Staff Profile

I am a Senior Lecturer in Data Science at the School of Computing. Prior to joining Newcastle, I held several academic and research posts at East Anglia, Manchester Met, Cardiff and Loughborough Universities. My research is on the development and applications of machine learning, optimisation and control technologies for a wide spectrum of problems across energy, water, building, manufacturing and process industries. I obtained a PhD in Intelligent Systems and Control from Queen's University Belfast.

My current research focuses on operational intelligence that draws actionable insights from data and delivers real-time decision making across sectors. This primarily involves the development and applications of machine learning algorithms and control systems for areas including smart grid & building, water management, digital twin, industry 4.0 and autonomous vehicles.

I have worked on a portfolio of large-scale, cross-disciplinary projects including:

• Hybrid modelling and secure networked control for energy management of microgrid systems, Royal Society
  
• Spearheading a revolution in energy market design (REMeDY), Innovate UK
• Inflammatory drivers of long-term comorbidity trajectories: an AI investigation of multimorbidity (inflAIM), NIHR
• Smart cluster energy system for the fish processing industry (piSCES), EU INTERREG
• Resilience to earthquake-induced landslide risk in China (REACH), NERC
• Water analytics and intelligent sensing for demand optimised management (WISDOM), EU FP7
• Towards more autonomy for unmanned vehicles: situational awareness and decision making under uncertainty, EPSRC

My work has appeared in many prestigious journals such as Proceedings of the Royal Society A, IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems and IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems.

I would welcome self-motivated students to pursue a PhD in above topics with their own sources of funding. Please get in touch and send me your research proposal, CV and transcripts if you are interested in applying. Alternatively, feel free to email me to discuss other sources of funding.

• Articles

  • Gao W, Song Y, Liu Y, Zhao W. H∞ mean square finite-time control for Markov jump linear system with multiple equilibria. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part I: Journal of Systems and Control Engineering 2024, epub ahead of print.
  • Chen Z, Zhang W, Zhao W, Yang X, Zhang X, Li Y. Cross-condition fault diagnosis of chillers based on an ensemble approach with adaptive weight allocation. Energy and Buildings 2024, 325, 115007.
  • Song Y, Liu Y, Zhao W. Approximately bi-similar symbolic model for discrete-time interconnected switched system. IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica 2024, 11(10), 2185 - 2187.
  • Saddiqi MM, Zhao W, Cotterill S, Dereli RK. Smart management of combined sewer overflows: From an ancient technology to artificial intelligence. WIREs Water 2023, 10(3), e1635.
  • Bahramian M, Dereli RK, Zhao W, Giberti M, Casey E. Data to intelligence: The role of data-driven models in wastewater treatment. Expert Systems With Applications 2023, 217, 119453.
  • Song Y, Du M, Zhao W, Lin H. A new integrated regulation strategy and modelling for wind turbine with battery energy storage system. Journal of Energy Storage 2023, 63, 107111.
  • Cere G, Rezgui Y, Zhao W, Petri I. Shear walls optimization in a reinforced concrete framed building for seismic risk reduction. Journal of Building Engineering 2022, 54, 104620.
  • Yao F, Zhou W, Ghamdi MA, Song Y, Zhao W. An integrated D-CNN-LSTM approach for short-term heat demand prediction in district heating systems. Energy Reports 2022, 8(Supplement 13), 98-107.
  • Cere G, Rezgui Y, Zhao W, Petri I. A machine learning approach to appraise and enhance the structural resilience of buildings to seismic hazards. Structures 2022, 45, 1516-1529.
  • Cere G, Rezgui Y, Zhao W. Urban-scale framework for assessing the resilience of buildings informed by a delphi expert consultation. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 2019, 36, 101079.
  • Zhao W, Beach TH, Rezgui Y. Automated Model Construction for Combined Sewer Overflow Prediction Based on Efficient LASSO Algorithm. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems 2019, 49(6), 1254-1269.
  • Zhao W, Beach TH, Rezgui Y. A systematic mixed-integer differential evolution approach for water network operational optimization. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 2018, 474(2217), 20170879.
  • Zhao W, Beach TH, Rezgui Y. Efficient least angle regression for identification of linear-in-the-parameters models. Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 2017, 473(2198), 20160775.
  • Cerѐ G, Rezgui Y, Zhao W. Critical review of existing built environment resilience frameworks: Directions for future research. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 2017, 25, 173-189.
  • Zhao W, Beach TH, Rezgui Y. Optimization of Potable Water Distribution and Wastewater Collection Networks: A Systematic Review and Future Research Directions. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics: Systems 2016, 46(5), 659-681.
  • Zhao W, Meng Q, Chung PWH. A Heuristic Distributed Task Allocation Method for Multivehicle Multitask Problems and Its Application to Search and Rescue Scenario. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics 2016, 46(4), 902-915.
  • Zhao W, Zhang J, Li K. An efficient LS-SVM-based method for fuzzy system construction. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 2015, 23(3), 627-643.
  • Zhao W, Li K, Irwin GW. A new gradient descent approach for local learning of fuzzy neural models. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 2013, 21(1), 30-44.
  • Zhao W, Niu Q, Li K, Irwin GW. A hybrid learning method for constructing compact rule-based fuzzy models. IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics 2013, 43(6), 1807-1821.
  • Pizzileo B, Li K, Irwin GW, Zhao W. Improved structure optimization for fuzzy-neural networks. IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems 2012, 20(6), 1076-1089.
  • Fei MR, Zhao WQ, Yang TC, Yang S. A new experimental set-up for control study. Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control 2010, 32(3), 319-330.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

  • Borujeni MS, Zhao W. Forecasting Heat Demand with Complex Seasonal Pattern Using Sample Weighted SVM. In: 13th UKACC International Conference on Control (CONTROL 2022). 2022, Plymouth, UK: IEEE.
  • Cere G, Zhao W, Rezgui Y. Nurturing Virtual Collaborative Networks into Urban Resilience for Seismic Hazards Mitigation. In: Collaborative Networks of Cognitive Systems: 19th IFIP WG 5.5 Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises, PRO-VE 2018. 2018, Cardiff: Springer New York LLC.
  • Cere G, Zhao W, Rezgui Y, Parker R, Hales T, MacGillivray BH, Gong Y. Multi-objective consideration of earthquake resilience in the built environment: The case of Wenchuan earthquake. In: 2017 International Conference on Engineering, Technology and Innovation: Engineering, Technology and Innovation Management Beyond 2020: New Challenges, New Approaches, ICE/ITMC 2017 - Proceedings. 2018, Madeira: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
  • Cere G, Rezgui Y, Zhao W. BIM tools for structural analysis in the Wenchuan earthquake aftermath. In: eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction - Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Product and Process Modelling, ECPPM 2018. 2018, Copenhagen: CRC Press/Balkema.
  • Beach T, Howell S, Terlet J, Zhao W, Rezgui Y. Achieving Smart Water Network Management Through Semantically Driven Cognitive Systems. In: Collaborative Networks of Cognitive Systems: 19th IFIP WG 5.5 Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises (PRO-VE 2018). 2018, Cardiff, UK: Springer New York LLC.
  • Du D, Shang L, Zhao W. An online recursive identification method over networks with random packet losses. In: Computational Intelligence, Networked Systems and Their Applications: International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation, LSMS 2014 and International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment, ICSEE 2014. 2014, Shanghai: Springer Verlag.
  • Zhang J, Li K, Zhao W, Fei M, Wang Y. A systematic fire detection approach based on sparse least-squares SVMs. In: International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation, LSMS 2014 and International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment, ICSEE 2014. 2014, Shanghai: Springer Verlag.
  • Zhang J, Li K, Irwin GW, Zhao W. A regression approach to LS-SVM and sparse realization based on fast subset selection. In: Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Intelligent Control and Automation (WCICA). 2012, Beijing, China: IEEE.
  • Zhao W, Li K, Irwin GW, Niu Q. A hybrid approach to locally optimized interpretable partitions of fuzzy neural models. In: International Conference on Fuzzy Computation Theory and Applications (FCTA 2011). 2011, Paris, France: SciTePress.
  • Zhao W, Li K, Irwin GW, Fei M. An integrated method for the construction of compact fuzzy neural models. In: Advanced Intelligent Computing Theories and Applications: 6th International Conference on Intelligent Computing (ICIC 2010). 2010, Changsha, China: Springer.
  • Yang A, Niu Q, Zhao W, Li K, Irwin GW. An efficient algorithm for grid-based robotic path planning based on priority sorting of direction vectors. In: Life System Modeling and Intelligent Computing: International Conference on Life System Modeling and Simulation (LSMS 2010) and International Conference on Intelligent Computing for Sustainable Energy and Environment (ICSEE 2010). 2010, Wuxi, China: Springer.
  • Wei L, Fei M, Zhao W. Analysis of grey prediction based iterative learning control. In: IEEE International Conference on Information and Automation (ICIA 2008). 2008, Changsha, China: IEEE.

• Review

  • Ahmadzadeh S, Parr G, Zhao W. A Review on Communication Aspects of Demand Response Management for Future 5G IoT- Based Smart Grids. IEEE Access 2021, 9, 77555-77571.