News

Faculty Forum Highlights FCE Strategic Plans

To cultivate a supportive culture for academics of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) to engage in high impact and collaborative research, a Faculty Forum was held on 30 August 2018. About 80 of them gathered to learn about some critical issues of relevance for them. First, they heard from Prof. Guohua Chen, Associate Vice President (Research Support), who provided an analysis of FCE’s strengths, weaknesses, and the opportunities facing it. Prof. You-Lin Xu, Dean of FCE, then shared the Faculty’s strategic plans for 2018 to 2021. They were nothing short of visionary. Next, Prof. Jianping Gan from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology talked about his successful experience in writing a proposal for the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC). His insight shed some light on what a winning proposal might be like. Subsequently, Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) and member of the RGC engineering panel, shared his perspective as a panel member on applications for the Early Career Scheme (ECS) and General Research Fund (GRF) of the RGC. This was followed by presentations from Dr You Dong of CEE and Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Associate Dean (Partnership), who talked about their respective experiences in writing proposals for the ECS and GRF, before Prof. Asif Usmani, Head of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), gave some tips on recruiting quality candidates for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme. The Forum facilitated dialogue between young researchers and more experienced scholars. Concluding with closing remarks from Prof. Xiangdong Li, Associate Dean (Research), it was an enlightening event for all who attended, particularly those just beginning their academic careers.

Which part of your university experience influenced you the most?

“Hall life! I was an introvert, but becoming friends with roommates from different countries gave me confidence to step out of my comfort zone.” Hanging out with his roommates from Romania and Poland, Dachi has learnt to appreciate various cultures while sharing his own. These experiences blew him away and broadened his mindset with an international perspective. More details: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/stars/scholarships/outstanding-students-award-scheme/outstanding-student-awards-presentation-ceremony-2017/outstanding-student,-faculty-of-construction-and-environment-2017.html Video: https://goo.gl/2uadaX

PolyU-led project awarded the largest grant in the latest round of Theme-based Research Scheme

The Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) is pleased that a project led by Prof. Jin-Guang Teng of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) to develop a new type of concrete structures for marine infrastructure has been awarded more than HK$47 million, the largest amount of funding from the Research Grants Council Theme-based Research Scheme 2018/19. The local participating universities will provide more than HK$ 5 million as matching funding, bringing the total budget to above HK$ 52 million. Entitled “Sustainable Marine Infrastructure Enabled by the Innovative Use of Seawater Sea-Sand Concrete and Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites,” the project addresses the severe deterioration problem of marine infrastructure caused by steel corrosion by replacing steel with fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) as the reinforcing material. This replacement then also allows the direct use of seawater and sea-sand in making the concrete (i.e., seawater-sea-sand concrete or SSC). Great environmental and economical benefits can be derived from the use of this new type of structures (referred to as FRP-SSC structures) in marine infrastructure. The research programme will include the development of innovative steel-free structural forms as well as new methods for the design, construction and performance monitoring of FRP-SSC structures. A key scientific challenge for the team is the establishment of a multi-scale, multi-physics approach for predicting the long-term performance of FRP-SSC structures in a marine environment over a service life of more than 50 or even 100 years. Results obtained with this method will assist greatly in the formulation of safe and economical design methods for FRP/SSC structures. Co-principal investigators include Prof. Christopher Leung from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Prof. Zongjin Li from the University of Macau, CEE colleagues Prof. Yiqing Ni and Prof. Chi-sun Poon, Dr Florence Sanchez from Vanderbilt University in the US, Prof. Tong Sun from the University of London, Mr Sheng-Nian Wang of the CCCC Fourth Harbour Engineering Institute Co. Ltd. in mainland China, and Prof. Limin Zhou of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Since the Theme-based Research Scheme began in 2011/12, PolyU has had 2 projects funded by this highly competitive scheme, in 2017/18 and 2018/19 respectively, both with the theme of developing a sustainable environment. The previous winning project was led by Prof. Tao Wang of CEE.

How to enhance efficiency in tree management?

Under the PolyU-led Jockey Club Smart City Tree Management Project, Smart Sensing Technology (SST) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) will be applied in monitoring the stability of trees. Dr Charles Wong at the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics talked about the significance of this project. More details: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/cpa/excel/en/201806/viewpoint/v1/index.html

IAWE Senior Award (Davenport Medal) for Dean of FCE

Prof. You-Lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), was honoured with the International Association for Wind Engineering (IAWE) Senior Award with Davenport Medal for his outstanding contributions to the field of wind engineering and bridge engineering in research, education, and application. Prof. Xu received his award and medal from Prof. Ahsan Kareem, the President of IAWE, and Prof. Yukio Tamura, the Immediate Past President of IAWE, at the 2018 Computational Wind Engineering Symposium in Seoul, Korea, on 20 June 2018. Prof. Kareem is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering while Prof. Tamura is a member of the Engineering Academy of Japan. Both of them are also foreign members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The International Association for Wind Engineering (IAWE), formally established in 1975, promotes international co-operation among scientists, engineers and other professionals for advancement of knowledge in the broad field of wind engineering.

FCE to apply smart sensing technology in urban tree management

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) kicked off the Jockey Club Smart City Tree Management Project, a large-scale pilot project in Hong Kong, with the support from academia, non-government organisations (NGOs) and the Government, to apply smart sensing technology (SST) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for monitoring tree stability to enhance timely appropriate mitigation measures for sustaining longer tree lives. Tree anchorage is critical to its structural stability. Weak anchorage will be reflected in a tree tilting, which in serious case poses the hazard of falling. In the Project, sensors will be tailor-made and installed on the lower trunk of selected urban trees to monitor their tilting angle in a 3-dimensional manner, as a way of assessing the stability of the root and thus the tree. Data will be collected for a quantifiable analysis of the trees’ root plate movement through the use of SST, i.e. the technology of monitoring environmental changes with the use of remote sensors and techniques, via the GIS-based platform. Taking into consideration of various environmental factors, a threshold will be determined to design the monitoring system as a scientific measurement of the root plate movement and stability. When the tilting angle of a tree exceeds the threshold, the project team will be alerted to conduct a visit to verify the data for the purpose of calibrating the system. When considered necessary, it will inform the relevant tree management team to undertake actions in a timely manner. As such, the information generated by the monitoring system will provide objective and quantifiable data for the consideration of the tree management team to supplement the visual tree monitoring method widely adopted by the industry at the moment in assessing the movement of a tree. More details: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/web/en/media/media_releases/index_id_6551.html

Dean (FCE) received Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award

Professor You-Lin Xu, Chair Professor of Structural Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has been bestowed the 12th Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Prize by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE). The award presentation ceremony took place on 30 May 2018 in Beijing. The biennial national prizes aim to reward Chinese engineers and scientists who have made outstanding achievements and important contributions to engineering technology and engineering management. Established in 1996, the award has been extended to include candidates from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for the first time in the last session. This year, 30 awardees were selected from 296 candidates for the top honour. Professor Xu is one of the three award recipients from Hong Kong. All the three Hong Kong awardees are nominated by the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences. With over 30 years of experience in research and consultancy work in structural engineering, Professor Xu is internationally renowned for his contributions in wind engineering, earthquake engineering, structural vibration control and structural health monitoring. Over the years, he has participated in over 80 national and international research projects, including providing consultation on wind and structural health monitoring of the Tsing Ma Bridge and Stonecutters Bridge in Hong Kong, as well as the Shanghai Tower in the Chinese mainland — the second tallest building in the world. Professor Xu joined PolyU in 1995 as Assistant Professor, and is presently the Dean of Faculty of Construction and Environment. He has obtained two patents on his inventions and has published more than 280 international journal papers. He has garnered many prestigious awards in his career, including the Croucher Senior Research Fellowship in 2006, the Qian Ling Xi Computational Mechanics Award from the Chinese Association of Computational Mechanics in 2010, the Robert H. Scanlan Medal from American Society of Civil Engineering in 2012, and The Davenport Medal (Senior Award) from International Association for Wind Engineering in 2018. For further information of Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award, please visit:- https://goo.gl/QFntPj (Chinese only).   Video Interview

FCE professors speak on opening up Chinese mainland funding for Hong Kong

In a TVB news programme on opening up Chinese mainland funding for Hong Kong, a number of researchers from local universities were interviewed. Professor Chung Kwok-fai, Associate Head of PolyU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), also Director of the Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Steel Construction at PolyU, said the Chinese mainland has been producing high performance steel materials over the years, and the Centre has helped promote wider use of such materials in overseas projects. Leveraging the opportunities of the Greater Bay Area development, the Centre will be able to nurture more professionals, helping to enhance the overall level of skills and technology of the steel construction industry. Professor Ni Yiqing from CEE, also Director of the Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre on Rail Transit Electrification and Automation at PolyU, said the Centre focuses on developing advanced rail technologies to enhance the safety and reliability of China’s high speed rail. With increased funding support from the Central Government, the research team expects to participate in more railway projects at the national level in future. Online coverage: TVB Closer Look (時事多面睇) - http://trsurl.com/s/9Sz TVB Chinese news - http://trsurl.com/s/9SA

HKIE Gold Medal for BSE Academic

For his significant contributions in teaching, research and consultancy services related to the science of fire engineering and building services engineering for more than three decades, Prof. Wan-ki Chow, Chair Professor of Architectural Science and Fire Engineering and former Head of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), was recently awarded the 2018 Gold Medal from the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. The prestigious award recognizes the achievements and contributions made by an outstanding member to his/ her fields of engineering. A Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences since December 2012, he was appointed Justice of the Peace by the Chief Executive of the HKSAR Government in July 2013. He received a Lifetime Contribution Award from the Asia-Oceania Association for Fire Science and Technology in October 2015. Prof. Chow has written more than 1,000 scholarly articles, with over 300 published in SCI international journals. The number of research students who have received their PhD under his guidance exceeds 60.

Ceremony Marks Opening of GIGCAS and PolyU Joint Laboratory

On 28th January 2019, the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (GIGCAS) and PolyU Joint Laboratory of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for the Environment was officially unveiled by representatives from both sides. A welcome speech was delivered by Prof. Philip Chan, PolyU's Interim President. Speeches were also delivered by Mr Jinghua Cao, Director General of CAS Bureau of International Cooperation, who spoke about the 22 CAS joint laboratories with Hong Kong, and Prof. Yigang Xu, Director General of the GIGCAS. Officiating guests also included Ir Prof. Alex Wai, PolyU’s Vice President (Research Development), Mr Xiaonian Zheng, Director General of CAS Bureau of Facility Support and Budget, Ms Fang Fang Li, Director of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office of CAS, Dr Gan Zhang, Deputy Director of GIGCAS, Ir Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) at PolyU, Prof. Xiangdong Li, Director of GIGCAS and Associate Dean (Research) of FCE, and Ir Prof. William Lam, Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at PolyU. The focus areas of research of the GIGCAS-PolyU Joint Laboratory of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area for the Environment will include air quality improvement, environment and health for city clusters, urban land integrated remediation measures for different types of pollution, municipal solid waste and sewage treatment in new rural areas, ecological management in estuary and coastal areas, etc. Harnessing the strengths of PolyU and GIGCAS, the joint laboratory will extend research frontiers, advance knowledge transfer and applications as well as cultivate talents in the field of environmental protection for the development of the Greater Bay Area.