Before joining UCSD in 2013 as an assistant professor, he was a faculty member at UCLA. Between 2011 and 2013, he took a leave to work at Microsoft Research Asia. He received his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University and his M.E. from Tsinghua University. He is a recipient of the David Marr Prize award 2003 and a recipient of the David Marr Prize Honorable Mention award 2015.