# Frank Wang (Wang Tao)

> Frank Wang, also known as Wang Tao, is the Hangzhou-born aerospace engineer who founded DJI from work on helicopter flight control at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He turned a difficult specialist technology into widely usable flying cameras, while the company he built forced a private, product-obsessed founder to confront a second engineering problem: management itself.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at DJI
- **Organizations:** DJI, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Institute for Financial Research
- **From:** Hangzhou, China
- **Nationality:** Chinese
- **Education:** Electrical engineering studies; left before completing the program, East China Normal University, BEng in Electronic Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, MPhil in Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- **Known for:** Founded DJI in 2006 from flight-control research developed at HKUST., Helped turn stabilized, ready-to-fly camera drones into a mass-market product category through the Phantom series., Named one of Forbes China's Top 10 Innovators in 2014.

## Career timeline

- **1980** — Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
- **2005** — Competed with the HKUST team in ABU Robocon, placing third in the Asia-Pacific competition.
- **2006** — Completed undergraduate work involving a flight-control system for unmanned platforms and founded DJI in Shenzhen.
- **2008** — DJI brought its XP3.1 helicopter flight-control system to market.
- **2011** — Completed an MPhil thesis titled 'Control systems for autonomous helicopters.'
- **2013** — DJI launched the ready-to-fly Phantom, bringing stabilized aerial photography to a much broader market.
- **2015** — Forbes identified Wang as the first drone billionaire as DJI accounted for an estimated 70 percent of the consumer drone market.
- **2016** — The Phantom 4 and folding Mavic Pro strengthened DJI's consumer-drone position.
- **2019** — Shared the IEEE Robotics and Automation Award with his HKUST mentor, Professor Li Zexiang.
- **2022** — DJI opened Sky City, its Foster + Partners-designed Shenzhen headquarters.
- **2026** — Received the HKUST Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award and gave a long-form interview reflecting on two decades of products, management and personal change.

## Achievements

- Founded DJI in 2006 from flight-control research developed at HKUST.
- Helped turn stabilized, ready-to-fly camera drones into a mass-market product category through the Phantom series.
- Named one of Forbes China's Top 10 Innovators in 2014.
- Became known as the first drone billionaire in 2015.
- Shared the 2019 IEEE Robotics and Automation Award with Professor Li Zexiang for contributions to civilian drones, aerial imaging and robotics commercialization.
- Named to the 2020 Asian Scientist 100.
- Received the 2026 HKUST Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — DJI continued expanding beyond consumer camera drones across handheld imaging, professional video, enterprise systems, agriculture and power products.
- **2026-05** — DJI published results of an independent security assessment of its drone systems.
- **2026-03** — A long-form LatePost interview presented Wang's reflections on management, organizational renewal and his own evolution after two decades at DJI.
- **2026-01** — HKUST named Wang a recipient of its 2026 Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award.

## Links

- Website: https://www.dji.com/

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Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-26