News

PolyU CEE Webinar Series: From Micro to Macro: Advanced Multiscale Modeling of Granular Materials

Dr Weijian Liang delivered a seminar with the topic of “From Micro to Macro: Advanced Multiscale Modeling of Granular Materials” on 31 July 2024. It was co-organized with HKIE Civil Division. Find the full version of the webinar in the below link: https://youtu.be/9N6qpzyl_Zk.   

Dr Tony Sze Invited to Speak on RTHK Radio 3 Programme

Dr Tony Sze, Associate Professor of CEE, was invited by RTHK Radio 3 to speak on a news programme “Backchat” on 5 August 2024 (Monday). Transport Department have approved five premium taxi fleet licenses, launching quality personalized door-to-door transport services in a year. Fleet operators are required to provide online booking platform, e-payment options, and install CCTV systems. The discussion address the issues including reputation of local taxi industry, passenger demands, traffic congestion, and governance and competition among ride-hailing service providers in Hong Kong. A revisit can be found at RTHK webpage (from 27:50) and Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/RD5tCqq54zw29hrH/ https://www.rthk.hk/radio/radio3/programme/backchat/episode/968302/autoplay/contentindex/1   

Twenty-Two CEE Projects Secured General Research Fund (GRF) and Early Career Scheme (ECS) 2024/25

We are pleased to share that 22 CEE projects have been awarded a total grant of HK$23.1 million from the Research Grants Council’s General Research Fund (GRF) and Early Career Scheme (ECS) 2024/25. Noteworthily, CEE accounts for 20 projects among 42 funded PolyU projects from GRF under the field of “Civil Engineering, Surveying, Building & Construction”, amounting to HK$21.9 million. The GRF and the ECS are individual research funding schemes under RGC. The GRF aims to supplement universities' own research support for researchers who have achieved or have the potential to achieve excellence while the ECS intends to nurture junior academics and to prepare them for a career in education and research. Kudos to all CEE scholars whose unwavering commitment in research excellence have made this achievement possible. Moving forward, CEE will continue to pursue high-caliber research and bring positive impact to the society. 20 CEE Projects Received General Research Fund (GRF): Project Title Principal Investigator (Alphabetical order of surname) Fund Awarded (HK$) One-Part Alkali-Activation Approach for Resource Recovery from Steel Industry Byproducts for Carbon Neutrality Dr Yazan ALREFAEI 865,385 Bayesian Full-waveform Inversion for Leak Localization in Uncertainty-riddled Water Supply Pipes Dr Tong-chuan CHE 1,134,931 Exponentiated Random Utility Model: From Individual Travel Choices to Network Equilibrium Analysis of Transportation Systems Prof. Anthony CHEN 942,702 Flow Evolution Characteristics, Dynamic Instability Mechanism, and Aerodynamic Load Rebalancing Method for High-speed Maglev Train Operational Safety in Time-varying Wind Environments: From Numerical Modelling to Model Testing Dr Zheng-wei CHEN 1,134,931 Catalytically Reconstructed Covalent Organic Framework Membranes for Water Purification Dr Yi JIANG 1,134,931 How Urbanization Alters Airborne Fungal Communities and Antifungal Resistance as Part of What Humans Breathe Dr Ling JIN 1,005,833 Empowering a Multifunctional Acoustically Driven TENG-based Particulate Capturing System for a Healthy Living Environment Dr S.K. LAI 1,134,931 A Novel Thermal Healing System Based on Nano-Carbon Coating of Aggregate towards More Durable Porous Asphalt Road Surfaces: Mechanism Investigation and Performance Optimization Prof. Zhen LENG 1,134,931 Investigation of Shear Transfer Behaviour of Low-carbon high-performance Materials for Rock-socketed Steel H-piles Dr Andy Y.F. LEUNG 1,134,931 Network-wide Traffic Flow Estimation with Sparse Volume Detectors and Global Open Multi-Source Data: An Integrated Data-driven and Model-based Method on Computational Graphs Dr Wei MA 1,134,931 Application of Embossed Cold-Formed Steel Sections for Remedy to Instability Failure and Reuse Design Dr Sivaganesh SELVARAJ 990,228 Natural and Anthropogenic Influence on the Long-term Morphodynamic Evolution of the Lingdingyang Estuary under Climate Changes Dr Alessandro STOCCHINO 1,134,931 Unveil the Mystery of Coastal Rogue Waves: Spatiotemporal Evolution Mechanisms and Predictions Dr Jing-Hua WANG 1,134,931 Intra- and Inter-graph Learning towards Structural Health Monitoring with Edge Computing Dr Xiaoyou WANG 1,134,931 Multiscale, Multiphysics Modeling of Water Ice-Bearing Lunar Regolith Considering Thermal, Vacuum, and Microgravity Effects Dr Meng-meng WU 1,134,931 From Air to Human Airway: Colonization of Occupationally Acquired Bacteria in the Upper Respiratory Tract of Workers in Wastewater Treatment Plants Dr Jia-wen XIE 1,134,931 Multiscale Multiphysics Study of Scour-induced Bearing Capacity Degradation of Suction Anchor Foundation in Sandy Seabed Prof. Zhen-Yu YIN 1,134,931 Hybrid FRP Tube-Confined Prestressed Wind Turbine Towers Prof. Tao YU 1,134,931 Behaviour and Design of High-strength U-rib-stiffened Orthotropic Steel Decks under Fatigue Loading Prof. Xiao Lin ZHAO 1,134,931 Novel Latched Tuned Mass Dampers for Vibration Control of Flexible Structures with Ultra-low Frequencies Prof. Songye ZHU 1,134,931   2 CEE Projects Supported by Early Career Scheme (ECS): Project Title Principal Investigator (Alphabetical order of surname) Fund Awarded (HK$) Public Adoption of Charging-as-a-Service for Electric Vehicles in Hong Kong Dr Sung-hoon JANG 476,364 "One Stone Two Birds" - Simultaneous Removal of Nitrogen and Dissolved Methane towards Sustainable Wastewater Management Dr Tao LIU 667,989  

CEE Departmental Visit - Fanling Kau Yan College (22 July)

A group of 21 students from Fanling Kau Yan College visited CEE on 22 July 2024 (Monday). Dr Andy Y. F. Leung, Associate Head of CEE, introduced the admission information and the recent developments of the civil engineering industry to the students.  Students then were divided into groups to compete in the "Tower Challenge: Engineering with Straws, Tape, and Imagination". They were tasked with using paper straws and tape to construct a tower as tall as possible that could also support a pack of 375ml lemon tea for 10 seconds. The best-performing group managed to build a tower reaching a height of 63cm. Besides, they had the opportunity to visit Noise and Safety Laboratory, where they gained more knowledge on noise reduction and environmental safety through experiment and demonstration of laboratory equipment. They all found the visit was interesting and rewarding.

PolyU Ranked 2nd in Best University for Civil Engineering in U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking 2024-2025

We are proud to announce that PolyU celebrates another year of outstanding achievement in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Ranking 2024-2025 for Civil Engineering! PolyU has maintained its prestigious position as the 2nd best for Civil Engineering globally and has secured the top spot in Hong Kong in this discipline. This remarkable success showcases CEE’s unwavering commitment to excellence in research, teaching and innovation, as well as reaffirming our leading position in civil engineering within the region. The 2024-2025 Best Global Universities subject rankings by U.S. News & World Report examines 51 subject areas and evaluates 2,250 universities across 104 countries. The Rankings focus exclusively on institution’s overall academic research and reputations and the 13 ranking indicators include global and regional research reputation, total citations, international collaboration and more. More details can be found at https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/civil-engineering.  Join us in celebrating this incredible achievement and we look forward to the continued success of CEE’s groundbreaking research and the constant pursuit of academic excellence!  

Most Popular Paper Award to Dr Ling Jin’s Collaborative Team

Congratulations to Dr Ling Jin, Assistant Professor of CEE, and his collaborative team for their paper titled “Ecology and Risks of the Global Plastisphere as a Newly Expanding Microbial Habitat” being recognized as the Most Popular (2020-2024) by The Innovation, a prestigious journal under Cell Press (Impact Factor = 33.2) that ranked third among multidisciplinary journal. Dr Changchao Li (second from the left in the photo), the first author of the award-winning paper and a postdoctoral fellow supervised by Dr Ling Jin, received the award on behalf of the team at The Innovation Conference 2024.   The paper provides a global overview of the plastisphere by analyzing samples from freshwater, seawater, and land. The team found that the plastisphere hosts unique microbial communities that are more diverse and structured differently than those in natural habitats. Additionally, the nitrogen cycle is disrupted, especially in freshwater environments, where there is a high presence of bacteria that can release harmful substances like nitrite and nitrous oxide. There is also an increase in harmful microorganisms, including pathogens that affect animals, plants, and humans. The study warns that if plastic emissions continue to rise, the expanding plastisphere could lead to serious global health issues. For original article, please refer to: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2023.100543  

PolyU CEE Webinar Series: Travel Behavior Modeling to Understand Demand for Emerging Mobility Service

Dr Sung-hoon Jang delivered a seminar with the topic of “Travel Behavior Modeling to Understand Demand for Emerging Mobility Services” on 10 July 2024. It was co-organized with HKIE Civil Division. Find the full version of the webinar in the blow link: https://youtu.be/PDYbhgVc_Zk.  

CEE Departmental Visits (3 July)

Evangel College  A group of 18 students from Evangel College visited CEE on 3 July 2024 (Wednesday). They jointly attended the programme talk with students from Stewards MKMCF Ma Ko Pan Memorial College.  Dr Barbara Siu, Scheme Leader of BEng (Hons) Scheme in Civil Engineering and Sustainable Development, introduced the admission information and the recent developments of the civil engineering industry to the students.  After the programme talk, students had the opportunity to visit our Structural Engineering Research Laboratory, where they gained a deeper understanding of the latest technology and research activities in the field of structural engineering through demonstrations of laboratory equipment. They all enjoyed the visit and found it was informative and cultivating. Stewards MKMCF Ma Ko Pan Memorial College A group of 31 students from Stewards MKMCF Ma Ko Pan Memorial College visited CEE on 3 July 2024 (Wednesday). They jointly attended the programme talk with students from Evangel College. Dr Barbara Siu, Scheme Leader of BEng (Hons) Scheme in Civil Engineering and Sustainable Development, introduced the admission information and the recent developments of the civil engineering industry to the students.  Students then had the opportunity to visit our Hydraulics Laboratory and Structural Engineering Research Laboratory, where they get more information on the latest technology and research activities regarding hydraulics and structural engineering through laboratory equipment’s demonstrations. They all found the visit was eye-opening and interesting. In order to gain more hands on experience regarding civil engineering, the students competed in the Tower Challenge: Engineering with Straws, Tape and Imagination where they were required to use their innovation to build a tower with only straws and tape. Out of 6 groups, 4 of them broke our existing tower height record (79cm). The winning team had set a new record by creating an 85cm-high tower.

New Joiner – Dr Jinxia LIU

Prior to joining PolyU as Associate Professor, Dr Jinxia Liu was an Associate Professor at McGill University, Canada, and the Director of Brace Water Center. Dr Liu leads a research program focused on reducing the environmental and health impacts of emerging organic pollutants, particularly poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Her work integrates fundamental and applied studies of PFAS environmental fate and behavior through laboratory experiments and field monitoring, using multidisciplinary approaches in engineering, chemistry, and microbiology. She has collaborated extensively with government agencies and private industries to tackle soil and water pollution issues. Dr Liu has won numerous competitive research grants from Canadian and US funding agencies, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the US National Science Foundation, and the US SERDP program. Her accolades include the NSERC Discovery Accelerator Award, Chwang-Seto Faculty Scholar, and excellent reviewer awards from the American Chemical Society. She serves on the editorial board of Environmental Science and Technology and has acted as a scientific expert for law firms in the US, Canada, and Australia on PFAS-related lawsuits and litigations. Dr Liu has joined us on 15 July 2024.  

PolyU Graduate School Outstanding Research Postgraduate Young Alumni Award 2024

PolyU Graduate School Outstanding Research Postgraduate Alumni Award aims to recognize the achievement of research postgraduate (RPg) alumni and promote the excellence of research postgraduate education at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). We are proud to announce that Prof. Jun Li, a distinguished graduate of CEE, is the recipient of Outstanding Research Postgraduate Young Alumni Award 2024. Prof. Li obtained his PhD degree from CEE in 2012 and is currently a tenured professor and Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow in the School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering at Curtin University, Australia. His research interests mainly include the development and application of emerging computer vision, artificial intelligence and data analytics techniques for structural health monitoring of civil engineering structures. His research outcomes have been applied to operational condition monitoring of a Curtin engineering pavilion building, Matagarup Bridge and Stirling Bridge in Western Australia. Prof. Li was also a recipient of ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (2013) and received several research awards, such as Nishino Prize (2019), Best Review Paper and Best Paper Award of Engineering Structures (2023) and Curtin Mid-Career Research Award (2023).  We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Prof. Li for this well-deserved recognition and we look forward to witnessing his continued dedication to research and innovation, and the impactful contributions his work will have in the academia and industry.  For more details, please visit https://www.polyu.edu.hk/gs/news-and-events/outstanding-rpg-alumni-award-2024/.