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Bio

Dr. Zhi "Albert" Li has an interdisciplinary academic background, blending fine arts and engineering. His research focuses on designing and constructing innovative structures through topology optimization and advanced manufacturing techniques.

 

Albert earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Environmental Design from Tianjin University, China, in 2018. From 2018 to 2019, he served as a core software developer, contributing to the development of Ameba, a Rhino-Grasshopper-based topology optimization software. In October 2024, he received his Ph.D. degree from RMIT University with a thesis entitled "Interactive structural topology optimisation considering subjective preferences". In September 2024, he commenced as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Centre for Innovative Structures and Materials (CISM), working under the supervision of Emeritus Professor Mike Xie (ARC Laureate Fellowship project). In September 2025, he joined UNICUS as an Algorithm Product Expert, focusing on the development of AI-driven products.

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With a strong foundation in full-stack software development, Albert has created several impactful tools, including Legolizer, iBESO, VR-BESO, and TouchBESO. His achievements include the Honorable Mention Award of the Best Paper on CAD/Graphics 2025, the Postgraduate Research Excellence Award 2024, the DNA Paris Design Award 2024, the third prize in the International 3D Printing and Design Competition in 2020, the DigitalFUTURES Coding Award in 2020, and the third prize in the National Universities Bamboo Design and Construction Competition in 2017.

Education

PhD in Civil Engineering (Full Scholarship, Oct 2020–Oct 2024)

Centre for Innovative Structures and Materials (CISM), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

Supervisors: Emeritus Professor Yi Min "Mike" Xie, Dr Ting-Uei "Jeff" Lee, and Professor Roland Snooks.

Research interests: Topology optimization, Structural design, Extended reality (XR), Computational design, and Advanced manufacturing.

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Bachelor of Fine Arts (Environmental Design, Sep 2014–Jul 2018)

GPA: 3.49/4 | School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China

Work Experience

Algorithm Product Expert (Full-time, Sep 2025–Present)

UNICUS, Qianzhi Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

  • [Independent] Proposed an algorithm that can convert a user-defined image into a manufacturable paper cutting artwork;

  • [Project Leader] Proposed an algorithm that can generate embroidery manufacturing paths based on a user-defined image;

  • [Project Leader] Developed an interactive installation that can capture user photos and convert the photo into a LEGO brick portrait immediately;

  • [Project Leader] Host an exhibition to show the brand, techniques, and the interactive installation at the SIGGRAPH Asia 2025 Hong Kong;

  • [Independent] Trained an image-to-image model for generating textures on 3D models.

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Postdoctoral Researcher (Full-time, Sep 2024–Sep 2025)

Centre for Innovative Structures and Materials (CISM), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

  • [Teamwork] Published 5 high-quality articles;

  • [Project Leader] Awarded Honorable Mention Award by the 19th International Conference on Computer-Aided Design and Computer Graphics, CAD/Graphics 2025, Aug 2025.

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Software Developer (Internship, Sep 2019–Dec 2019)

Nanjing Ameba Engineering Structural Optimization Research Institute Co., Ltd., Nanjing, China​

  • [Teamwork] Fixed bugs for the well-known topology optimization software, Ameba.

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Research and Development Engineer (Full-time, Jul 2018–Jul 2019)

Shanghai Xie Yimin Structural Design Office Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China​

  • [Teamwork] Developed the well-known topology optimization software, Ameba;

  • [Independent] Developed the mesh processing features of the well-known topology optimization software, Ameba, such as Laplacian smoothing, remeshing, subdivision, skeletonization, parameterization etc;

  • [Project Leader] Built a wooden sculpture using a 6-axis robotic arm;

  • [Project Leader] Made a well-known software animation, Ameba Topology Optimization Software Based on Grasshopper.​

Publications

Journal Articles:


Conference Paper:


Software:

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Dissertations:

Awards & Hornors

  • Honorable Mention Award (issued by the 19th International Conference on Computer-Aided Design and Computer Graphics, CAD/Graphics 2025, Aug 2025)

  • Postgraduate Research Excellence Award 2024 (issued by Centre for Innovative Structures and Materials, RMIT University, Dec 2024)

  • ​DNA Paris Design Award 2024 (Winner in Product Design / Experimental Design, Jul 2024)​

  • STEM Scholarship (issued by RMIT University)

  • International 3D Printing and Design Competition (3rd Prize, Sep 2020)​

  • DigitalFUTURES Coding Award (Jul 2020)​

  • 2017 National Universities Bamboo Design and Construction Competition (3rd Prize, Aug 2017)

Experience

Talks​:

  • Guest lecturer, Application of structural topology optimization in design, CAD/CG 2025, China (Aug 2025).

  • Guest lecturer, Interactive structural topology optimization considering subjective preferences, College of Future Technology, Hohai University, China (Apr 2025).

  • Guest lecturer, Application of structural topology optimization in art design, Graphics & Geometric Computing Laboratory (GCL), School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), China (Nov 2024).

  • Presenter, Exploring and optimizing innovative structures in virtual reality, IASS 2024 Symposium Conference, Zurich, Switzerland (Aug 2024).

  • Guest lecturer, Digital design based on structural topology optimization techniques (Chinese), School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China (Nov 2023).

  • Presenter, Topology optimization considering subjective preferences: current progress and challenges, IASS 2023 Symposium Conference, Melbourne, Australia (Jul 2023).

  • Presenter, Interactive structural topology optimization with subjective scoring and drawing systems, IDD Webinar (May 2023).

  • Guest lecturer, Algorithm-inspired design: Computational design based on topology optimization (Chinese), School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China (Oct 2020).

  • Guest lecturer, Mesh-driven computational design (Chinese), Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, China (Dec 2019).

  • Guest lecturer, Ameba: Computational design based on topology optimization (Chinese), College of Design & Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai, China (Jun 2019).

 

Teaching:

  • Guest supervisor, Graduation projects for undergraduate students (Architecture), School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China (Sep 2024–Jul 2025).

  • Guest supervisor, Graduation projects for undergraduate students (Architecture), School of Architecture, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China (Sep 2023–Jul 2024).

  • Teaching assistant, Digital FUTURES 2019: X-Form, DigitalFUTURES, Shanghai, China (Jun 2019–Jul 2019).

  • Tutor, Tianjin University and the University of California, Los Angeles Joint Design Studio, Los Angeles, USA (Sep 2017–Dec 2017).

  • Teaching assistant, Tsinghua Architecture Summer School Parametric Design Workshop 2017, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (Jul 2017–Aug 2017).

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Grants:

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Volunteering:​

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Media:

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Workshop:

  • Student, 7th Summer Workshop "DigitalFUTURES Shanghai 2017 - Visualization vs. Materialization" Group 6: Cellular Cavity Structure for Shells with Thin Sheet Materials, DigitalFUTURES, Shanghai, China (Jun 2017).

  • Student, Robotic Timber Construction: Reciprocal Frame, Tsinghua Architecture Summer School Parametric Design Workshop 2016, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (Jul 2016).

  • Student, Robotic Fabrication for Foldable Steel Plate Structures, Laboratory for Creative Design, Shanghai, China (Aug 2016).

  • Student, the specialized course Place & Atmosphere, Bauhaus Summer School 2015, Weimar, Germany (Aug 2015).​

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