Awards and Achievements (Research)

BRE Dissertation Students Winning the HKICM Construction Management Research Awards

 In the first ever construction management research awards sponsored by the Hong Kong Institute of Construction Managers (HKICM), 3 alumnae of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) were rewarded for their final year dissertations. At the master's degree level, Ms. Choi Nga Yee, Tracy was the Champion with her MPhil investigation of the current application and future development of the Pay for Safety Scheme (PFSS) in the Hong Kong construction industry. Another MSc in Project Management student, Ms. Yiu Sze Nga, Nicole received a Merit award for her study of heat stress management in the construction industry. Both of them were supervised by Dr Daniel W.M. Chan, Associate Professor of BRE. At the bachelor's degree level, Ms. Lee Mun Wai, Wendy was given a Merit award for her study of personal knowledge management practices for construction professionals in the public sector of Hong Kong. She was supervised by Dr Patrick S.W. Fong, Associate Professor of BRE. The awards aim to provide an open competitive platform for students to demonstrate their knowledge and share their learning, promoting the profession of construction management at the same time. The champion received a certificate and a cash coupon of HK$10,000 at the HKICM 15th Anniversary Dinner held on 6 September 2012.  

BRE Students Winning the HKIS Dissertation/Thesis Awards for Postgraduate Students

In the dissertation/thesis awards for postgraduate students 2012 organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS), two alumnae of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) were rewarded for their final year dissertations announced on 24 September 2012. In the Master of Philosophy (MPhil)'s degree category, Ms. Choi Nga Yee, Tracy was the prize winner with her investigation of the current application and future development of the Pay for Safety Scheme (PFSS) in the Hong Kong construction industry. In the Master of Science (MSc)'s degree category, another MSc in Construction and Real Estate student, Mr. Zhou You, Joe received an award for his study of application of solar chimney and earth tube systems for BEAM Plus and LEED assessments. They were supervised by Dr Daniel W.M. Chan, Associate Professor of BRE and Dr Ni Meng, Associate Professor of BRE, respectively.   The purpose of the awards aims to promote research and to reward the efforts of the students. The awards were based on merits in the research contribution to the industry, innovation and application to the surveying profession. Each of the winners will receive an award certificate and a prize cheque of HK$1,000 at the HKIS Research Award Presentation Ceremony to be held later.  

BRE Scholar Receiving Distinguished Alumni Award

Prof. Bo-sin TANG, Associate Head of the Department of Building & Real Estate, has received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Centre of Urban Studies and Urban Planning(CUSUP) of the University of Hong Kong in January 2011.   CUSUP was established in 1980 and renamed as the Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management (CUPEM) in 1991. On 1 July 2008, it was restructured with the Department of Urban Planning and Design (DUPAD) in the Faculty of Architecture to continue the teaching of urban planning as well as related areas in housing management and transport. With the reorganization, CUSUP was able to continue its interdisciplinary research in urban studies and planning. The 2010- 11 year marks the 30th Anniversary of the founding of CUSUP.   Prof. TANG earned his MSc in Urban Planning with distinction from CUSUP in 1987. He received the Award from the ex-Centre Director, Prof. Peter HILLS, during the CUSUP 30th Anniversary Dinner held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 7 January 2011.      

Winner of BRE Departmental Award for Outstanding Achievement in Academic Programme Development (2010/11)

The programme management team for MSc/PgD in Construction and Real Estate 建築及房地產學理學碩士學位/深造文憑 led by Dr Daniel W.M. Chan (陳煒明博士), Associate Professor of the BRE Department, has been selected for the Departmental Award for Outstanding Achievement in Academic Programme Development (2010/11). The composition of the team is indicated as follows. Team Leader: Dr Daniel Chan (Award Co-ordinator)  Team Members: Dr Linda Fan (Deputy Award Co-ordinator) Dr Ann Yu (Dissertation Co-ordinator: 2008/09) Dr Stanley Yeung (Dissertation Co-ordinator: 2009/10) Mrs Gracie Ip (Programme Administrator) Respective Subject Leaders of Compulsory and Core Subjects Relevant Administrative Staff   This self-financed taught postgraduate programme is designed to provide a learning opportunity for practicing architects, engineers, surveyors, project managers, property managers, town planners, and other real estate related professionals to broaden and deepen their knowledge in the construction and real estate sectors. A total of at least 16 student cohort intakes have been recruited since the first intake in September 1995 up to September 2010, with an annual average number of ad mittees of 50.   The programme has made significant achievements in the following four areas in the three consecutive academic years immediately before the year of the award, i.e. 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10. Initiation and/or management of the development of an academic programme Successful development of new subjects or enhancement of subjects that help to enhance an academic programme Pro-active promotion of academic programmes to potential students Successful implementation/development of innovative approaches to teaching and learning   The strength of this programme has secured a brand name and high popularity within the market. It has attracted a group of quality students and produced several batches of prominent graduates in town. The programme received a record-breaking number of applications for the September 2011 intake. Altogether, 343 applications were received with a breakdown of 144 (full-time) and 199 (part-time) which indicate its high recognition and wide popularity amongst prospective applicants both locally and overseas (especially Mainland China).   In recognition of their outstanding achievements, each member of the winning team will receive a certificate signed by the Head of Department. The Department would also nominate the team for the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Academic Programme Development 2011 organised by FCLU. Heart felt congratulations to the winning team for their great success.  

PolyU CIB Student Chapter Winning CIB Sebestyen Future Leaders Award 2011 Proposal Title: "Exploring Construction Industrialization in China: the Status Quo and the Challenges", with Mr. Peng Yi and Mr. Hong Yu Ming

CIB Sebestyén Future Leaders Award 2011 Announcement of the Winner Four proposals, all complying with the rules of the Award, were received at the Secretariat by the closing date specified in the Call for Proposals published in March this year. The proposals were sent to the panel of three judges who then separately assessed each proposal. The judges commented on the excellence of all the proposals, but came to a unanimous decision that the winner was the proposal submitted by the CIB Student Chapter at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The winners will receive an Award of 2500 Euros, which they have budgeted to spend on executing their proposal. The Winning Proposal The winning proposal has the title “Exploring construction industrialization in China: the status quo and the challenges.” In supporting the submission of the proposal the Coordinator of CIB W119 Customised Industrial Construction noted that the Student Chapter proposal, with its focus on China, will generate very important input for the Commission. The proposal was submitted on behalf of the Chapter by Mr Peng Y and Mr Hong Yu-ming who are the principal investigator and co-investigator respectively. The Student Chapter proposal is to: understand the status quo of construction industrialization measure the degree of construction industrialization identify the challenges of implementing construction industrialization produce a report on suggestions on implementing construction industrialisation This proposal complements the aims of CIB W119, which, amongst others, are: to become the core of the world’s leading international research community on Customised Industrial Construction and how this impacts upon processes in architecture, construction and real estate to facilitate the bringing in of new knowledge and frontier technologies from various professions, including ICT, automation, robotics, mechanical engineering, mechatronics and product-service engineering. Aftermath Reporting A condition of the Award is that the winner is required to report on the project immediately after its completion, which is expected to occur in July 2012. At that time the Coordinator of CIB W119 will be invited to include comments in that report.   CIB Sebestyén Future Leaders Award 2012 A Call for Proposals for the award in 2012 will be published in March 2012. Further Information  For further information about the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Student  Chapter proposal contact the Secretary of the Chapter Mr Peng Yi 10900114r@polyu.edu.hk   For further information about CIB W119 Customised Industrial Construction, contact the Coordinator Prof.Dr.Gerhard Girmscheid girmscheid@ibi.baug.ethz.ch  

BRE staff shared the glory of the National Excellent Papers Award with Tsinghua Scholars

 A team of researchers from Tsinghua University and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University won a National Excellent Papers Award for their paper “Risk allocation in   infrastructure   Public-Private   Partnership   (PPP)   projects”. The   Award   is conferred  by  the  Architectural  Society  of  China  on  a  biennial  basis  and  has  toundergo a rigorous three-tier assessment process.  The Award is recognised as the highest  honour  and  achievement  for  national  research  in  Construction  Economics and Management.  The  paper  is  co-authored  by  Yongjian  Ke,  and  Shouqing  Wang  of  Tsinghua University and Albert Chan of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.  This paperis  one  of  the  deliverables  generated  from  a  research  project  jointly  funded  by Research  Grants  Council  (RGC)  in  Hong  Kong  and  National  Science  Foundation Council Research Grant (NSFC) in China.  The research project aims to develop an equitable  risk  allocation  mechanism  for  delivering  PPP  projects  in  the  People Republic  of  China  (PRC),  and  is  co-led  by  Prof.  Albert  Chan  at  The  Hong  Kong Polytechnic University and Prof Shouqing Wang at Tsinghua University, Beijing.   Prof. Wang is a professor at the Department of Construction Management, School of  Civil  Engineering,  Tsinghua  University.    He  obtained  his  PhD  at  The  Hong Kong  Polytechnic  University  in  1991  under  the  supervision  of  Emeritus  Prof.Michael Anson.  Mr Yongjian Ke is expected to complete his PhD from Tsinghua University under the joint supervision of Prof. Wang and Prof. Chan. Prof. Chan is a professor and associate head of the Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and has won similar Best Research Paper Awards from the UK, Australia, and Hong Kong since the mid 90s.  

BRE Scholar Winning Top Reviewer

Dr.  Meng  NI, Assistant Professor of BRE won the Top Reviewer award in 2010 from Applied Energy for his exceptional contribution through quality reviews to Applied Energy papers. Applied   Energy   (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03062619) is a prestigious journal  in  the  area  of  energy  conversion  and  conservation,the  optimal  use  of  energy  resources,analysis  and  optimization  of  energy  processes,  mitigation  of  environmental  pollutants,  and sustainable energy systems.  It’s indexed by SCI and its impact factor is 2.2.     Dr.  Meng  NI received  his  Bachelor  and  Master  degrees  in Aero-engine   engineering   from   Northwestern   Polytechnic University(China)  in  2000  and  2003,  respectively.He joined  The  University  of  Hong  Kong(HKU)  as  a  research student   in   September   2003   and   received   his   Ph.D.   in Mechanical  Engineering  from  HKU  in  2007.    Afterwards,Dr.  Ni  worked  as  a  Research  Associate  (Sept  2007-   Jan2008) and a Post-Doctoral Fellow (Feb 2008 -June 2009) in HKU, before joining the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as an Assistant Professor in July 2009.    His  research  interests  include  renewable  and  clean  energy technologies  (i.e.  fuel  cells,  solar  energy),  numerical  heat and  mass  transfer,  Building  energy  and  built  environment.Dr. Ni has published over 40 papers in prestigious scientific journals with SCI citations of more than 1000 times, and his current H-index is  15.He  serves  as  a  member  of  Editorial Board   in   3   scientific   journals,and a reviewer   for   20international  journals  in  the  field  of  renewable  and  clean energy  technologies.    He  was a  member  of  the  organizing committee for the First International Conference on Applied Energy  (ICAE09),  held  in  January  2009,and  the  First International  Conference  on  Sustainable  Urbanization,  held in December 2010.  He received the Young Scientist Award from the Hong Kong Institution of Science in 2007 and was awarded  a  diploma  for  his  excellent  scientific  activity  in hydrogen energy by the International Association for Hydrogen Energy in the same year.