Awards and Achievements (Research)

Green Talents Competition 2022 - 2 BRE Awardees

BRE PhD graduates Dr Timothy Oluwatosin OLAWUMI and Dr Ibrahim Yahaya WUNI have been awarded as two of the 25 Green Talents awardees from 18 different countries in the Green Talents Competition 2022 and named as two of the "25 Young Outstanding Scientists" of high potential globally in the field of sustainability (across disciplines) for the year 2022. The competition was organized by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to promote the international exchange of innovative green ideas within the field of sustainability. The award honours young researchers from numerous countries and scientific disciplines for their achievements and efforts on making their communities, countries and societies more sustainable. Dr Timothy Oluwatosin OLAWUMI, PhD Graduate in 2020, focuses research on the application of various information technologies and data-driven techniques to address sustainability issues in construction management and projects. More about Timothy’s research focushttps://bit.ly/3GZbFeM Dr Ibrahim Yahaya WUNI, PhD Graduate in 2022, focuses on developing integrated frameworks for the implementation of green buildings, modular construction, and circular construction projects. More about Ibrahim’s research focushttp://bit.ly/3VkJivA

BRE PhD graduate awarded in Green Talents Competition 2022 (Dr Timothy Olawumi)

A PhD graduate of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) in 2020 is honoured as one of the 25 awardees from 18 different countries in the Green Talents Competition 2022 – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development 2022, which is an annual event hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in recognition of outstanding young scientists who are active in the field of sustainable development. Under the guidance of his Chief Supervisor, Dr Daniel W.M. CHAN, Associate Professor and Associate Head (Teaching) from BRE, Dr Timothy Oluwatosin OLAWUMI has been devoting his energies to develop a BIM-enabled and cloud-based sustainability assessment system for buildings in Sub-Saharan Africa based in Nigeria during his PhD study. The award serves as a chance for Dr Olawumi to connect with global young talents and Germany‘s leading scientific experts for further exchange of creative green ideas to build a more sustainable world (URL: https://www.greentalents.de/awardees-2022.php). Source: https://www.greentalents.de/awardees2022_timothy-olawumi.php

HKIE Outstanding Paper Award for Young Engineers/Researchers 2022

BRE PhD candidate Miss CHENG Chun and her supervisor Prof. Meng Ni awarded the HKIE Outstanding Paper Award for Young Engineers/Researchers 2022 About the research: In 2021, the United States already consumed approximately 1.026 569 × 1011 GJ of energy, where about two-thirds is discharged into the environment without effective reuse. As a primary form of waste energy, low-grade waste heat (oC) not only causes energy loss but also thermal pollution.Converting heat to electricity via a thermodynamic cycle is effective for utilizing high-temperature heat but the efficiency is extremely low for low-grade heat, for example, 9%-16% within a working temperature range of 80-150K for the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems. For comparison, electrochemical thermocells offer an alternative way of converting low-grade waste heat into electricity at a potentially higher efficiency than conventional thermodynamic cycles. In our previous research, we successfully achieved a relative efficiency of 50.817% (relative to Carnot efficiency) with a recuperation efficiency of 70% at a temperature difference of 30K. Although some pioneering experimental investigations have been reported on thermocells, the current literature is lacking comprehensive modeling and optimization of the cells, which is critical not only for the in-depth understanding of the working mechanisms of the thermocells, but also for engineering design and optimization. In this work, we developed a numerical model to simulate the physical and chemical processes in the thermocell. We evaluated the effects of the operating and structural parameters on the performance of thermocells and identified several potential means to improve cell performance. Based on our optimization, the cell power density can be improved by up to 30%. About the award: This work has been awarded the HKIE Outstanding Paper Award for Young Engineers/Researchers 2022. This awardis organized by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) to encourage young engineers and researchers worldwide aged 35 or below to publish their works and advance in their professional fields and to promote engineering advancement. About the PHD candidate: Miss CHENG Chun is a PHD student at BRE, under supervision of Prof. Meng Ni, Professor of BRE and Associate Dean (Research) of FCE.  Her research focuses on electrochemical systems for low grade heat utilization.  Apart from this award-winning publication, Miss CHENG has published 3 papers in excellent journals, including two papers inACS Energy Letters and 1 paper inChemical Engineering Journal. More information about Prof. Meng Ni can be found at: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/bre/people/academic-staff/prof-meng-ni/

BRE Scholars’ Research Article Published in Nature Energy

Congratulations to Mr Shuo ZHAI and Prof. Meng NI for their achievement! Their research article “A combined ionic Lewis acid descriptor and machine-learning approach to the prediction of efficient oxygen reduction electrodes for ceramic fuel cells” was published in Nature Energy. Ceramic fuel cells are promising power sources for clean power generation. The development of high performance and durable cathode materials is the key for efficient and durable ceramic fuel cells. The previous cathode material development is based on trial-and-error approach, which is time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to identify the optimal material composition. In collaboration with Shenzhen University and Nanjing Tech University, Prof. Meng Ni’s team published their paper in Nature Energy. By an integrated approach combining machine-learning, density functional theory (DFT) computation, and experimental testing, the team successfully identified potential cathode materials for ceramic fuel cell from over 6000 possible material compositions. With the new materials, the ceramic fuel cells achieved both high performance and excellent durability. The research demonstrates a new strategy to facilitate ceramic fuel cell development for clean power generation and carbon neutrality. Details of the paper can be found at:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01098-3 A relevant news and views article was also published in Nature Energy:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-022-01112-8 The first author of this paper, Mr. Shuo Zhai, is a PhD candidate of the PolyU joint PHD program leading to dual awards, under supervision of Prof. Meng Ni and Prof. Heping Xie. Prof. Zongping Shao from Nanjing Tech University was also involved in the supervision. Prof. Meng Ni is a Professor of BRE and an Associate Dean (Research) of FCE. His research covers fuel cells, hydrogen production, batteries, and low-grade heat utilization. His research profile can be found at: https://research.polyu.edu.hk/en/persons/meng-ni

PolyU is ranked No.1 globally in Research.com

PolyU BRE is pleased to announce that PolyU’s with 16 scholars is ranked World No. 1 in Business and Management on Research.com. Four BRE scholars, Prof. Albert Chan, Prof. Heng Li, Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Chair Professors, and Prof. Edwin Chan, Adjunct Professor, with their long-standing dedication, are included in the list: https://bit.ly/3HRfJeD.  Please join us to congratulate our scholars for their remarkable research endeavours and achievements.   The ranking of universities in Research.com is based on a detailed examination of more than 5,972 Business Management researchers’ profiles in Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Graph from more than 507 institutions and affiliations. With the highest productivity and citation impact of publications of scientists, PolyU, with its 3,085 publications, is ranked the Top of Business Management Universities on 6 December 2021. More details can be found: https://bit.ly/34D5X1q   National World Scholar H-index Citations Publications 2 46 Prof. Albert Chan 79 22,363 332 4 60 Prof. Heng Li 76 18,077 235 39 960 Prof. Geoffrey Shen 34 6,731 60 49 1,291 Prof. Edwin Chan 30 5,327 104  

Congratulations to Prof. Li Heng, Prof. Ni Meng and Prof. Zayed Tarek on receiving the BRE Award for Outstanding Research Performance 2020/21

BRE Scholars Ranked Among Top 2% of Scientists In The World

BRE PhD Graduate Winning the BIM Africa Innovation Awards 2021 (Category: Research Excellence Award)

In the recently concluded BIM Africa Innovation Awards 2021 organized by BIM Africa, Dr Timothy OLAWUMI – a PhD graduate of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) of PolyU in 2020 received the prestigious Research Excellence Award (out of the 298 nominations received by BIM Africa). The BIM Africa Innovation Awards 2021 seeks to recognize the talents and efforts of leading industry professionals and organizations in the construction sector going above and beyond to deploy innovative solutions towards Africa’s Development. There are nine award categories in total (https://awards.bimafrica.org/nomination.html) which is based on nominations of candidates for any of the award category while nine appointed award judges make the final award assessment. Timothy received his award plaque and certificate during the online award presentation ceremony on Tuesday, 2 November 2021. Dr Olawumi is grateful to have been nominated for the award by a number of people, including Cr Dr Daniel W.M. CHAN, Associate Professor and Associate Head (Teaching) of BRE, who effectively supervised his PhD research study which Timothy completed in August 2020. He also appreciated the award judges for the recognition that he received for his research work. Dr Olawumi is currently an Assistant Professor / Lecturer of Construction and Surveying, School of Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland, United Kingdom. The BIM Africa Research Excellence Award is awarded to an “exceptional Individual of African descent in Academia (or a Research Team/Project) that have developed and completed research works involving the deployment of innovative digital technologies and processes towards driving the building and infrastructure Industry’s transformation”.   Award announcement Link: https://bimafrica.org/news/awards-2021

BRE PhD Student Winning the AIB(HK) Professional Excellence in Building Awards 2021

In the Professional Excellence in Building Awards 2021 organized by the Australian Institute of Building (Hong Kong Chapter) (AIB-HK), one full-time PhD research student of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) of PolyU (Mr Abdullahi Saka from Nigeria) won the Certificate of Merit award based on his entry entitled “Development of a Hybrid Intelligent and Dynamic System for Adoption and Implementation of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in Construction Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Developing Countries” submitted to the category (B3 - Student Achievement). He is being currently supervised by Dr Daniel W.M. Chan, Associate Professor and Associate Head (Teaching) of BRE. He received his award certificate at the Award Presentation Ceremony held on Saturday, 17 July 2021 afternoon at the Conrad Hong Kong Hotel, Admiralty, Hong Kong. The nomination requirements of the award category (B3 - Student Achievement) are open to any undergraduate or postgraduate students studying construction, civil, building, mechanical, architectural, E&M engineering or surveying in universities and colleges (both full-time mode and part-time mode).

BRE Scholar and Students Receiving the ‘Built Environment Project and Asset Management Highly Commended Paper Award’ in the 9th World Construction Symposium 2021

Please join us in congratulating Ms Anushika Ekanayake (PhD student of BRE), Prof. Geoffrey Shen (Chair Professor of BRE), Prof. Mohan Kumaraswamy (Honorary Professor of the University of Hong Kong) and Dr Jin Xue (Post-Doctoral Fellow of BRE) on receiving the ‘Built Environment Project and Asset Management Highly Commended Paper Award’ in the 9th World Construction Symposium 2021! Entitled ‘Dynamic Supply Chain Capability Analysis of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Construction: A Topic Modeling Approach’, the heart of the winning paper is to employ the topic over time modeling as a novel text mining method to dynamically analyze the supply chain capabilities associated with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Construction by unveiling academia, an effective and novel mechanism to extract dynamic empirical clues from a large unstructured set of documents in construction supply chain capability analysis research. A big clap for the team’s endeavour!