Researchers at PolyU’s Faculty of Engineering have pushed forward railway technology, gaining international recognition for their fibre optic sensor system and playing a key role in advancing the Nation’s High-Speed Rail system.
PolyU-developed fibre optic sensor for railway technology
With the newly developed fibre optic sensor system, a research team at PolyU’s Faculty of Engineering has pushed forward railway technology, and thus gaining widespread recognition from around the world and playing a major role in advancing the Nation’s High-Speed Rail system.
Hong Kong commuters who take the railway each morning amount to millions. They may have taken for granted that the railway maintenance staff will always make their journey safe and smooth. However, most do not have any idea that a technology developed by PolyU plays a large part in providing a comfortable journey which takes the commuters to their destinations. The sensors, working in conjunction with fibre-optic cables that run along the rails, provide a large amount of information that rail workers use to keep track on the cars and the tracks. Based on the data offered by the fibre optic sensors, the workers can also determine when repairs are required to keep the system running at the highest efficiency.
Initially, the sensors were installed solely to count the number of trains entering and departing. Vibrations in the rails could shake the sensors to send signals to the monitors. While the sensors performed very well, the researchers realized that the practical usage of the sensors can be broadened.
Recently, the efforts of PolyU’s development team have been recognized by different international organizations. The Berthold Leibinger Stiftung, an organization based in Germany that strives to promote science research, awards its Innovationspreis every other year to researchers making advances in the use of lasers. In 2014, Dr Michael Liu Shun-yee, Prof. Tam Hwa-yaw and Prof. Ho Siu-lau from the Photonics Research Centre and the Department of Electrical Engineering were named second runners up for adapting Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) technology to railway monitoring systems.
Millions of Hong Kong commuters who take the railway each morning have taken for granted that the railway maintenance staff will make their journey smooth. Most have no idea that a technology developed at PolyU plays a large part in providing a comfortable journey to their destination. The specially designed sensors, working in conjunction with fibre-optic cables that run along the rails, provide a considerable amount of information that rail workers use to track the cars and tracks, and to determine when repairs are needed to keep the system running at peak efficiency.
Recently, the efforts of PolyU’s development team were recognized by the Berthold Leibinger Stiftung, an organization based in Germany that aims to promote science research. The organization awards its Innovationspreis every other year to researchers who have made advances in the use of lasers. This year, Dr Michael Liu Shun-yee, Prof. Tam Hwa-yaw and Prof. Ho Siu-lau from the Photonics Research Centre and the Department of Electrical Engineering were named second runners up for adapting Fibre Bragg Grating (FBG) technology to railway monitoring systems.
