HKIS Young Scientist Award Recognizes Dr. Jialun Cao's Groundbreaking Research in AI-powered Software Engineering

Dr. Jialun Cao, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, has received the prestigious Young Scientist Award in Engineering Science from the Hong Kong Institution of Science (HKIS). The award honours outstanding young scientists and engineers in Hong Kong who demonstrate exceptional research excellence and potential for leadership in their respective fields.

Dr. Cao's research focuses on advancing artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to automate key software engineering (SE) steps such as software development, testing, and program verification, with the vision of creating software systems that are reliable by construction. As AI and large language models (LLMs) become integral to safety- and mission-critical domains, her work addresses a central challenge: making SE intelligent and efficient.

Her contributions span multiple stages of the software development lifecycle—from automating code implementation and testing to designing industry-oriented benchmarks for evaluating large language models. Dr. Cao has also developed learning-based methods that transform debugging into a structured, program-level process and introduced LLM-driven approaches for automating software maintenance and embedded system development. Furthermore, her work demonstrates how AI can streamline formal verification by generating model abstractions and formal specifications directly from code and requirements.

"Receiving this recognition in Engineering Science is a great honour and a strong affirmation of the direction and impact of my work," Dr. Cao shared. "It highlights the importance of building software development that are trustworthy, reliable, and ready for real-world deployment with AI techniques. This award inspires me to continue bridging AI innovation with software correctness and safety through engineering-driven research."

Looking ahead, Dr. Cao plans to expand her research on trustworthy AI and intelligent SE, exploring how LLMs can be more deeply integrated into testing, debugging, and formal verification processes at scale. She also aims to strengthen collaborations with academic and industrial partners to ensure her research translates into practical tools and benchmarks for the next generation of AI-driven software development.

The HKIS Young Scientist Award is presented annually at the HKIS Annual Conference. Only one winner is selected in each of the three categories: Physical/Mathematical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Engineering Sciences. The award seeks to nurture Hong Kong's future leaders in science and technology and to contribute to the region's innovation and research ecosystem.

Dr. Jialun Cao received the HKIS Young Scientist Award.