Yue Hu

Yue Hu is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo, where she directs the Active & Interactive Robotics Lab. Prior to joining The University of Waterloo, Yue had a largely international experience. She obtained her master's degree in Advanced Robotics from the University of Genova, Italy, and Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France, in 2013. She then carried out her PhD in robotics at Heidelberg University, Germany, receiving her degree in 2017. She was a postdoc first at Heidelberg University, then at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), in Italy. Between 2018 and 2021 she was first a JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) fellow at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technologies (AIST) in Japan, and then an Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT). Yue is one of the co-chairs of the IEEE-RAS Technical Committee on Model-based Optimization for Robotics, an Associate Vice-President of the IEEE-RAS Members Activities Board (MAB), and an advisor for the organization Women in AI & Robotics. Her research interests include physical-social human-robot interaction, collaborative robots, privacy in robotics, cybersecurity in robotics, humanoid robots, and optimal control.

• Robotics

• Collaborative Robots

• Human-Robot Interaction

• Humanoid Robots

• Privacy in Robotics

• Cybersecurity and Privacy in Robotics

• Human Motion Analysis

• Optimal control

• 2017, Doctorate Computer science (Dr. rer. nat.), Heidelberg University, Germany

• 2013, Master of Science European Master in Advanced Robotics, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, University of Genova, France, Italy

• 2011, Bachelor's Electronics Engineering, University of Genova, Italy

• 2025, Best Research Paper, The International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security (ARES)

• 2023, Best Paper Award, International Conference on Social Robotics (ICSR)

• 2022, IEEE-RAS Most Active Technical Committee Award

• 2018, Japan Society for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellow

• 2017, Heidelberg Graduate School of Mathematical and Computational Methods for the Sciences (HGS MathComp) Fellow

• 2017, Summa Cum Laude (distinction) Doctoral Examination, Heidelberg University

• 2024–present Associate Vice President, Members Activities Board, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS)

• 2025 Publication chair - IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots

• 2024 Publicity co-chair - IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots

• 2024-2025 Publicity co-chair - Robotics Science and Systems (RSS)

• 2023 Publication chair - IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots

• 2022 Award Committee - IEEE International Conference on Robot & Human Interactive Communication

• 2019–present Co-chair of the IEEE-RAS Technical Committee for Model-based Optimization for Robotics.

• ME 262 - Introduction to Microprocessors and Digital Logic
  • Taught in 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026
• ME 640 - Autonomous Mobile Robotics
  • Taught in 2024, 2026
• ME 780 - Special Topics in Mechatronics
  • Taught in 2026
• MTE 544 - Autonomous Mobile Robots
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Researchers awarded funding for cybersecurity innovations
• MME surgical robotics collaboration debuts at top international robotics conference
• Researchers make final of robotics innovation competition
• Seven researchers receive Graham Seed Fund awards
• Faculty researchers awarded $900K from government