Computing Educator & Researcher

I make reasoning visible.I make computing accessible.I turn coursework into contribution.

Dr Mohammed Aquil Mirza (IEEE Senior Member) — Computing Educator & Researcher

I teach computing to large, diverse classes at PolyU — making reasoning visible, making concepts accessible across disciplines, and mentoring coursework into publications, patents, and award-winning innovation.

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Department of Computing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHong Kong

2,000+

Students Reached

Books Authored

40+

Student Outputs Since 2025

4.6–4.8

Student Feedback (eSFQ)

Teaching & Research

Featured Projects

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Research Lead & Mentor2025 – present

Arona — Adaptive Assessment Engine

An adaptive assessment engine that adjusts challenge based on verified learner performance, supporting personalised, scalable assessment. The work behind the IEEE ICCSP 2026 Best Paper on Smart Education Systems, a Hong Kong short-term patent, and a PCT international application, with dissemination through QS Reimagine Education 2026 and the eLFA Symposium 2026.

Adaptive TestingCATEdTechPatents

Principal Investigator2025 – present

HCR 3D Learning Simulator

An adaptive coding game platform combining computerized adaptive testing with a 3D hair-cutting robot simulator. Learners solve programming challenges by arranging code blocks to control a simulated robot, with a CAT engine estimating ability from task performance and dynamically adjusting difficulty, and a digital-twin safety-verification sandbox checking movement and cutting plans before execution.

RoboticsSimulationDigital TwinCAT

Mentor · Research Team Lead2026

JRMP 2026 — Smart School Rooms

PolyU Junior Researcher Mentoring Programme (Group 09): guiding seven secondary-school students to build "smart" classrooms using sensors and MQTT to track classroom environment and student movement — hands-on AIoT with Arduino and Raspberry Pi, from protocols and programming through research methods to conference presentation.

MentorshipAIoTMQTTSTEM Outreach

Scholarship

Featured Publication

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2026

conference

Award · Best Paper on Smart Education Systems

High Performance Adaptive Learning & Testing System with Safe Dynamic Plugin System

Haozhe Ruan, Sihui Li, Jingwen Guo, Yiyi Wang, Suyu Jiang, Aquil Mirza Mohammed

2026 12th International Conference on Communication and Signal Processing (ICCSP) · Smart Education Systems

A high-performance adaptive learning and testing system with a safe dynamic plugin architecture, mentored from a student course project into recognised scholarship. The work emphasizes extensibility, runtime safety, and implementation choices including generic programming and metaprogramming, and underpins the Arona adaptive assessment engine.

Adaptive learningCATPlugin systemsSmart education

About

About Me

Computing educator and researcher at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, teaching large, highly diverse cohorts across computing, engineering, design, and the sciences. My teaching is built on a visible-to-impact pedagogy — making reasoning visible, translating concepts across disciplines, adapting support to learner needs, and converting coursework into research papers, competition wins, patents, and start-up pathways. Alongside teaching, I research adaptive assessment, AIoT, robotics, and smart health systems, and author books spanning robot control, operating systems, and computing education.

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computing at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and IEEE Senior Member. University Nominee for the UGC Teaching Award (Early Career Faculty Sector, 2026), recipient of the PolyU Early Career Teaching Faculty Award (2025) and the IETI Teaching Excellence Award (2026).

Documents & profiles

Focus

Research Themes

Inclusive computing education
Computerized adaptive testing
AIoT & robotics in education
Smart health with AIoT and robotics
Intelligent construction monitoring
Service-learning & community-engaged pedagogy
Neural-network robot control