Zehua Zeng

Software Research Engineer/Scientist at Intel.

From Data to Decisions

I build intelligent software systems that help people make sense of complex data. My work combines full-stack software engineering, interactive visualization, machine learning, and scalable data systems to create intuitive tools that support exploration, analysis, and decision-making. I enjoy taking ideas from research prototypes to production-ready applications, bridging human-centered design with practical engineering. My work has been recognized at premier visualization venues and has contributed to both academic research and industrial products.

Positions

2023–present Intel Corporation Chandler, AZ, USA
Software Research Engineer/Scientist, Design & Patterning AI Group
2016–2022 University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD, USA
Research Assistant, BATTLE-Data Lab and Human-Computer Interaction Lab
2015 Baidu Inc. Beijing, China
Research & Development Intern, Natural Language Processing Department

Education

2015–2022 Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD, USA

Advised by Leilani Battle.
Thesis: “A Multi-Faceted Approach for Evaluating Visualization Recommendation Algorithms”.

2011–2015 B.E. in ommunication Engineering, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications Beijing, China

Awards

2024 VGTC Visualization Dissertation Award Honorable Mention

For my PhD dissertation "A Multi-Faceted Approach for Evaluating Visualization Recommendation Algorithms".

2023 IEEE VIS Best Short Paper Honorable Mention

For the paper "Draco 2: An Extensible Platform to Model Visualization Design".

2021 IEEE VIS Best Paper Honorable Mention

For the paper "An Evaluation-Focused Framework for Visualization Recommendation Algorithms".

Publications

Conference

C6
Balancing Speed and Accuracy for Robust Analog-Mixed Signal Circuit Design using Closed-Loop Reinforcement Learning with Ensemble Neural Network Surrogates
Zuwei Guo, Jie Fu, Sumukh Bhanushali, Zehua Zeng, Imon Banerjee, Arindam Sanyal. IEEE ISCAS, 2026.
PDF Bibtex
C5
Too Many Cooks: Exploring How Graphical Perception Studies Influence Visualization Recommendations in Draco
Zehua Zeng, Junran Yang, Dominik Moritz, Jeffrey Heer, Leilani Battle. IEEE VIS, 2023.
PDF Project Bibtex
C4
A Review and Collation of Graphical Perception Knowledge for Visualization Recommendation
Zehua Zeng, Leilani Battle. ACM CHI, 2023.
PDF Project Bibtex
C3
Draco 2: An Extensible Platform to Model Visualization Design
Junran Yang, Péter Ferenc Gyarmati, Zehua Zeng, Dominik Moritz. IEEE VIS, 2023.
PDF Project Bibtex
Best Paper Honorable Mention
C2
An Evaluation-Focused Framework for Visualization Recommendation Algorithms
Zehua Zeng, Phoebe Moh, Fan Du, Jane Hoffswell, Tak Yeon Lee, Sana Malik, Eunyee Koh, Leilani Battle. IEEE VIS, 2021.
PDF Project Bibtex
Best Paper Honorable Mention
C1
Supporting Team-First Visual Analytics through Group Activity Representations
Sriram Karthik Badam, Zehua Zeng, Emily Wall, Alex Endert, Niklas Elmqvist. Graphic Interface, 2017.
PDF Project Video

Journal

J1
A Systematic Review of Visualization Recommendation Systems: Goals, Strategies, Interfaces, and Evaluations
Zehua Zeng, Leilani Battle. Foundations and Trends in Databases, 2024.
PDF Bibtex

Magazine

M1
Using Graphical Perception in Visualization Recommendation
Zehua Zeng, Leilani Battle. ACM Interactions, 2023.
PDF Bibtex

Thesis

T1
A Multi-Faceted Approach for Evaluating Visualization Recommendation Algorithms
Zehua Zeng. PhD thesis. 2022.
PDF Bibtex

Teaching

2019 Advanced Topics in Information Processing; Interactive Data Analytics University of Maryland, College Park

Teaching Assistant for Leilani Battle, 30 students
Presented sessions; graded assignments and exams; held office hours

2019 Discrete Structures University of Maryland, College Park

Graded quizzes, assignments and exams; held office hours

2017 Object-Oriented Programming II (Java) University of Maryland, College Park

Graded quizzes, projects and exams; held office hours

2015 Object-Oriented Programming I (Java) University of Maryland, College Park

Graded quizzes, projects and exams; held office hours

Service

Reviewer for IEEE VIS (Conference), ACM CHI (Conference), ACM EICS (Conference), ACM UIST (Conference), IEEE TVCG (Journal), and Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience (Journal).