Professor Chen Qingyan, Director of PAIR, Chair Professor of Building Thermal Science
The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Chen Qingyan to the post of Chair Professor of Building Thermal Science in the Department of Building Services Engineering and concurrently as Director of PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR).
Professor Chen obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Thermal Energy Engineering from the Tsinghua University in 1983, and his Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Delft University of Technology in Netherlands in 1985 and 1988 respectively. Before joining our University, Professor Chen was the James G. Dwyer Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University, USA.
Professor Chen’s research interests include computer simulations and experiment measurements of built environment, energy-efficient, healthy and sustainable buildings. His journal publications have been cited by more than 19,000 times and his h-index is 73 according to Google Scholar. During his career, Professor Chen established four multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary research centres/consortia with a total research funding of over HK$200 million from different government agencies. He was interviewed by more than 80 media outlets from 10 countries for his research on infectious disease transmission in built environment during COVID-19 pandemic.
Professor Chen has been serving as Editor-in-Chief of the international journal “Building and Environment” since 2008. He was the Director of National Consortium for Key Project on Ventilation and Air Quality Control Strategies for Residential Buildings in China from 2016 to 2019 and the Founding Director of Tianjin Key Laboratory of Indoor Environment Quality Control in the Commission of Science and Technology of Tianjin Municipality in China from 2014 to 2016. Furthermore, he was the Chief Scientist in the National Consortium for 973 Project on Key Problems in Cabin Air Environment of Large Commercial Airliners in China and the Director of Center for Cabin Air Reformative Environment at Tianjin University in China from 2012 to 2016, and the Principal Director in National Air Transportation Centre of Excellence for Airliner Cabin Environment Research in USA from 2004 to 2010.
Professor Chen has received a number of prestigious awards including the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Building Performance Simulation Association in 2013, the John Rydberg Gold Medal from the Scandinavian Federation of Heating, Ventilating and Sanitary Engineering Associations in 2011, and the Willis J. Whitfield Award from the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology in 2007. Professor Chen has also received several technical paper and poster awards and Distinguished and Exceptional Service Awards from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). In addition, he was awarded as an honorable member of the Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan in 2020. He is also a Fellow of the ASHRAE, the International Society of Indoor Air Quality, and the International Association of Advanced Materials.
