("Qiang" sounds like "Chee-ah-ng", and "Liu" as "l-yo")
Research
I am broadly interested in mathematical and computational techniques for learning, inference and making decision out of data and knowledge.
Algorithmic foundations:
I am interested in developing fundamental yet computationally feasible algorithms for the basic learning, inference, and optimization problems that underpin the cutting-edge AI/ML/statistical technologies.
I see myself as a mathematically-minded methodologist who uses advanced math to discover the missing algorithms that are otherwise non-obvious.
I prefer simple and elegant methods influenced by Paul Erdos’ “The Book”.
Applications:
I hope the algorithms we develop can help solve real-world problems of societal importance.
One aspect of this is to tailor the basic algorithms to have desirable practical properties, such as computational/energy efficiency, robustness and fairness. Another aspect is to develop problem-specific solutions to address the unsolved problems in science and engineering.