News

AAE students and alumni visit the Civil Aviation Department Headquarters

116 AAE students and alumni visited the Civil Aviation Department Headquarters (CAD HQs) in February and had a valuable tour to its facilities, including experience sessions in the Control Tower Simulator (CTS) and the Radar Simulator. An Air Traffic Control Officer first shared with students his career journey and provide an insight into the career development in the CAD. Students and alumni then had a tour in the Radar Simulator to get to know the air traffic control procedures as well as the training of Air Traffic Control Officers. Next, students visited the Control Tower Simulator (CTS), which is equipped with state-of-the-art projection and image generation technologies. During the tour, students are able to experience to be an Air Traffic Control Officer through a simulation training. The tour is concluded with a visit of Aviation Education Path. Thank the Civil Aviation Department for giving AAE students and alumni such a precious experience! AAE has been actively engaging with different industrial partners to provide students insight in the aviation industry. For more details about CAD, please visit: https://www.cad.gov.hk  

Dr Li-Ta Hsu received 2022 Per Enge Early Achievement Award

The Institute of Navigation (ION) presented its 2022 Per Enge Early Achievement Award to Dr Li-Ta Hsu, Associate Professor of the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, in recognition of his outstanding research leadership and innovation in urban navigation and positioning. He pioneered the application of GNSS vector tracking to detection and mitigation of NLOS reception and multipath interference. The award was presented during the ION International Technical Meeting (ITM) and Precise Time and Time Interval Systems and Applications (PTTI) meeting held January 23- 26, 2023 at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach in Long Beach, California. Dr Hsu has made numerous contributions to urban navigation. He has been focusing on improving the accuracy of positioning in urban canyons by the use of lidar and 3D-mapping-aided (3DMA) GNSS. Dr Hsu is a world leader in 3DMA GNSS. Dr Hsu is now collaborating with various industrial partners to implement 3DMA GNSS, GNSS vector tracking, and lidar SLAM algorithms in their products. About Per Enge Early Achievement Award The Per Enge Early Achievement Award recognizes an individual early in his or her career who has made an outstanding achievement in the art and science of positioning, navigation and/or timing and is given in memory of Professor Per Enge, a brilliant engineer and teacher who used his cheerfulness and enthusiasm to inspire others through education, advising and mentorship. About ION The Institute of Navigation is a not-for-profit professional organization advancing Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT). The Institute is a national organization whose membership spans worldwide. Additional information about the ION can be found at ion.org.   Read more at https://www.ion.org/awards/2022-Early-Achievement.cfm

PolyU Collaborates with Meituan to Develop Vision-aided Positioning System for Parcel Delivery by Drones in Urban Canyons

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Meituan joined hands to conduct a research project to improve the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system for parcel delivery in urban canyons. Led by Dr Weisong WEN, Research Assistant Professor of AAE, the project “Vision Aided GNSS-RTK Positioning for UAV System in Urban Canyons” received support from Meituan. PolyU was the only institute funded by Meituan in the field of UAV perception. Prof. Chihyung WEN, Head and Chair Professor of Aeronautical Engineering said, “This project could effectively improve the positioning accuracy and reliability of the UAV systems for autonomous parcel delivery in complex urban canyons. The collaboration with Meituan demonstrates one of the successful knowledge transfer examples of the Research Center of Unmanned Autonomous Systems in AAE.” Prof. Guoquan Huang, the technical lead of Meituan UAV, said, “Reliable positioning in dense urban canyons is a challenging problem that prevents the massive deployment of UAV systems. Dr. Wen’s research could improve the UAV positioning, potentially unlocking a series of UAV applications in dense urban canyons” PolyU Research Center of Unmanned Autonomous Systems (RCUAS) RCUAS plays a vital role by providing physical unmanned autonomous systems (UAS) research and development platforms to synergise the impactful and cross-disciplinary research conducted in PolyU, and it facilitates collaboration with leading partners. Meituan Meituan is a one-stop platform for food, transportation, travel, shopping and entertainment. As a tech-driven retail company, Meituan has advanced the digital upgrading of services and goods retail on both supply and demand. Meituan was listed on the Main Board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited in 2018.

AAE Student won the IET Prize 2022

Our BEng (Hons) Aviation Engineering Year 2 student Mr Jershon Ainsleigh Entote Ang is being selected as the awardee of the IET Prize 2022. The IET Prize is presented by The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Hong Kong. Apart from outstanding academic results, the awardee is also selected based on his strong leadership ability demonstrated in his extra-curricular activities, engineering institution and community service. Mr Ang will join the IET mentorship program and have a chance to learn the experience from the IET senior members. He will also serve as the student ambassador of the IET Hong Kong. Please join us in congratulating Mr Ang!

Dr Fan Li secured the Smart Traffic Fund

The project titled “Driving Style-based Adaptive Virtual Training Platform: Build Safe Human Driving Habits in Autonomous Driving, led by Dr Fan Li, Assistant Professor of the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, was awarded the Smart Traffic Fund (STF) with a total amount of $ 1,974,381. The study takes a pioneering step in analysing and training the driving habits in autonomous driving. In addition, it innovatively develops a customized and adaptive driving training platform based on driving style.   STF set up by the Transport Department of the HKSAR Government provides funding support to local organizations or enterprises for conducting research and application of innovation and technology with the objectives of enhancing commuting convenience, enhancing the efficiency of the road network or road space, and improving driving safety. More details can be found at www.stf.hkpc.org.   Read the approved note in full on the Hong Kong Government Press Releases page: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202301/11/P2023011100257.htm. Featured in E-zone (a local IT magazine – digital version): Read in Chinese  

AAE Student Shine in the Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2022 – A story of Mr Li Kwok Chun, awardee of the scholarship.

We are glad to share that an AAE student Mr LI Kwok Chun, Kuni won the Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2022 (as IT Scholarship below), jointly supported and sponsored by the Innovation and Technology Commission and HSBC, and organised by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG). The Scholarship recognises students who have outstanding academic achievements and passion for innovation and technology, and provides opportunities to widen students’ international/Mainland exposure and gain industry experience.   The entire Scholarship Programme supports awardees to participate in a Local Internship Programme, a Service Project, and Overseas / Mainland Attachment Programmes. Here’s Kuni’s story of his learning journey with the support of the IT Scholarship. HKFYG, one of the organisers, is providing all awardees with precious working experiences as an intern in various outstanding companies in Hong Kong. With this support, Kuni joined Hong Kong Aero Engine Services Limited (HAESL) last summer as an intern. This internship is a rewarding experience for him. ‘Working in HAESL provides me with high exposure to aircraft engines. This internship programme visualised me the high standard in aviation maintenance industry. Moreover, I acquired engineering management skills in HAESL. Proper management was highly important to maintain high productivity and high reliability simultaneously.’, said Kuni.   Kuni also held a STEM workshop to teach children theory of flying as a Service Project. Creative paper planes were made to illustrate how to create an aircraft with simple daily necessities. Watch this video and listen to Kuni and other awardees about how they grow by teaching what they learned. A video on HKFYG's LinkedIn    Kuni will visit Aston University in the United Kingdom, which is famous for the implementation of IT in different engineering sectors, and he would like to participate in the research project in “Industry 4.0” and Digital Manufacturing. Afterward, he plans to visit Beihang University in China, one of the best schools in the world in aeronautical and aerospace engineering field. Kuki aims to learn advanced skills in creating robots and automations that works in the space. He wishes to bring these skills into aviation industry to improve safety and efficiency of the industry.    ‘The IT Scholarship provides me with a lot of opportunities to learn. From local internship to overseas attachment, they offer me precious experience to explore in the aviation world. Bringing new ideas and technologies to the aviation world is always an exciting thing to think about. With this Scholarship, you will be able to make a big step forward to accomplish your dreams. Although it is a very competitive scholarship, AAE and PolyU provide full support throughout the period. Be innovative and adventurous!’ said Kuni. Congratulations to Kuni! The Department is proud of his achievement. The Innovation Technology Scholarship 2023 is now open for application. For details, please refer to the HKFYG’s official website. Read the full awardees list for 2022: https://innotechscholarship.hkfyg.org.hk/en/2022/06/09/award-presentation-ceremony-2020-and-2021-2/

AAE Student Won 1st Runner-Up at AI x HK OpenCup 2022

One of our AAE students, Mr Fuad Hasan, in collaboration with an ME student Mr Hamad Khan, won the Finalist Award and the 1st Runner-Up Award in the Tertiary Students Category at AI x HK OpenCup 2022 for their project “AICAS: Artificially Intelligent Collision Avoidance System”. The project was a sub-project within the AAE Final Year Project “Trajectory prediction and planning, and assistance control: Towards the Predictive Advanced Driver-Assistance System (P-ADAS)” under the supervision of Dr Hailong Huang.   AI x HK OpenCup 2022 was organized by Hong Kong Baptist University in collaboration with the Hong Kong Society of Artificial Intelligence (HKSAIR) and sponsored by Nvidia, Microsoft, Huawei, ASTRI, etc. It invites students in Hong Kong to address real-world problems with AI technologies focused on four Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations (UN). Participants are expected to ideate innovative AI solutions for addressing challenges in the Hong Kong context, to make a positive social impact and promote sustainability. Among 152 teams, our AAE student’s project AICAS stood Top 2 with a cash award of HK$20,000.   AICAS was proposed to tackle the safety issue of risky highway driving in complex lane-changing scenarios. In real-time, it constantly forecasts the complicated future motion of neighbouring vehicles via transformer-based neural networks. It also predicts the driver's intention through a cabin camera via KLT face-tracking and graph-based convolutional neural networks, and compares the intention with the future motion of neighbouring participants to assess risk in real-time via Gauss-Markov process modelling. In a potentially dangerous scenario, it takes over driver controls and executes the maneuver with the lowest risk, thus preventing deadly accidents, saving lives, and providing a massive impact on UN SDG 11.   The Department is proud of Mr Hasan’s outstanding performance. Congratulations!

AAE Alumni Reunion Day 2022

AAE Alumni Reunion Day was successfully held on 19 Nov 2022 at PolyU as part of PolyU’s 85th Anniversary celebration.   The homecoming event was kicked start with the opening remarks by Prof. H.C. MAN, Dean of Faculty of Engineering. Prof. Man introduced the latest development of the Faculty of Engineering and congratulated the rapid growth of AAE. Ir Ben Wong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SATS HK Ltd and the Chairman of AAE’s Departmental Advisory Committee, showed his appreciation for the achievements of our alumni and students.   The Department has the honour to have Ir Ricky LEUNG, Executive Director, Engineering & Technology, Airport Authority Hong Kong, deliver a talk and provided us with more insights on the Airport City development and the numerous potentials of the Hong Kong Aviation Industry. Ms Adalyn Tsui, HR Director of SATS HK Limited, talked through the career prospects of the aviation industry and gave advice to our graduates and students in engaging in the industry.   Two alumni were invited to deliver speeches at the event. Mr Matthew CHAN shared his valuable experience in career development and happy moments as a Graduate Engineer. Ms Red LO talked about her experience in community service and encouraged students to make the best out of their University lives. The last sharing was from AAE students of URIS team who presented their research achievements.   The highlight of the Alumni Reunion Day was a warm and cheerful mentor lunch. Prof. Chih-Yung Wen, Head of AAE Department, reported the recent achievements of the Department and its strategic plan. More than 100 alumni, undergraduate and postgraduate students, industrial professionals, as well as current academic staff engaged in fruitful conversations and networking around the tables. The event has brought the AAE community closer. Stronger bonding and partnerships were established among the AAE family. The event ends with much laughter and joyful memories.  

Seven AAE Scholars ranked in the World’s Top 2% most-cited Scientists by Stanford University

Seven PolyU’s Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering (AAE) Scholars Ranked World’s Top 2% Scientists in 2022 according to a recent index compiled by Stanford University. Six of them are current AAE academic staff. This ranking demonstrates their career-long publications in their main disciplines are most frequently cited by other authors globally. The research team of Stanford University, led by Professor John Ioannidis, created a database of over 100,000 top scientists around the world that provides standardized information on citations indicators. The latest dataset is based on the September 1, 2022 snapshot from Scopus. Congratulations to our top scientists who commit to benefiting the world by their research excellence! This achievement recognizes their contribution and influence in their own areas of specialty. Dr HSU Li Ta Dr HUANG Hailong Dr LIU Wei Dr NG Kam Hung Prof. WEN Chih Yung Prof. YU Simon Ching Man Prof. ZHOU Limin (former staff) Data available at Elsevier: https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/4 Published: 10 October 2022|Version 4|DOI:10.17632/btchxktzyw.4

The Dean's Honours List 2021-2022

Sixteen students in the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering with an outstanding academic performance were placed in the Dean’s Honours List in the 2021/2022 academic year.    ANG Jershon Ainsleigh Entote LIAN Jiarong CHONG Man Ho LUA Adrian Shalom Sy CHU Ho Sum SHETTY Parth Jitendra HASAN Fuad TSE Tsz Ching HUANG Xinyue WONG Kwan Long Clement IP Chun Man Ben WONG Wing Hung LAM Yat Long YIU Cho Yin LAU Chun Kit ZHOU Bolong