Dr. Ying Zhao is a research professor at the Information Department at the NPS, with expertise in data sciences, AI/ML and applications to defense related challenges in social networks, common tactical air imagery, combat identification, logistics, cyber, wargaming, and mission planning. Dr. Zhao is the author of 70 publications, with multiple international partnerships and four U.S. patents in knowledge pattern search from networked agents, data fusion, and visualization.

Since joining NPS, Dr. Zhao has been a principal investigator (PI) or co-PI of many awarded DoD research projects (see the list below). Dr. Zhao also advised many NPS Master student thesis research. Dr. Zhao was an ESEP (Engineers and Scientists Exchange Program) Scholar at the UK’s Dstl (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) from December 2021 to November 2022. Dr. Zhao received her PhD in mathematics from MIT and is the co-founder of Quantum Intelligence, Inc. 

 

The projects in the NPS include the following:

 

1.             Addressing Data Gaps in Arctic Ocean and Seabed Conditions that Affect Naval Operations and Planning, ONR (2023-2024)

2.             Leverage AI to Learn, Optimize, and Wargame (LAILOW) for Strategic Laydown and Dispersal (SLD) of the USN Operating Forces, NPS NRP, N3/N5 (2022-2024) (Presentation)

3.             Toward Operationalizing an Intelligent Cybersecurity Energy Monitoring Capability, DASN-OE (2022-2023)

4.             Design and Develop AI to Command a Virtual Agent for Integrated Air Defence System (IADS), Dstl, UK (2022)

5.             Threat and Capability Coevolutionary Wargame (TCCW) Applied to Advanced Persistent Threats, OUSD(R&E) (2022-2023)

6.             DTRA21B-001: Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Image Generation Data Augmentation (SIGDA), subcontractor to Arete, Inc. (2022)

7.             Structured and Unstructured Data Sciences and Business Intelligence for Analyzing Requirements Post Mortem, NPS NRP, N8 (2022) Executive Summary, Poster, Full Report, Paper)

8.             Cognitive and Agile Radio, ONR (2020-2022)

9.             Business Intelligence for Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) Shaping Flexible C2 Organizational Structure, NPS NRP (2021) (Executive Summary, Poster, Paper)

10.          Business Intelligence for Readiness Impacts of Underfunding Spares Backlogs, funded by NPS NRP (2021) (Executive Summary, Poster, Full Report, Paper)

11.          Supply and Maintenance Predictive Modeling and Simulation Analysis Tool, funded NPS NRP, USMC (2020) (Executive Summary, Poster)

12.          Leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Learn, Optimize, and Win (LAILOW) for a Complex Enterprise - Navy Logistics and Supply Chain, ONR's Naval Enterprise Partnership Teaming with Universities for National Excellence - NEPTUNE 2.0 (2019-2021) (NAML Poster)

13.          Design, Demonstrate and Proof of Concept of Using the Explainable Reinforcement Learning (xRL) in Soar for Combat Identification (CID, participated the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise, NPS NRP, DARPA (2019-2021) (NAML Poster)

14.          Data Mining, Machine Intelligence, and Al for Application in Over-The-Horizon Targeting (OTH-T) for Anti-Access Area Denied (A2AD) Environments, NAVAIR and ONR (2019-2020)

15.          Demonstrating a Tactical Server Concept Leveraging Big Data, Deep Analytics, Machine Learning (ML), and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Algorithms, NPS NRP, N2/N6 and DARPA (2019) (Executive Summary, Poster, Full Report, Paper)

16.          Leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Optimize Global Material Distribution, NPS NRP, N4 (2019) (Executive Summary, Poster, Full Report, Paper)

17.          Modeling Large-Scale Warfighter Cognitive Reasoning and Decision- Making Using Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Game Theory (GT), NPS NRP, N2/N6 (2019) (Executive Summary, Poster, Full Report, Paper)

18.          Deep Analytics for MarineNet, Content Management System (CMS) with Personalized Learning and Using the Pilot Data, NPS NRP, USMC (2018-2019) (Paper)

19.          Big Data ML and AI for Combat ID and Combat Systems – Design, Demonstrate and Proof of Concept, NPS NRP, N2/N6 (2018)

20.          Reinforcement learning for Modeling Large-Scale Cognitive Reasoning, NPS NRP, N2/N6 (2017-2018)

21.          Big Data Architecture and Analytics for Common Tactical Air Picture – Efficient Implementation (2017)

22.          The Hatch LLA Data Depiction with Massive Multiplayer Online Wargame Leveraging the Internet (MMOWLI), NPS NRP, N4 (2017)

23.          A Big Data and Deep Learning Model for the CSAAC RDK Cloud, Marine Corps Forces Cyberspace Command (2017)

24.          Big Data and Deep Learning (BDDL) for Logistics in Support of the Fleet’s Distributed Lethality Concept, NPS NRP, N2/N6 (2016) (Poster)

25.          Applying the SOAR Architecture to Model Cognitive Functions in a Kill Chain (2016)

26.          Big Data Architecture and Analytics for Common Tactical Air Picture – Practical Applications, NPS NRP, N2/N6, (2016)

27.          Big Data Architecture and Analytics for Common Tactical Air Picture, NPS NRP, N2/N6 (2015)

28.          Toward Real-time Program-awareness via Lexical Link Analysis, NPS ARP, OUSD (R&E) (2011-2012)

29.          Matching Navy Recruiting Needs Using Social Networking and Lexical Link Analysis (LLA) (Phase I and Phase II), Navy Recruiting Command (2010-2011)