Tianyu Yu
About
Tianyu Yu is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, advised by Lining Yao. He is interested in exploring novel materials and hardware that enable unique interactivities beyond conventional computing devices, and the computational design and fabrication technologies that provide powerful tools for people to propel the trend forward. He believed that computers in the future should bridge the digital and physical worlds in a seamless and natural manner, thus truly weaving “Physical Intelligence“ into the fabric of everyday life.
Before joining the group, he earned an M.F.A degree in Information and Art Design from Tsinghua University, and a B.Eng. in Automation and a B.F.A. in Product Design from the interdisciplinary program of Creative Design and Intelligent Engineering in Tsinghua University, with an outstanding award. He has research experience in many labs, including HCIE Group at CSAIL MIT, Tangible Media Group at Media Lab MIT, and Media and Interaction Lab, the Future Lab, and Pervasive HCI Group at Tsinghua University.
See the full publication list at Google Scholar Page.
Awards
Best Paper Award, MorphingSkin, UIST 2025
Best Paper Honorable Mention Award, Sustainflatable, UIST 2023
Zijin Award (Nanjing) China College Student Design Exhibition, CHENG, 2021
Finalists Award in Asia Digital Art Award FUKUOKA, CHENG, 2021
Tsinghua University Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis Project, CHENG, 2021
Tsinghua University Outstanding Undergraduate Award, 2021
Beijing Outstanding Graduates Award, 2021 2024
A’Design Award, Venous Materials, 2021
Research Experience
Media and Interaction Lab & The Future Lab, Tsinghua University | 07/2021 – 09/2024
Research assistant, Advisor: Prof. Haipeng Mi, Prof. Yingqing Xu
HCI Engineering Group, CSAIL, MIT | 07/2023 – 10/2023
Visiting student | Advisor: Stefanie Mueller
Morphing Matter Lab, Carnegie Mellon University | 03/2022 – 05/2023 (remotely during the pandemic)
Research assistant | Advisor: Prof. Lining Yao, Dr. Qiuyu Lu
Pervasive HCI Group, Department of Computer Science, Tsinghua University | 03/2020 – 10/2020
Research assistant | Advisor: Prof. Chun Yu, Prof. Yuanchun Shi
Tangible Media Group, Media Lab, MIT | 07/2019 – 010/2019
Visiting student | Advisor: Prof. Hiroshi Ishii, Hila Mor
For more information, please see the personal website.
Tianyu Yu, Peisheng He, Bob Tianqi Wei, Chenyuheng Wang, Xueqing Li, Xuezhu Wang, Yao Lu, Wei Yue, Megan Teng, Zihan Wang, Liwei Lin, Haipeng Mi, Qi Lu, Lining Yao. In ACM User Interface Software and Technology Symposium (UIST). 2025. PDF | DOI
🏆 Awards: Best Paper Award