Profiles of BEEE recipients

Ir Dr Edward Chan Chi-wing is an expert in the built environment and urban sustainability. Over the past two decades, he has been involved in many award-winning green construction projects across Hong Kong and the Asia region. Since 2017, Dr Chan has chaired Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Hong Kong—an international charitable organisation based in Hong Kong. EWB focuses on improving the lives of disadvantaged communities and promoting sustainable development through engineering, empowering future generations to actively contribute to communities in need. Under his leadership, EWB Hong Kong has established connections with overseas EWB chapters and other charitable organisations. In 2018, Dr Chan established the EWB Global Citizenship Programme, providing a platform for future engineering and science leaders and change-makers to explore global challenges, serve society with a global vision, and contribute to sustainable development goals as global citizens. Since 2020, Dr Chan has served as Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong-based Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation. This organisation encourages young people in Hong Kong and Mainland China to engage in countryside conservation and rural revitalisation through sustainable development. It also builds a bridge between young people in Hong Kong and Mainland China, and contributes to improving the quality of rural life.

Prof. Song Mengjie is Head of the Frost Laboratory at the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT), China. He also serves as a Guest Professor at Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic. He holds bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees from Hunan University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, respectively. Before joining BIT, Prof. Song worked at Nanyang Technological University, the University of Tokyo, and the University of Wollongong. His engineering experience includes roles as an Engineer at the Central–South Architectural Design Institute Company Limited, and as President’s Assistant at Beijing District Heating Group Company Limited. Prof. Song’s expertise spans 16 years, focusing on the study of heat and mass transfer flows. He has authored 199 journal articles and six books, and holds more than 20 patents. His 28 research projects have received funding of more than RMB40 million and span China, Japan, and Australia. Notably, in the field of frosting and defrosting, Prof. Song held the top scholar position worldwide from 2016 to 2023 according to Elsevier’s Find Reviewer database. He was also included in the World’s Top 2% Scientists list (Career & Singleyr) from 2020 to 2023, the National Youth Talent Project in 2021, the China–South Korea Young Scientists Exchange Program in 2023, and appears on Elsevier’s Chinese Highly Cited Scholars 2024.