News

BSE’s Associate Professor honoured IFMA Educator Award on 5 October 2018

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is proud to announce that Dr. Joseph Lai, Associate Professor and Programme Leader of Master of Science in Facility Management, has been honoured the Educator Award of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA).   Conferred by the IFMA in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States on 5 October 2018, the Educator Award recognizes excellence in developing curriculum and instructing students in subjects related to facility management at a college, university or institute. According to the Award’s criteria, the recipient has gained prominence in his or her field through activities such as writing and publishing papers, making presentations to professional organizations,mentoring, IFMA student chapter involvement and overall teaching quality.   Founded in 1980, IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for facility management professionals, supporting 24,000 members in more than 100 countries.   Congratulations to Dr. Lai for his achievement and hope Dr. Lai keeps shining in the discipline.  

BSE Assistant Professor Wins the Inaugural Publons ECR Reviewers’ Choice Award

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is proud to announce that, among the over 600 nominees from countries around the world, Dr Huang Xinyan, Assistant Professor of BSE, has been awarded the inaugural Publons ECR (Early Career Researchers) Reviewers’ Choice Award in recognition of his tremendous efforts and exceptional contribution to scholarly peer review of research papers in maintaining scientific quality. Dr Huang is recognized for being an “active, careful, enthusiastic, constructive, and responsible reviewer”.   Dr Huang has won Publons Peer Review Awards for his field in the past two years, as well as Springer's Jack Watts award in 2015 for the quality, depth, number, and timeliness of his reviews. He was also recognized for the Outstanding Contribution in Reviewing by eight different Elsevier Journals.   Professor You-Lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment said, “Dr Huang has demonstrated untiring commitment to peer review that helps uphold the academic credibility of a journal. We are proud of his contributions to the academic research field.”   Dr Huang is deeply honoured to receive the international award. “Peer review is an excellent learning experience as well as a valuable self-reflective process that helps enhance my writing skill for preparing research papers. I am very happy to be able to contribute to the scientific community,” he said.   Dr Huang is a Combustion Scientist and a Fire Protection Engineer. He received his PhD (2016) from Imperial College London and joined PolyU in 2017. He has served as a reviewer for 33 journals and made 185 pre-publication reviews so far.   ECR Reviewers’ Choice Award celebrates early-career researchers’ exceptional advocacy, innovation, or contributions to scholarly peer review, organised by Publons which is a global network of peer reviewers and part of Clarivate Analytics. This is the first year Publons runs the peer-nominated and voted Award, which is designed to recognise an individual who has been influential in the realm of peer review, or has significantly contributed to improving the system. The newly established award is part of Publons’ global Peer Review Awards, the only cross-publisher Awards that endorse the efforts of peer reviewers worldwide. The other five finalists competing for the Award comes from University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University of Texas in Austin, Brno University of Technology and Eindhoven University of Technology. For further information on the Award, please browse: https://publons.com/community/awards/ecr-reviewers-choice-award.   Congratulations to Dr Huang for his achievement and hope Dr Huang keeps shining in the Building Services Engineering discipline.

Welcome Message from the Head of Department

I am delighted to welcome all students joining us at the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) for the new academic year 2018/19. My special welcome and congratulations to all new students to the programmes offered by BSE, I am very grateful that you have chosen to study with us. Having joined the University in August 2016, I have been very impressed with the hard work and dedication of all BSE staff in helping you achieve your academic goals and to enable you to join this exciting profession in various capacities (or seek higher qualifications if you so choose). My staff and I will continue to ensure a high quality of service in teaching, learning and other support to all our students, however I would also like to emphasise that your own efforts will have the greatest impact in how much you benefit from the services provided by BSE staff. So please ensure that you dedicate sufficient time and effort to your studies and aim to excel in the subjects you choose while also maintaining a good work and life balance so you also enjoy the excellent student facilities and activities on offer at PolyU. Recently re-articulated, the BSE mission is “to imagine, engineer and promote sustainable, salutogenic and safe environments for human habitation”. I believe that as our students you are our most important contribution to society and will become enthusiastic agents in spreading our vision of a safer, healthier and more sustainable urban environment and help us fulfill this mission in whichever part of the world you choose to work in. I trust that all of you, like me, are ready for the new challenges and opportunities this new academic year will bring. As a new or returning student in BSE, you may have questions or need further information about your studies or other academic or personal matters. Please feel free to contact the BSE General Office (Room ZS867, 8/F, Block Z) during opening hours from 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays in person or by phone (2766-5847) or by email (beenquiry@polyu.edu.hk). We are here to help you. I wish you all a very positive and productive academic year ahead and look forward to getting acquainted with you over the course of the year.   Best regards, Professor Asif Sohail Usmani Head of Department Department of Building Services Engineering  

The 10th International Conference on Applied Energy Chaired by BSE Professors

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) was pleased to report that The 10th International Conference on Applied Energy (ICAE2018) was held successfully from 22 to 25 August 2018 at PolyU. Attracting about 1100 academics and professionals from around 50 countries, the theme of ICAE2018was “Innovative Solutions for Energy Transitions”.   Prof. You-Lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), delivered an opening speech at the plenary session, which was followed by a short talk from Prof. Jinyue Yan, the editor-in-chief of Applied Energy, a top journal in energy engineering.   Chaired by Prof. Hongxing Yang of BSE, the conference featured 4 keynote speakers,including Prof. Geoffrey Hammond of the University of Bath with a speech on Challenges,Insights and Opportunities along the Energy Transition Pathways Towards a Low Carbon Future, Prof. Shengwei Wang of BSE with a speech on Optimal Design and Control for Energy-efficient Buildings and Grid Responsive Buildings, Prof. Paitoon Tontiwachwuthikul of the University of Regina in Canada with a speech on Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage(CCUS) for Energy Security and Environmental Protection in A Carbon Constrained World:Recent Developments and Future Opportunities, and Dr Yongping Zhai of the Asian Development Bank with a speech on Achieving Universal Clean Energy Access through Innovative Technologies and Solutions — Asian Development Bank’s Role and Approaches.   In addition, there were 169 sessions including oral presentations and poster sessions on different topics such as clean energy conversion technologies, energy management, policy, economics and sustainability, energy sciences, energy storage, intelligent energy systems, mitigation technologies, renewable energy, and geothermal energy.   Chaired by Prof. Vivien Lu and Dr Linda Xiao of BSE, a conference banquet was organized. Prof. Asif Usmani, the head of BSE introduced the development of BSE to the delegates.   Best performance awards were given to Dr Chen Xi (Chief Secretary of the conference) and the helpers lead by him.   Two site visits were arranged after the conference, one to a solar farm at the Siu Ho Wan Sewage Treatment Works, the other to an international low carbon city in Shenzhen and an eco-technology park in Shenzhen Bay.   Supported by FCE and BSE, the conference was also sponsored by the Future Energy Center of Malardalen University in Sweden, Applied Energy Innovation Institute, Solar Energy Society of Hong Kong and Elsevier.   BSE would like to congratulate the success of the conference. We look forward to seeing the participants in BSE activities in the near future.  

Paper by BSE PhD Student Wins at International Conference

Mr Maomao HU, a PhD student in the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) supervised by Dr Linda XIAO, has won the 1st place and US$1,000 in a Student Paper Competition at the 5th International High Performance Buildings Conference held in Purdue University, USA, from 9 to 12 July 2018. Mr HU’s paper was entitled “Model Predictive Control of Inverter Air Conditioners Responding to Real-Time Electricity Prices in Smart Grids.”   Held every two years, this international conference provides an opportunity for researchers and practitioners from all over the world to discuss current engineering advances, problems and solutions for high performance building technology.  

MEng graduate from BSE Department won the second prize in the Chinese National College Student Competition for the Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Industry (South China region)

Organized by The Chinese Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry Association (CRAA) and the South China University of Science and Technology, the 12th Chinese National College Student Competition for the Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Industry (South China region) was successfully held in Guangzhou, from 26 to 27 June 2018. The 2018 national competition attracted over four thousands of students majoring in HVAC engineering, building service engineering and energy application engineering from more than 110 colleges and universities nation-wide.   The theme of this competition was ‘Air conditioning and Refrigeration Technology that creates beautiful life’, aiming at encouraging competitors to make great contribution to improved life quality through innovative refrigeration and air conditioning technology.  

BSE STUDENT STUDY TOUR 2018 SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

A meaningful education goes far beyond learning in the classroom. In order to widen students’ horizon and global perspective, the Department of Building Services Engineering had organized a study tour to Seoul in South Korea which is well known for its cutting edge technology as well as its smart and sustainable building design. Totally 53 students from the BEng programme joined the 7-day study tour which started off on 15 May 2018. Together with five academic/research staff, our students visited Yonsei University, which is one of three most prestigious universities in the country. They also had academic visits to notable green buildings like POSCO Green Building and Seoul Energy Dream Center, and revitalization development like the Seoullo 7017 and Seonyudo Park. All students had a good time in this meaningful and fruitful trip. As the old saying goes, there is no education quite like the lessons of travel.

The HKIE Gold Medal 2018 To Ir Professor W.K. Chow, JP

Professor W.K. Chow, JP, Chair Professor of Architectural Science and Fire Engineering, andDirector of Research Centre for Fire Engineering, Department of Building ServicesEngineering was awarded the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Gold Medal 2018,presented to him at the HKIE Annual Dinner on 16 March 2018.

The HKIE Safety Specialist Committee Students Project Competition 2017

The Department of Building Services Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is pleased to announce that one of our PhD students has been awarded in the HKIE-SSC Students Project Competition 2017, which is organized by Safety Specialist Committee (SSC) of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE).   Dr. Ku Chung Yee won the Champion (CIC Award) in the Doctorate Degree Group with his project “A Study on Fire Hazard and Smoke Control in Large Railway Interchange Stations”.   Both Dr. Ku and his project supervisor, Professor W.K. Chow were invited to the Annual Dinner cum Award Presentation of the HKIE/SSC - Students Project Competition 2017 held on 12 January 2018 at YMCA, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

BSE Professor Honoured for High Research Impact

The  Department  of  Building  Services  Engineering  (BSE)  of  The  Hong  Kong  Polytechnic University (PolyU)  is pleased to announce that Prof. YANG Hongxing was named “Highly Cited Researchers 2017” by Clarivate Analytics.   The list  recognised leading researchers in sciences  and  social  sciences  whose  academic  papers  indexed  in  the  Web  of  Science  Core Collection were ranked among the top 1% in terms of the total number  of citations in their subject fields between 2005 and 2015.  He is one of the four staff members from PolyU on the list in this year as shown at PolyU’s web site:   https://www.polyu.edu.hk/cpa/excel/en/201712/achievements/a3/index.html.   Prof. YANG is now leading the Renewable Energy Research Group (RERG) in the Department. His research interests cover a number of R&D topics in renewable energy applications and energy  saving  in  buildings  including  solar  cell  materials,  solar  photovoltaic  integration  in buildings, wind power, hybrid solar-wind power, solar cooling and ground-coupled heat pump technologies.  He has completed a number of research projects in recent years for local industry and  government  and  he  has  received  awards  from  local  and  world  organizations.    He  has supervised 28 PhD students and 21 of them have graduated.  He has over 300 academic papers and 6 professional books published  including  more than 160 SCI  journal papers published. According to the ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2016, he is on the list  of 150  world  most-cited  researchers  with  impactful research  in  the  disciplines  of Civil Engineering.  He is serving the International Journal of Applied Energy as an Associate Editor and other international journals as editorial board member.   The Department would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Prof. YANG on this excellent achievement.