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  • About
  • Research
  • Patent
  • Education
  • Experience
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Teaching & Service
  • Awards
  • News

David Hin Wang Lin

I am a PhD student in Electronic and Computer Engineering at HKUST, advised by Prof. Ling Shi. I conduct research at the Cheng Kar-Shun Robotics Institute and the Multi-Agent Systems Laboratory, focusing on autonomous planning, control and coordination for UAVs and marine robots.

I co-founded Universpirit Innovation with Prof. Shi and fellow team members. Our team provides aircraft teaching kits and aviation courses, including the “逐夢藍天” course series on the low-altitude economy, for primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong and mainland China. I also co-founded NaviHK Tech and serve as President of the Hong Kong Science Talent Society, supporting technology education and youth development.

hwlinaa@connect.ust.hk
GitHub  /  LinkedIn

David Hin Wang Lin

I welcome collaborations on UAV and marine robotics research, aviation education, and student innovation projects. Email me with a brief outline of your idea.

Research

I study how autonomous robots plan, move and work together, with applications in coastal inspection, underwater evidence search and UAV landing on moving platforms.

PierGuard: A Planning Framework for Underwater Robotic Inspection of Coastal Piers: research overview PierGuard: A Planning Framework for Underwater Robotic Inspection of Coastal Piers
Pengyu Wang*, Hin Wang Lin*, Jialu Li, Jiankun Wang, Ling Shi, Max Q.-H. Meng
* Equal contribution
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2025
paper / arXiv

Planning for robotic inspection of coastal pier structures.

Coastal Underwater Evidence Search System with Surface-Underwater Collaboration: research overview Coastal Underwater Evidence Search System with Surface-Underwater Collaboration
Hin Wang Lin, Pengyu Wang, Zhaohua Yang, Ka Chun Leung, Fangming Bao, Ka Yu Kui, Jian Xiang Erik Xu, Ling Shi
ICARCV, 2024
paper / arXiv / video

A coordinated surface and underwater robotic system for coastal evidence search.

Project recognition
Team Silver Award, 14th Challenge Cup China College Students’ Business Plan Competition (2024).
Winner, Postgraduate Category, Occupational Safety & Health Best Project Scholarship, Occupational Safety and Health Council; presented 2025-05-19.

MINER-RRT*: A Hierarchical and Fast Trajectory Planning Framework in 3D Cluttered Environments: research overview MINER-RRT*: A Hierarchical and Fast Trajectory Planning Framework in 3D Cluttered Environments
Pengyu Wang, Jiawei Tang, Hin Wang Lin, Fan Zhang, Chaoqun Wang, Jiankun Wang, Ling Shi, Max Q.-H. Meng
IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering, 2025
paper / arXiv

Hierarchical trajectory planning in cluttered three-dimensional environments.

Space-Land-Ocean robotic coordination overview Space–Land–Ocean Coordination Robotics System: Definition, Case Study, and Outlook
Pengyu Wang, Hin Wang Lin, Jiankun Wang, Ling Shi, Max Q.-H. Meng
IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 2026 (early access)
paper

A systems perspective on coordination across space, land and ocean.

WaveLander: A Generalizable Hierarchical Control Framework for UAV Landing on Wave-Disturbed Platforms via Reinforcement Learning: research overview WaveLander: A Generalizable Hierarchical Control Framework for UAV Landing on Wave-Disturbed Platforms via Reinforcement Learning
Chun-Kit Li*, Iok Long Sit*, Ming Fung Siu, Ka Yu Kui, Hin Wang Lin, Pengyu Wang, Ling Shi
* Equal contribution
ICARCV, 2026 (accepted)
arXiv

Reinforcement learning for UAV landing on wave-disturbed platforms.

Patent

Hin Wang Lin, inventor. Photosensitive Panorama Photography Device. Hong Kong short-term patent HK1224505A; gazetted 2017-08-18.

Education

HKUSTThe Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

PhD in Electronic and Computer Engineering (in progress)
2024-09 - present

MPhil in Electronic and Computer Engineering
2022-09 - 2024-08

BEng in Computer Engineering
2017-09 - 2022-08

Research advisor: Prof. Ling Shi

Yuen Long Merchants Association Secondary SchoolYuen Long Merchants Association Secondary School

Secondary education, Forms 1–6
2011-09 - 2017-08

My panoramic camera invention at secondary school (Oriental Daily, 2016-09-30, in Chinese)

Professional Experience

Hong Kong Police ForceHong Kong Police Force

Summer Intern, Drone Team, Key Points and Search Division
2022-07 - 2022-08
Internship through the Police Mentorship Programme (PMP).

The Hong Kong Academy for Gifted EducationThe Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education

Summer Intern, Advanced Learning Experiences Division
2021-06 - 2021-08

Hong Kong Disneyland ResortHong Kong Disneyland Resort

Full-time Intern, Technology and Digital
2019-06 - 2020-05

Entrepreneurship

Universpirit Innovation

Co-founder, Universpirit Innovation Limited
2022-06 - present

We develop aircraft teaching kits and aviation education programmes, including the “逐夢藍天” course series on the low-altitude economy. Our work gives students opportunities to design, build and test aircraft. Schools and education partners can find more about our products and courses on the company website.

Video profile: My journey in UAVs (2022-07-07, in Chinese)

Co-founder, NaviHK Tech Limited
2025-01 - present
Technology consultancy.

Teaching

Teaching assistant for HKUST ELEC3120 Computer Communication Networks and ELEC3300 Introduction to Embedded Systems, the latter taught by Prof. Kam Tim Woo. I also mentor undergraduate students in robotics algorithms and experiments.

Youth Education

As President of the Hong Kong Science Talent Society, I support student innovation projects and deliver UAV and AI workshops for students and teachers. The Society co-organises the Talent Cup STEAM Education Challenge, organised by the Hong Kong New Generation Cultural Association.

I led the Society’s design of fixed-wing aircraft challenges for the 8th and 9th editions, covering aircraft design, assembly, flight and control. The 8th edition involved 36 schools, 755 teams and 2,265 students.

On 2024-11-08, I shared my education and entrepreneurship journey with 70 Form 6 students at HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School. (Report in Chinese)

Society website / Instagram / 8th Talent Cup

Delegations & Judging

Leader of the Hong Kong delegations to the 75th and 76th Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), and the Hong Kong Education Bureau secondary-school delegation to the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva. Judge at the 27th and 28th Hong Kong Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition.

Universpirit Innovation established a special award at the 26th Hong Kong Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition. I served on the award’s judging panel and presented the prizes on 2024-03-24.

Event coverage: ISEF 2025 / ISEF 2026 / Geneva 2026 / Organiser’s media centre

Public Service

Member of the Education Bureau’s Steering Committee on Strategic Development of Information Technology in Education, appointed through the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth. I also advise student contributors on innovation, technology and industry for a community policy report published by The Arete.

The Standard feature / Experience sharing (from 0:43) / Committee website

Community visit coverage: Wen Wei Po (2021-10-11, in Chinese)

Selected Honors & Awards

  • Team Silver Award, Higher Education Main Track, China International College Students’ Innovation Competition (2025); marine life and environmental monitoring with collaborative heterogeneous robots.
  • Team Gold Award, Higher Education Main Track, China International College Students’ Innovation Competition (2024); “飛X創造” intelligent aircraft teaching kits.
  • First Prize, 18th Challenge Cup National College Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Competition, 2023; Universpirit aviation education project.
  • Outstanding Tertiary Students Award of Hong Kong, 2021. profile video
  • China Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award, 2020.
  • Tin Ka Ping Scholarship (Innovation & Creativity), academic year 2021–2022.
  • Silver Award, HKUST ECE Final Year Project Industry Day, 2022.

News

2025-09-22
My commentary on Hong Kong’s marine economy was published in Ming Pao. (In Chinese)
2025-06-25
Our marine robotics team won the Second Prize in Information Technology at the 11th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, featured by the HKUST School of Engineering.
2024-12-22
I spoke with Hong Kong China News Agency about Hong Kong’s low-altitude economy and aviation education. (In Chinese)
2024-04-01
I spoke with Sing Tao about my experience renting a car and driving in mainland China. (In Chinese)
2019-11-14
I spoke with China Youth Daily about developing a maritime search-and-rescue UAV and taking part in the Challenge Cup. (In Chinese)

Webpage template adapted from Jon Barron and Jacky Li