News

CEE Alumni Appointed as Chair in Structural Engineering at The University of Edinburgh, UK

Prof. Dilum Fernando obtained his PhD in PolyU under the supervision of Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President, and the advisory team of Prof. Tao Yu and Prof. Xiao-Ling Zhao. His PhD topic was to investigate the behaviour of FRP-to-steel bonded joints.  After graduation in 2010, Prof. Fernando joined Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), Switzerland as a postdoctoral fellow, and University of Queensland in 2013 as a lecturer. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019 and was appointed as the deputy director of the Centre for Future Timber Structures/Future Timber Hub, the leading timber research centre in Australia. In Jun 2021, Prof. Fernando joined the School of Engineering at The University of Edinburgh as the Chair in Structural Engineering. Prof. Fernando has collaborated with Prof. Teng and Prof. Yu of PolyU CEE for various research projects, which won several national and international awards including BERD-FEUP Prize for World Innovation in Bridge Engineering, Create Magazine’s Australia’s 30 Top Most Innovative Engineers Award, and UQ’s Excellence in Innovation 2019 Award.  Prof. Fernando intends to continue his research and further expand his industry translational research to better serve society. He is also dedicated to developing a world leading educational program to produce Structural Engineers, who are capable of designing structures using advanced materials and technologies to minimize resource consumption and CO2 emissions.  

AGS(HK) Final Year Project Competition 2021

Congratulations to Lam Hiu Ching (BEng (Hons) Civil Engineering, Year 4) for getting the first prize in AGS HK Final Year Project Competition 2021. Her final year project title is “Numerical Analysis on Sinkhole Formation” and the supervisor is Dr Andy Leung.   The shortlisted candidates have outstanding performance in their final year project and obtained grade A in the fields of geotechnical/geological/geophysical/geo-environmental engineering.  Awardees were selected based on the technical content of their research and the clarity and comprehensibility of their presentations. 

PolyU Summer Programme 2021

In the PolyU Summer Programme 2021 on 3 Aug 2021, about 50 participants from different secondary schools joined our interactive workshop – Plastic Bridge Challenge, which involves design, fabrication and testing of a bridge structure.  They were given one hour to build bridge in groups of five with plastic sticks only. Each bridge structure had to support loads successively added until collapsed.  The winning groups were those who produced structures with the highest strength to weight ratio.  

Dr Zhou Chao Appointed as Tsui Tack Kong Young Scholar in Civil Engineering

The Endowed Young Scholars Scheme was launched to support early-career academics and nurture the nascent development of innovative ideas with huge untapped potential. The generous donation from Ir Tsui enables the young distinguished scholars to make greater progress in education and research.  Dr Zhou Chao, Assistant Professor of CEE, was newly appointed as Tsui Tack Kong Young Scholar in Civil Engineering. During the Appreciation Lunch - Tsui Tack Kong Endowed Young Scholar in Civil Engineering held on 29 Jul 2021, Dr Zhou shared his background and introduced more about his research works.

New Joiner - Dr Zhang Shipeng

Dr Shipeng Zhang obtained his BSc (2013) in Civil Engineering from University of Minnesota, MEng (2016) and Ph.D. (2020) in Civil Engineering from McGill University. Prior to joining PolyU, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University from 2020 to 2021. Dr Zhang’s main research interests include development and characterization of sustainable construction materials, waste recycling and management, carbon sequestration in concrete, and concrete durability analysis.   Dr Zhang has joined us on 2 August 2021.  

CEE Departmental Visit Series – Tung Chung Catholic School (2 Jul)

Another visit from Tung Chung Catholic School to CEE was held on 2 July 2021. We have invited our student to share his study experience to his alma mater.   In addition to laboratory visits, several demonstrations were conducted in Fire Engineering Laboratory, such as burning tests, fire tests of building materials and other fire system performance.

CEE Departmental Visit Series – Ma Ko Pan Memorial College (8 July)

A group of 34 students from Ma Ko Pan Memorial College invited CEE on 8 July 2021. To allow enough social distancing, participants were arranged to sit in alternative seats and split into groups to visit our laboratories. 

CEE Departmental Visit Series – NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College (14 July)

Two new workshops, “acoustic window design workshop” and “face mask test”, were arranged for students from NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College on 14 July 2021.   They had some hands-on experience on designing acoustic windows for noise reduction and testing the effectiveness of their face masks.

CEE Departmental Visit Series – SKH Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School (30 Jun)

A group of 20 students from SKH Tsang Shiu Tim Secondary School were invited to visit our department on 30 June 2021.  They enjoyed the “Tower Building Challenge” and visit to Structural Engineering Research Laboratory.

Ir Prof. C.S. Poon Conferred Endowed Professorship in Civil Engineering

Ir Prof. C.S. Poon, Chair Professor of Sustainable Construction Materials and Head of CEE, has recently been appointed as Michael Anson Professor in Civil Engineering under PolyU’s Endowed Professorship Scheme.   Supported by a donation from Able Engineering Co. Ltd., the endowed professorship is a significant recognition bestowed upon the distinguished scholars with outstanding academic and research achievements. The Scheme provides funding and support to help the appointed Professors strive for excellence in their respective disciplines.