In the 2022 Best Global Universities Rankings by US News, PolyU is the fourth best university in Hong Kong and 15^th in Asia. Globally, it has jumped from 170th last year to 124th among the top institutions around the world. Its Civil Engineering subject, which is a major offering of the Faculty of Construction of Environment (FCE), is now ranked number two in the world, one spot ahead of last year’s ranking.

The US News ranks universities based on 13 indicators that measured their academic research performance and their global and regional reputations.

On 26 October 2021, a lecture was held on innovative construction technologies and cross-border project management of two major medical facilities funded by mainland China. Hosted by Prof. Xiangdong Li, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), the lecture was given by Mr Yi Zhang, CEO of China State Construction International Medical Industry Development Corporation, who introduced the Chinese initiatives to help Hong Kong fight the pandemic, namely, the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Centre and a community treatment facility. He shared that modular integrated construction (MiC) was adopted to build the world’s first hospital with negative pressure rooms for isolating patients with infectious diseases like Covid-19. The continuous use of construction technologies also shortened the time it took to build the hospital in North Lantau to only about 4 months. In attendance were a delegation of renowned Chinese architects and engineers as well as PolyU Vice President (Student and International Affairs) Prof. Ben Young, Associate Dean (Partnership) Prof. Linda Xiao, Director of the Mainland Development Office Prof. Haitian Lu, and the four department heads of FCE. An interactive discussion was moderated by Prof. Xiao before the event concluded.

PolyU representatives and the visiting delegates

Participants at the lecture

Eco-shoreline panels

Prof. Chi-Sun Poon, Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), recently received $2,269,000 from the Lantau Conservation Fund (LCF) to enhance marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning along the Lantau eco-shoreline with low-pH sea-sand seawater eco-engineered seawall panels. Novel low-pH eco-friendly concrete mixes prepared with recycled wastes, seawater and sea sand will be locally developed and evaluated. They will incorporate local waste materials (e.g., incineration sewage sludge ash from T-Park and glass powder from recycled glass bottles) and local materials (e.g. sea sand and sea water), and thus promote sustainability. The novel design of the eco-engineered panel will include holes that pass through the panel to provide habitats of marine species, as well as reducing the weight of the panel for better implementation. The biodiversity enhancement of the eco-engineered panel with the best eco-friendly concrete mix will be monitored and evaluated against conventional concrete panels and the original vertical seawall.

Set up to promote the conservation of Lantau, the LCF aims to improve the environmental capacity, conserve the cultural character and enhance the sustainable development of Lantau. 10 research projects in relation to Lantau conservation matters were approved with a total funding of $19,451,600 in 2020-2021.

An info-graphic related to the project

Prof. Daniel Tsang of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) was awarded $8,784,200 from the Green Tech Fund (GTF) for his project entitled “Biochar-enhanced Construction Materials for Sustainable Waste Management and Decarbonisation.” That was the largest funding amount for a single project out of the eight funded projects.

Biochar is widely recognised as a carbon-negative material and a key decarbonisation technology to be deployed for attaining the United Nations’ sustainable development goals in Hong Kong. Innovative designs and science-informed manufacturing technologies for the cutting-edge production of biochar-enhanced construction materials will be developed in this project.

The GTF was established by the HKSAR government in 2020 to support R&D projects in decarbonisation that would help Hong Kong achieve its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. In its first year, over 190 applications were received.

The PolyU booth at InnoCarnival 2021

The InnoCarnival 2021 was held at the Hong Kong Science Park with the theme of “Innovate for a Bright Future” in the last week of October 2021. Organized by the Innovation and Technology Commission, the event aims to show the public that innovation and technology (I&T) is closely linked to people’s daily lives, to inspire the younger generation to pursue knowledge and cultivate an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) towards pursuing a career in the I&T field. Among the exhibitions were two award-winning projects from the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) at the PolyU pavilion:
• Smart City Platform: A Comprehensive System for Spatial Data Infrastructure
• Smart Monitoring System for Urban Tree Management

Prof. Charles Wong, Associate Dean (Teaching), was on hand to explain the showcased projects to visiting dignitaries and the public.

In an effort to nurture future research talents, PolyU has launched the following schemes to attract promising young scholars to the University. Academics in the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) have been supported with funding to engage a postdoc fellow in their research.

PolyU Joint Postdoc Scheme with Non-local Institutions
To enhance the research capacity of PolyU and increase collaboration between the University and non-local institutions, a Joint Postdoc Scheme with Non-local Institutions was recently established. 9 projects jointly proposed by a supervisor from FCE Departments as principal investigator (PI) and a non-local institution supervisor as a co-investigator have been approved to engage a postdoctoral candidate to work on a research project. Following are the details:

PolyU Centrally Funded Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme 2021/22
The PolyU Centrally Funded Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme was recently introduced for current postdoctoral fellows, five of whom have been supported in the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE). Details are as follows:

PolyU Postdoc Matching Fund Scheme 2021/22
Successful academic staff of externally-funded projects will receive matching funding to engage a postdoc fellow to support their research for 2 years.

Dr Yiwei Weng of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) has received $600,000 from the Start-up Fund for New Recruits for a 3-year project to integrate BIM with robotics for introducing steel reinforcement by a team of robots in 3D concrete printing.

The PolyU Undergraduate Info Day was held on 10 October 2021 for the general public to learn about the various programmes of study at the university. Each department of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) gave online and live talks about its programmes and guided tours for visitors who came to the campus. Over 700 people participated in the annual event either online or physically.

Prospective first-year students of 4-year undergraduate programmes will be admitted under a new departmental scheme offered respectively by the four departments of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE). Schemes with more than one 4-year undergraduate programme will give students in their second year a choice of which programme to specialize in, subject to the specific requirements stipulated by the departments concerned, if any. In addition to an existing major, students meeting the stipulated selection criteria can choose a secondary major in “Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis (AIDA)” or “Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IE)”, if it is available.

On 18 October 2021, Prof. Christopher Chao, Vice President of Research and Innovation (VPRI) had an informal meeting with the management of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE). Prof. Xiangdong Li, Dean of FCE, introduced the Faculty, its research achievements and major research directions, including the numerous awards of external competitive funding such as the Theme-based Research Scheme, the Collaborative Research Fund, NSFC etc. totaling more than HK$151 million. In attendance were the three Associate Deans of FCE and the Heads of the four FCE departments. Together, they had a fruitful discussion with the VPRI on the best way forward for FCE .

The senior management of FCE with the VPRI
(seated third from right)

At the meeting

On 28 September 2021, two alumni of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) returned to the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) to talk about their careers at the government’s Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD). The duo were welcomed and introduced to about 50 civil engineering students online by Prof. Jianguo Dai. Ir Samson Lam, deputy project manager of the South Development Office at CEDD, shared with students his on-the-job encounters working for the government, while Mr Anson Fong talked mostly about his path to joining CEDD as a recent graduate.

Another career talk was held on 6 October 2021 with Prof. Linda Xiao, Associate Dean (Partnership), introducing two alumni speakers. Dr Fiona Tsui, Fire Engineering Manager at the MTR Corporation Ltd., and Dr Goman Ho, Director of Innovations at Ove Arup and Partners HK Ltd., shared their respective experiences and gave some tips for career development to about 45 students.