ResumeMark LauMonday, 30 July 2018
Table of Contents
Overview 2(1) Academic Qualifications 2(2) Teaching Positions 2(3) Research Positions 3(4) Industrial Positions 3(5) Funding & Award 3(6) Professional Services & Academic Activities 4
Research 5(1) Summary 5(2) Research Projects 6(3) Publications 12
Teaching 14(1) Teaching Positions 14(2) Supervised Honours / Final Year Projects 15(3) Courses 16
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Overview Mark Lau
OverviewEnglish name: Mark Shek-kwan LAUChinese name: 劉劉碩鈞
(1) Academic Qualifications
(2) Teaching Positions
Graduation Qualification University
Dec 2004 Doctor of Philosophyin Mechanical and Automation Engineering
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Dec 2001 Master of Philosophyin Mechanical and Automation Engineering
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Dec 1998 Bachelor of Engineeringin Mechanical and Automation Engineering
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Period Position Institute / department
Sept 12 - present Lecturer Department of MathematicsHong Kong Baptist University
May 12 - Aug 12 Lecturer (part-time) RMIT University top-up degree programmesin Electrical Engineering
Sept 11 - Jun 12 Lecturer (part-time) Department of EngineeringHong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE)
Jan 11 - Aug 12 Teaching associate Department of EngineeringHong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE)
Sept 99 - Jun 04 Teaching assistant (part-time)
Department of Mechanical and Automation EngineeringThe Chinese University of Hong Kong
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Overview Mark Lau
(3) Research Positions
(4) Industrial Positions
(5) Funding & Award
Period Position Institute / department
Apr 08 - Aug 10 Research fellow Nanyang Technological University, SINGAPORESchool of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Apr 06 - Mar 08 Post-doctoral researcher
Konan University, JAPANInstitute of Intelligent Information and Communications Technology
Jan 06 - Mar 06 Senior research assistant
City University of Hong Kong, HONG KONGDepartment of Electronic Engineering
Jan 05 - Dec 05 Postdoctoral fellow The Chinese University of Hong Kong, HONG KONGDepartment of Systems Engineering & Engineering Management
Period Position Company
Jun 98 - May 99 Electronic Engineer Clover Display (Hong Kong) Limited
Funding / award Awarded by Amount Date
Teaching development grant
Hong Kong Baptist University Approximately HK$ 200,000
May 2012
Outstanding contribution award
Organizing Committee and Technical Program Committees of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Symposium on Queueing Theory and Network Applications (QTNA 2007)
--- Summer 2007
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Overview Mark Lau
(6) Professional Services & Academic Activities
Co-chair of Organizing Committee
Workshop Title: Advanced Communication Systems and Networks
Date: January 20 - 27, 2008
Organizing institutes:
Institute of Intelligent Information and Communications Technology,Konan University, JapanChungbuk National University, Korea
Participating institues:
Kyoto UniversityOsaka UniversityOsaka City UniversityNational Institute of Information and CommunicationsAdvanced Telecommunications Research Institute International
Committee Member
Position Conference Location Date
Co-chair,local committee
The 2nd Asia-Pacific Symposiumon Queueing Theory and Network Applications
Kobe, JAPAN
Aug 1-4, 2007
Coordinator,local committee
The 7th International Conferenceon Optimization: Techniques and Applications
Kobe, JAPAN
Dec 12-15, 2007
Chair of a technical session
The 3rd IEEE International Conferenceon Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing
Shanghai, CHINA
Sept 21-23, 2007
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Research Mark Lau
Research(1) Summary• Research interests:
• Optimization theory and its engineer applications
• Numerical methods
• Mathematical modelling and simulation of real-world problems
• Signal and image processing
• 6+ years of postdoctoral research experience.
• Did research projects at universities of Hong Kong, Japan (2 years), and Singapore (2.5 years).
• First author of 5 journal publications
• 3 in IEEE transactions,
• 1 in Journal of Global Optimization,
• and 1 in Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision.
• First author of 14 international conference publications.
• 2 invited seminars.
• Co-chair of local committee of an international symposium.
• Committee member (conference coordinator) of an international conferences.
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Research Mark Lau
(2) Research ProjectsSubject areas : Optimization, probability analysis, modeling and simulation, video & image compression
Project title : Optimization, simulation, and error-rate analysis of probabilistic CMOS circuits
Starting date : Apr 1, 2008
Abstract : A CMOS circuit operating under an extremely low supply voltage can save substantial amount of power. However, at the same time, the circuit may produce erroneous outputs because of, for examples, narrow noise margins and timing issues. Hence, there is a trade-off between the correctness of circuit operations and power saving.
This project has been motivated by our preliminary study that, for some multimedia applications (e.g., video and image compression), imperceptible degradation of content quality can often be traded for a substantial amount of power saving. In fact, multimedia applications often have wide margin for errors, because human brain can perceive less-than-perfect images and audio. It is possible to leverage on the imperfection of human perception and reproduce perceptually indistinguishable multimedia contents.
The objective of this project is to set up a framework to study trade-offs between correctness of circuit operations and power saving. Both theoretical and simulation tools are being developed to
1. analyze dynamics of error-propagation through circuits nodes, 2. establish equations for predicting error-rates without using low-level circuit
simulations (which are usually time-consuming), 3. and allocate power levels to different circuit nodes to achieve an optimal trade-off
between correctness of circuit operations and power saving.
It is hoped that this framework will allow systematic analysis and parameter optimization for the probabilistic CMOS circuits.
�Fig. 1: In the project, error propagation through erroneous adders was modeled. The model was then used to predict error-rates of an adder’s output. In the above example, the prediction result is compared against the result obtained by a circuit simulation software. The prediction was reasonably accurate.
�Fig. 2: Results from a preliminary study. Left to right: Videos compressed by an encoder (100% energy consumption, SNR=34.7), by a probabilistic encoder with 50% energy consumption (SNR=34.4), and by a probabilistic encoder with 30% energy consumption (SNR=31.7). Visual defects are non-perceivable in both videos by the probabilistic encoder.
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Research Mark Lau
Subject areas : Convex optimization, control theory, reconfigurable hardware
Project title : Performance comparison of convex optimization solvers for FPGA implementations of model predictive control
Starting date: Apr 1, 2008
Abstract : This project studies the performances of convex optimization solvers for model predictive control of embedded applications where computational resource is limited and fast response-time is required.
An interior-point method and an active-set method were compared, which were implemented on an FPGA for controlling fast dynamic systems, such as simulated aircrafts. Comparisons were made empirically on the solvers’ convergent speed, computation complexity, resource usage, and some other implementation issues.
�Fig. 3: Convex optimization solvers were executed in real-time on an FPGA board same as this one.
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Research Mark Lau
Subject areas : Mathematical programming, global optimization, wireless communication
Project title : Optimal power management for wireless communication systems using mathematical programming approaches
Commence date : Jan 1, 2006
Abstract : In a cellular network, undesirable effects such as inter-cell interferences and fading can often be mitigated by managing the transmission powers of mobile devices in the network. This problem is often referred to as a power allocation problem.
This project was concerned with finding an optimal solution of a power allocation problem for a new class of channel access methods. The optimal solution minimizes the total transmission power of mobile devices in a cellular network, while keeping the throughput of the network at a desired level. It was the first time an optimal allocation problem is solved for this new class of channel access methods.
The original formulation of the optimization problem consists of highly nonlinear and implicitly defined functions, which render most of existing deterministic optimization methods incapable. In this project, an equivalent formulation was derived, so that the optimization problem can be solved exactly by an algorithm based on branch-and-bound.
In addition, the optimization problem was formulated as an integer programming problem, in order to cater to a more practical scenario where transmission powers of mobile devices are changed in a step-wise manner (discrete control). An efficient algorithm was devised to solve the integer programming problem.
�Fig. 4: The total transmission powers of mobile devices in a cellular network can be minimized by the proposed method, while maintaining the throughput at a desired level. This figure illustrates a possible scenario considered in this research, where a cell of reasonable size is located in an urban area.
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Research Mark Lau
Subject areas : Mathematical programming, global optimization, physical chemistry
Project title : Global optimization algorithms for finding lowest energy configurations of Lennard-Jones clusters
Commence date : Jan 1, 2005
Abstract : A global optimization problems arising from computational chemistry was tackled in this project. An algorithm was developed to obtain the minimum-energy structures of large molecules, known as Lennard-Jones clusters. Finding these structures is of practical interest because of their connection to predicting the stable states of proteins. Information about the stable states is important for designing drugs and new proteins.
The proposed algorithm was a combination of a smoothing method and a heuristic search. The smoothing method first descends rapidly to obtain a molecular structure with very low energy, then some heuristics are applied to look for a direction in which structures with lower energies are likely to be found. Extensive numerical experiments were carried out to show that the proposed algorithm was more efficient than some other existing methods.
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Fig. 5: A illustrative example of the optimization problem tackled in this project. In this figure, four identical atoms form a cluster, whose total potential energy varies with the positions of the atoms. The total potential is the sum of the (pair-wise) potentials, p, between each pairs of atoms.
�Fig. 6: It is believed in the literature that the total potential function exhibits a funnel structure. The smoothing phase of the proposed algorithm can effectively smooth out local minima of the potential function, and reveal the “trend” of the potential function.
Subject areas : Mathematical programming, global optimization, nonlinear PDE
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Research Mark Lau
Project title : A diffusion equation-based method for global optimization
Commence date : Sep 1, 2001
Abstract : This project was to develop a new global optimization algorithm, which was inspired by the phenomenon of heat diffusion: When a heated object gets cooled, heat spreads throughout its surface such that the surface’s temperature profile is smoothed out over time. Any local extremum of the temperature profile will gradually disappear, revealing the overall shape, or trend, of the profile. The trend’s lowest point is adjacent to a global minimum of the profile.
Governed by a modified heat equation, the proposed optimization algorithm smooths out all local minima of a multi-modal objective function, so that a local search would not be trapped by a local minimum. Moreover, a distinguished feature of the algorithm is that it does not alter any global minima of the objective function during smoothing. The global minima can be obtained directly by performing a local search of the smoothed objective function.
The modified heat equation, which models heat diffusion with external heat sources, was first proposed in this research. The heat sources control the extent of smoothing around a global minimum in order to preserve the global minimum. It was proved mathematically that the proposed global optimization algorithm guarantees to obtain a global minimum of multi-modal nonlinear objective functions.
�Fig. 7: The proposed method was inspired by the phenomenon of heat diffusion. In this research, external heat sources (shown by two arrows at the bottom of the above figure) were added to an heat equation to control the smoothing of a temperature profile, such that global minima remain unchanged during the smoothing.
�Fig. 8: This example shows that, under the proposed smoothing scheme, local minima of an objective function disappear gradually while the location of the global minimum remains unchanged. f is the original function; u1, u2, u3 and u4 are functions after smoothing.
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Research Mark Lau
Subject areas : Signal & image processing, stereo vision
Project title : Analysis and new applications of single-image random-dots-stereograms
Commence date : Sep 1, 1999
Abstract : This project was to address a shortcoming of existing algorithms for generating a single-image random-dot-stereogram (SIRDS). An SIRDS is an image that uses correlation of seemingly random patterns to encode stereo information of a 3D scene. The encoded 3D scene can be perceived by human without using visual aids such as polarized glasses. However, it is known that, under certain situations, the encoded information cannot be fully revealed due to a phenomenon called echo. In this research, causes of echo were pinpointed and an echo-free encoding algorithm was proposed. It was mathematically proved that SIRDS generated by the proposed algorithm can be decoded without ambiguity and errors.
�Fig. 9: A typical single-image random-dots-stereogram (SIRDS) considered in this research.
�Fig. 10: This figure illustrates a problem addressed in this project, in which ambiguity may arise when some kinds of 3D objects were encoded in an SIRDS. In the example shown here, a pyramid was encoded. However, an extra fragment that does not belong to this pyramid can also be perceived when the SIRDS is being viewed by human eyes.
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Research Mark Lau
(3) PublicationsMathematical Modeling, Optimization, and Error Analysis of Energy-Aware Embedded Systems
1. Mark S. K. Lau, K. V. Ling, A. Bhanu, V. J. Mooney III, “Error-Rate Prediction for Probabilistic Circuits with More General Structures,” Proceedings of the 16th Workshop on Synthesis and System Integration of Mixed Information Technologies, pp. 220-225.
2. Mark S. K. Lau, K. V. Ling, Y. C. Chu and A. Bhanu, “A General Mathematical Model of Probabilistic Ripple-Carry Adders,” Proceedings of 2010 Design, Automation & Test in Europe, (CD-ROM; double-blind review; acceptance rate ~ 25%).
3. Mark S. K. Lau, K. V. Ling and Y. C. Chu, “Modeling of Probabilistic Ripple-Carry Adders,” Proceedings of the 5th IEEE International Symposium on Electronic Design, Test and Applications, pp. 201-206, 2010.
4. A. Bhanu, Mark S. K. Lau, K. V. Ling, V. J. Mooney III and A. Singh, “A More Precise Model of Noise Based CMOS Errors,” Proceedings of the 5th IEEE International Symposium on Electronic Design, Test and Applications, pp. 99-102, 2010.
5. Mark S. K. Lau, K. V. Ling and Y. C. Chu, “Energy Aware Probabilistic Multiplier: Design and Analysis,” Proceedings of 2009 International Conference on Compilers, Architecture, and Synthesis for Embedded Systems, pp. 281-290. (Double-blind review; acceptance rate ~ 40%.)
Mathematical Programming Approaches for Power Management of Wireless Communication Systems
1. Mark S. K. Lau, Wuyi Yue and Li Ping, “Equal Power Allocation of IDMA Systems: Feasibility, Optimality, and Throughput,” IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 746-756, 2009.
2. Mark S. K. Lau, Wuyi Yue and Li Ping, “A Branch-and-Bound Method for Optimal Power Allocation of IDMA,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 3525-3537, 2008.
3. Mark S. K. Lau, Wuyi Yue and Peng Wang, “On a Power Allocation Method of IDMA Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 7, no. 8, pp. 2905-2910, 2008.
4. Mark S. K. Lau and Wuyi Yue, “A Global Optimization Algorithm for Power Allocation of a Wireless Communication System,” Proceedings of the 1st World Congress on Global Optimization in Engineering & Science, 2009 (CD-ROM).
5. Mark S. K. Lau and Wuyi Yue, “Recent Approaches to Optimal Power Allocation of a Wireless Communication System,” Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Optimization: Techniques and Applications, 2007 (CD-ROM).
6. Mark S. K. Lau and Wuyi Yue, “A Zero-one Formulation of Optimal Power Allocation of IDMA Systems,” Proceedings of the 3rd IEEE International Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing, vol. 1, pp. 637-640, 2007.
7. Mark S. K. Lau and Wuyi Yue, “Optimality and Feasibility of Equal Power Allocation of IDMA Systems,” Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc, and Wireless Networks, 2007 (CD-ROM).
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Research Mark Lau
8. Mark S. K. Lau, Wuyi Yue, Li Ping and Duan Li, “A Method to Compute All Fixed Points for the Iterative MUD of a CDMA System with Chip-level Interleavers,” Proceedings of 2006 IEEE TENCON (CD-ROM).
9. Mark S. K. Lau, Wuyi Yue, Li Ping and Duan Li, “Optimization for Power Allocation of IDMA Network Systems,” Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Telecommunication Systems — Modeling and Analysis, pp. 250-261, 2006.
10. Mark S. K. Lau and Wuyi Yue, “An Integer Programming Approach for Transmitted Power Minimization of IDMA Systems,” ⽇日本オペレーションズ・リサーチ学会 2007年年度秋季研究発表⼤大会アブストラクト集, pp. 232-233, 2007.
11. Mark S. K. Lau and Wuyi Yue, “Feasibility and Optimality Conditions of Equal Power Allocation of IDMA,” ⽇日本オペレーションズ・リサーチ学会 2007年年度春季研究発表⼤大会アブストラクト集, pp. 24-25, 2007.
12. Mark S. K. Lau, Wuyi Yue, and Li Ping, "Optimal Power Control of IDMA Systems," IEICE Technical Report, vol. 106, no. 170, pp. 13-18, 2006.
Global Optimization, and Convex Programming
1. Mark S. K. Lau and C. P. Kwong, “A Smoothing Method of Global Optimization that Preserves Global Minima,” Journal of Global Optimization, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 369-398, 2005.
2. Mark S. K. Lau, S. P. Yue, K. V. Ling and J. M. Maciejowski, “A Comparison of Interior Point and Active Set Methods for FPGA Implementation of Model Predict Control,” Proceedings of 2009 European Control Conference, pp. 156-161.
3. Mark S. K. Lau and C. P. Kwong, “A Novel Smoothing Method of Global Optimization that Preserves Global Minima,” Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Optimization: Techniques and Applications, 2004 (CD-ROM).
Signal and Image Processing, and other Topics
1. Mark S. K. Lau and C. P. Kwong, “Analysis of Echoes in Single-Image Random-Dot-Stereograms,” Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 69-79, 2002.
2. Mark S. K. Lau and C. P. Kwong, “Analysis of Echoes in Single-image Random-dot-stereogram,” Proceedings of 2001 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, vol. 3, pp. 1667-1680.
3. C. P. Kwong, C. M. Lee, Y. Xu and Mark S. K. Lau, “A novel Controller for DC-DC Converters,” Proceedings of the 4th International ICSC Symposia on Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems for Industry, 2001 (CD-ROM).
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Teaching Mark Lau
Teaching(1) Teaching Positions
Position Programme / Institute Subject Areas
Lecturer,current position
Department of Mathematics,Hong Kong Baptist University
Linear and integer programming, queueing theory, network optimization, simulation
Lecturer, part-time RMIT University Top-up Degree Programme in Electrical EngineeringSchool for Higher and Professional Education
Microcontroller-based electrical systems
Lecturer, part-time Mechanical Engineering Higher Diploma Programmes,Department of Engineering,Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE)
Mechatronics, mechanical engineering
Teaching associate Mechanical Engineering Higher Diploma Programmes,Department of Engineering,Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE)
Mechatronics, mechanical engineering
Teaching assistant, part-time
Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Machine intelligence, engineering mathematics, signal processing
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Teaching Mark Lau
(2) Supervised Honours / Final Year Projects
Title Institutes
Strategies for Foreign Currency Trading (3 students)
Department of Mathematics,Hong Kong Baptist University
Experimental Study of Algorithms for Finding Roots of Univariate Non-linear Functions
Experimental Study of Algorithms of Root-finding Algorithms for Polynomials
Experimental Study of Popular Algorithms for Finding Matrix Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors
Experimental Study of Matlab’s Algorithm for Finding Roots of a Univariate Nonlinear Function
Experimental Study of Popular Algorithms for Numerical Integration
Development of an Electricity-Powered Eco-CarHong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, in collaboration with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, SingaporeDevelopment of a Graphical User Interface for a Nano-
Stage Actuator
Refrigeration Engineering and Practice in Hong KongHong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, in collaboration with Hong Kong L.P. Gas Ltd.
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Teaching Mark Lau
(3) CoursesThe following are courses of which I was the instructor.
The following are courses for which I was the teaching assistant.
Subject Area Course Name Level
Numerical methods,Simulation,
Operations research
• Linear Programming • Network Models• Markov Chain & Queueing Theory• Simulation• Estimating the World
Undergraduate
Low level Programming,Microcontroller systems
Microcontroller Based Electrical Systems Undergraduate
Applications of Microcontrollers Higher Diploma
Mathematical Finance Actuarial Statistics Postgraduate
Manage Your Money without Formula Undergraduate
Mathematics Engineering Mathematics Higher Diploma
Number Saves the Day Undergraduate
Computing Information Technology for Engineers Higher Diploma
Engineering • Engineering Fundamentals• Engineering Instrumentation• Instrumentation and Measurement• Electrical Theory I• Fluid Power Systems & Automation
Higher Diploma
Course Name Level
Information Processing for Industrial Automation Master of Science
Fundamentals of Machine Intelligence
Undergraduate Advanced Engineering Mathematics
Introduction to Signal Processing
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OverviewAcademic QualificationsTeaching PositionsResearch PositionsIndustrial PositionsFunding & AwardProfessional Services & Academic ActivitiesResearchSummaryResearch ProjectsPublicationsTeachingTeaching PositionsSupervised Honours / Final Year ProjectsCourses
