Every year, SFU welcomes new faculty who enrich our community with fresh perspectives and a shared commitment to teaching and research. We're delighted to introduce some of the colleagues joining us this year.
Faculty of Applied Sciences
Yingjie Li, Assistant Professor, Engineering Science
Li completed her PhD at the University of Maryland, College Park in 2025. Li's research focuses on developing automation infrastructure for physics-driven computing systems, hardware-software co-design and efficient AI/ML algorithms. She also works in electronic design automation, focusing on machine learning for synthesis.
Fitsum Tariku, Professor, Sustainable Energy Engineering
Fitsum Tariku specializes in experimental and computational building engineering physics, focusing on sustainable building materials, high-performance building envelope systems, whole-building performance optimization and the integration of innovative building technologies. Given the significant contribution of buildings to greenhouse gas emissions, Tariku's research focuses on advancing sustainable, high-performance design alongside operational practices that address both the environmental footprint of buildings and the health risks of overheating.
SiQi Zhou, Assistant Professor, Computing Science
SiQi Zhou obtained her PhD from the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS) in 2022. She joined the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence as a postdoctoral fellow under the co-supervision of Animesh Garg and Angela Schoellig. Her research is centred on developing mathematical frameworks and algorithms for safe robot decision-making to enable robots to operate safely within unstructured environments and intelligently accomplish tasks alongside humans. Her research interests include control theory, machine learning, and robot decision-making, with a particular focus on semantically safe behaviours.
