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Computer vision expert Dr. Qian Lin is named an HP Fellow at HP Inc.

By Simon Firth, HP Labs Correspondent

January 17, 2020

Dr. Qian Lin, newly-appointed HP Fellow

Dr. Qian Lin, newly-appointed HP Fellow

Dr. Qian Lin, Distinguished Technologist and director of computer vision and deep learning research in HP’s Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Compute Lab has been named an HP Fellow. HP Fellows are recognized as pioneers who “set the standards for technical excellence and drive the direction of technology in their respective disciplines.” 

Lin’s areas of expertise include artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision, and deep learning, with applications in machine learning solutions, print workflow and image quality, and 3D printing. She has led multiple technology transfers from HP Labs to key HP businesses. Most recently, she led the development of HP Pixel Intelligence, an analytics engine for understanding visual information.  

“It’s a great honor to receive this recognition and take on the responsibility that comes with it to help HP find new ways to grow its business,” says Lin. “I’ve been pursuing new opportunities in AI and deep learning over the last few years and I think the award in part reflects the fact that someone with my experience and vision for this research area is well positioned to help move HP’s business forward.”

Over nearly three decades at HP, Lin has contributed a number of key technologies now found in HP products. She invented HP’s adaptive halftoning technology, which enabled high image quality outputs for HP’s Enterprise and Professional LaserJet and Multifunction printers, played a central role in advancing HP’s digital camera imaging pipeline, and co-invented new capture capabilities with panorama stitching and automatic redeye correction, which were an industry first when the host HP camera product was launched.

Her current research interests focus on the intersection of AI and computer vision, including intelligent assistants for imaging services, vision systems for print quality and 3D part identification, machine learning solutions, and edge computing.

Throughout her tenure at HP, Lin has mentored engineers and students in imaging and computer vision both within HP and at partner research organizations. She is also an adjunct full professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, where she oversees graduate student work both in her lab and remotely with students in Indiana.

“It’s a great honor to receive this recognition and take on the responsibility that comes with it to help HP find new ways to grow its business.”

Dr. Qian Lin, HP Fellow

Lin has long made a point of supporting researchers with diverse backgrounds. “When you do R&D work, having people with a wide range of knowledge and life experiences is extremely important,” she notes. “Greater diversity brings new perspectives and new ideas to the business.”

From 2013 to 2015, Lin worked as a researcher within HP’s Software business group, an experience that she credits as essential to her new role as an HP Fellow.

“In HP Labs you typically develop technology and then do a technology transfer,” she observes. “But at HP software, I learned how you find customers and persuade them to use your technology – then after I came back to HP Labs, I was able to think about how we could use some of the newer technologies that we were working with, such as AI, in software to enable our businesses to do their work better.”

Lin holds a BS in electrical engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University. She then moved to the United States to study for an MS in electrical engineering at Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at Stanford University. She has been issued 45 patents and was named a Societal Fellow of the Society of Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) in 2012, and Outstanding Electrical Engineer by the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of Purdue University in 2013. In 2010, Lin co-founded the Imaging and Multimedia Analytics Conference, a part of the Electronic Imaging Symposium, as a way to connect industry and academic researchers. The conference is now in its 11th year, covering topics in computer vision applications including Drone Imaging, Remote Sensing in Agriculture, Personal Health Data and Surveillance, Augmented Reality in Built Environments, and Food and Computer vision.

When she’s not working, Lin likes to garden, hike in the Bay Area, and take photographs. “That can be very helpful for my work,” she says. “I’m often asking myself how can I produce a better photograph? And how can we use software to improve it?”