ECE and CAVS Distinguished Lecture – Dr. Wende Zhang
March 3, 2021
Biographical Notes
Dr. Wende Zhang is currently the Technical Fellow on Sensing Systems at General Motors (GM). He leads the automated driving sensing software team there as well. Zhang was the lead inventor of the award-winning Rear Camera Mirror technology (Named 2015 Popular Science ‘Best of What’s New’ award winner and 2016 Best New Safety Technology in the industry), which increases vehicle safety by offering drivers a less obstructed view out of the rear-view mirror. Holding 90 patents and 35+ publications in sensing and viewing systems, Zhang has worked on additional award-winning safety technologies including the 360⁰ View System, Super Cruise, and Invisible Trailer. He won GM highest technical awards (Boss Kettering Award) with his team 4 times in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020. Zhang first joined GM as an intern in 2004, and has since worked as a senior researcher, tech specialist, and BFO (BOM Family Owner) of viewing systems and BFO of lidar systems. Zhang was the technical lead on computer vision and the embedded researcher in the GM-Carnegie Mellon automated driving team that won the DARPA Urban Challenge in 2007. Zhang received his master’s degree and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University.
