Academic Staff

Dr Helen CAI Hong is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). She received her PhD degree from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2009. Before joining PolyU, she served as a research scientist at the Institute of Microelectronics, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, where she led research in advanced photonic technologies and the development of integrated photonic sensor platforms.
Over the years, Helen has focused on the development of integrated photonics and nano-optoelectronic technologies, spanning from devices and platforms to applications in datacom, sensing and quantum communications. She has been taking a major role in advancing integrated photonic infrastructure and innovative technologies toward photonic subsystem-on-chip solutions, including compact on-chip tunable lasers, fiber-to-chip coupling, and on-chip photonic sensors. Her expertise lies in design, fabrication and system integration of photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Currently, her research is focused on realizing PICs for applications in quantum photonics, nonlinear optics, and sensing.

Helen has published over 260 papers (citation >6,000+) in top-tier journals and international conferences, including a book chapter and invited talks. She has been ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists in the released metrics compiled by Stanford University in 2022.  She has received the HICOOL Prize, Global Entrepreneur Summit and Entrepreneurship Competition in 2024.

• Bachelor of Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, China
• Master of Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
• Doctor of Philosophy, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore