About me
I am a senior research associate at the University of Bristol, working with Prof. Meng Wang. Previously, I was a research fellow in the School of Computing, National University of Singapore, working with Prof. Manuel Rigger. I received my PhD from the University of Hong Kong under the supervision of Prof. Bruno C. d. S. Oliveira.
Research focus
I work on type systems for programming languages: designing them, giving them precise semantics, and proving them sound, then carrying these foundations into AI compilers, databases, probabilistic programming, and memory safety.
Current work
- AI compilers
- Designing a typed, staged language for TileLang and Triton, the tile-based languages used to write GPU kernels, as the start of my work on AI compilers.
- Graph databases
- Using verification to improve both the correctness and the efficiency of graph database systems.
- Memory safety
- Applying type systems and gradual typing to memory safety, modelling the boundary between safe and unsafe Rust.
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Gradual typing
Letting static and dynamic typing coexist in one language. I gave gradual languages a simpler, type-directed operational semantics, and extended gradual typing to polymorphism with references and to probabilistic programs.
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Type inference & subtyping
Principal type inference that puts static overloading on a firm footing, and bidirectional typing for intersection subtyping in the presence of mutable references.
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Types for query languages
Type-theoretic foundations for SQL that explain how engines convert values and why they disagree, and a flexible type discipline for path patterns in the graph query language GQL.
Publications
2026
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SGL: A Concise Language for Specifying Database Fuzzers
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A Gradual Probabilistic Lambda Calculus (Extended)
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Validated Code Translation for Projects with External Libraries
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A Formal Framework for Typing and Cast Semantics in SQL Engines
TOPLAS 2026ACM Transactions on Programming Languages and Systems
2025
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Flexible and Expressive Typed Path Patterns for GQL
OOPSLA 2025ACM Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications
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Elucidating Type Conversions in SQL Engines
ESOP 2025European Symposium on Programming (ETAPS)
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Principal Type Inference under a Prefix: A Fresh Look at Static Overloading
PLDI 2025ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation
2024
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Principal Type Inference under a Prefix
MSR-TRMicrosoft Research Technical Report MSR-TR-2024-34, September 2024
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Imperative Compositional Programming
OOPSLA 2024ACM Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications
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Merging Gradual Typing
OOPSLA 2024ACM Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications
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Type-Directed Operational Semantics for Gradual Typing
JFP 2024Journal of Functional Programming
Extended version of the ECOOP 2021 paper.
2023
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A Gradual Probabilistic Lambda Calculus
OOPSLA 2023ACM Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages, and Applications
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Pragmatic Gradual Polymorphism with References
ESOP 2023European Symposium on Programming (ETAPS)
2021
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Type-Directed Operational Semantics for Gradual Typing
ECOOP 2021European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming
Awards & Honors
Research
- Distinguished Paper Award ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation (PLDI) 2025
Scholarships & Honors
- National Excellent Representative of National Scholarship Recipients Top 0.2% 2019
- Excellent Undergraduate Student 2019
- National Scholarship 2018
Programming Contests
- CCPC/ICPC University Programming Design Competition, Qinhuangdao Excellent Prize Jun 2017
- National Software and IT Competition — Professional, Individual Third Prize Apr 2017
- CCPC/ICPC University Programming Design Competition, Hangzhou Bronze Prize Nov 2016
- CCPC/ICPC Fujian Province University Programming Design Competition Three Silver Prizes 2016 – 2018
Software Development
- National Software and IT Competition — Professional Entrepreneurial Team Second Prize (subway transportation project); Excellent Prize (Power app project) 2017
- 2nd China Intelligent Interconnection Innovation Competition — Southern China Division Winning Prize 2017
- 1st China Innovation and Entrepreneurship Achievements Fair Best Creative Award 2016
- 3rd China Next-Generation Internet Technological Innovation Competition Third Prize 2016
Other Competitions
- National English Contest for College Students Second Prize 2017, 2018
- Fujian Province Cyberspace Security Competition Third Prize 2016, 2017
Service
- Publicity Chair
- PEPM 2026APLAS 2026
- Reviewer / Subreviewer
- PLDI 2027PLDI 2026ICALP 2026ECOOP 2025OOPSLA 2024ECOOP 2022
- Artifact Evaluation Committee
- ESOP 2024ECOOP 2022
- Student Volunteer
- ESOP 2023OPLSS 2023
- Funded Attendee
- OPLSS 2023OOPSLA 2023
Teaching
- CS3213 Foundations of Software Engineering Guest Lecture · National University of Singapore 2025 – 2026
- COMP2119 Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms Teaching Assistant · The University of Hong Kong 2023 – 2024
- COMP2119 Introduction to Data Structures and Algorithms Teaching Assistant · The University of Hong Kong 2022 – 2023
- COMP2121 Discrete Mathematics Teaching Assistant · The University of Hong Kong 2021 – 2022
- COMP3258 Functional Programming Teaching Assistant · The University of Hong Kong 2020 – 2021