Bio-Inspired and Graph-Based Algorithms” has been accepted by Biomimetic Intelligence and Robotics!

  • [08/2024] Tingjun was appointed as the Editorial Board Member of Intelligence & Robotics!

  • [08/2024] Tingjun served as the guest editor and organized the “Smart Robotics and Autonomous Systems” Special Issue in the Electronics MDPI journal!

  • [08/2024] Tingjun and his team started a new journey at UND!

  • [06/2024] Our paper “On the Problems of Drone Formation and Light Shows” has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics!

  • [06/2024] Our paper “Enhancing Student Learning in Robot Path Planning Optimization through Graph-Based Methods” has received the Best Paper Award of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Division at the 2024 ASEE Annual Conference!

  • [05/2024] Our paper “Optimal Multi-target Navigation via Graph-based Algorithms in Complex Environments” has been accepted by IEEE ISIE 2024!

  • [04/2024] Our four papers have been accepted by SPIE 2024!

  • [04/2024] Tingjun organized Special Session: “Biologically Inspired Intelligence for Mechatronics and Robotics” in ICSI’ 2024!

  • [03/2024] Our four papers have been accepted by ASEE 2024!

  • [03/2024] Tingjun was appointed as the Junior Editorial Board Member of Intelligence & Robotics!

  • [02/2024] Our paper “Enhancing Human-Robot Cohesion through HAT Methods: A Crowd-Avoidance Model for Safety Aware Navigation” has been accepted by IEEE ICHMS 2024!

  • [02/2024] Tingjun was invited to talk at ECE Research Seminar at Mississippi State University!

  • [02/2024] Our paper “Informed Sampling Space Driven Robot Informative Path Planning” has been accepted by Robotics and Autonomous Systems!

  • [01/2024] Our paper “Digital Twin-Embedded Multi-Objective Autonomous Vehicle Navigation Approach as Applied in Infrastructure Construction” has been accepted by IET Cyber-Systems and Robotics!

  • [11/2023] Our paper “Bio-Inspired Intelligence-Based Multi-Agent Navigation with Safety-Aware Considerations” has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence!

  • [10/2023] Tingjun passed dissertation defence!

  • [09/2023] Tingjun received 2023 Arkansas Engineering Forum: Southeast Symposium on Contemporary Engineering Topics (SSCET 2023) Conference Research Poster Award!

  • [08/2023] Our paper “Graph-Based Robot Optimal Path Planning with Bio-Inspired Algorithms” has been accepted by Biomimetic Intelligence and Robotics!

  • [07/2023] Our paper “Bio-Inspired Algorithm in Image-Based Path Planning and Localization Using Visual Features and Maps” has been selected and featured as cover paper by Intelligence and Robotics!

  • [06/2023] Our paper “Bio-Inspired Algorithm in Image-Based Path Planning and Localization Using Visual Features and Maps” has been accepted by Intelligence and Robotics!

  • [05/2023] Our paper “A Convex Optimization Approach to Multi-Robot Task Allocation and Path Planning” has been accepted by Sensors!

  • [02/2023] Tingjun received 2022-2023 ECE Best Graduate Researcher Award!

  • [10/2022] Our paper “An Informative Planning-Based Multi-Layer Robot Navigation System as Applied in A Poultry Barn” has been selected and featured as cover paper by Intelligence and Robotics!

  • [10/2022] Tingjun named Oral Session Winner in Fall 2022 Graduate Research Symposium!

  • [10/2022] Tingjun received Best Presentation Award in 2022-2023 ECE Research Symposium!

  • [09/2022] Our paper “Human-Autonomy Teaming-Based Robot Informative Path Planning and Mapping Algorithms with Tree Search Mechanism” has been accepted by IEEE ICHMS 2022!

  • [08/2022] Our paper “An Informative Planning-Based Multi-Layer Robot Navigation System as Applied in A Poultry Barn”has been accepted by Intelligence and Robotics!

  • [08/2022] Our paper “A Node Selection Algorithm to Graph-Based Multi-Waypoint Optimization Navigation and Mapping” has been accepted by Intelligence and Robotics!

  • [08/2022] Our paper “Multi-Robot Directed Coverage Path Planning in Row-Based Environments” has been accepted by IEEE AIKE 2022!

  • [07/2022] Our paper “Multi-Task Allocation Framework with Spatial Dislocation Collision Avoidance for Multiple Aerial Robots” has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems!

  • [07/2022] Our paper “Path Planning Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Under Ocean Current Disturbance” has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Vehicles!

  • [07/2022] Our paper “A Bio-Inspired Neural Network Approach to Robot Navigation and Mapping with Nature-Inspired Algorithms” has received the Best Paper Award in ICSI 2022!

  • [05/2022] Our two papers have been accepted by ICSI 2022!

  • [03/2022] Tingjun named Poster Session Winner in Spring 2022 Graduate Research Symposium!

  • [02/2022] Our paper “Deep Learning-Based Complete Coverage Path Planning with Re-Joint and Obstacle Fusion Paradigm” has been accepted by Frontiers in Robotics and AI!