Awards and Achievements (Research)

BRE PhD Student Winning the "First Prize" of Best Student Presentation Award of CIB WBC 2019

In theCIB World Building Congress 2019 (WBC 2019) on Constructing Smart Cities held on17-21  June  2019  at  PolyU,  the  full-time  PhD  research  student  (Mr  Abdullahi  Saka  from Nigeria) of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) won the "First Prize" of the Best  Student  Presentation  Award  (Category:  Smart  Planning,  Design  and  Construction,Smart Environment) organized by the Hong Kong PolyU Student Chapter of CIB (CIBSC).    Mr  Saka  received  an  award  certificate  and  a  cash  cheque  of  HK$  1,000  at  the  Closing Ceremony  held  on  20  June  2019  at  PolyU.  His  winning paper  is  entitled"Adoption  of Building  Information  Modelling  (BIM)  in  Small  and  Medium-Sized  Enterprises  (SMEs)  in Developing  Countries:  A  System  Dynamics  Approach"co-authored  with  his  Chief Supervisor,  Dr  Daniel  Chan,  Associate  Professor  and his  Co-Supervisor,  Dr  Francis  Siu,Assistant Professor of BRE.   The  aim  of  the  competition  was  to  provide  a  platform  for  all  eligible  members  of  CIB Student  Chapters  to  exhibit  their  studies  and  research  outcomes.  Altogether,  18presentations were selected from all applications and there were 3 parallel groups with 6 participants in each group. Each group conferred one “First Prize” and one “Second Prize”of the Best Student Presentation Award and thus a total 6 winners across three categories of conference paper themes.   Group 1 - Theme: Smart Buildings and infrastructure, Smart Transportation and Mobility,Smart Utilities and Facilities Management Group 2 - Theme: Smart People and Living, Smart Service, Smart Governance, Policy and Economy Group 3 - Theme: Smart Planning, Design and Construction, Smart Environment    

Antwi-Afari Maxwell Fordjour Winning the Outstanding Student Project Award 2018/19 of the HK Ergonomics Society

Gold Medal in 47th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, Swiss and the 2018 JCCE Best Paper Award for Prof. Heng Li's research team - Winning Project : A Vision-based Smart Construction Management Solution

Asia Pacific Federation of Project Management (apfpm)’s Project Management Awards& Hong Kong Institute of Project Management (HKIPM)’s Project Management Achievement Awards for Prof. Albert Chan –Winning project : Developing a Personal Cooling System for Combating Heat Stress in the Construction Industry

Fund (International Collaborative R&D Programme) of International Collaboration Programme of Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement for Dr Seo JoonOh – Winning proposal : Automated DB-free Visual Analytics Platform for Enhancing Construction Productivity by 20%

We are thrilled with a very encouraging result of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme 2019/20. 3out of our Department’s 4 nominations that PolyU put forward to the Research Grants Council have been  awarded  the  Hong  Kong  PhD  Fellowship  2019/20.  The  shortlisted  candidates  include  Eshun Bridget Tawiah Badu, Cheng Chun and Dai Yawen. Prof. Albert Chan is Badu’s proposed chief supervisor  while  the proposed  chief  supervisor  of  another  two  candidates  is  Prof.  Ni  Meng.  We greatly look forward to welcoming them in September.

Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) for Prof. Heng Li – Winning proposal : Automated Airborne Drone for Beach Wastes Recycling

Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme 2019/20

 We are thrilled with a very encouraging result of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme 2019/20. 3out of our Department’s 4 nominations that PolyU put forward to the Research Grants Council have been  awarded  the  Hong  Kong  PhD  Fellowship  2019/20.  The  shortlisted  candidates  include  Eshun Bridget Tawiah Badu, Cheng Chun and Dai Yawen. Prof. Albert Chan is Badu’s proposed chief supervisor  while  the proposed  chief  supervisor  of  another  two  candidates  is  Prof.  Ni  Meng.  We greatly look forward to welcoming them in September.

BRE PhD Students/Graduate Winning Occupational Safety & Health Best Project Scholarship (2017-18)

Congratulations  to  our  PhD  students and  graduate,  Ms  Yiu  Sze  Nga  Nicole,  Mr.Maxwell Fordjour  Antwi-Afariand Dr Zhao  Yijie  on  winning  the Occupational Safety  and  Health  (OSH) Best  Project  Scholarship for  the  academic  year  of 2017/18!   Organized  by  the  Occupational  Safety  and  Health  Council  (OSHC),the OSH  Best Project Scholarship  aims to encourage post-secondary students in Hong Kong to better  understand the occupational  safety  and  health  as  well  as recognize  those students who have successfully demonstrated capabilities of implementing quality applied research related to OSH in their studies.   On 18 January 2019,Nicole,Maxwell,Prof. Albert Chan, Chief Supervisor of Yijie and Dr Daniel Chan, Chief Supervisor of Nicole were most grateful to receive the accolades and the warmest congratulations at the Award Presentation Ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.   Under  the  supervision  of  Dr  Daniel  Chan  (Chief  Supervisor),  Associate  Head(Teaching  and  Learning)of  BRE and  Prof.  Albert  Chan  (Co-supervisor),  Head of BRE,  Nicole  researched the  safety  management  system in  her  PhD  study.    Her remarkable effort on the thesis, entitled ‘An Empirical Investigation of the Current Application and Future Development of the Safety Management System (SMS) in the Hong Kong Construction Industry’,was  rewarded  with  the OSH  Best  Project Scholarship.   Maxwell’s winning research project was entitled‘ Evaluation of Biomechanical Risk Factors for   Work-Related   Musculoskeletal   Disorders   and   Fall   Injuries   among Construction Workers’. Under the supervision of Prof. Heng Li(Chief Supervisor), Dr. Joon Oh  Seo  (Co-supervisor)  and  Dr.  Arnold  Yu  Lok  Wong  (Co-supervisor),Maxwell explored the feasibility of using a wearable insole pressure system. It can serve as an automated risk assessment tool to allow practitioners to take proactive actions for identifying risk factors (e.g.awkward working postures, loss of balance events) that may lead to developing work-related musculoskeletal disorders and non-fatal falls injuries among construction workers.   At the Award Presentation Ceremony, Prof. Albert Chan received the award for his winning graduate,  Yijie  who  was  out  of  town.Her thesis, ‘The  Role  of  Personal Cooling System  (PCS)  in  Combating  Body  Heat  Strain:  A  Case  Study  in  Hong  Kong’ says a lot about her clear understanding of the great importance of occupational safety and health to the industry.   Let’s give a bigclap to  the  winning  students  and  graduate  as  well  as  their supervisors!The achievement is are ward for their perseverance and great work,and  a big  step  to  their  exciting  research  journey.We wish Nicole,  Maxwell  and Yijie anew chapter of achievements,vibrancy and joy.

BRE PhD Research Student Winning the HKIE-SSC Student Project Competition 2018 (Doctorate Group)

The  PhD  thesis  of  a  part-time  PhD  research  student from  the  Department  of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Ms Yiu Sze-Nga, Nicole (姚詩雅), was adjudicated as the Runner-up Award (Doctorate Degree Group) of CIC Award organized by the the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers - Safety Specialist Committee (HKIE-SSC).   The objectives of the Competition are to promote safety engineering and science innovation, as well as to provide an open and competitive platform for engineering students  to  demonstrate  their  engineering  capabilities  and  share  the  learning process in safety regime. The student received an award certificate and a bundle of cash  coupons  during  the  HKIE-SSC  Annual  Dinner  2019launched  on  11  January2019 (Friday) at the YMCA Hotel, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.   The winning thesis of Ms Yiu was entitled “An Empirical Investigation of the Current Application  and  Future  Development  of  the  Safety  Management  System  (SMS)  in the  Hong  Kong  Construction  Industry”.  The  winner  was  supervised  by  her  Chief Supervisor, Cr Dr Daniel W.M. Chan (陳煒明博士營造師), Associate Professor and Associate Head (Teaching and Learning) of BRE, together with her Co-Supervisor,Ir  Professor  Albert  P.C.  Chan  (陳炳泉教授工程師),  Chair  Professor  and  Head  of BRE.

BRE Award for Outstanding Research Performance 2017/18