Professor Hongmei (Mary) He (FHEA, SIEEE) is Chair Professor of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Robotics and Autonomous Systems at the School of Science, Engineering, and Environment, University of Salford, Manchester, UK. She serves as the Salford Turing Liaison Academic Lead within the Turing University Network and is a member of the EPSRC Peer Review College. She has also contributed to the EU Horizontal Robotics Research & Innovation Programme as a panel expert.
Professor He earned her PhD in Computer Science from Loughborough University in 2006, where she developed a strong foundation in optimisation. Since then, her research has focused on applied AI across a range of domains at institutions including the University of Bristol, Ulster University, University of Kent, Cranfield University, and De Montfort University. Prior to her academic career in the UK, she worked as a senior embedded systems engineer at the Motorola Design House in China.
Her research is supported by major funding bodies including EPSRC, Innovate UK, the EU, the Ministry of Defence, and industry partners. She currently leads pioneering research in human-centred AI for trustworthy robotics and autonomous systems (RAS), with applications in healthcare, critical national infrastructure, and sustainable living environments. Her work addresses global challenges by developing intelligent, safe, and ethically aligned systems that enhance human health, wellbeing, and quality of life.
Professor He’s research bridges theoretical AI and real-world impact, integrating explainable AI, sensor-driven intelligence, human–machine interaction, and system resilience to ensure autonomous systems are trustworthy, interpretable, and usable in complex, dynamic settings. In healthcare, she is advancing AI-powered robotic assistants and decision support tools to help vulnerable populations, such as older adults and individuals with cognitive impairments. For national infrastructure, her work contributes to secure, reliable AI systems for smart environments and digital health platforms.
Deeply committed to ensuring AI technologies address societal needs, Professor He leads interdisciplinary research aimed at creating transparent, inclusive, and value-driven solutions. Her work aligns with global priorities, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—notably SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing and SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities—and supports the responsible adoption of AI for healthier, safer, and more equitable societies.
She is the Chair of the IEEE UK & Ireland Robotics and Automation Society Chapter, a member of the IEEE RAS Cognitive Robotics Technical Committee, and Chair of the AI and Edge Computing for Trustworthy RAS Task Force within the Adaptive Dynamic Programming and Reinforcement Learning Technical Committee (ADPRLTC) of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society.
Research Interests
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (e.g., Neural Networks, Linguistic Decision Making, Support Vector Machine, Bayes Classifier, etc), Transparency and Interpretability of AI and Evolutionary Algorithms.
Trustworthy Robotics and Autonomous Systems with respect to Safety, Security, System Health, Human-Robotics Interaction and Ethical Decision Making.
Cognitive Cybersecurity and Cognitive Robotics
System Performance and Resource Optimisation
Application domains: Healthcare, Transport and National Infrastructure
Teaching and Learning
Articial Intelligence, MSc, module lead
Mobile Robotics, MSc, module lead
MSc dissertation coordination for four programmes
Scopus Author ID
55214926700
PhD Supervision Availability
Yes
PhD Topics
Machine Learning for Health Data Analysis
Emotion Analysis and Pattern Recognition
Trusted Human-Robot Interaction
Cognitive Cybersecurity
Cognitive Robotics
Homecare robotics
AI and Robotics Ecosystems
