Diverse Learning, Stepping out of the Comfort Zone – Junyu ZHOU from CIS
多元學習, 走出舒適圈 – 電腦及資訊科學系周俊宇

Junyu Zhou is a graduate of the Department of Computer and Information Science (CIS) of the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), whose real-time facial detection and expression recognition research earned him high praise in his final year project. His project utilized the FACS facial recognition coding system and demonstrated the feasibility of combining YOLO facial recognition and FACS, which can be applied in facial recognition fields such as automotive safety driving and criminal psychology. Zhou is grateful for the guidance and support provided by his advisor, Liming Zhang, and other professors in the department, and he feels fortunate to have found a highly applicable and innovative research direction. After graduation from UM, he plans to pursue further studies overseas and continue his research journey in the same field.

Choosing a Promising Discipline

Zhou, who hails from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has had a strong interest in numbers and computing since high school. In the current age of information technology, he believes that software engineering and related disciplines have a bright future with a wide range of applications, including Artificial Intelligence, big data, data analysis, software design and development. Universities in Hong Kong and Macau have a more international, open and independent academic environment, which has always been Zhou’s favorite place to study, because there are more academic exchanges and cooperation with overseas universities, which can provide students with a wider range of international learning and exchange opportunities . The Department of Computer and Information Science of the University of Macau ranks high in the world subject rankings and has a good reputation. Therefore, Zhou gave priority to the University of Macau when he selected university.

Enhancing Overall Capabilities 

Zhou understands that university is not only for learning knowledge, but also a stage for accumulating diverse experiences and expanding networks. Looking back on his four years of meaningful university life, he believes that UM’s residential college system has allowed him to meet many like-minded friends, and participating in college activities has enriched his university experience. In terms of learning, Zhou took advantage of opportunities to actively study multiple non-professional subjects such as marketing and accounting, enhancing his overall qualities, cultivating cross-disciplinary thinking abilities, and laying a solid foundation for future development, hoping to better utilize his abilities in the workplace.

Overcoming Challenges

When discussing the most profound challenges he faced in university, Zhou cites his final year project as an example. The project used model-based recognition of facial expressions, which can be applied in identifying fatigued drivers in the automotive industry, assisting doctors in more accurately understanding a patient’s condition and psychological state in the medical field, or in the business industry for market research, advertising, and customer service. Initially, the project’s facial expression recognition accuracy was low due to insufficient data.  Zhou and his teammate worked hard to search for more data to enhance the accuracy and recognition rate. With a stroke of insight, they decided to use facial expressions from virtual game characters as raw data to train the model’s recognition abilities, ultimately successfully obtaining a large amount of data and achieving ideal accuracy levels. This success greatly increased Zhou’s confidence and strengthened his determination to continue developing in this field. He is about to pursue a master’s degree at an overseas university. Although full of uncertainty and challenges, he believes that improving oneself, working hard, and persevering through difficulty will allow him to go further on his learning journey.