Donor
Otto Poon Charitable Foundation
Otto Poon Charitable Foundation was set up in 2017, and funded by Ir Dr Otto Poon, the Founder and Chairman of ATAL Engineering Group to mark the 40th anniversary of the Group.
ATAL Engineering Group is one of the largest Hong Kong-based electrical and mechanical engineering service providers, its diversified business covers environmental, lift and escalator, and ICT solutions. With operations worldwide, the Group is hiring over 2,500 professionals.
Seeking growth through “New technologies, new markets, new business models”, ATAL prides itself on cutting-edge innovation and technology, having its own R&D arms on environment, lifts and escalators, and ICT in conjunction with universities in Hong Kong and the Mainland.
ATAL has a robust training programme and each year, the Group recruits some 40 university graduates and some 20 apprentices from VTC to ensure a continuous stream of well qualified engineers and technicians. Many of them worked their way up the ladder to management positions.
Despite its tremendous success, ATAL does not rest on its laurels. It strives to offer the latest technologies, the best products and the most reliable services to maintain its status as an industry leader and to drive continuous growth and progress.
By establishing the Endowed Professorships, ATAL hopes to foster closer cooperation and ties with PolyU in developing cutting-edge technologies, to give back to society and to benefit people at large.
Ir Dr Otto Poon has a long association with PolyU. He was elected an outstanding PolyU alumnus in 1999 and conferred University Fellowship in 2006 for his distinguished professional achievements and important contributions to society. He is also an ardent supporter of his alma mater and has been giving generous donations to support PolyU development over the years.
Appointee
Professor John Shi
Professor John Shi is currently the Director of Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute of PolyU, Director of PolyU-Shenzhen Technology and Innovation Research Institute (Futian), Chair Professor in Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing, and Director of Joint Research Laboratory on Spatial Information of PolyU and Wuhan University. He is Academician of International Eurasian Academy of Sciences and Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences (UK), Fellow of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and Fellow of Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors. He earned his doctoral degree from University of Osnabrück in Vechta, Germany in 1994., Professor Shi also serves as President of International Society for Urban Informatics and Editor-in-Chief of Urban Informatics journal.
Prof Shi has published more than 270 research articles in journals indexed by Web of Science and 15 books. He is among the worldly top 2% cited researchers according to the standardized citation indicators published by Elsevier BV and scholar in Stanford University. His research covers fields ranging from urban informatics for smart cities, geo-informatic science and remote sensing, and intelligent analytics and quality control for spatial big data, to artificial-intelligence-based object extraction and change detection from satellite imagery, and mobile mapping and 3-D modelling based on LiDAR and remote sensing imagery.
For his outstanding achievements, Professor Shi has reaped numerous accolades including Natural Science Award, China’s highest award for fundamental research, in 2007; Distinguished Scholar Prize by CPGIS, Gold Medal in Geneva Invention Expo, and Smart 50 Awards (US) in 2021; Founder’s Award by International Spatial Accuracy Research Association in 2020；China’s Science and Technology Progress Award in Surveying and Mapping (Grand Award) in 2017; Wang Zhizhuo Award by International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing in 2012; and ESRI Award for Best Scientific Paper in Geo-informatic Science by American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing in 2006.
