Congratulations to the Recipients of Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU Faculty of Construction and Environment 2022

FCE is delighted to present the “Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU Faculty of Construction and Environment 2022” to four distinguished alumni in recognition of their professional, entrepreneurial, and scholarly achievements and significant contributions to the University and the community at large. Marking the 85th Anniversary of PolyU this year, special recognition for outstanding young alumni is added.

The award recipients of FCE Outstanding Alumni Award 2022 are:

Awardees
Ir LAU Chun-kit, Ricky, JP Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic (1989)	Outstanding Alumni Award in Professional Achievement Ir Ricky Lau, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) of the HKSAR Government, has demonstrated exemplary leadership and made tremendous contributions to the local construction industry over the past three decades. In 2018, he took up the post of Director of Civil Engineering and Development cum Commissioner of Mines of the HKSAR Government overseeing various mega-sized projects of reclamation including the proposed Kau Yi Chau artificial islands under the Lantau Tomorrow Vision as well as other New Development Areas (NDA), and participating in infrastructural development. His advocacy for the “Construction 2.0” strategy, leveraging technologies through the Construction Innovation and Technology Fund (CITF) has taken the strategic development of the industry to a new horizon. In 2020 and early 2022, to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic, he led various Works Departments of the HKSAR Government to build quarantine, isolation and treatment facilities within an extremely tight time frame. Ir Lau has been instrumental in encouraging young professionals to contribute to community building, and promoting the collaboration of academia and industry practitioners to innovate for engineering advancement in support of the wider community. He currently chairs the Departmental Advisory Committee for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) of FCE in the PolyU.
Prof. Xugang HUA Doctor of Philosophy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2006)	Outstanding Alumni Award in Scholarly Achievement Prof. Xugang Hua is Deputy Dean of College of Civil Engineering, Hunan University, and Director of Key Laboratory for Wind and Bridge Engineering of Hunan Province. Being a renowned scholar among researchers of his age, Prof. Hua is a recipient of many privileged awards, including National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) funded Distinguished Young Scholars (2020) and Excellent Young Scholars (2014). He made significant contributions to his research field of aeroelasticity and aerodynamics of long-span bridges, vibration control, and structural health monitoring. He developed a fictitious finite element-based method for flutter analysis of long-span bridges, which is widely used by both research and design institutes. In the field of structural health monitoring, he formulated an improved perturbation-based method for stochastic finite element model updating, which is known to the world as Hua's Approach. In addition to sharing research ideas, Prof. Hua has helped nurture the alma mater’s next generation: a graduate mentee of his, Dr Youwu Wang, is now a research assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) of FCE.
Prof. Huafu PEI Doctor of Philosophy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2012)	Outstanding Young Alumni Award in Scholarly Achievement Prof. Huafu Pei is Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Infrastructure Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, and the Deputy Director of the Key Laboratory of Engineering Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of Liaoning Province. Focusing on geotechnical hazards prevention and mitigation, Prof. Pei committed himself to the research and development of original high-precision geotechnical disaster monitoring and sensing equipment for the benefit of society. The technologies and theoretical methods he developed have been employed for important engineering tasks including Xinpu landslide in Three Gorges reservoir area, Fushun West Open-pit, and Weijiagou landslide in Wenchuan earthquake zone. He was awarded the National Science Fund for Excellent Youth Scholar for his tremendous contributions to disaster prevention and mitigation. Prof. Pei has dedicated himself to connecting the alumni community with the alma mater. He is a member of the Committee of CEE Research Scholars Alumni Association (CEE-RSAA) and is on the preparatory team of the Postgraduate Students and Scholars Alumni Association of PolyU in the mainland China.
Dr Aotian SONG Doctor of Philosophy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2018)	Outstanding Young Alumni Award in Entrepreneurial Achievement Dr Aotian Song is the co-founder and CEO of Shenzhen Leadus Industry Co. Ltd (formerly Shenzhen Pavo Tech Development Co. Ltd). Aiming to resolve the core technology problems in ultra-low energy consumption building industry chain, the company has been awarded as national high-tech enterprise, as well as one of top 100 enterprises in Shenzhen Longhua District. Dr Song and his team in 2018 invented the first tempered and no-pumping hole vacuum insulated glazing, with better product performance than existing energy-saving glazing by 2 times in thermal conductivity and by 3 times in sound insolation. The invention has increased production efficiency, minimized cost and has been applied massively in areas like construction, transportation and electrical appliances. Dr Song has demonstrated outstanding innovation and entrepreneurship in his endeavour to advance technology ventures with societal impact. Being the Vice Chairman of Shenzhen Longhua Friendship Association for Non-CCP Intellectuals and a standing committee member of Shenzhen Longhua People's Political Consultative Conference (C.P.P.C.C.), Dr Song proactively explores innovation and entrepreneurial opportunities in the Greater Bay Area for Hong Kong youngsters. He is also actively involved in PolyU’s knowledge transfer initiatives by sponsoring research projects and providing PolyU students with internship opportunities.

FCE Among Top 15 in QS World University Rankings by Subject

Known for its reputation as a world-leading faculty in Civil and Structural Engineering as well as Architecture and Built Environment disciplines, FCE again proves its excellence by the jump of ranking to 15th place in both disciplines in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject 2022, up from last year’s positions of 21st and 18th respectively. Locally, PolyU takes lead in the subject of Civil and Structural Engineering.

As a university, PolyU also leaped from 75th to 66th place globally in the latest ranking, while being ranked 25th in Asia, as a recognition of its concerted efforts and outstanding achievements in education and research.

The annual QS World University Rankings by Subject is a comprehensive guide to the world’s top universities covering a total of 51 subjects in 5 broad subject areas, based on data on research impact, academic reputation and employer reputation.

FCE Garners Gold and Silver Medals at Geneva Inventions Expo 2022

FCE academic-led projects were awarded Gold and Silver Medals in Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days – Virtual Event, a 2022 online special edition of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (Exhibition), which is regarded as one of the most important annual global events devoted exclusively to inventions. The Event this year attracted about 800 inventions from 25 countries/regions.

The recognition of Prof. Dai, Prof. Tsang, and Prof. Wong’s projects is an approbation to the FCE’s dedication to creating innovative solutions for sustainable urban development, building smart cities, and improving people’s lives.

Gold Medal Umicool: an Eco-friendly Smart Sub-ambient Radiative Cooling (SSRC) Coating
Prof. Jianguo DAI Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering		Umicool is a multifunctional aqueous polymer coating that can be painted on the surface of buildings and infrastructures to reduce interior temperature. Without the need of any electricity, this eco-friendly coating can lower indoor temperature by 6°C as compared to the ambient temperature under direct sunlight. It significantly reduces the reliance on energy-intensive air-conditioning systems, conserves electricity and alleviates urban heat island effect. It also improves the durability of buildings and infrastructures by avoiding the huge temperature difference between day and night.
Silver Medal Carbon-negative Climate-smart Biochar Partition Block
Prof. Daniel TSANG Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering		Biochar Partition Block is a biochar-enhanced construction material for indoor use. It valorises biomass waste into thermal-insulating, noise-reducing, moisture-regulating and air-purifying partition blocks. It is a low-cost and lightweight building material that enables sustainable waste management and long-term decarbonisation. Industrial-scale adoption of Biochar Partition Block will significantly contribute to landfill diversion of woody waste and reduction of carbon emissions each year.
Silver Medal Responsive Web-based Solar Irradiation Map with Solar Energy Calculator for Hong Kong
Prof. Charles WONG Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics		The winning project is supported by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMDS) of HKSAR Government to promote a wider penetration of renewable energy in Hong Kong. The public is encouraged to sell the electricity generated from their rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system to the power company. By using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS), the web-based Hong Kong Solar Irradiation Map (https://solarmap.emsd.gov.hk/map) analyzes numerous criterions, including the slope, site obstruction, shadow effect and barrier, and helps the public to identify appropriate locations, orientation and tilting angle for deploying PV system. The map provides estimated information of average annual solar irradiation, area suitable for PV panel installation, installation capacity, annual electricity generation and annual return of income from Feed-in Tariff scheme.

Young Researcher Collaborative Research Fund Supports Early-career Researchers

This year the Faculty launched the FCE Young Researcher Collaborative Research Fund (FCE YRCRF) to encourage young researchers to develop their research skills and methodologies by engaging in collaborative research with their peers.

The FCE YRCRF is not only conducive to the long-term development of young researchers to better prepare for the Research Assessment Exercise, but also lays the foundation for the Young Collaborative Research Grant (YCRG) to be launched under the RGC Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) in early 2022.

The projects supported in the 2021/22 exercise are:

Online Research Workshop on Hong Kong Research Grants Application

Securing external research grants is essential for the development of the University, the Faculty, the Department, as well as the career development of individual researchers. FCE organised an online workshop on 19 April 2022 for faculty academics to share successful experiences of applying various non-RGC local grants, namely Innovation Technology Fund (ITF), Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF), Public Policy Research Fund (PPR), and Construction Industry Council (CIC) research grants. The workshop, well attended by about 100 participants, aimed to familiarise faculty researchers with the application processes and to boost the application success rate in future.

Interested FCE staff could download the information shared by the speakers from FCE Staff Intranet.

ITC Supports BEEE Researchers for Smart Data-Driven Building Management Framework and Technologies

Prof. Linda XIAO and Prof. Shengwei WANG of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) received funding support from the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) for their project on smart data-driven building management framework for environmental and sustainability applications. The total budget of the project is HK$9.07M, including HK$5.1M project funding awarded by ITC, HK$2.2M industry sponsorship, and HK$1.77M funding support from Research Talent Hub for ITF projects (RTH-ITF). Integrating multi-source data integration, physics-guided machine learning, Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Augmented Reality (AR), the innovative framework would optimise smart building energy performance and facilitate predictive maintenance. The project, led by Prof. Xiao in collaboration with multidisciplinary experts from PolyU, City University of Hong Kong, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, would equip the construction industry to achieve the goals in carbon neutrality and energy conservation set out by the government.

BRE Alumni on List of Highly Cited Chinese Researchers 2021

FCE alumni Dr Yi Peng and Dr Jingke Hong are among the most influential researchers according to Elsevier’s Highly Cited Chinese Researchers 2021.

Dr Yi Peng, 2013 PhD graduate of Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), has been named as one of the Highly Cited Chinese Scholars in the field of public administration in both 2020 and 2021. He is currently a professor at the School of Public Management of Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics. Dr Jingke Hong, 2016 PhD graduate of BRE, is one of the Highly Cited Chinese Scholars in the field of management science and engineering in 2021. He is currently a professor at School of Management Science and Real Estate of Chongqing University. Both alumni were supervised by Prof. Geoffrey Q.P. Shen, Chair Professor of Construction Management, during their studies in PolyU.

The Highly Cited Chinese Researchers list analyzes the performance of Chinese scholars' scientific research achievements based on Elsevier’s world-renowned abstract and citation database Scopus and methodology developed by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, and has been highly influential since it was first released in 2015.

Prof. Yi-qing Ni Shares Works of CNERC-Rail Hong Kong Branch on TV

In recent years, high-speed rail network has become unprecedently important not just as a means of transport, but also a way of integrating the city with the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the whole mainland. The establishment of the Hong Kong Branch of Chinese National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering Technology Research Centre (CNERC-Rail) at PolyU in 2015 is a perfect example that illustrates the significance of rail transit in boosting social and economic development.

Prof. Yi-qing Ni, Director of the CNERC-Rail and Chair Professor of Smart Structures and Rail Transit, shared the Centre’s works on an RTHK programme. Prof. Ni summarised the main aims of the Centre: safety, punctuality, and passenger comfort. He introduced some cutting-edge technologies and methods the CNERC-Rail has been developing and implementing for railway operation and maintenance, including optic fibre sensors, real-time monitoring systems, and the use of big data and machine learning. At the end of the programme, he gave the audience a sneak peek of the future maglev trains and the role played by the CNERC-Rail in its development.

View the programme here: https://www.rthk.hk/tv/dtt31/programme/itnewera/episode/785090.

LSGI’s Research on Tourism Big Data Won IFITT 2022 Journal Paper of the Year Award

Dr Yang Xu of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) and his team won the 2022 Journal Paper of the Year Award hosted by the International Federation for Information Technologies and Travel & Tourism (IFITT), with their research study entitled “Characterizing Destination Networks Through Mobility Traces of International Tourists - A Case Study Using a Nationwide Mobile Positioning Dataset”. The team combines a mobile positioning dataset of foreign tourists to South Korea with network science approaches, to reveal the dynamics of tourist flows among cities and attractiveness of tourism destinations. The result implies how tourism big data can provide insights for effective regional tourism planning and destination management. The full study is published in Tourism Management, one of the top journals in tourism and environmental studies: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104195. The big data visualization of the research could also be found at https://youtu.be/XxyWzBUp-NU.

Established in 2013, this IFITT annual award aims to promote global discussion about information technologies in tourism industry and recognize remarkable research contributions.

Welcome New Staff to FCE

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) welcomed Prof. Zhao Xiao Lin to the post of Chair Professor of Civil Infrastructure in April 2022. Prof. Zhao obtained his PhD degree in Civil Engineering and Doctor of Engineering (higher doctorate) degree from the University of Sydney (USYD), as well as an MBA (Executive) degree jointly awarded by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and USYD. Prior to joining PolyU, he was the Associate Dean (International) in the Faculty of Engineering at UNSW. Before that, he held the Chair of Civil Engineering from 2001 to 2019 and the Head of Department of Civil Engineering from 2008 to 2011 at Monash University, Australia.

Prof. Zhao’s current research focuses on developing materials with high performance and sustainability in civil engineering applications and steel-concrete-FRP hybrid construction. He has published 9 books and 400 refereed SCI journal papers and supervised more than 50 PhD students. Prof. Zhao is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering.

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