Yuwei Liu - ECE PhD Student of the Month - December 2023
Yuwei Liu is in his fourth year of pursuing his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering. Under the advisement of Professor Xuan Liu in the Lab of biomedical optical imaging and sensing. His research focuses on optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT image analysis assisted by machine learning, and optically computed phase microscopy.
What would you say that could be the next big thing in your area of research?
In traditional imaging techniques, the information is directly derived from the measurement. In other words, what you see is what you get. In comparison, computational imaging obtains information by performing a series of optical calculations. This is a large area including optical coherence tomography, computed tomography, digital holography, and so on. Currently, our research is on optically computed phase imaging which provides three-dimensional structure and dynamics in real-time. The next big thing in our research area is anticipated to arise from super-resolution phase microscopy imaging. Through the super-resolution phase microscopy imaging, researchers can investigate the interaction between cells and nanoparticles that function as drug carriers. The technology will help pharmacologist develop new drugs.
What's your opinion on managing a professional online presence of yourself, such as on Google Scholar, LinkedIn, etc.?
As a PhD student, I think managing a professional online presence is important. First, A good academic profile allows others to understand your research field and make yourself known to more people, which will promote more people to join the research in this direction. In addition, research cannot be done behind closed doors. Exchanges and cooperation are very important. By presenting ourselves online, we have more opportunities to collaborate with people from various disciplines.
Having finished the required coursework can be a relief, but can also feel lonely as you don't get to meet many classmates anymore. Do you miss the days when you needed to take regular courses (courses other than ECE 792B and 790A) every semester?
Having finished the required coursework can really be a relief, and we can devote ourselves wholeheartedly to research and produce more publications. However, I miss the time when we needed to take regular courses a bit. During the classes, we can learn various knowledge from different instructors, which can help broaden our vision. After the classes, we can further discuss with the instructors to gain in-depth understanding. Also, we can communicate with other students in different research fields, which increases the chance of collaboration.