I joined Southeast University in 2025 as a Chair Professor and Director of the Research Center of Frontier Technologies in Intelligent and Connected Transportation. My research and student supervision span the School of Transportation, the School of Telecommunications and the School of Information Science and Engineering, bringing together transportation engineering, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, data analytics and networked control.

Our goal is to build an internationally leading interdisciplinary research group that advances fundamental theory while addressing major real-world challenges in intelligent transportation, connected and automated vehicles, next-generation communications and industry digitalisation.

Academic Career and Leadership

From 2019 to 2024, I was a Distinguished Professor at Xidian University, where I served as Founding Director of the Xidian Research Institute of Smart Transportation and Deputy Director of the National Key Laboratory of Space-Air-Ground Integrated Service Networks. I led my team in securing two National Key R&D projects in intelligent transportation systems and 6G communications, together with two key projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

In 2024, our team received the First Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress from the Chinese Institute of Electronics. The development of the intelligent transportation research programme also contributed to Xidian University achieving its highest position of the fifth globally in Transportation Science and Technology in the ShanghaiRanking Global Ranking of Academic Subjects.

Before returning to China, I was Professor of Wireless Networking and Director of the Centre for Real-time Information Networks at the University of Technology Sydney from 2014 to 2019. The Centre was one of Australia’s largest university research centres in telecommunications. In 2020, UTS was ranked the19th worldwide and first in Australia in Telecommunication Engineering by the Academic Ranking of World Universities.

From 2002 to 2014, I was a tenured academic in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering at the University of Sydney. I also held senior research and visiting appointments at Data61, CSIRO, the Australian National University and several leading Chinese universities and research institutions. Since 2022, I have been a Visiting Professor at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.

Research Contributions

My early research focused on telecommunications, wireless networks and wireless localisation. It subsequently expanded into the Internet of Things, data analytics, artificial intelligence, vehicular networks and intelligent transportation systems.

A central theme of my current work is the deep integration of communication, sensing, computing, artificial intelligence and transportation systems. Communication networks should no longer be treated simply as data pipes serving transportation and industrial systems. Instead, communication, information and physical systems must be jointly designed so that information exchange, perception, decision-making and control can operate as an integrated system.

My research has addressed fundamental and applied problems in:

* intelligent transportation systems and smart driving;

* connected and automated vehicles and road–vehicle collaboration;

* low altitude technologies;

* artificial intelligence and data analytics for transportation;

* wireless localisation and multisource information fusion;

* Internet of Things and mobile sensing;

* next-generation mobile communication technologies; and

* graph theory and its applications in communication and transportation networks.

I have published three research monographs, three book chapters and more than 300 papers in high-impact journals and prestigeous intereference conferences, with over 17,000 citations. I was included in Stanford University’s global list of the "world’s top 2% most-cited scientists" for both single-year impact and career-long impact from 2022 to 2025.

Major Research Programmes and Engineering Impact

I have led or contributed to competitive research programmes funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Australian Research Council, CSIRO and National ICT Australia, the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group, the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development, government agencies and major industrial partners. The total value of these projects exceeds A$30 million, excluding several large collaborative research programmes.

In 2017, as the UTS research leader in intelligent transportation systems, I played a major role in establishing the iMOVE Cooperative Research Centre, one of the largest government–industry–university research initiatives in Australian history. The programme received A$55 million from the Australian Government, supplemented by A$178.8 million in cash and in-kind contributions from participating organisations, giving a total programme value of approximately A$234 million.

In 2019, as Lead Chief Investigator, I was awarded the National Key R&D Program of China project "Integration and Implementation of Highway Intelligent Road–Vehicle Collaboration Systems", with total funding of approximately RMB 120 million. The project developed and demonstrated integrated technologies for intelligent highways, connected vehicles and road–vehicle cooperation.

In 2020, my team was awarded another National Key R&D Program project on "Key Technologies for On-demand, All-scenario 6G Services".

I have also served as Chief ICT Architect for road–vehicle collaboration on the approximately 420-kilometre Jiuquan–Mingshui autonomous freight corridor in Gansu. The project was designed as the world’s first commercial highway dedicated to autonomous trucks and provided an important foundation for the emerging large-scale autonomous freight and logistics industry.

International Recognition and Professional Service

I am a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and Fellow of the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association". I was also selected for "China’s National Overseas High-Level Talent Program".

I have served as an editor of three leading international journals:

* IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems;

* IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications; and

* IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology.

For my editorial contributions to IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, I received the "Top Editor Award" and "Top 15 Editors Recognition Awards".

I have served on major national research assessment and funding panels, including the Australian Research Council’s Excellence in Research for Australia Research Evaluation Committee and the College of Reviewers of New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. I have also reviewed major competitive research programmes for funding organisations in China, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Qatar and Portugal, as well as for the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

I am currently Vice Director of the Intelligent Transportation Information Engineering Society of the Chinese Institute of Electronics and Vice Director of the Academic Board of the International Innovation Alliance on Internet of Vehicles and Intelligent Vehicle Testing Technology. I previously served as Co-Chair of the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society Technical Committee on Network Communications.

Join Our Group

We welcome outstanding PhD and Master’s students, postdoctoral researchers, research fellows and early-career academics who wish to work at the intersection of transportation, communications, artificial intelligence and networked systems.

Group members have opportunities to:

* undertake interdisciplinary research across the School of Transportation and the School of Information Science and Engineering;

* participate in national key projects and major industry-oriented research programmes;

* address both fundamental scientific questions and large-scale engineering challenges;

* collaborate with researchers, universities and industry partners in China and internationally;

* develop expertise across intelligent transportation, AI, communications, sensing, data fusion and control; and

* produce research with both international academic impact and practical societal value.

Applicants with backgrounds in transportation engineering, telecommunications, electronic engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence, automation, applied mathematics or related disciplines are encouraged to contact me. Strong academic preparation, intellectual curiosity, initiative and a genuine commitment to research are particularly valued.

Research collaboration enquiries and applications are welcome.

Email: **g.mao AT ieee.org**

Dr Guoqiang Mao

FIEEE, FIET, Fellow AAIA

Chair Professor, Southeast University

Director, Research Center of Frontier Technologies in Intelligent and Connected Transportation, Southeast University