I am an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Florida State University. Previously, I was a Senior Research Associate working with Prof. Cecilia Mascolo and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge. I received the B.E. degree in Software Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University, Shaanxi, China in 2016 and the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science advised by Prof. Zhenjiang Li from City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China in 2020.

My research lies at the intersection of mobile systems, mobile computing, and AI, focusing on developing intelligent mobile and wearable technologies for human-centered sensing and computing. It creates novel systems that expand how we understand human behavior, monitor wellness, facilitate interaction between people and their environments, and address potential privacy risks. By capturing insights into individual behavior, health, and interaction patterns, my research advances cutting-edge areas such as mobile health, HCI, IoT, and cybersecurity. My goal is to design and develop mobile computing technologies that intelligently respond to real-world needs and meaningfully improve quality of life.

I was named a 2024 N2Women: Rising Star in Computer Networking and Communications (10 global awardees). My work has received the ACM SIGBED China Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award in 2021 (3 national awardees in China), as well as Best Paper Awards at ACM EarComp 2023 and IEEE PerCom 2025 (1/152). I am looking for multiple self-motivated students for Ph.D. or research intern roles starting in Fall 2025 and Spring/Fall 2026. Please email me (yliu94913@gmail.com) with your CV and transcripts.

News

  • I started a new position in the Department of Computer Science at Florida State University on 03 Oct 2025 as a tenure-track Assistant Professor.

  • Our recent work, “HearForce: Force Estimation for Manual Toothbrushing with Earables,” has been accepted for publication in IMWUT 2025!

  • Our recent work, “EarMeter: Continuous Respiration Volume Monitoring with Earables,” has been accepted for publication in IMWUT 2025!

  • Our recent work, “Measuring Cardiac Stroke Volume Through In-ear Audio Sensing,” has been accepted for publication in Nature Communications!

  • Our latest work, “A Survey of Earable Technology: Trends, Tools, and the Road Ahead”, is now available on https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.05720.

  • Our Special Issue “State of the Art in Wearable Sensors for Health Monitoring” is now open for submissions (Indexed in PubMed; Impact Factor: 3.5; CiteScore: 8.2) — learn more at https://www.mdpi.com/si/237279.

Selected Awards

  • Mark Weiser Best Paper Award – IEEE PerCom 2025
  • N2Women: Rising Stars in Computer Networking and Communications – 2024
  • Best Paper Award – ACM EarComp 2023
  • Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award – ACM SIGBED China, 2021
  • Student Travel Grant – ACM MobiSys 2019
  • Institutional Research Tuition Scholarship – City University of Hong Kong (CityU), 2019
  • Outstanding Academic Performance Award – CityU, 2019
  • Best-in-Session Presentation Award – IEEE INFOCOM 2018
  • Student Travel Grant – IEEE INFOCOM 2018
  • Outstanding Academic Performance Award – CityU, 2018
  • Outstanding Poster Award – CityU, 2017

Invited Talks

  • [Seminar] Intelligent Wearable Sensing for Human Behavior Understanding and Wellness Monitoring, Google, June 2025, Virtual Event.
  • [Seminar] Towards Smarter, Healthier, and Secure Lives Through Intelligent Wearable Sensing, CS, Florida State University, April 2025, FL, US.
  • [Seminar] WearIoT: Toward Smarter and Healthier Lives Through Intelligent Wearable Sensing, ECE, Purdue University, February 2025, IN, US.
  • [Lecture] Toward Smarter and Healthier Lives Through Embedded Wearable AI, EE, Columbia University, February 2025, Virtual Event.
  • [Seminar] WearIoT: Toward Smarter and Healthier Lives Through Intelligent Wearable Sensing, ECE, Northwestern University, February 2025, IL, US.
  • [Seminar] Intelligent Wearable Sensing for Understanding Human Behavior and Monitoring Wellness, CS, University of Southampton, January 2025, Southampton, UK.
  • [Seminar] Toward More Interactive, Healthier, and More Secure Lives Through Intelligent Sensing, CS, University College London, January 2025, London, UK.
  • [Lecture] Less is More: Innovative Wearable Sensing for Understanding Human Behavior and Monitoring Wellbeing, CS, North Carolina State University, October 2024, Virtual Event.

Services

  • Organizing Committee: Registration Chairs, ACM MobiSys 2026; N2Women Chairs, ACM SIGCOMM 2025; Fellowship Chairs, N2Women 2025– ; Web Directors, ACM SIGMOBILE 2025–; TPC Chairs, ACM BodySys 2025; Publicity Chairs, ACM IASA 2025; Computer Science Ethics Committee, University of Cambridge 2024– ; Chairs, IEEE SWC 2024; Publicity & Social Media Chairs, ACM UbiComp/ISWC 2024; Publicity Chairs, ACM MobiCom 2022; Web Chairs, IEEE ICPADS 2021;
  • Technical Program Committee Member (Conference): ACM SenSys (2026, 2025, 2022 (Shadow Program)); ACM MobiSys (2025, 2024 (Artifact Evaluation), 2023 (Artifact Evaluation)); ACM MobiCom (2025 (Posters), 2024 (Artifact Evaluation), 2023 (Artifact Evaluation)); ACM BuildSys (2025 PhD Forum); ACM IPSN (2024 (Posters)); ACM ISWC (2025, 2024); IEEE ICDCS (2024, 2023, 2022 (Ph.D. Symposium)); IEEE ICPADS (2025, 2024, 2022); IEEE TrustCom (2024); IEEE UIC (2024); AAMAS (2026); Euromicro DSD (2025); EAI Qshine (2020);
  • Technical Program Committee Member (Workshop): ACM HumanSys (2025, 2024); ACM EarComp (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022); ACM IASA (2025); ACM MobiCom4AgeTech (2024); ACM BodySys (2025, 2024); ACM EIFCom (2024); ACM SmartWear (2023); DM-SmartHealth (2025);
  • Invited Journal Reviewer: Nature Communications; ACM CHI; ACM IMWUT journal (UbiComp); ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks; ACM Transactions on Internet of Things; IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing; IEEE Internet of Things Journal; IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems; IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering; IEEE Pervasive Computing; Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing; Sensors Journal; Applied Science Journal;
  • Editor: IEEE Pervasive Computing; MDPI Sensors - Special Issue “State of the Art in Wearable Sensors for Health Monitoring”;
  • Invited Funding Reviewer: Pro² Network+ Funding;
  • Panel/Mentor/Session Chair: Faculty Mentor, PerCom Phd Forum 2025; Panels, WiSense Workshop 2025; Session chair MobiUK 2025