Villanova’s Dr. Xun Jiao is Leading Innovations in Embedded Computing Systems
Dr. Xun Jiao
After only one semester as an assistant professor in Villanova University's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Dr. Xun Jiao has already established himself as a leader in the field of embedded computer systems.
As head of the Dependable, Efficient, and Intelligent Computing Lab (DETAIL), Dr. Jiao and his team of graduate and undergraduate students use a software-hardware codesign approach to build dependable and efficient computing systems for emerging applications such as deep neural networks (DNNs, also known as deep learning). In particular, his recent research on energy-efficient DNNs aims to bring DNNs deployment in low-power embedded devices that can perform so-called “deep learning on the edge” without sending massive information to the cloud for processing. This can bring transformative progress in many application fields such as transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, wearable computing and gaming. To accomplish this, Dr. Jiao investigates novel and transformative algorithmic methodologies and designs efficient hardware structures with the latest technology to reduce the computation workload of deep learning. This research has earned him the donation of a Titan V graphics processor from NVIDIA, boasted to be “the world’s most powerful PC GPU” to enable deep learning research.
Outside of his research and teaching at Villanova University, Dr. Jiao is actively involved in related academic and industry associations. In addition to serving on the technical program committees for various leading conferences, he was recently named:
- Associate editor of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, the top academic journal in his field
- Guest editor of the special issue on Dependable Cyber Physical Systems in the Journal of Systems Architecture
- “Dependable Cyber-Physical Systems” session co-chair at the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Cyber, Physical and Social Computing (CPSCom)
- Invited speaker at the International Workshop on Design Automation for Cyber-Physical Systems at the Design Automation Conference in June 2019, the premiere conference in his field
Dr. Jiao’s dedication has already garnered support and recognition from his peers, and continuing efforts will surely see him into an even brighter spotlight.