Dr. Ding Wenchao is Chief Scientist at TARS Robotics, an AI-driven embodied intelligence company pioneering ultra-fine manipulation in humanoid robotics. He also serves as a tenure-track Associate Professor at Fudan University, specializing in robotics, motion planning, and autonomous navigation.

Dr. Ding earned his PhD from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2020, where he worked in the HKUST Aerial Robotics Group under Prof. Shaojie Shen. He previously worked as a research engineer at Huawei and was a Huawei Genius Youth recruit.

Dr. Ding has over 1,700 citations in robotics research and has published extensively in top conferences including ICRA and IEEE Transactions on Robotics. His work focuses on decision-making in complex environments and autonomous systems.

TARS raised $120M in Angel funding (March 2025) led by Lanchi Ventures and Qiming Venture Partners, followed by a $122M Angel+ round and a record $455M Pre-A round (April 2026). The company demonstrated the world's first humanoid robot capable of hand embroidery in December 2025.

TARS developed the AWE 2.0 embodied AI model and SenseHub data platform, creating a complete data-to-execution loop for humanoid robots. The breakthrough in sub-millimeter precision manipulation opens new pathways for intelligent manufacturing across wire harness assembly and complex industrial tasks.