Associate Professor Xi (Forest) Zhu is an ARC Future Fellow in the School of Electrical, Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). His research focuses on microelectronics, particularly radio-frequency, analogue and mixed-signal integrated circuits for wireless communication and radar sensing applications. He joined UTS in 2016 after receiving an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) and was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship in 2023. His current UTS position is Associate Professor.

Forest was named Australia’s top researcher in Microelectronics and Electronic Packaging by The Australian Research Magazine in both 2022 and 2023. He has produced more than 200 research outputs and secured over AUD 4 million in research funding from government agencies and industry partners. His work combines fundamental integrated-circuit research with practical applications and close engagement with the Australian microelectronics industry.

Forest received his B.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in electronic engineering from the University of Hertfordshire, UK, in 2005 and 2008, respectively. He subsequently worked as a Research Assistant at Aberystwyth University and as a Research Fellow at Macquarie University. During his time at Macquarie University, he also undertook a one-year research fellowship at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Forest is the 2026 IEEE Circuits and Systems Society (CASS) Ambassador for Australia and New Zealand. In this role, he supports local CASS Chapters, promotes collaboration across chapters, and helps create opportunities for students, young professionals, researchers and industry colleagues to engage with the circuits and systems community.

He is also a Senior Editor of the IEEE Journal on Emerging and Selected Topics in Circuits and Systems, Chair of the IEEE NSW Joint Chapter, and a member of the IEEE CASS Analog Signal Processing Technical Committee and the Outstanding Young Author Best Paper Award Subcommittee. He previously served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I: Regular Papers and the IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs.

Alongside his research and professional service, Forest works closely with industry to create collaborative research, technical training, internship and employment opportunities for doctoral candidates. His long-term goal is to strengthen university-industry links and help build a sustainable microelectronics ecosystem in Australia.