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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.

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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 Center for Innovative Structures and Materials (CISM), working under the supervision of Distinguished Professor Mike Xie, where he works on the ARC Laureate Fellowship project.

 

With a strong foundation in full-stack software development, Albert has created several impactful tools, including Legolizer, iBESO, and VR-BESO. His achievements include 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: Distinguished 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 (Environment Design, Sep 2014–Jul 2018)

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

Publications

Journal Articles:


Conference Paper:

  • Z. Li, T.-U. Lee and Y. M. Xie, “Exploring and optimizing innovative structures in virtual reality,” in Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2024: Redefining the Art of Structural Design, Zurich, Switzerland, Aug. 25–30, P. Block, G. Boller, C. D. Wolf, J. Pauli and W. Kaufmann (Eds.), 2024, pp. 1–10.

  • Z. Li, T.-U. Lee and Y. M. Xie, “Topology optimisation considering subjective preferences: current progress and challenges,” in Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2023: Integration of Design and Fabrication, Melbourne, Australia, Jul. 10–14, 2023, Y. M. Xie, J. Burry, T.-U. Lee and J. Ma (Eds.), 2023, pp. 2430–2440.

  • M. Bi, Y. He, Z. Li, T.-U. Lee, Y. M. Xie, “Creating novel dynamic architectural forms from kinetic elastica-ruled surfaces,” in Proceedings of the IASS Annual Symposium 2022: Innovation, Sustainability and Legacy, Beijing, China, Sep. 19–22, 2022, S.-D. Xue, J.-Z. Wu and G.-J. Sun (Eds.), 2022, pp. 2051–2061.


Software:

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Dissertations:

Awards & Hornors

Experience

Work​:

  • Research Assistant (Postdoctoral, Full-time), School of Engineering, STEM College, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia (Sep 2024–Present).

  • Software developer (Internship), Nanjing Ameba Engineering Structural Optimization Research Institute Co., Ltd., Nanjing, China (Sep 2019–Dec 2019).

  • Research and Development Engineer (Full-time), Shanghai Xie Yimin Structural Design Office Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China (Jul 2018–Jul 2019).

  • Intern Computational Designer (Online Internship), Heroes Architects & Engineers Co., LTD, Tianjin, China (Oct 2016–Jan 2017).

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Talks​:

  • 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–Present).

  • 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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Media:

 

Volunteering:​

  • Graphic designer, IASS 2023 Symposium Conference, Melbourne, Australia (Sep 2022–Jul 2023).

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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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