CVAI 2027 Speaker
Keynote Speaker I
Prof. KWONG Sam Tak Wu (IEEE Fellow)
Lingnan University, HKSAR, China
Title of Speech: AI in Image and Video Processing
Abstract: This presentation will explore the application of artificial intelligence across consumer electronics, image processing, and evolutionary computation, highlighting the speaker’s award-winning contributions. It begins with his 2024 Second Place recognition in the prestigious IEEE Chester W. Sall Memorial Awards for impactful research published in IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics. This work leverages AI for COVID-19 screening by automating lung infection segmentation in CT scans—an essential tool that provides critical support to medical professionals.
Another key contribution presents the first comprehensive perceptual study and analysis of underwater image enhancement using a large-scale real-world image dataset. In this work, the Underwater Image Enhancement Benchmark (UIEB) was constructed, comprising 950 real-world underwater images, 890 of which have corresponding reference images. The remaining 60 images, for which satisfactory reference images could not be obtained, are treated as challenging data. Utilizing this dataset, a thorough qualitative and quantitative evaluation of state-of-the-art underwater image enhancement algorithms was conducted. This groundbreaking research earned the IEEE Signal Processing Society’s 2025 Best Paper Award for advancing benchmark datasets and novel enhancement techniques.
Finally, the presentation will delve into his co-authored paper, “Learning-Aided Evolution for Optimization,” which was honored with the 2026 IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation Outstanding Paper Award.
Biography: Professor KWONG Sam Tak Wu is the Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research), J.K. Lee Chair Professor of Computational Intelligence, and the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. Professor Kwong is a distinguished scholar in evolutionary computation, artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, and image/video processing, with a strong record of scientific innovations and real-world impacts. Professor Kwong is one of the most highly cited researchers by Clarivate in 2022, 2023 and 2024. He has also been actively engaged in knowledge transfer between academia and industry. He was elevated to IEEE Fellow in 2014 for his contributions to optimization techniques in cybernetics and video coding. He was the President of the IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (SMCS) in 2021-22. He is a fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the Canadian Academy of Engineering, and the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering (HKAE). Professor Kwong has a prolific publication record, with over 500 journal articles and 160 conference papers, and an h-index of 102, as per Google Scholar. He is a highly cited researcher from 2022 to 2025.
In 2024, he was awarded Second Place in the IEEE Chester W. Sall Memorial Awards for his work published in IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics. He has also received the IEEE Signal Processing Society (IEEE SPS) 2025 Best Paper Award for his research paper titled “An Underwater Image Enhancement Benchmark Dataset and Beyond,” published in IEEE Transactions on Image Processing. Additionally, he was honored with the 2026 IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation Outstanding Paper Award for his co-authored paper, “Learning-Aided Evolution for Optimization.” He currently serves as an associate editor for several leading IEEE Transactions journals.