CV

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Education

• Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, 2018–2023
  • Research focus: spatial analysis and big spatial data management (Advisor: Prof. Amr Magdy)
• B.Eng. in Computer Science (Minor in Mathematics), The University of Hong Kong, 2014–2018
  • First Class Honours
  • Exchange student, University of California, San Diego, Fall 2016
  • Peking University Summer School, Summer 2016

Work Experience

• Sep 2025 – Present: Visiting Research Scientist, CyberGIS Center for Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Nov 2023 – Sep 2025: Postdoctoral Research Associate, CyberGIS Center, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
  • Lead developer of the I-GUIDE platform User Environment (GeoAI, generative AI, backend, search)
  • Lead the Spatial, Temporal, and Network Analysis and the Geospatial Generative AI groups
• Sep 2018 – Sep 2023: Graduate Research Assistant, University of California, Riverside
• Sep 2021 – Sep 2023: Teaching Assistant, University of California, Riverside (Spatial Computing; CS 10C Data Structures and Algorithms)

Research Interests

• Spatial analysis and big spatial data management
• Geospatial GeoAI and generative AI
• Spatial, temporal, and network data analysis
• Scalable spatial computing and cyberinfrastructure

Skills

• Programming: Java, Python, JavaScript, C++, HTML
• Geospatial & ML: QGIS, GDAL, GeoPandas, PyTorch, scikit-learn, OpenSearch, LangChain / RAG
• Tools: GitHub, Jupyter Notebook, Anaconda, Node.js, Express.js, LaTeX / Overleaf, OmniGraffle

Publications

Progressive and Scalable Hotspot Detection through Local K-Function in Spatial Networks

Yunfan Kang, Yongyi Liu, Pratham Juvekar, Ahmed Mahmood, Shaowen Wang, Amr Magdy (2026). "Progressive and Scalable Hotspot Detection through Local K-Function in Spatial Networks." ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems, 12(2), 1-35.

IMS: Incremental Max-P Regionalization With Statistical Constraints

Yunfan Kang, Yiyang Bian, Qinma Kang, Amr Magdy (2026). "IMS: Incremental Max-P Regionalization With Statistical Constraints." IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 38(1), 380-398.

I-GUIDE Platform for Geospatial Data-intensive Convergence Research and Education

Shaowen Wang, Furqan Baig, Yunfan Kang, Erick Li, Alexander Michels, Nattapon Jaroenchai, Anand Padmanabhan, Arunesh Kumar, Rajesh Kalyanam, Noah S. Oller Smith, X. Carol Song, Lan Zhao, Steven Manson, Mohan Ramamurthy, Sina Taghavikish, David Tarboton (2025). "I-GUIDE Platform for Geospatial Data-intensive Convergence Research and Education." Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing 2025: The Power of Collaboration, pp. 1-5.

Synthesizing high-performance computing and machine learning for geospatial knowledge discovery

Fangzheng Lyu, Yunfan Kang, Shaowen Wang (2025). "Synthesizing high-performance computing and machine learning for geospatial knowledge discovery." Annals of GIS.

Pyneapple-L: Scalable Expressive Learning-based Spatial Analysis

Yongyi Liu, Nicolas Lee, Yunfan Kang, Mohammad Reza Shahneh, Ahmed Mahmood, Vishal Rohith Chinnam, Aparna Vivek Sarawadekar, Samet Oymak, Ibrahim Sabek, Amr Magdy (2024). "Pyneapple-L: Scalable Expressive Learning-based Spatial Analysis." Proceedings of the 32nd ACM International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems, pp. 645-648.

NetPointLib: Library for Large-Scale Spatial Network Point Data Fusion and Analysis

Yunfan Kang, Fangzheng Lyu, Shaowen Wang (2024). "NetPointLib: Library for Large-Scale Spatial Network Point Data Fusion and Analysis." Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing 2024: Human Powered Computing, pp. 1-4.

Pyneapple-R: Scalable and Expressive Spatial Regionalization

Yunfan Kang, Yongyi Liu, Hussah Alrashid, Akash Bilgi, Siddhant Purohit, Ahmed Mahmood, Sergio Rey, Amr Magdy (2024). "Pyneapple-R: Scalable and Expressive Spatial Regionalization." 2024 IEEE 40th International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), pp. 5497-5500.

A Convergence Framework for Integrating CyberGIS Education and Research on I-GUIDE Platform

Fangzheng Lyu, Furqan Baig, Yunfan Kang, Erick Li, Anand Padmanabhan, Shaowen Wang (2024). "A Convergence Framework for Integrating CyberGIS Education and Research on I-GUIDE Platform." I-GUIDE Forum 2024: Convergence Science and Geospatial AI for Environmental Sustainability.

Scalable Evaluation of Local K-Function for Radius-Accurate Hotspot Detection in Spatial Networks

Yongyi Liu, Yunfan Kang, Ahmed Mahmood, Amr Magdy (2023). "Scalable Evaluation of Local K-Function for Radius-Accurate Hotspot Detection in Spatial Networks." Proceedings of the 31st ACM International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems, pp. 1-12.

Scalable and Expressive Spatial Analysis and Modeling

Yunfan Kang (2023). "Scalable and Expressive Spatial Analysis and Modeling." PhD Dissertation, University of California, Riverside.

A simple and effective iterated greedy algorithm for structural balance in signed networks

Wenqiang Duan, Qinma Kang, Yunfan Kang, Jianwen Chen, Qingfeng Qin (2022). "A simple and effective iterated greedy algorithm for structural balance in signed networks." International Journal of Modern Physics B, 36(21).

Trash Taxonomy Tool: harmonizing classification systems used to describe trash in environments

Hannah Hapich, Win Cowger, Andrew Gray, Neil Tangri, Tony Hale, Amr Magdy, Antoinette Vermilye, Walter Yu, Dick Ayres, Charles Moore, John Vermilye, Samiksha Singh, Aaron N. K. Haiman, Kathryn Youngblood, Yunfan Kang, Margaret McCauley, Trevor Lok, Shelly Moore, Eric Baggs, Sherry Lippiatt, Peter Kohler, Gary Conley, Janna Taing, Jeremiah Mock (2022). "Trash Taxonomy Tool: harmonizing classification systems used to describe trash in environments." Microplastics and Nanoplastics, 2(1).

An Iterated Carousel Greedy Algorithm for Finding Minimum Positive Influence Dominating Sets in Social Networks

Yunfan Shan, Qinma Kang, Ran Xiao, Yiran Chen, Yunfan Kang (2022). "An Iterated Carousel Greedy Algorithm for Finding Minimum Positive Influence Dominating Sets in Social Networks." IEEE Transactions on Computational Social Systems, 9(3), 830-838.

EMP: Max-P Regionalization with Enriched Constraints

Yunfan Kang, Amr Magdy (2022). "EMP: Max-P Regionalization with Enriched Constraints." 2022 IEEE 38th International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE), pp. 1914-1926.

An iterated local search algorithm for community detection in signed networks

Yiran Chen, Qinma Kang, Wenqiang Duan, Yunfan Shan, Ran Xiao, Yunfan Kang (2022). "An iterated local search algorithm for community detection in signed networks." International Journal of Modern Physics C, 33(08).

Temporal Geo-Social Personalized Keyword Search Over Streaming Data

Abdulaziz Almaslukh, Yunfan Kang, Amr Magdy (2021). "Temporal Geo-Social Personalized Keyword Search Over Streaming Data." ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems, 7(4), 1-28.

An interdependent network coupling strategy based on overlapping link structure against targeted attack

Chao Liu, Qinma Kang, Hanzhang Kong, Wenquan Li, Yunfan Kang (2021). "An interdependent network coupling strategy based on overlapping link structure against targeted attack." International Journal of Modern Physics C, 2150101.

A novel iterated greedy algorithm for detecting communities in complex network

Wenquan Li, Qinma Kang, Hanzhang Kong, Chao Liu, Yunfan Kang (2020). "A novel iterated greedy algorithm for detecting communities in complex network." Social Network Analysis and Mining, 10(1).

HiDaM: A Unified Data Model for High-definition (HD) Map Data

Yunfan Kang, Amr Magdy (2020). "HiDaM: A Unified Data Model for High-definition (HD) Map Data." 2020 IEEE 36th International Conference on Data Engineering Workshops (ICDEW), pp. 26-32.

An iterated local search algorithm for community detection in complex networks

Chao Liu, Qinma Kang, Hanzhang Kong, Wenquan Li, Yunfan Kang (2020). "An iterated local search algorithm for community detection in complex networks." International Journal of Modern Physics B, 34(04), 2050013.

A hybrid iterated carousel greedy algorithm for community detection in complex networks

Hanzhang Kong, Qinma Kang, Wenquan Li, Chao Liu, Yunfan Kang, Hong He (2019). "A hybrid iterated carousel greedy algorithm for community detection in complex networks." Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 536, 122124.

Scalable Multi-resolution Spatial Visualization for Anthropogenic Litter Data

Yunfan Kang, Ziang Zhao, Amr Magdy, Win Cowger, Andrew Gray (2019). "Scalable Multi-resolution Spatial Visualization for Anthropogenic Litter Data." Proceedings of the 27th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Conference on Advances in Geographic Information Systems, pp. 560-563.

Microblogs data management: a survey

Amr Magdy, Laila Abdelhafeez, Yunfan Kang, Eric Ong, Mohamed F. Mokbel (2019). "Microblogs data management: a survey." The VLDB Journal, 29(1), 177-216.

A Data-Driven Approach for Tracking Human Litter in Modern Cities

Ziang Zhao, Yunfan Kang, Amr Magdy, Win Cowger, Andrew Gray (2019). "A Data-Driven Approach for Tracking Human Litter in Modern Cities." 2019 IEEE 35th International Conference on Data Engineering Workshops (ICDEW), pp. 69-73.

Edge-Attributed Community Search for Large Graphs

Qinma Kang, Yunfan Kang, Hanzhang Kong (2018). "Edge-Attributed Community Search for Large Graphs." Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Big Data Research, pp. 114-118.

An Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning Method for Stock Selection and Portfolio Management

Qinma Kang, Huizhuo Zhou, Yunfan Kang (2018). "An Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning Method for Stock Selection and Portfolio Management." Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Big Data Research, pp. 141-145.

An improved label propagation algorithm based on node intimacy for community detection in networks

Hanzhang Kong, Qinma Kang, Chao Liu, Wenquan Li, Hong He, Yunfan Kang (2018). "An improved label propagation algorithm based on node intimacy for community detection in networks." International Journal of Modern Physics B, 32(25), 1850279.

Honors and Awards

• 2024 NSF HDR NextGen Leaders Fellowship Award
• 2019 SIGSPATIAL Student Travel Award
• 2018 Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship, UC Riverside
• 2018 First Class Honours Graduation, HKU
• 2018 Third Runner-up, Best Final Year Project, Department of Computer Science, HKU
• 2018 Dean’s Honour List, HKU
• 2016 Philip K. H. Wong Foundation Scholarship for Student Enrichment
• 2015 First Prize, National Mobile Internet Innovation Contest

Professional Service

• Program Committee: ACM SIGSPATIAL 2026, IEEE BigData 2025
• Reviewer: KDD 2026 (AI4Science Track)
• External reviewer: VLDB, ICDE, SIGMOD, SIGSPATIAL, SSTD, IEEE BigData, Knowledge and Information Systems, Scientific Reports, Social Network Analysis and Mining
• ICDE 2024 Session Chair; ICDE 2023 Volunteer Coordinator; 2023 Esri Developer Summit Student Assistant

Funded Projects (Contributor)

• NSF CAREER (#2237348): Scalable Spatial Data Science on User-generated Data
• NSF HDR Institute (#2118329): Geospatial Understanding through an Integrative Discovery Environment (I-GUIDE)

Professional Affiliations

• Member, CyberGIS Center for Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies, UIUC
• Alumnus, Center for Geospatial Sciences, UC Riverside