The Faculty of Construction and Environment has witnessed an increased demand for our taught postgraduate programmes for the 2012/13 academic year.   Despite the introduction of a new tuition fee scale for non-local applicants, the total number of applications so far is over 2000, representing a 30% growth over the same application period of last year. 

To attract applicants with excellent academic background to the Postgraduate Scheme in Construction and Environment, Entry Scholarships have been set up since 2009.  A maximum of 2 scholarships will be awarded in each MSc programme for each academic year.

All applicants who submit their applications on or before 1 March 2012 were considered automatically for an Entry Scholarship, which covers tuition fees for one academic year.  Recipients who undertake full-time study without any employment can also apply for a subsistence allowance. The following applicants have been selected for entry scholarships to study in their chosen MSc programme:

MSc in Building Services Engineering	MSc in Civil Engineering	MSc in Construction and Real Estate
LAU Ki Cheong SUEN Wing Yee	FUNG Ho Kit LU Hua	HO Pak Ting MIN Rui
MSc in Environmental Management and Engineering	MSc in Facility Management	MSc in Fire and Safety Engineering
WANG Jia Ping ZHENG Qinmin	NG Ka Lok	CHUI Ho Sang KWOK Fung Wai Raiko
MSc in Geomatics (Geographic Information Systems)	MSc in Project Management	MSc in Sustainable Urban Development
HE Wei	YANG Zhiyuan ZHANG Minjuan	CHONG Hoi Kwan LAM Suen Man Schuman

A number of programmes are still inviting applications for 2012/13.
For programme details, please visit http://www.polyu.edu.hk/study

The Faculty of Construction and Environment is pleased that one of its alumni, Dr Fei Dai, will assume a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at West Virginia University in the United States this coming fall. While pursuing his Ph.D. in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University from 2005 to 2010, Dr Dai worked as a research assistant in construction engineering and management. His research interests focus on visual sensing, discrete-event simulation, and evolutionary optimization for sustainable construction innovation. Together with Dr Ming Lu (then associate professor in CSE) and Prof. Wu Chen of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, Dr Dai authored 1 monograph, more than 10 scholarly peer-reviewed publications in professional journals and international proceedings, and developed 3 large-scale software platforms for research upon his graduation. “PolyU prepared me well when I was studying there,” remarked Dr Dai, “I harvested the most out of my Ph.D. training, from academic research, grant writing, classroom teaching, student mentoring, to overseas exchange experience.” Supported by the Research Student Attachment Program at PolyU, Dr Dai visited the University of Michigan for half a year in 2009. Based on his outstanding track records, he was offered a Postdoctoral Fellow position at the Georgia Institute of Technology in November 2010. Dr Dai has recently accepted an Assistant Professor position at West Virginia University, which is a major engineering and mining school located in Morgantown, West Virginia, with a large base for industries in coal mining, oil, and gas. Congratulations to Dr Dai!

A first-year student in BSc (Hons) in Surveying has been named Poly’s Best Athlete for 2012. Mr Wong Lok Hei has a talent for Long Jump, his favorite sporting event, which challenges him to be the best that he can be. According to him, excellence is only achieved when the body is in sync with the mind. Even though it may be difficult to strike a balance between the time spent on training with the Athletics Team and studying for his degree, he has learnt time management skills to juggle all his commitments. He exhibits the same determination to excel in both athletics and his studies. A Track and Field Coach for a number of local primary and secondary schools, he has been the Hong Kong team representative in Track and Field at the 2009 East Asian Games and the 13th Asian Junior Athletic Championships in 2008. He is honoured to have served as Deputy Chair of the PolyU Sports Team Working Group, where he had the opportunity to meet various team members of PolyU’s Athletics Team and help organize activities like Info Day, O Camp, and the Sports Team annual dinner. His active participation in these events has added to his confidence in his abilities. Congratulations to Mr Wong for his achievements.

As part of its staff development initiative, the Faculty of Construction and Environment has launched a Summer Attachment Scheme for academics to engage in collaborative research with colleagues at overseas universities. Four academics from the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering will benefit from this scheme this summer. They will receive matching funding from both their department and FCE for their trip abroad. Below are the details:

Applicant (Dept)	Hosting institution(s)
Dr TSANG Chiu-Wa Daniel (CSE)	Stanford University (USA, San Francisco)
Dr CHEN Yan (CSE)	The Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Belgium, Antwerp)
Dr SUMALEE Agachai (CSE)	Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan, Tokyo)
Dr XIA Yong (CSE)	University of Sheffield (UK, Sheffield)

A novel inline hydropower system for power generation from water pipelines was recognized with a silver medal at the 40th International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva held from 18-22 April 2012. Developed by Prof. Yang Hong-xing and Mr Chen Jian of the Department of Building Services Engineering, the system is made up of an eye-shape inlet nozzle and a vertical-axis spherical hollow impeller with multi-blades that can convert superfluous water head in water pipes into electrical power. This nifty device can be installed in tight spaces and is especially handy in remote areas without any utility grids to generate electricity. It has been adopted by the Water Supplies Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government to monitor the quality of its water supply and reliability of its underground pipe network. Congratulations to Prof. Yang and Mr Chen.

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) School on “New GNSS Algorithms and Techniques for Earth Observations (nGATEo) 2012” was successfully held on the PolyU campus on 14-15 May 2012.  Hosted by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) and supported by the Faculty of Construction and Environment, the GNSS School was also sponsored by the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) and the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Global Positioning Systems (CPGPS).

One of the fastest growing technologies in modern society, GNSS is an extension of Global Positioning System (GPS) technologies that integrates multiple satellite-based positioning systems, including the Chinese Beidou (Compass). With the present GNSS technology, it is technically feasible to instantaneously pinpoint any objects with an error of only a couple of millimeters to centimeters or even less. With the aims to enhance academic exchange between LSGI researchers and their international peers as well as provide in-school MSc/PhD students an opportunity to learn more about LSGI, nGATEo2012 offered all participants an excellent forum to network and update their knowledge in selected areas.

Five internationally distinguished scholars from Asia, Australia, Europe and USA were invited to give lectures during the two-day event. After Prof. DING’s opening remarks, an invited speech was delivered by Prof. Chris RIZOS, President of IAG as well as Professor & Head of School of Surveying & Spatial Information Systems at the University of New South Wales in Australia. More than 50 international participants from academia, industry and government agencies in Hong Kong, mainland China, Australia, and Korea were in attendance, including many in-school MSc/PhD students from mainland China. 

The Department of Civil and Structural Engineering has received a donation of HK$120,000 from Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. and twice as much from Dah Chong Hong (Motor Vehicle Services) Ltd for the Motor Vehicle Emission Control Workshop (MoVE) 2012 to be held at PolyU in December 2012. More than 200 participants are expected at this conference, which will be free of charge for PolyU staff and students. Many thanks to the sponsors for their generosity.

To deepen students' understanding of their chosen field of studies and give them a chance to demonstrate their knowledge, Top Pine Technology Limited is holding an innovative mobile apps competition exclusively for full-time students in the Department of Land Surveying & Geo-Informatics. Prizes consist of the iPhone/ iPAD Apps Scholarship and the Android Apps Scholarship, both with 3 award levels of HK$9,000, HK$6,000 and HK$3,000 respectively. In collaboration with LSGI, the mobile apps scholarships aim to encourage students to explore the full lifecycle of mobile-based computing applications, including their design, development and deployment. The exploration period will last about 4 to 6 weeks.

Applications can be made individually or in groups. Applicants are required to submit a study of mobile apps and an outline of a system proposal for selection. Interested parties are welcome to visit "Hot News & Events" at http://www.lsgi.polyu.edu.hk for more details.

Applications are now invited for the following taught postgraduate programmes.

Master of Science (MSc)/Postgraduate Diploma (PgD)

Building Services Engineering 屋宇設備工程學*

Civil Engineering 土木工程學

Construction and Real Estate 建築及房地產學*

Construction Law and Dispute Resolution 建築法及爭議解決學

Environmental Management and Engineering 環境管理及工程學

Facility Management 設施管理*

Fire and Safety Engineering 消防及安全工程學*

Geomatics (Geographic Information Systems) 測繪及地理資訊學(地理資訊)

Geomatics (Surveying) 測繪及地理資訊學(測量)

Project Management 項目管理*

Sustainable Urban Development 可持續城市發展學*

For programme details, please visit http://www.polyu.edu.hk/study

*Applications closed

FCE Short Course: High Speed Rail Engineering
Date & Time: 10 August 2012 (Friday) 6:30 - 9:30 pm & 11 August 2012 (Saturday) 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Venue: N112, 1/F, Block N, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Registration fee: HK$2,800 (including teaching materials and refreshments)
Website: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/events/20120810-11_short-course/

First International Conference on Performance-based and Life-Cycle Structural Engineering (PLSE 2012)
Date: 5-7 December 2012
Venue: Regal Kowloon Hotel, 71 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui, Hong Kong
Website: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/PLSE2012

The 5th International Symposium on Transportation Network Reliability (INSTR)
Date: 18-19 December 2012, Hong Kong
Venue: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Website: http://www.instr2012.org