His research interests are in imaging, graphics, computer vision, human vision and artificial intelligence. Ren has received the 2020 ECCV Best Paper Honorable Mention, Jim and Donna Gray Faculty Award for Undergraduate Teaching, Hellman Faculty Fellowship, Sloan Research Fellowship, the HIPA Photographic Research Award, PMDA Technical Achievement Award, R.I.T.'s Imaging Hall of Fame, the Selwyn Award from the Royal Photographic Society, MIT Tech Review's TR35 and Entrepreneur of the Year, Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business, and Silicon Valley Journal's 40 under 40.