Profiles of GS recipients

Currently working at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Prof. Wilson Lu Weisheng is Head of the Department of Real Estate and Construction, Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Architecture, as well as Director of iLab@hku. He procured his PhD degree from PolyU’s Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) in 2006, with a thesis on the competitive strategies among Chinese construction companies. He had been a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Reading in the UK before his tenure at HKU. Prof. Lu’s research interests focus on two areas: construction informatics and circular construction. The former involves building information modelling (BIM), and the use of cutting-edge technologies such as big data and blockchain in smart construction; the latter covers management, economics, and public policies related to energy conservation and material recycling. His works facilitated significant breakthroughs in modernising the construction industry in Hong Kong and beyond. Having secured over HK$60 million of research grants from various sources, Prof. Lu has penned two books and more than 200 book chapters and journal papers. He has been ranked in the Top 1% Scholar by Clarivate Analytics since 2017.

Dr Lawrence Poon Chi-kin is a leading figure in the local innovative tech scene and the CEO Advisor on applied research and development (R&D) at Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), currently in charge of overall planning and development of ASTRI’s new initiatives in smart city, smart mobility and PropTech R&D. Before joining ASTRI in February 2023, Dr Poon had devoted over 17 years of his time to Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), and Automotive Platforms and Application Systems (APAS) R&D Centre. Under his leadership, the R&D team had grown from a group of nine employees to a full-fledged department of 140-plus scientists and researchers within 10 years. He spearheaded the overall planning and development of HKPC’s two new divisions, Smart City Division and APAS, while steering the applications and commercialisation of research outcomes in Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area markets. His specialities include artificial intelligence, robotics, smart mobility, electric vehicles, autonomous driving, GeronTech, and the metaverse. An owner of 10-plus patents covering wide range of smart city applications such as artificial intelligence of things, electric vehicles, and autonomous driving, Dr Poon has won many international awards over the years.

Dr Leo Wang Lei is a Research Fellow under the Hundred-Talent Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a Doctoral Supervisor, National Excellent Young Scholar (Overseas), and a Humboldt Fellow in the College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University. He earned his PhD degree from PolyU in 2018. Keen to solve real-world problems with his research, Dr Wang takes an interest in sustainable technologies that generate energy from waste and convert waste into construction materials. To combat climate change, he strives to reduce the amount of atmospheric greenhouse gases with carbon sequestration methods and mineral utilisation. His carbon-negative climate-smart biochar partition block won a Silver Medal at the 47th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva. As a principal author and corresponding author, Dr Wang has published over 80 SCI journal papers, including more than 70 papers in the Top 10% journals, 5 Hot Papers and 20 Highly Cited Papers, and co-edited two books. His works have been cited by other scholars 5,400 times with an h-index of 47 on Scopus. Being the World’s Top 2% Scientist in his area of specialty, he has served as an Associate Editor for Soil Use and Management, a Guest Editor for 10 SCI journals, and has been on the editorial boards of 4 SCI journals.