The College of Computing at Grand Valley State University is thrilled to welcome Dr. Tiehang Duan as an assistant professor. Duan is a distinguished researcher in brain signal decoding, machine learning, and medical informatics. He brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles as a research scientist at Meta AI, and as a visiting scholar at numerous research institutes including West Virginia University and Mayo Clinic, where he contributed to groundbreaking research in artificial intelligence for medical applications.

Duan was drawn to utilize machine learning for solving open problems in brain computer interfaces after witnessing his grandmother face mobility challenges as she aged, inspiring him to explore ways to help her and others facing similar physical challenges. With a Ph.D. in computer science and engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo, Duan has specialized in brain-computer interfaces (BCI)—a field dedicated to decoding patterns in brain signals to enhance assistive technologies. His research has direct implications for individuals with mobility challenges, offering innovative solutions such as brain-controlled wheelchairs and exoskeletons. Beyond healthcare, his expertise in sequential learning, continual learning, and meta-learning has also been applied across domains, including natural language processing and quantitative-trading technologies.

At GVSU, Duan is excited about establishing his research lab that will integrate his expertise in machine learning to solve challenging brain signal decoding and medical informatics problems. Utilizing data from GVSU’s rehabilitation center, Duan’s research will potentially enhance healthcare applications and patient outcomes. His work in brain signal decoding and sequential learning with data distribution shifts has been widely published in top-tier AI journals, including IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Transactions on Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, and top computer science proceedings including Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR), Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS), European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) and European Conference on Artificial Intelligence (ECAI) etc.

"We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Tiehang Duan to our faculty. His expertise in machine learning will not only elevate our educational offerings but also significantly enhance our research initiatives,” stated Dr. Jonathan Engelsma, Applied Computing Institute Director. “Dr. Duan's work in machine learning, sequential and continual learning, and meta-learning, with applications in medical informatics and beyond will open new opportunities for impactful research collaborations, fostering innovation that benefits both our students and the broader community.”

Beyond research, Duan is passionate about teaching and mentoring students. His academic journey has included serving as an instructor on machine learning courses and also teaching assistant on a wide range of courses in computer science. He is excited to guide GVSU students in applying AI-driven solutions to real-world challenges, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations, and preparing the next generation of AI and computing professionals.

Outside of academia, Duan enjoys a variety of sports, including basketball, table tennis, billiards and bowling, and is looking forward to immersing himself into the Greater Grand Rapids tech and research community. As Duan settles into his new role, the College of Computing is excited to support his research endeavors and looks forward to the impact his expertise will bring to students, faculty, and industry partners.
 

“Dr. Tiehang Duan brings a wealth of expertise in machine learning, brain-computer interfaces, and medical informatics that will greatly strengthen both the College of Computing and GVSU as a whole,” expressed Dr. Marouane Kessentini, Dean of the College of Computing at GVSU. “His experience at Meta and Mayo Clinic, combined with his research in AI-driven healthcare solutions, aligns perfectly with our vision as we build cutting-edge AI labs in Blue Dot. He will be also building strong collaborations with industry in Greater Grand Rapids as health tech is one of the growing areas. We are excited to see how his work will shape the future of computing and interdisciplinary innovation at GVSU."