The results for the 2025 Doctoral Special Program of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) Young Talent Development Project have recently been announced. Xu Boyi, a 2024 Ph.D. student at the college, has been successfully selected.

This doctoral special program (formerly known as the CAST YoungTalent Lifting Project for Doctoral Students) was first launched as a pilot in 2024. It leverages national academic societies, associations, and research institutions to provide selected students with organizational support, academic opportunities, and research funding. The initiative aims to extend academic resources to promising young researchers and support outstanding Ph.D.candidates in their academic growth.

About the Selected Student

Xu Boyi is a 2024 Ph.D. student at the Shien-Ming Wu School ofIntelligent Engineering, South China University of Technology, supervised by Associate Professor Zhou Yitong. His research focuses on soft robotics and wearable flexible sensors. He has published 12 papers as first author orco-first author in leading journals such as ACS Sensors and Advanced Healthcare Materials, and holds five authorized invention patents.

About the Research Team

Associate Professor Zhou Yitong's research group focuses onsoft robotics, flexible wearable exoskeletons, and power grid inspection robots. Key areas include the design and manufacturing of soft actuators (e.g.,artificial muscles), exploring multi-physics coupling mechanisms to enhanceactuation performance, integrating soft actuation and multimodal sensing into wearable exoskeletons, and developing autonomous robotic systems for powerfacility inspection and maintenance.

About the Supervisor

Dr. Zhou Yitong is an Associate Professor and Ph.D. supervisorat the Shien-Ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering, South China University of Technology. She earned her bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University's Department of Automotive Engineering in 2011 and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering along with a master's in Applied Statistics from The Ohio StateUniversity in 2020. She currently leads over ten research projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Guangdong Province, GuangzhouCity, and industry collaborations. Previously, she contributed as a key researcher on projects supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Honda's North American R&D Center. She has received accolades including finalist for the Best Paper Award at IEEE ROBIO 2022 (as advisor), the ASME JMR Best Paper Award (2022), and the IROS Soft Frontier Speaker Award (2025). Herwork has been published in over 30 papers in leading robotics journals and conferences such as IEEE TRO, IEEE TIM, IEEE Sensors, RAL, ICRA, and IROS.

Xu Boyi's selection for theCAST Young Talent Development Program reflects the college's ongoing commitment to high-quality postgraduate education. Guided by the principle of fosteringtalent with strong ethical values, the college emphasizes national strategic needs and cutting-edge disciplinary development. Through a training model that combines mentorship, project-based learning, and interdisciplinary collaboration, the college encourages students to tackle real-world challenges and cultivate original thinking and systems engineering skills. Looking ahead,the college aims to further enhance its educational framework, strengthen organized research efforts, and promote forward-looking interdisciplinary initiatives to nurture leading scientific talents with solid theoretical foundations, innovative capabilities, and a global perspective, contributing to the nation's goal of technological self-reliance.(Text/Photos: Shien-Ming Wu School of Intelligent Engineering)