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Yunyi Jia

Yunyi Jia

McQueen Quattlebaum Professor of Automotive Engineering
Director, Collaborative Robotics and Automation (CRA) Lab: http://cecas.clemson.edu/cra/ 

yunyij@clemson.edu
(864) 283-7226
4 Research Drive
Greenville, SC 29607

Dr. Yunyi Jia is the McQueen Quattlebaum Professor of Automotive Engineering in the School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering at Clemson University. He directs the Collaborative Robotics and Automation (CRA) Lab, where the vehicle research lab is located at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) campus and the robotics research lab is located at the Center for Manufacturing Innovation (CMI) campus.

Dr. Jia's research focuses on collaborative robotics for smart manufacturing and collaborative vehicles for intelligent transportation. His work covers both fundamental research in human-robot and human-vehicle collaborations and applied research in robotic manufacturing plants and on-road and off-road automated driving environments. His research is sponsored by both federal and state agencies and multiple industrial companies. Dr. Jia received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University in 2014 and he is a senior member of IEEE and a member of ASME and SAE.

Selected Honors and Awards:

  • TRB Committee Best Paper Award (2024)
  • IEEE Automated Vehicle Validation Conference Best Paper Award 2nd (2023)
  • Most Accessed ASME Papers (2022)
  • SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award (2020)
  • CECAS College Faculty Collaboration Award (2020)
  • NSF CAREER Award (2019)
  • NSF CRII Award (2018)
  • SAE Trevor O. Jones Outstanding Paper Award (2018)
  • Ford Motor Company University Research Program (URP) Award (2018-2021)
  • Bosch Community Fund Award (2017-2020)

Selected Student Honors and Awards:

  • CECAS College Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award (H. Su, 2025)
  • Outstanding Automotive Engineering Teaching Assistant Award (Y. Yan, 2025)
  • Outstanding Automotive Engineering PhD Student Award (H. Su, 2025)
  • Automotive Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award (Y. Zhang, 2025)
  • Best Research Presentation Award in USDOT C2M2 Conference (P. Gupta, 2021)
  • CECAS College Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award (L. Guo, 2020)