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Professor Yingjie Yang

Job: Professor of Computational Intelligence

Faculty: Computing, Engineering and Media

School/department: School of Computer Science and Informatics

Research group(s): Centre for Computational Intelligence (CCI) and De Montfort University Interdisciplinary Group in Intelligent Transport Systems (DIGITS)

Address: De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH, United Kingdom

T: +44 (0)116 257 7939

E: yyang@dmu.ac.uk

W: https://www.dmu.ac.uk/cci

 

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Personal profile

Dr. Yingjie Yang was awarded his first PhD in Engineering from Northeastern University in 1994, and his second PhD in Computer Science in 2008. He has published more than 100 papers in international journals and conferences. He has been involved in more than 90 international conferences as a member of program committees and organised a number of international conferences and special sessions such as 2015 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Service, IEEE SMC 2014 and IEEE WCCI2008. As a senior member of IEEE, Dr. Yang serves as a co-chair of the Technical Committee on Grey Systems, IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society and the vice chair for the task force for competition in IEEE Fuzzy Systems Technical Committee. He is serving also as an associate editor for 5 international academic journals, including IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics. He had been invited to give plenary speech at a number of international confertences, such as the 2013, 2011 and 2009 IEEE Conferences on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services and the 2001 international conference on Airport Management.

Research group affiliations

Centre for Computational Intelligence (CCI) 

De Montfort University Interdisciplinary Group in Intelligent Transport Systems (DIGITS)

Publications and outputs

  • A novel fractional order variable structure multivariable grey prediction model with optimal differential background-value coefficients and its performance comparison analysis
    dc.title: A novel fractional order variable structure multivariable grey prediction model with optimal differential background-value coefficients and its performance comparison analysis dc.contributor.author: Xia, Chao; Zeng, Bo; Yang, Yingjie dc.description.abstract: Purpose – Traditional multivariable grey prediction models define the background-value coefficients of the dependent and independent variables uniformly, ignoring the differences between their physical properties, which in turn affects the stability and reliability of the model performance. Design/methodology/approach – A novel multivariable grey prediction model is constructed with different background-value coefficients of the dependent and independent variables, and a one-to-one correspondence between the variables and the background-value coefficients to improve the smoothing effect of the background value coefficients on the sequences. Furthermore, the fractional order accumulating operator is introduced to the new model weaken the randomness of the raw sequence. The particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is used to optimize the background-value coefficients and the order of the model to improve model performance. Findings – The new model structure has good variability and compatibility, which can achieve compatibility with current mainstream grey prediction models. The performance of the new model is compared and analyzed with three typical cases, and the results show that the new model outperforms the other two similar grey prediction models. Originality/value – This study has positive implications for enriching the method system of multivariable grey prediction model. dc.description: The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
  • Spectrum analysis of moving average operator and construction of time-frequency hybrid sequence operator
    dc.title: Spectrum analysis of moving average operator and construction of time-frequency hybrid sequence operator dc.contributor.author: Lin, Changhai; Liu, Sifeng; Fang, Zhigeng; Yang, Yingjie dc.description.abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the spectral characteristics of moving average operator and to propose a novel time-frequency hybrid sequence operator. Design/methodology/approach – Firstly, the complex data is converted into frequency domain data by Fourier transform. An appropriate frequency domain operator is constructed to eliminate the impact of disturbance. Then, the inverse Fourier transform transforms the frequency domain data in which the disturbance is removed, into time domain data. Finally, an appropriate moving average operator of N items is selected based on spectral characteristics to eliminate the influence of periodic factors and noise. Findings – Through the spectrum analysis of the real-time data sensed and recorded by microwave sensors, the spectral characteristics and the ranges of information, noise and shock disturbance factors in the data can be clarified. Practical implications – The real-time data analysis results for a drug component monitoring show that the hybrid sequence operator has a good effect on suppressing disturbances, periodic factors and noise implied in the data. Originality/value – Firstly, the spectral analysis of moving average operator and the novel time-frequency hybrid sequence operator were presented in this paper. For complex data, the ideal effect is difficult to achieve by applying the frequency domain operator or time domain operator alone. The more satisfactory results can be obtained by time-frequency hybrid sequence operator.
  • A Novel Time Series Forecasting Model for Capacity Degradation Path Prediction of Lithium-ion Battery Pack
    dc.title: A Novel Time Series Forecasting Model for Capacity Degradation Path Prediction of Lithium-ion Battery Pack dc.contributor.author: Chen, Xiang; Yang, Yingjie; Sun, Jie; Deng, Yelin; Yuan, Yinnan dc.description.abstract: Monitoring battery health is critical for electric vehicle maintenance and safety. However, existing research has limited focus on predicting capacity degradation paths for entire battery packs, representing a gap between literature and application. This paper proposes a multi-horizon time series forecasting model (MMRNet, which consists of MOSUM, flash-MUSE attention, and RNN core modules) to predict the capacity degradation paths of battery packs. First, domain knowledge (DK) extracts the features from extensive battery aging datasets. The moving sum (MOSUM) and improved flash multi-scale attention (MUSE) methods are proposed to capture capacity curve mutations and multi-scale trends. Dynamic dropout training, transposition linear architecture, residual connections, and module stacking improve model generalization and accuracy. Experiments on battery pack and cell datasets demonstrate the superior performance of MMRNet over six baseline time series models. The proposed data-driven approach effectively predicts battery degradation trajectories, with implications for condition monitoring and the safety of electric vehicles. dc.description: The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
  • Machine Learning in Oil and Gas Exploration: A Review
    dc.title: Machine Learning in Oil and Gas Exploration: A Review dc.contributor.author: Lawal, Ahmad; Yang, Yingjie; He, Hongmei; Baisa, Nathanael L. dc.description.abstract: A comprehensive assessment of machine learning applications is conducted to identify the developing trends for Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications in the oil and gas sector, specifically focusing on geological and geophysical exploration and reservoir characterization. Critical areas, such as seismic data processing, facies and lithofacies classification, and the prediction of essential petrophysical properties (e.g., porosity, permeability, and water saturation), are explored. Despite the vital role of these properties in resource assessment, accurate prediction remains challenging. This paper offers a detailed overview of machine learning’s involvement in seismic data processing, facies classification, and reservoir property prediction. It highlights its potential to address various oil and gas exploration challenges, including predictive modelling, classification, and clustering tasks. Furthermore, the review identifies unique barriers hindering the widespread application of machine learning in the exploration, including uncertainties in subsurface parameters, scale discrepancies, and handling temporal and spatial data complexity. It proposes potential solutions, identifies practices contributing to achieving optimal accuracy, and outlines future research directions, providing a nuanced understanding of the field’s dynamics. Adopting machine learning and robust data management methods is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency in an era marked by extensive data generation. While acknowledging the inherent limitations of these approaches, they surpass the constraints of traditional empirical and analytical methods, establishing themselves as versatile tools for addressing industrial challenges. This comprehensive review serves as an invaluable resource for researchers venturing into less-charted territories in this evolving field, offering valuable insights and guidance for future research. dc.description: open access article
  • Spherical-Dynamic Time Warping - A New Method for Similarity-Based Remaining Useful Life Prediction
    dc.title: Spherical-Dynamic Time Warping - A New Method for Similarity-Based Remaining Useful Life Prediction dc.contributor.author: Li, Xiaochuan; Xu, Shuiqing; Yang, Yingjie; Lin, Tianran; Mba, David; Li, Chuan dc.description.abstract: Machinery prognostics and health management (PHM) plays a key role in the reliable and efficient operation of industrial processes. With the emerging big data era, data-driven prognostic methods which avoid considering complicated system models have attracted growing research interest. Among many data-driven models, similarity-based prediction methods have been popular due to their strong interpretability and relatively simple implementation process. Nevertheless, when quantifying the similarity between two trajectories, most existing similarity measures neglect the nonlinearity of the distance measurement at different degradation stages and degradation alignments with timing difference, which may not be sufficient to retrieve the most suitable trajectories for remaining useful life (RUL) prediction. To overcome these limitations, a spherical-Dynamic Time Warping (spherical-DTW) algorithm is put forward to find an optimal match between the test and training trajectories at the retrieval step. Dynamic Time Warping allows degradation alignments with timing difference through stretching or compressing the trajectories with regard to time, thereby the data in similar degradation levels can be well aligned across different units. Moreover, a newly defined nonlinear spherical distance method is introduced and incorporated into the retrieval process to account for the nonlinearity of the damage propagation process. The significance of this study is that the newly proposed spherical-DTW algorithm goes one step further to consider the nonlinearity of fault evolutions and allow degradation pattern alignments with timing difference when performing similarity-based prognostics. Two run-to-failure cases, involving a real-world industrial compressor failure case and a gas turbine engine failure dataset, are investigated to demonstrate the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed algorithm. dc.description: The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
  • A novel grey Verhulst model with four parameters and its application to forecast the carbon dioxide emissions in China
    dc.title: A novel grey Verhulst model with four parameters and its application to forecast the carbon dioxide emissions in China dc.contributor.author: Zeng, Bo; Zheng, Tingting; Yang, Yingjie; Wang, Jianzhou dc.description.abstract: In the context of dual carbon targets, a reliable prediction of China’s carbon dioxide emissions is of great significance to the design and formulation of emission reduction policies by Chinese government. To this end, a novel grey Verhulst model with four parameters is proposed in this paper according to the evolution law and the data characteristics of China’s carbon dioxide emissions. The new model solves the defect of poor structural adaptability of the traditional grey Verhulst model by introducing a nonlinear correction term. Besides, the range of values for the order of the grey generation operator of the new model is expanded from a positive real number to any real number (r∈R+→r∈R) by expanding the value range of the Gamma function. The new model is used to simulate China’s carbon dioxide emissions, and its comprehensive mean relative percentage error is only 0.65%, which is better than that of the other three grey models (2.39%, 2.34%, 2.35% respectively). It shows that the proposed new model has better modeling ability. Finally, the new model is applied to predict China’s carbon dioxide emissions, and the results show that it will still increase year by year, reaching 13687 million tons by 2028 (only 11420 million tons in 2021). Therefore, some countermeasures and suggestions are proposed to control China’s carbon dioxide emissions in this paper. dc.description: The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
  • Stability of Time Series Models based on Fractional Order Weakening Buffer Operators
    dc.title: Stability of Time Series Models based on Fractional Order Weakening Buffer Operators dc.contributor.author: Li, Chong; Yang, Yingjie; Zhu, Xinping dc.description.abstract: Different weakening butter operators in time series model analysis usually result in different model sensitivity, which sometimes affects the effectiveness of relevant operator-based methods. In this paper, the stability of two classic weakening buffer operator-based series models is studied; then a new data preprocessing method based on a novel fractional bidirectional weakening buffer operator is provided, whose effect in improving model stability is tested and utilized in prediction problems. Practical examples are employed to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method in improving model stability in noise scenarios. The comparison indicates that the proposed method overcomes the disadvantage of many weakening buffer operators in too subjectively biased weighting the new or the old information in forecasting. These expand the application of the proposed method in time series analysis dc.description: open access article
  • Grey relational analysis model with cross-sequences and its application in evaluating air quality index
    dc.title: Grey relational analysis model with cross-sequences and its application in evaluating air quality index dc.contributor.author: Lu, Ningning; Liu, Sifeng; Du, Junliang; Fang, Zhigeng; Dong, Wenjie; Tao, Liangyan; Yang, Yingjie dc.description.abstract: It is important to detect the internal operating regularity in system developing with poor information. To identify the real relationship among multi factors, we propose a grey relational analysis (GRA) method inspired by the characteristics of sequences variation. The proposed model considers the changes of fluctuating sequences like cross-sequences both in domain time and between time intervals. To obtain the quantitative change about sequences, relative angle change is employed to determine the variation in each interval, and the relative angle oscillation change is utilized for measuring variations between intervals. To find the optimal time lag or time intervals, the corresponding cycles are extracted by time-delay models. The reliability of the proposed models will be verified through cases in identifying crucial factors for air quality, and the final detection will then be made. To compare with existing representative GRA models clearly, the relation between two fluctuating sequences shaped in cross-sequences is examined by the proposed model. The empirical results show that the relation degree between pollutants and air quality is reasonable. The compared experiment shows that the GRA for cross-sequences can effectively identify the relationship among fluctuating sequences and the impact of time-delay is small for the proposed model with similar shapes. dc.description: The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.
  • MUTRISS: A new method for material selection problems using MUltiple-TRIangles scenarios
    dc.title: MUTRISS: A new method for material selection problems using MUltiple-TRIangles scenarios dc.contributor.author: Chatterjee, Prasenjit; Cheikhrouhou, Naoufei; Konstantas, Dimitri; Yang, Yingjie; Zakeri, Shervin dc.description.abstract: This paper proposes a new Multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method called MUltiple-TRIangles ScenarioS (MUTRISS) with two scenarios respecting different levels of access to complete information for material selection problems. MUTRISS calculates the areas occupied by alternatives in n-dimensional space, employing analytic geometry and converting each alternative into n-edges forms. The paper applies MUTRISS to three material selection case studies, with Ti-6Al-4V, Material 4, and AISI 4140 Steel- UNS G41400 emerging as the best materials for the three examples with the highest overall scores of 0.036, 4.540 and 0.427 respectively. The results are compared with various MCDM methods through four statistical measures, including relative closeness ratio, robustness analysis, compromise ranking coefficient, and similarity degree. The measures focus on different aspects of MCDM methods in solving problems and their results. The paper concludes that MUTRISS offers a more robust and reliable approach for material selection problems compared to other MCDM methods, with the first scenario of MUTRISS being more reliable than the second scenario. The paper also emphasizes the importance of validating results in material selection problems due to the potential irreversible consequences of selecting the wrong material. dc.description: open access article
  • Grey systems and uncertainty modelling
    dc.title: Grey systems and uncertainty modelling dc.contributor.author: Yang, Yingjie; Khuman, A. S.; Liu, Sifeng dc.description.abstract: Information can, and often is, rather uncertain; with only partial information initially being made available, from which one would be able to hopefully provide for a solution. The information itself may contain conflicts that have arisen from the possible different sources used to acquire it. In addition, the information may be viewed and interpreted differently by different cohorts, this in itself can be the cause of extenuating circumstances. These are just some of the issues that one can face with uncertain information. These issues can understandably create problems when considering the deployment of applications. Being able to cater for the volatility that is inherently present in uncertainty, becomes an objective with high importance and precedence.

Click here to view a full listing of Yingjie Yang's publications and outputs.

Key research outputs

  • R-Fuzzy sets: a novel combination of fuzzy sets with rough sets with capability to represent some situations difficult with other extensions;
  • Grey sets: a formal formulation of the concept of grey sets and its operations;
  • Relative Strength of Effect: a factor analysis method based on trained neural networks;
  • Application of neural networks in overlay operation of GIS
  • Airport noise simulation using neural networks

Research interests/expertise

Dr. Yang’s research interests are mainly with uncertainty models and their applications. His theoretical work involves fuzzy sets, rough sets, grey systems and neural networks. In applications, his interests are transportation planning, environment evaluation and civil engineering simulation and analysis.

Areas of teaching

  • Databases
  • Data Warehousing
  • AI programming

Qualifications

  • PhD in Engineering (1994 from Northeastern University, China)
  • PhD in Computer Science (2008 from Loughborough University, UK)

Courses taught

  • IMAT5167
  • IMAT5118
  • IMAT5103
  • IMAT2427
  • PHAR5350

Honours and awards

Best Paper Award, the 2013 IEEE Conference on Computational Intelligenceand Computing Research.

Membership of external committees

  • Co-chair of the Technical Committee on Grey Systems of IEEE Systems, Man,and Cybernetics Society, 2012 -- present
  • Vice-chair of the Task Force on Competitions for Fuzzy Systems Technical Committeeof IEEE Computational Intelligence Society, 2011 -- present
  • PC members for over 90 international academic conferences

Membership of professional associations and societies

  • Senior Member of IEEE, 2013 -- present
  • Member of IEEE, Mar 2007 -- 2013
  • Member of the Rail Research UK Association, May 2013 -- present

Current research students

First supervisor for:

  • Manal Alghieth
  • Mohammad Al Azawi
  • Arjab Khuman
  • Nguyen Thi Mai Phuong
  • Tarjana Yagnik

Externally funded research grants information

    • "International Network on Grey Systems and its Applications", Leverhulme Trust, PI, £124997, 2015--2018.

    • "Grey Systems and Its Application to Data Mining and Decision Support", EU FP7 Marie Curie International IncomingFellowship, PI, €309235, 2015--2016.

    • "Modeling Conditions, Mechanism and Characters of Grey Prediction Model GM(1,1)", Leverhulme Trust InternationalVisiting Fellowship, PI, £25500, 2013--2014.

    • "Grey Systems and Computational Intelligence", Royal Society, PI, £12000, 2011-- 2013.

    • "ITRAQ: Integrated Traffic Management and Air Quality Control Using Space Services", Europe Space Agency, CI, €97834, 2011--2012.

    • "Conference grant", Royal Academy of Engineering, PI, £500, Oct 2007.

Internally funded research project information

  • "Project application on Grey Systems and Uncertainty", DMU Research Leave scheme, PI, £7104, 2012--2013.

  • "Initial preparation for EU research network on grey systems", DMU RIF Fund, PI, £7000, 2011--2012.

  • "Emerging uncertainty models and their applications", DMU PhD scholarship, PI, £55080, 2012--2016.

  • "Conference grant", DMU RITI Fund, PI, £1500, Jun 2009.

  • "Conference grant", DMU RITI Fund, PI, £1500, Jun 2008.

Professional esteem indicators

Editorial board:

  • Associate Editor of IEEE Transaction on Cybernetics (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) ISSN: 1083-4419
  • Associate Editor of Scientific World Journal (Hindawi Publishing Corporation) ISSN: 2356-6140
  • Associate Editor of Journal of Intelligent and Fuzzy Systems (IOS Press) ISSN: 1064-1246
  • Assocaite Editor of Journal of Grey Systems (Research Information Ltd) ISSN: 0957-3720
  • Associated Editor of Grey Systems: Theory and Applications (Emerald) ISSN: 2043-9377

Plenary talks and academic seminars

  • Keynote speaker at the 2013 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services, Macau, 2013
  • Seminar on grey numbers at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 2012
  • Keynote speaker at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services, Nanjing,2011
  • Seminar on grey numbers at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 2011
  • Seminar series on computational intelligence at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, full financialsupport from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 2010
  • Keynote speaker at the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services, Nanjing,2009
  • Seminar on grey systems at University of Hull, 2008
  • Keynote speaker at the Airport Environmental Management Workshop in Singapore, full financial support fromSingapore Aviation Academy (organisor), Singapore, 2001

Conference management

  • Chair of the Program Committee for the 2015 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services,Leicester, 2015
  • Chair of the Program Committee for the 2015 International Conference on Advanced Computational Intelligence,Wuyi, 2015
  • Chair of the Program Committee for the 2013 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services,Macau, 2013
  • Co-chair of the special session on grey systems at the 2014 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, San Diego, 2014
  • Co-chair of the special session on grey systems at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Seoul, 2012
  • Co-chair of the special session on grey systems at the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Anchorage, 2011
  • Co-chair of the Program Committee for the 2011 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and IntelligentServices, Nanjing, 2011
  • Co-chair of the Program Committee for the 2009 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services, Nanjing, 2009
  • Session chair for 3 regular sessions at the 2008 IEEE World Congress of Computational Intelligence, Hong Kong,2008
  • Co-chair of the special session on grey systems at the 2008 IEEE World Congress of Computational Intelligence,Hong Kong, 2008
  • Member of the organising committee of the 2007 IEEE International Conference on Grey Systems and Intelligent Services, Nanjing, 2007