Robotics, intelligent networked mechatronic and embedded systems,
innovative design for 3D printing,
technology in teaching and learning, hands-on math education,
and integrated computing and STEM education.
Short Biography
Dr. Harry H. Cheng is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Graduate Group in Computer Science, and Graduate Group in Education, and Director of the Integration Engineering Lab at UC Davis. He founded and directs the UC Davis Center for Integrated Computing and STEM Education
(C-STEM).
C-STEM
is now a UC Approved Educational Preparation Program for Undergraduate Admission for all UC campuses.
C-STEM also has UCOP A-G Program Status with 20 high school courses, including four honor math courses, for preparing students for admission to the University of California and California State University.
C-STEM provides professional development for teachers with Computer Science Supplementary Teaching Credential Authorization credits in partnership with UC Riverside Extension.
Over the last decade, he has pioneered the work on systemically integrating computing and robotics into formal math education from transitional kindergarten to 12th grade.
He and his team have organized the
Annual Conference on Integrated Computing and STEM Education since 2011 and
Annual C-STEM Symposium since 2020.
His team has also organized the annual RoboPlay Competition,
a level-playing field robotics competition, for students in grades 5 to 12
in different regions since 2011.
In addition, he and his team have organized GIRL (Girls in Robotics Leadership) and GIRL+ Camps in different regions since 2013.
The 1-week GIRL and GIRL+ Summer Camps
motivate girls in middle and high schools, through peer mentoring by female college students, to learn leadership and STEM concepts through a fun and exciting robotics curriculum.
The C-STEM Ujima GIRL Project will inspire more than 2,000 Black/African American middle and high school girls, and community college women as STEM leaders in their schools, community, and careers.
His work on C-STEM has profoundly changed lives of many young men and women,
especially students from the underrepresented groups who were struggling with math previously. Dr. Cheng is an internationally recognized leader in robotics and mechatronics fields. He has contributed to the development of the latest C standard called C99 through his implementation of new features in a C/C++ interpreter Ch and ANSI/ISO C Standard Committees. He has authored and co-authored more than 190 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings. He has authored 12 textbooks,
of which 10 are for K-12 students learning math, CS, and STEAM with coding and robotics. He holds two U.S. patents. He received a M.S. degree in mathematics and a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1986 and 1989, respectively. He has taught computer programming, robotics, and engineering software design at UC Davis since 1992. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and a Senior Member of IEEE. Throughout his career,
Dr. Cheng received many awards,
including
the UC Davis Chancellor's Achievement Award for Diversity and Community in 2021,
the inaugural UC Davis Chancellor's Innovator of the Year award in 2016,
the 2015 Distinguished Scholarly Public Serve Award from UC Davis Academic Senate, and the 2013 MESA Achievement Award for a cumulative contribution to the field of Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications (MESA) from the ASME.
Honors and Awards
UC Davis Chancellor's Achievement Award for Diversity and Community in 2021.
The lead student author won the Best Student Paper Award at the 2017
ASME/IEEE International Conference
on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications.
The inaugural UC Davis Chancellor's Innovator of the Year award, 2016.
The 2015 Distinguished Scholarly Public Service Award from
the UC Davis Academic Senate.
The MESA Achievement Award from
the ASME MESA Technical Committee for
a cumulative contribution to the field of
Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications, 2013.
The Best Survey Paper for 2011 from
IEEE Transactions on
Intelligent Transportation Systems.
The Best Student Paper Award at the 2011
IEEE/ASME International Conference
on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications.
Top Cited Article 2005-2010,
Computer & Graphics.
Fellow of the ASME, 2006
The Best Paper Award at the 2006
IEEE/ASME International Conference
on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications.
The Waldron Award,
for significant contributions to the science
and technology of mechanisms and robotics,
the 4th National Applied Mechanisms and
Robotics Conference, 1995.
The Research Initiation Award, the National
Science Foundation, 1993.
The Procter
and Gamble Best Paper Award,
the 3rd National Applied Mechanisms and
Robotics Conference, 1993.
The Junior Faculty Research Fellowship,
University of California, Davis, 1993.
The Outstanding Contribution Award, United Parcel Service, Inc.,
1990.
The University Fellowships,
University of Illinois at Chicago, 1986-1987, 1987-1988, 1988-1989.
Recent Major Grants
PI, Ujima Girls in Robotics Leadership Camp, National Science Foundation, $2,400,000, 8/1/2021-7/30/2024.
PI, PRISM, California Department of Education, $1,800,000, 1/1/2015-2/28/2018.
PI, C-STEM+, California Department of Education, $1,500,000, 1/1/2014-2/28/2017.
PI, Co-Robots for STEM Education in the 21st Century,
National Science Foundataion, $950,958, 10/1/2012-9/30/2015
PI, Collaborative Mathematics Learning with Robots,
National Science Foundataion, $300,000, 9/1/2012-8/31/2014.
PI, Computing Research Experiences for STEM Teachers (CREST),
National Science Foundataion,
$500,000, 7/1/2011-6/30/2014.
The UC Davis Chancellor's Achievement Award for Diversity and Community, 2021
Barobo, Inc., founded by Dr. Cheng and his former graduate student, is a commercial spinnoff of
the patented robotics technology developed in
the Integration Engineering Laboratory at UC Davis.
Software
I started my career in computing using computers with punch cards.
Now, my computing interests are high-level script computing
and mobile agent-based computing.
My white paper on
Ten Reasons to Teach and Learn
Computer Programming in C.
C-STEM Studio,
a platform for hands-on integrated learning of computing, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (C-STEM) with robotics.
RoboBlockly,
an integrated learning environment for learning math and CS with robotics.
The designer and original implementer of
Ch --- an embeddable C/C++ interpreter.
The architect of
Mobile-C --- a multi-agent platform for mobile C/C++ agents.
Keynote Speaker on
"Transforming Mathematics Education with Computing"
at the East Tennessee State University STEM Conference
on Integrating Computing into the High School Mathematics Curriculum,
June 1-2, 2017, Johnson City, TN.
Keynote Speaker on
"Integrated Computing and Robotics into K-12 Math Education"
at the 2016 IEEE/ASME International Conference
on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications (MESA16),
August 29-31, 2016, Auckland, New Zealand.
An Invited Speaker on
"Integrated Computing and Robotics into K-12 Math Education"
at UC Irvine on January 29, 2016.
The event is jointly sponsored by UC Irvine School of Education, Henry Samueli School of Engineering,
Donald Bren School of
Information & Computer Sciences, School of Physical Sciences,
Orange County Department of Education,
Orange County STEM Initiative, and Orange County Pathways.
An Invited Speaker
at the CTE Committee Meeting,
California County Superintendents Education Services Association (CCSESA),
Yolo County Office of Education, May 7, 2014.
Keynote Speaker
at the
2013 California Mathematics Network, formerly the Algebra Forum,
Orange County, CA, October 14-16, 2013.
An Invited Speaker at the UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education Colloquium to the audience with
a mix of graduate students, preservice teachers, and faculty.
The speech is entitled
"Integrated Computing and STEM Education in the 21st Century".
Member,
Instructional Technology Advisory Committee,
Yolo County Office Of Education,
2007-present.
Member,
Advisory Committee for Davis High School Networking/Information Technology Classes,
2007-present.
Chair, Technical Committee on
Mechatronic and Embedded Systems in ITS of
the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society, 2006-2010.
Chair, Technical Area of Computers in Electronmechanical Systems,
ASME Computers and Information in Engineering Division, 2003 - 2007.
Guest Editor for a special October 2007 issue of
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics
focused on
Intelligent Mechatronic and Embedded Systems.
Keynote Speaker
at
the 2007 ASME/IEEE International Conference
on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications (MESA07),
Las Vegas, Nevada, September 4-7, 2007.
Editorial Board,
The Open Software Engineering Journal,
2008 - present.
Editorial Board,
The Open Transportation Journal,
2008 - present.
Member of International Editorial
Advisory Board of
Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering (CJME)
-English Edition, 2002 - present.
Instructor of the tutorial, "Real-Time Linux
for Control of Mechatronic Systems", at the ASME
International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers
and Information in Engineering Conference,
Salt Lake City, Utah,
September 28 - October 2, 2004;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
September 10-13, 2006.
Keynote Speaker at
the 2006 Annual Computer Education and Research
Conference of the Zhejiang Province, August 17-20, Lisui, China.
Program Chair,
the 2nd IEEE/ASME International Conference
on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications (MESA06),
August 13-16, 2006, Beijing, China.
Member of the Advisory Committee of the
2006 International Mechanisms and Machine Science Conference, Yinchuan, China, August 14-17, 2006.
Member of Editorial
Advisory Board,
Journal of Applied Mechanisms and Robotics,
2001 - 2002.
Associate Editor,
ASME Trans, Journal of Computing and Information Science in Engineering, 2000 - 2001.
Chair, Technical Area of Embedded and Ubiquitous Computing,
ASME Computers and Information in Engineering Division, 1997 - 2003.
Publication Chair of the 1997 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences.
Program Track Chair on
Industrial Automation of the 1997 6th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation.
Member of the ASME Mechanisms Subcommittee on Robotics and
Manipulators --- Dynamics and Controls, 1995-1996.
Chair, the Subcommittee on Programming Environments
and Languages of the ASME Design Automation Committee, 1994 - 1995.
Member of
the Advisory Board on Programming Languages, University Extension,
University of California, Davis, 1994 - 1999.
Participated in the revision of C
through ANSI X3J11 and ISO 22/WG14 C Standard Committees with contributions in numerical features of
VLA, complex numbers, and IEEE 754 floating-point arithmetic in C99,
1993-1999.
Member of the
Design Automation Committee, ASME Design Engineering Division,
1992 - 2000
Member of Organizing and Program Committees of numerous international conferences.
Session Chairs of numerous international conferences.
Phone : (530) 752-5020 Fax: (530) 752-4158 Email:
hhcheng (at) ucdavis.edu
Office : 2018 Bainer Hall Integration Engineering Lab: 1067 Bainer Hall Mail: Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UC Davis, Davis, CA 95616
