Qian HUANG (Cathy) | Research Fellow

Biography

Qian Huang (Cathy) is a Research Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities studying how AI reshapes learning and work in higher education and early careers. Trained in engineering and education, she investigates educational technology, design education, and students’ transitions into employment, using systematic reviews, design-based research, and field observation. Her recent projects include learning-from-failure interventions, workplace Gen-AI upskilling, and studies of GPT-assisted assessment and reflection. Qian earned her EdD from the University of Hong Kong in 2022. At SUTD, she partners with educators and industry to translate evidence into practical curriculum, assessment, and lifelong learning strategies.

Prior to her academic career, Cathy served as an executive officer at international offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Her experience in higher education administration inspired her to shift toward academic research, with a focus on engineering education and the integration of technology into university learning environments.

Education

• EdD, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
• MSc in International Business, The University of Nottingham
• BA in English Language and Literature, Shanghai International Studies University

Publications/Book chapters

• Tai, Lee Siang., Yow, Wei Quin., Fearnley, Lyle., Gornall, Alastair., Huang, Qian., Khan, Sumbul., Koh, Immanuel., Poon, King Wang., Raghunath, Nilanjan., Yee, Andrew., Yokoyama, Setsuko., & Willems, Thijs. (2025). A STEAM-Powered Design, AI, and Technology Education. In Tai Lee Siang, & Ong Eng Hong (Eds.), The power of design and convergence of AI (pp. 21). CRC Press.
• Huang, Qian., & Jung, Jisun. (2025). University-to-work transition among engineering students in China–US double degree programmes: A Bourdieusian perspective. Journal of Education and Work.1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2025.2576857
• Huang, Qian., Willems, Thijs., & Poon, King Wang. (2025). The application of GPT-4 in grading design university students’ assignment: An exploratory study. International Journal of Technology and Design Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-025-10022-1
• Huang, Qian., & Wang, Qiyun. (In press). Application of Metaverse in education: A systematic review. International Journal of Social Media and Interactive Learning Environments.
• Huang, Qian. (2025). Chapter 6: Higher Education, in Qin, Yunyun (eds). Educational studies in Qatar – educational studies in Belts and Roads Countries, Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (In Chinese)
• Sockalingam, Nachamma., Liu, Shu Yuan., Huang, Qian., Kaur, Ameek., & Willems, Thijs. (2025). Adaptors’ and Innovators’ Failure Tolerance and Innovative Tendencies in Design-Based Learning. Thinking Skills and Creativity. Thinking Skills & Creativity, 57, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101832
• Poon, King Wang., Willems, Thijs., Huang, Qian. (2024). Future of Ai: Six possibilities for Educators (That were once impossible), The HEAD Foundation Digest, Issue 12. https://digest.headfoundation.org/2024/07/10/future-of-ai-six-possibilities-for-educators-that-were-once-impossible/
• Huang, Qian., & Xie, Xiujuan. (2023). Internationalization of higher education in Hong Kong: Opportunities and challenges in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, in Internationalization of Higher Education from Asian Perspectives: Insights into Policies, Practices and Prospects (Book Chapter) 
• Huang, Qian., & Jung, Jisun. (2023). Career decision-making among Chinese doctoral engineering graduates after studying in the United States, Higher Education Quarterly, doi: 10.1111/hequ.12475   
• Wang, Qiyun., & Huang, Qian. (2023). Strategies for engaging online students in blended synchronous learning: A systematic literature review, IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies. doi: 10.1109/TLT.2023.3282278
• Lan, Min., & Huang, Qian. (2023). Clustering digital learning pathway preferences from the perspectives of epistemic justification on self-regulated learning, social presence, and resources, Heliyon, doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20038 
• Xie, Xiujuan., Huang, Qian., & Jung, Jisun. (2022). Higher education and regional development of Shenzhen municipality in China’s greater bay area, International Journal of Chinese Education, online Sep 15, 2022. doi: 10.1177/2212585X221125981
• Xie, Ailei., Postiglione, Postiglione., & Huang, Qian. (2021). The Greater Bay Area (GBA) Development Strategy and Its Relevance to Higher Education, ECNU Review of Education, 4(1). doi: 10.1177/2096531120964466
• Huang, Qian., & Jung, Jisun.(2020). Development of strategies for internationalizing Chinese Higher vocational education, Journal of Institutional Research South East Asian, Vol 18, No. 1, May/June 2020
• Huang, Qian.(2015), Major study and cross-cultural communication of exchange students in mechanical engineering, Curriculum Education Research, Vol 26, p226-227 (in Chinese)
• Huang, Qian., Liu, Yingzheng., & Xi, Lifeng. (2014). Exploration and practice of international collaboration in mechanical engineering higher education. Research in Higher Education of Engineering, Sep 2014, p172-175 (in Chinese)

Conference Presentations/Proceedings

• Jayasekara, Dinithi, & Huang, Qian. (2025, Oct). Simulating strategic reasoning: A digital twin approach to AI advisors in decision-making. presented at Agents4Science. organised by Stanford University.
• Willems, Thijs., Poon, King Wang. & Huang, Qian. (2025, Jul). Strategic Foresight and Co-Forecasting with Generative AI to Address Disruptive Transformations in Public Policy and Planning, The 7th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP7). (Co-author)
• Huang, Qian., Willems, Thijs., & Poon, King Wang. (2025, Jul). Comparative Analysis of Generative AI Policies: Lessons for Singapore’s AI Governance Framework, The 7th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP7). (Speaker)
• Sockalingam, Nachamma., Huang, Qian., & Willems, Thijs. (2025, Jul). AI as a Tool and Teammate: Understanding Human-AI Collaboration in Education, National Technology Enhanced Learning (NTEL) Conference 2025, Singapore Institute of Technology, 4 July, 2025. (Co-author)
• Sockalingam, Nachamma., Huang, Qian., & Willems, Thijs. (2025, Jun). Innovative “Tool-To-Teammate” Instructional Strategy for Using Chatgpt In Higher Education, 17th annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (EduLearn), 30 June – 2 July 2025. (Co-author)
• Huang, Qian., & Willems, Thijs., & Sockalingam, Nachamma (2025, May). Students’ Learning Agency in Qualitative Research Through Custom GPT Development, From Good to Great 2025, NTU, 27-28 May. (Speaker)
• Huang, Qian., Willems, Thijs., & Sockalingam, Nachamma. (2025, May). Students’ Learning Agency in Qualitative Research Through Custom GPT Development, From Good to Great 2025, NTU. (Speaker)
• Willems, Thijs., & Huang, Qian. (2025, Mar) AI-Empowered Pedagogy in Singapore: A Pioneers’s Reflection, Artificial Intelligence in Education Series, Hong Kong. (Invited Speaker)
• Huang, Qian., Kuar, Ameek., Willems, Thijs. (2024, Nov). Leveraging Chatgpt for Analyzing Student Reflections in a Design Thinking Course, HECS2024, NUS. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/hecs/qhuang-et-al/
• Kuar, Ameek., Willems, Thijs., Huang, Qian. (2024, Nov). Creativity and Failure Tolerance: Puzzling Findings in Student Outcomes, HECS2024, NUS. https://blog.nus.edu.sg/hecs/hecs2024-kaur-et-al
• Huang, Qian., & Shen, Wenqin. (2024, Nov). Eastward Bound: The Rise of Singapore as a Preferred Study Destination for Chinese Undergraduates Amid Geopolitical Shifts, Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong Annual Conference, 22-24 Nov, 2024, University of Hong Kong. (Speaker)
• Huang, Qian., Willems, Thijs., & Poon, King Wang. (2024, Oct). Fostering Lifelong Learning on Gen-AI in the Workplace, NTU Annual Learning and Teaching Conference: From Good to Great 2024, Oct 1-2, 2024. (Speaker)
• Willems, Thijs., & Huang, Qian. (2024, Oct). From failure to innovation: Developing educational interventions for engineering education, Engineering Education: Challenges, Trends, Best Practices (EE:CTBP), East Kazakhstan Technical University. (Co-author)
• Willems, Thijs., Huang, Qian., & Poon, King Wang. (2024, Sep). AIXEdcuation: Designing for a more inclusive future of education, 17th International Symposium on Advances in Technology Education (ISATE), 24-27 September, 2024. (Speaker)
• Huang, Qian., Willems, Thijs., Kaur, Ameek. (2024). How "Failure" Manifested in an Engineering Design Thinking Course, The 10th HERA conference. (Speaker)
• Huang, Qian., Kaur, Ameek, Samarakoon, Bhagya., Willems, Thijs. & Poon, King Wang & Elara, Mohan Rajesh. (2023). A pedagogical approach of “Learning from Failure” for engineering students: observation and reflection on a Robotics Competition (RoboRoarZ-Edition 2) , Proceedings of IEEE TALE, 27 Nov- 1 Dec, 2023. (Speaker)
• Huang, Qian., & Xie, Xiujuan. (2022, Apr). Internationalisation of higher education in Hong Kong: Opportunities and challenges in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, The 8th HERA conference. (Speaker)
• Huang, Qian. (2021, Jun). The impact of study abroad experiences on international students’ employability: a preliminary study on Chinese engineering students in US, 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances. (Speaker)
• Huang, Qian. (2019, Nov). Internationalization strategies of China’s Higher Vocational Institutes in a socialist market economy, The 2nd IAFOR Conference for Higher Education Research – Hong Kong (CHER–HongKong2019), Hong Kong. (Speaker)
• Huang, Qian. (2016). ‘BUCKETS’ of Engineering Students in Globalization Era: Practice in Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2016 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition held in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. (Speaker)