Issue 11 - June 2011

Table of Contents

• CSE Professors working for blue skies across Asia
• Research Project of BRE assesses revitalization impact
• CSE Professor delivered a prestigious lecture in Nanjing
• Ir Professor Ko Jan-ming recipient of 2011 HKIE Gold Medal after making it to Hall of Fame
• FCLU Dean's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding 2011
• Dean's Award for Outstanding Publication Achievement 2011
• Alumnus donation to benefit needy FCLU students
• The 14th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering at PolyU
• CSE Professor takes Silver Medal for Eco-invention
• BRE academic top reviewer of energy journal
• CIB Sebestyen Future Leaders Award 2011
• BRE Student Won Best Paper Award at International Surveying Conference
• FCLU to host recipients of Hong Kong PhD Fellowship
• IRE graduates live up to RICS' standards
• BRE awards instructor for outstanding teaching
• BRE commended for Outstanding Achievement in Academic Programme Development (2010/11)
• Former Head of LSGI becomes Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences in UK
• LSGI student wins Swire Polytechnic Scholarship 2010/2011
• New Academic Staff
• FCLU Public Lectures
• Invitation for Programme Admission 2011/12
• Forthcoming Events
  

On the afternoons of 30 May and 8 June 2011, more than 40 staff and students of PolyU visited the former north Kowloon magistracy building at 292 Tai Po Road in Sham Shui Po. Organized by the Department of Building and Real Estate, this was part of a public policy research project headed by Prof. Albert CHAN of BRE to assess the social, economic, cultural, and heritage impacts of a plan to revitalize historic buildings through a partnership scheme. The building is now the Hong Kong base of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), a private American college that has revitalized the historic facility into a place for the study of digital media in Asia. New features in the building include a library and art gallery, computer labs and digital studios, classrooms and lecture halls.

Following the visit, PolyU staff and students had a chance to voice their opinions on the effectiveness of the revitalization partnership scheme in focus group discussions. Although SCAD did a fantastic job of preserving the facility, some skeptics were unconvinced about the success of the original plan to turn the historic structure into a local cultural landmark, since SCAD has an image of primarily serving foreign students and those from privileged backgrounds who can afford its high tuition cost.

On 9 April 2011, Ir Prof. YIN Jian-Hua of the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering was honoured to be the first academic from Hong Kong to give the “Huang Wen-Xi Lecture” in Nanjing. The “Huang Wen-Xi Lecture” is named after an outstanding geotechnical engineer and an exemplary scholar, Professor Huang Wen-Xi, who was born in 1909 in Shanghai and graduated with a PhD in the 1930s from the University of Michigan before returning to work at Tsinghua University. In addition to publishing numerous books on geotechnical engineering, he also established the Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, which has published Prof.’s YIN paper “From constitutive modeling to development of laboratory testing and optical fiber sensor monitoring technologies” in its first issue this year.

The “Huang Wen-Xi Lecture” series has been likened to the “Terzaghi Lecture” in the US and the “Rankine Lecture” in the UK, both top-ranking lectures in the field of geotechnical engineering. Started in 1998, it is now up to its 14th lecture, which was given by Prof. YIN. Previous lecturers have been academicians and distinguished scholars in Mainland China and two of them were Chinese scholars in the US. Congratulations to Prof. YIN for joining these illustrious predecessors after a rigorous selection process by the 80-strong editorial board of the Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering.

At the 36th Annual Dinner of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) on 15 March 2011, Ir Prof. KO Jan-ming was honoured with the HKIE Gold Medal, a tribute to his outstanding contributions to the engineering profession. Currently an Emeritus Professor of Structural Engineering at PolyU, where he had a distinguished academic career for more than three decades, he also made a lasting impact in the construction industry with his development of an award-winning Mega-Structure Diagnostic and Prognostic System, now an indispensable tool for structural health monitoring. He is influential in numerous professional organizations, including the Institution of Structural Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, and the Construction Industry Council. His association with HKIE has been long and productive. From 2001 to 2007, he was the Chairman of its Accreditation Board, where he actively promoted the international recognition of engineering qualifications. An ardent supporter of engineering education, his legacy of quality standards will live on in the profession as well as the built environment. Congratulations to Ir Prof. KO for winning a well deserved Gold Medal from the HKIE, which also organized a Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre last December to honour outstanding members.

Not surprisingly, Ir Prof. KO also made the cut to the Hall of Fame with his impressive accomplishments and exemplary contributions to HKIE, the engineering profession, and the community as a whole. Along with 22 other honourees, he was presented with an engraved plaque and a certificate at HKIE’s 35th Anniversary Reception on 2 December 2010. Marking the 35th year of establishment of the HKIE ordinance, the jubilant occasion was attended by more than 300 people, including the Chief Executive of the HKSAR, the Honourable Donald TSANG, and the Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Land Use (FCLU) at PolyU, Ir Prof. TENG Jin-Guang. To coincide with it, a special book documenting the achievements of the inductees was also published. It is hoped that the publication of the success stories of the Hall of Famers will attract new blood to the engineering profession, which has been a great source of fulfilment for Ir Prof. KO.

Dr CHEN Mingli of the Department of Building Services Engineering has been selected to receive the Dean's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding 2011 based on his success in securing external competitive research funding in the last three years (2008-2011). His 3 research grants all came from the Research Grants Council General Research Fund, which have supported the following projects: 1. GRF no.: PolyU 5129/08E   Title:       New technique for locating lightning based on single-station observation   Funding: HK$0.4M for 2 years starting from 1 Jan 2009 Ground-based lightning detection and location technique has played a critical role in minimizing the adverse effects of lightning. Most commercially available systems, however, requires at least three observation stations separated by several ten to hundred kilometres to work together, making the overall system cost high. This project aims to develop a new technique capable of locating lightning based on single-station observation.  This new technique will be low-cost with a high flexibility for utilization. In particular, it will be very useful for hazard prevention in the private sector and in airports, power systems, and the storage of flammable goods.

Dr Chen Mingli

Most lightning locating systems are utilizing either the magnetic direction-finding (DF) or time-of-arrival (TOA) technologies. A problem is that the DF is susceptible to inherent azimuth errors, also known as site errors. The existing approach to this issue, however, has obvious defects in that the site errors at a DF station are assumed to be a systematic function of direction but are time invariant. Furthermore, the existing approach, which needs to analyze historical data from a network of at least three DFs, doesn’t work for a stand-alone DF anymore.    

This project aims to develop a new algorithm that can be incorporated into the DF system to identify and correct site errors in real-time for individual lightning strokes. In particular, this new algorithm can be used in a single-site lightning locating system that usually combines a DF with a technique to estimate the distance of the source.

One important performance characteristic of the Lightning Location Network (LLN) is its detection efficiency (DE), which is essential for the use of lightning data, especially for drawing lightning density maps. Most existing approaches for DE estimation of a LLN are based on comparisons between the lightning data detected by the LLN and those recorded by video systems, which can only give an approximation of the average DE of the LLN within limited areas for limited time periods.

This study aims to develop a new statistical approach for estimating the DE of a LLN by using the large amount of lightning data reported by the LLN itself. In particular, this new approach can provide the spatial distribution of the DE of individual sensors in a LLN and therefore the DE profile of the whole LLN. It may also be implemented and repeated any number of times for various sets of historical data when necessary. The DE estimated from a set of data, in turn, can be used to correct that set of data for more accurate maps of lightning density, thus increasing the protection from lightning.

The Dean's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding comes with a cash prize of HK$15,000 and a research grant of HK$200,000. The award certificate will be presented to Dr CHEN at the 2011 Faculty Congregation and Prize Presentation Ceremony in November. Keep up the good work, Dr CHEN!

Two professors from the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering have been selected for their outstanding achievement in publication this year. Prof. LEE Shuncheng was recognized for his overall performance in citation in the past 10 calendar years, while Prof. LI Xiangdong was rewarded for a highly-cited paper published in March 2005. Its title was "Enhanced Phytoextraction of CU, PB, ZN and CD with EDTA and EDDS.”

The selection of both professors in their respective categories was based on the data from Essential Science Indicators, which track research performance and rank papers/ authors according to the number of citations they receive. Each individual award includes a cash prize of HK$15,000. Award certificates signed by the Dean of FCLU, Prof. J.G. TENG, will be presented at the Faculty Congregation and Prize Presentation Ceremony later this year.

One of PolyU’s outstanding alumni for 2011, Ir TSUI Tack-kong, has donated HK$600,000 to set up a bursary for local full-time degree and sub-degree students from the Faculty of Construction and Land Use. Bursaries of HK$50,000 to HK$100,000 per year will be disbursed beginning in the 2011/12 academic year until the entire donation has been used up. They will mainly be awarded based on financial need, but students also need to have a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or above at the time of application. The Student Affairs Office will assist in the administration of the awards, which shall be known as the Ir TSUI Tack-kong Bursaries. Many thanks to Ir TSUI for a most worthy cause.

From 23 to 27 May 2011, the campus of PolyU was buzzing with conference participants to the 14th Asian Regional Conference (ARC) on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Jointly organized by the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering and the Hong Kong Geotechnical Society (HKGES), this ARC attracted some 630 participants from many countries and published more than 420 papers, setting a new record for this conference series. 

At the opening ceremony in the Jockey Club Auditorium, a one-minute silence for the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan was observed before a traditional lion dance was performed. Welcoming speeches were delivered by Prof. Alexander WAI, Vice President of Research & Development (VPRD) at PolyU, Ir Albert HO, President of HKGES and Co-chair of the Local Organizing Committee, as well as Prof. Jean-Louis BRIAUD, President of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). A speech on geotechnical works in Hong Kong was also given by Mrs. LAM Cheng Yuet Ngor, Secretary for Development of the HKSAR Government. In attendance were Professor J.M. KO, former VPRD of PolyU, Professor J.G. TENG, Dean of FCLU, and Professor Y.L. XU, Head of CSE.

Following the opening ceremony was the 75th Anniversary celebration of ISSMGE. Dr Za-Chieh MOH, former President of ISSMGE in Asia, Prof. Askar ZHUSSUPBEKOV, Vice President for ISSMGE in Asia, and Dr N.H. PRIYANKARA, a young representative from Sri Lanka, gave speeches on the past, present, and future of ISSMGE as well as the development of soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering respectively.

Held for the first time in Hong Kong and covering a range of topics related to soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, the conference established its pertinence to today’s troubled times by having 8 keynote lectures and 1 technical report on the calamitous events in Japan a few months ago. Addressing the challenges and solutions in the field of geotechnical engineering, the theme of the conference was especially timely. Professor J.H. YIN of CSE was a Co-Chair of the Local Organizing Committee from PolyU.  A team of 66 volunteers consisting of final year students, research students, assistants and staff of CSE provided much-needed and well-received logistic support for the conference. Thanks to everyone who made this conference a success.

At the 39th International Exhibition of Inventions held in Geneva from 6-10 April 2011, Prof. CHUA Hong of the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering was rewarded with a silver medal for his novel activated sludge eco-bricks manufacturing technology, which turns daily activated sludge from waste water plant into environmentally-friendly bricks that can be used for construction, reducing pollution in the process. Developed for about 5 years in collaboration with WAI KEE Company Limited (a HK Listed Company), the technology addresses the limitations of existing Eco-bricks currently available in the market.

The conventional treatment of excessive sludge requires high capital and operation cost. It also produces secondary pollution during landfill or incineration. In contrast, the advanced manufacturing technology of bricks not only reduces municipal waste, but also provides a cost- and energy-efficient method for making construction materials. The production process can reduce the amount of clay being used in conventional brick manufacturing as well as the coal consumption in brick manufacturing because of high sludge combustion. The heavy metal locked in the bricks also helps to kill the noxious bacteria.

Congratulations to Prof. CHUA and his team!

Dr Meng NI, an assistant professor in the Department of Building and Real Estate, has been acknowledged by the publisher, Clare LEHANE, and editor-in-chief, YAN Jinyue, of Applied Energy as their top reviewer in 2010. His exceptional reviews of papers for the journal have helped to maintain its quality.  Applied Energy (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03062619) is a prestigious journal in the area of energy conversion and conservation, the optimal use of energy resources, analysis and optimization of energy processes, mitigation of environmental pollutants, and sustainable energy systems.  It’s listed in the Science Citation Index and its impact factor is 2.2.

For the 2011/12 academic year, each department of the Faculty will be hosting at least one PhD student who has been awarded a Hong Kong PhD Fellowship by the Research Grants Council. This is the second year in a row that FCLU has managed to attract 5 students supported by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship, which is competitive and only given to the best and brightest minds.

In addition to having their tuition fees waived, Fellowship winners will receive a monthly stipend of HK$20,000 (approximately US$2,600) and a conference/research related travel allowance of HK$10,000 (approximately US$1,300) per year for a period of three years. Students are chosen based on their academic excellence, research ability and potential, communication and interpersonal skills, as well as their leadership abilities. Below are the names of the students and their supervisors.

In April 2011, 12 graduates of the MSc in International Real Estate (IRE), a programme offered by the Department of Building & Real Estate (BRE) at PolyU’s Hangzhou Teaching Outpost, passed the hour-long panel interview for membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), a professional organization that is known for setting the highest standards of competence among its members.

According to Hebe HOW, Lecturer in the BRE Department, IRE students usually take a 2-day training workshop given by a senior RICS member at the Outpost to prepare for the interview. They can achieve RICS membership through one of two routes. If they have more than 10 years of related work experience, they can choose the Senior Professional route. If their work experience is less than 10 years, they can go on what is known as the Graduate 3 route, where they would be asked only technical questions. Students also need to submit written reports of their projects before the interview.

This is the second cohort of IRE graduates that has passed the gruelling interview. Congratulations for passing it!

Dr M. Jayantha WADU has been selected for a 2010/11 departmental award for outstanding teaching. He has been teaching a range of subjects at the Department of Building & Real Estate since February 2008, including Urban and Construction Economics, Engineering Economics, Economics for Construction and Real Estate, Housing Studies and Measurement, Documentation and Estimating. His teaching philosophy is primarily based on the saying: “Tell me and I’ll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

Thus, his aim is mainly to get students actively participating in class. To achieve this goal, he uses a variety of methods to motivate and maintain students’ interest in the lesson. Particularly in tutorials, he encourages students to become self-motivated independent learners by giving frequent, early, positive feedback that supports students' beliefs that they can do well. By creating an atmosphere that is open and positive, he empowers students to be valued members of a learning community.

The Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) has received a Departmental Award for its development of the MSc/PgD in Construction and Real Estate 建築及房地產學理學碩士學位/深造文憑. Led by Dr Daniel W.M. CHAN, Associate Professor of BRE, the programme management team also included Dr Linda FAN, Dr Ann YU, Dr Stanley YEUNG, and Mrs Gracie IP.

This self-financed taught postgraduate programme is designed to provide a learning opportunity for practicing architects, engineers, surveyors, project managers, property managers, town planners, and other real estate professionals to broaden and deepen their knowledge of the construction and real estate sectors. At least 16 cohorts have been recruited since the first intake in September 1995, with an average of 50 students admitted annually.

The programme has made significant achievements in the following four areas in the three consecutive academic years immediately before the year of award, i.e. 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10.

1. Initiation and/or management of the development of an academic programme
2. Successful development of new subjects or enhancement of subjects that help to enhance an academic programme
3. Pro-active promotion of academic programmes to potential students
4. Successful implementation/development of innovative approaches to teaching and learning

The strength of this programme has secured a brand name for itself in the higher education market. It has attracted quality students and produced several batches of prominent graduates. For the September 2011 intake, a record 343 applications were received, with 144 for full-time study and 199 for part-time, indicating its high recognition and wide popularity amongst prospective applicants, especially those from Mainland China.

In recognition of their outstanding achievements, members of the winning team will each receive a certificate signed by the Head of BRE, Prof. Geoffrey Q.P. SHEN, and a trophy. Congratulations to the winning team for their continued success.

Professor Allan BRIMICOMBE, formerly the founding Head of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-informatics (LSGI) at PolyU, has been conferred the award of Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences in the U.K., for his contribution to Social Sciences.

"The Academy is delighted to confer the award of Academician on Allan. By background he is a quantitative geographer, but has applied his techniques in a cross-disciplinary manner and has got practitioners at home and abroad to adopt them. His contributions in Hong Kong and on the Olympics stand out particularly. It is good to be able to recognise the application of technical knowledge more broadly in social science contexts."

In 1989, Professor Allan BRIMICOMBE joined the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he pioneered the use of geo-information systems (GIS) and environmental modelling as spatial decision support systems. He returned to the UK as Professor and Head of the School of Surveying at the University of East London in 1995 and formed the Centre for Geo-Information Studies in 2001.

Congratulations Professor BRIMICOMBE!

Ms NG Wan Yin, a first-year Higher Diploma student of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), was honoured with a Swire Polytechnic Scholarship of HK$31,575.00 that was sponsored by the John Swire & Sons (HK) Ltd., which gives out the scholarship annually to a UGC-funded first-year Higher Diploma student who excels in academic results and personal achievement in the first semester of study.

Ms NG Wan Yin was a top student in LSGI and earned the highest GPA in the first semester during 2010/2011 academic year. She has a special talent for mathematics, which she has demonstrated in her course work. NG Wan Yin said, “As a student of science, I have a great exposure to Mathematics, which has become my favourite subject and also my strength. In the process of calculation, I can learn much since a mathematical question can be very challenging and also can train up my logic.”  The scholarship is a testimony of her academic achievements, leadership potential and personal qualities.

Congratulations Wan Yin!

The Faculty of Construction and Land Use was honoured to have the following speakers giving public lectures at PolyU:

Professor James A. CLAPP, Emeritus Professor of Planning and Urban Affairs at San Diego State University, was speaker at a public lecture on “The Sustainability of Shangri-La.” (1 April 2011) Professor James A. CLAPP

Dr Irtishad AHMAD, Professor and Chairperson, Department of Construction Management, Florida International University, gave a public lecture titled “ICT-induced Integration and Globalization in Construction.” (4 April 2011) Dr Irtishad AHMAD

Dr Chunan TANG, Chair Professor and Director, Center for Rock Instability and Seismisity Research (CRISR), Dalian University of Technology, gave a public lecture on “Rock Failure Process Analysis – Modeling and Monitoring.” (20 April 2011) Dr Chunan TANG

Professor Zi-Feng MA, Department of Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, was speaker at a public lecture on “Opportunity and Challenge of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology in China.” (21 April 2011) Professor Zi-Feng MA

Third International Postgraduate Conference on Infrastructure and Environment (IPCIE 2011)
Date: 11-12 July 2011
Venue: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Enquiries
Tel: 2766 5029
Email: clipc@inet.polyu.edu.hk
Website: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fclu/ipc2011/


The 5th Cross-strait Conference on Structural and Geotechnical Engineering
Date: 13 to 15 July, 2011
Venue: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Enquiries
Tel: 3400 3895
Email: clsge5@inet.polyu.edu.hk
Website: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fclu/SGE5/index.html

The 7th Annual Seminar on Spatial Information Science and Technology (ASSIST'11)
Date: 30 September 2011 (Friday)
Time: 9:00 am (registration starts) to 5:30pm
Venue: M1603 - Senate Room, Li Ka Shing Tower, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Enquiries
Tel: +852 2766 4350
Email:  lsviolet@inet.polyu.edu.hk
Details: http://www.lsgi.polyu.edu.hk/Announcement/LSGI_ASSIST2011.pdf

Joint International Symposium on Deformation Monitoring
Date: 2-4 November 2011
Venue: Harbour Grand Hong Kong Hotel
Enquiries
Tel: +852 2766 4350
Email: JISDM.2011@polyu.edu.hk
Website: http://dma.lsgi.polyu.edu.hk/index.html


The 14th Asia Pacific Vibration Conference (APVC)
Date: 5-8 December 2011
Venue: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Website: http://www.cse.polyu.edu.hk/apvc2011/

The APVC is an international refereed conference held once every two years to present and publish the research and development activities related to aspects of dynamic control, sound and vibration, condition monitoring, damping, responses to earthquake ground motions as well as other aspects of dynamic responses for both mechanical and structural engineering systems.

Copyright © 2011 Faculty of Construction and Land Use, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. All rights reserved.