Rate My Professor Lingbo Cheng

Dr. Lingbo Cheng is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the School of Engineering at the University of Newcastle, Australia, having joined the institution in January 2024. Cheng's academic journey began with a B.Eng. in Vehicle Engineering and an M.Eng. in Safety Engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology, China, in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Cheng obtained a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Alberta, Canada, in 2019, with a doctoral thesis titled "Control of Teleoperation Systems for Beating-Heart Surgery." Prior to the current role, Cheng held the position of Distinguished Associate Researcher (Tenure Track Assistant Professor) at the College of Control Engineering and Science, Zhejiang University, China, from September 2020 to August 2021, and served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta from September 2019 to July 2020. Cheng's research centers on control and automation for medical robots, encompassing haptics and teleoperation control, non-linear control, medical imaging, robot vision, and multi-robot systems. Fields of research include control engineering and medical devices. Cheng is affiliated with the Electrical and Electronic, Computer Systems, and Medical Engineering disciplines within the School of Engineering, and the Medical Technology Research Centre.

Cheng has made significant contributions to medical robotics through extensive publications in journals, conferences, and book chapters. Notable journal articles include "Benchmarking Robust AI for Microrobot Detection with Ultrasound Imaging" (2026, with A. Almaghthawi et al.), "Origami-based capsule robot with permanent-magnet-actuation for foreign object removal" (2026, with L. Huang et al.), "Magnetically actuated dexterous tools for minimally invasive operation inside the brain" (2025, with C. He et al.), "Neural network-based physiological organ motion prediction and robot impedance control for teleoperated beating-heart surgery" (2021, with M. Tavakoli), "COVID-19 Pandemic Spurs Medical Telerobotic Systems: A Survey of Applications Requiring Physiological Organ Motion Compensation" (2020, with M. Tavakoli), "Admittance-Controlled Robotic Assistant for Fibula Osteotomies in Mandible Reconstruction Surgery" (2021, with J. Carriere et al.), and "Ultrasound image guidance and robot impedance control for beating-heart surgery" (2018, with M. Tavakoli). Key conference papers feature "FBG Sensors Enable Subtle Tip Touch of a Concentric Tube Robot in Robot-Assisted Neurosurgery" (2025, with C. He et al.) and "Semi-Autonomous Surgical Robot Control for Beating-Heart Surgery" (2019, with J. Fong and M. Tavakoli). Book chapters such as "Enhancing situational awareness and kinesthetic assistance for clinicians via augmented-reality and haptic shared-control technologies" (2021, with J. Carriere and M. Tavakoli) underscore Cheng's impact on advancing precision surgical technologies for beating-heart procedures and minimally invasive operations.