Biography

I am an Assistant Professor at HKU Business School. I received my Ph.D. in Operations Research from Columbia University, where I was advised by Professor Adam Elmachtoub. My research asks how digital platforms can excite and protect users. I study how platforms design experiences, incentives, and policies to sustain user participation while protecting user welfare. My recent work centers on two themes:

1. User Experience Design. I study and optimize how platforms use uncertainty, incentives, and prior interactions to shape user engagement and behavior, particularly in gaming and education. This research has generated real-world impact at Activision, Tencent, and China Beststudy Education Group.

2. Responsible Revenue Management. I study fairness, collusion, addiction, and other societal risks arising from platform monetization. My perspectives on regulation have been presented at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and featured in The New York Times and BBC News Chinese.

My research has received several honors, including:

• INFORMS George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award (Honorable Mention);
• INFORMS Revenue Management & Pricing Section Prize;
• INFORMS Behavioral OM Best Working Paper Award (Second Place);
• INFORMS Service Science Best Student Paper Award (First & Third Place).

Beyond academia, I write about OR/OM research on Zhihu, where I have more than 50,000 followers.

I’m looking for self-motivated RAs/PhDs/Visiting PhDs/Postdocs with good mathematical or engineering foundations. Please review my papers and email your CV and transcripts.

We compiled a Google sheet for business papers in video games and gamification.