About Me

Safe, precise embodied AI for robotics and interactive autonomy.

I am an incoming PhD student in Computer Science at the National University of Singapore, where I will join Prof. Shao Lin's group. My research sits at the intersection of control, learning, and robotics, with current interests in humanoid manipulation, autonomous driving, and safety-critical systems.

I received dual undergraduate degrees from the University of Michigan and Shanghai Jiao Tong University: a B.S.E. in Computer Engineering from UM and a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from SJTU. I have been fortunate to work with Prof. Changliu Liu at CMU RI, Prof. Tulga Ersal at UM, and Prof. Hesheng Wang and Prof. Zhongqiang Ren at SJTU.

Outside of research, I enjoy playing soccer and watching K-pop. I am a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and TWICE.

Humanoid Manipulation Autonomous Driving Model Predictive Control Safety-Critical Learning

Updates

News

  • Paper accepted to IROS 2026 on reinforcement-learning-guided model predictive control for autonomous racing.

  • Named Shanghai Outstanding Graduate (10/300).

  • Received the UM EECS Award, the highest undergraduate honor in the University of Michigan EECS program (1/713).

  • Collaborative work on search-based path planning accepted to ICRA 2025.

Background

Education

2026 - Present

National University of Singapore

PhD student, Computer Science.

Undergraduate

University of Michigan

B.S.E. Computer Engineering.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

B.Eng. Mechanical Engineering.

Minor in Computer Science.

Minor in Embodied AI.

Selected Work

Publications

IROS 2026

Deep Reinforcement-Learning-Guided Model Predictive Control for Preventing Overtakes in Autonomous Racing

Yufei Xi*, Yijie Liao*, Tulga Ersal

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems

* Equal contribution. † Corresponding author.

ICRA 2025 path planning project preview
ICRA 2025

Search-Based Path Planning in Interactive Environments among Movable Obstacles

Zhongqiang Ren, Bunyod Suvonov, Guofei Chen, Botao He, Yijie Liao, Cornelia Fermuller, Ji Zhang

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

Focus

Research Interests

Humanoid Manipulation

Dexterous robot manipulation in dynamic, contact-rich, and cluttered environments.

Autonomous Driving

Decision-making and control under uncertainty, competition, and human interaction.

Safety-Critical World Models

Learning models that support safety-aware planning, verification, and control.