News

New joiner - Dr Tong-Chuan CHE

Dr Tong-Chuan Che obtained his Ph.D. degree from PolyU in 2019. During 2019-2021, Dr Che worked as a Research Associate at HKUST. Prior to joining PolyU, Dr Che was a faculty member at Hohai University during 2021-2023. Dr Che's current research interests include fluid mechanics, hydraulic transients, acoustic waves, and inverse problems. Dr Che has joined us on 15 September 2023.  

PolyU CEE Webinar Series: Volatile organic compounds in China: Characteristics, sources and contributions to O3 pollution

Prof. Hai Guo delivered a seminar with the topic of “Volatile organic compounds in China: Characteristics, sources and contributions to O3 pollution” on 20 September 2023. It was co-organized with HKIE Civil Division. Click the link below to view the full version of the webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx5bEWNCd6k   

FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2022/23

Congratulations to two CEE PhD students Dr Zhang Pin, supervised by Prof. Zhen-Yu Yin and Dr Meng Qiuhan, supervised by Prof. Songye Zhu, for receiving the FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2022/23. The awardees were chosen for the significance and innovation of their research, presentation skills and responses to questions from the Working Group of the Faculty Research Committee, as well as their academic performance and publication track records.

School Visit to Chittagong in Bangladesh

CEE has long been offering experience-focused curriculum and opportunities for global exposure and collaborations. The department welcomes students from all over the word to study the comprehensive 4-year programme. In order to reach out to more international students, Dr Alessandro Stocchino, Associate Professor of CEE, represented Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) to visit Presidency International School and Chittagong Grammar School in Chittagong, Bangladesh on 27 August 2023. Dr Stocchino provided valuable insights on FCE undergraduate programmes, the admission information of CEE and the career prospects of civil engineering were delivered to the students. Both Dr Stocchino and the students found the visit enjoyable and fruitful.

CEE Members’ Article Being Published on One Earth

Congratulations to Prof. Hai Guo, Professor of CEE and Ms Beining Zhou, PhD student supervised by Prof. Guo, whose team’s paper titled  “A Synergistic Ozone-climate Control to Address Emerging Ozone Pollution Challenges” have been published on One Earth. One Earth is a prestigious sister journal of Cell which publishes significant original research that seeks to understand and address today’s environmental grand challenges. For original article, please refer to https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590332223003111?via%3Dihub

PolyU CEE Webinar Series: Deployment of an AI-enabled Parking Vacancy Prediction System in Hong Kong

Dr Wei Ma delivered a seminar with the topic of “Deployment of an AI-enabled Parking Vacancy Prediction System in Hong Kong” on 6 September 2023. It was co-organized with HKIE Civil Division.

CEE Students Received 2023 Esri Young Scholars Award

A team from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering took home the first runner up prize in the 2023 ESRI Young Scholars Award (Group Application) organized by ESRI China (Hong Kong) Limited. Led by Prof. Anthony Chen, Associate Head (Teaching) and Professor of CEE, and supported by Dr Wei Ma, Dr Jacqueline Lo, and Dr Yingying Xu, the team, compromising members Tsz Tung Chan, Sau Kiu Tsin, Lok Yiu Ho, and Yat Hei Chan, competed against other teams from different universities in Hong Kong. The competing teams were required to deploy an innovative idea on utilizing the GIS application to solve any existing problems which eventually accelerate the Smart City development in Hong Kong. The project, including the background information, procedures and results of the research topic, and involvement of the ArcGIS applications, are required to be presented in the ArcGIS StoryMap. In this project, the team make use of the ArcGIS application with MTR map as the backbone to create a user-friendly dashboard for tourists on trip planning. This idea is acting in response to the current Hong Kong tourism policy “Hello! Hong Kong”, as well as the National strategy “14th Five-Year Plan”. 2023 ESRI Young Scholars Award launched in 2012 to encourage and recognize university students who can create more innovative GIS applications that lead to a better society and meet the diversified needs of Hong Kong smart city development. More information can be found on https://web.esrichina.hk/ysa/result_announcement.aspx.  

PolyU CEE Webinar Series: Structural Behaviour of Blind-Bolted Connections in Steel-Concrete Composite Building

Prof. Tak-Ming Chan delivered a seminar with the topic of “Structural Behaviour of Blind-Bolted Connections in Steel-Concrete Composite Building” on 16 August 2023. It was co-organized with HKIE Civil Division.

Mini Concrete Canoe Competition 2023

CEE Mini Concrete Canoe Competition 2023 was successfully conducted during 9 - 22 August 2023. Co-organizing with Industrial Centre (IC) of PolyU, the competition is the first of its kind in Hong Kong to provide students with the unique and authentic exposure to build a mini canoe with concrete materials. 30 students (6 groups) from 4 local secondary schools, including China Holiness Church Living Spirit College, Munsang College, SKH Holy Carpenter Secondary School and St. Paul’s Secondary School, participated in a series of trainings and workshops to compete for the championship.   The programme commenced with lectures delivered by Dr Shipeng Zhang, Assistant Professor of CEE, and Dr Alireza Keramat, Research Assistant Professor of CEE, on the knowledge and principles of concrete materials, canoe design and hydraulics. In order to gain the concept of 3D printing technology, students attended the workshop held by IC, in which they had the opportunity to utilize the 3D Printing software to draw, outline, and print out the mould of their unique designs. The students also visited the Research Facilities in IC, including the Building and Construction Workshop and Surface Engineering Workshop, where the latest 3D Printing Equipment and technology were demonstrated.   To allow students to have hands-on experience in creating their own concrete canoe, they were brought to the Concrete Technology Laboratory of CEE to experience the process of concrete mixing, casting and curing. Throughout the activity, students were required to cast the concrete to their designed mould, demould the canoe after a week of drying, polish and design their canoe and present their design concepts to the judges. Students were able to improve their collaboration, communication and project management skills during the programme.   The final competition comprised of the testing of buoyancy (under weight) and stability (under different wave condition) of each canoe in the Hydraulics Laboratory in CEE. The best performed concrete canoe was able to load 500g weight. After considering the performance of the canoe, students’ presentation skills and design innovation, China Holiness Church Living Spirit College (Group 1) won the Championship, while St. Paul Secondary School and China Holiness Church Living Spirit College (Group 2) won the 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner-up respectively. Congratulations to all awardees for their hard work during the whole competition. Hope all the students enjoyed the competition and had a taste of university life. Thank you for all the support from CEE and IC members to make the competition a great success.              

CEE/CSE 50th Anniversary – CEE x CEE RSAA Reunion

To respond to the theme of CEE/CSE 50th Anniversary, WE(Re)CONNECT, “CEE x CEE Research Scholars Alumni Association (CEE RSAA) Reunion” was successfully held on 19 August 2023 (Saturday) in Shenzhen. The event attracted around 240 participants, bringing together CEE academic staff, students, research scholars and alumni from the Mainland China for an occasion filled with knowledge-sharing and networking. We are honoured to have Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU, to address the audience and share the recent development of the University. Prof. Teng expressed his delight at witnessing the reunion and emphasized the significance of strong network bonding between the Department and its alumni. Following the Prof. Teng’s address, the stage was set for four exceptional CEE RSAA members including Prof. Jun Chen, Chairman of CEE RSAA & Professor of Tongji University;  Prof. Honghu Zhu, Professor and Dean of Nanjing University; Dr Jian Gao, Director of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences and Prof. Zhi-Chun Li, Professor of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Each speaker shared their personal journeys, highlighting the challenges they faced and the milestones they achieved. Their valuable experiences and insights left the audience inspired and provided a platform for meaningful discussions. A delightful dinner gathering was arranged afterwards to foster a relaxed atmosphere for reconnecting and networking. The participants enjoyed a scrumptious meal while engaging in further discussions, reminiscing about their time in CEE. The Department expresses its heartfelt gratitude to all attendees for their active participation, valuable contributions, and unwavering support for making the reunion event a resounding success. We look forward to organizing more such events in the future to strengthen the ties between CEE and our esteemed alumni.