Dr. Pai Zheng (SM’IEEE/CMES, M’ASME/SME, CIRP Research Affiliate) is currently an Associate Professor, Wong Tit-Shing Endowed Young Scholar in Smart Robotics, and Director of PolyU-Rhein Köster Joint Laboratory on Smart Manufacturing, in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Before joining PolyU, he has been a Research Fellow at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2018-2019). He received the Dual Bachelor’s Degrees in Mechanical Engineering (Major) and Computer Science and Engineering (Minor) from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2010, the Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Beihang University, Beijing, China in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand in 2017. His research interests include human-robot collaboration, smart product-service systems, and industrial AI. Dr Zheng is a recipient of the SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineers Award (2024), HKPU Young Innovative Researcher Award (2023), and Global Top 50 AI+X Chinese Scholars by Baidu Inc. (2022). He serves as the Associate Editor of Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing and Journal of Cleaner Production, Editorial Board Member of Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Advanced Engineering Informatics and Journal of Engineering Design, and Guest Editor/Reviewer for several high impact international journals in the manufacturing and industrial engineering field.