Issue 63 - January 2016

Table of Contents

• FCE Alumni Associations’ Ball
• Head of BSE Named Fellow ASHRAE
• CEE Scholar Awarded ITF
• PolyU Postdoctoral Fellowships Scheme 2015
• Head of LSGI to Supervise HK Scholar
• 2016 Oblique Photogrammetry Workshop
  
• BSE Academic Appointed Court Member of HKBU
• BRE Departmental Award for Outstanding Teacher
• BSE Academic Appointed as Affiliate Faculty Member of School of Nursing
• Joint PolyU-Tongji PhD Alumnus Appointed Assistant Professor at Tongji Law School
• Honorary Appointment for BRE Scientific Officer at UTS
• BRE Student Awarded Dr Ng Tat-lun Memorial Scholarship
• OSH Best Project Award for BRE Graduate
• Visit to Wuhan University
• Taught Postgraduate Info Day
• Invitation for Programme Admission 2016/17
• Faculty Public Lecture
• Forthcoming Events

The FCE Alumni Associations’ Ball was successfully held at the Silverbox Ballroom in Hotel ICON on 8 January 2016. Around 200 people showed up for the highly-anticipated social event, including six guests of honour. They were warmly welcomed by Ir Prof. Johnny Fan, a co-chairman of the Organizing Committee and President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Building Association. Mr Chan Tze-ching, Chairman of the PolyU Council, the Honourable Lam Woon-kwong, Convenor of the non-official members of the Executive Council, and Ir Eric Ma, the Under Secretary for Development of the government’s Development Bureau, took turns addressing the gathering.

In attendance were Ir Dr Lo Wai-kwok, a member of the Legislative Council whose functional constituency is in engineering, Ms Marjorie Yang, the immediate past Council Chairman, Prof. Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU, Ir Prof. You-Lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), Ir Prof. Jan-Ming Ko and Ir Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, former Deans of FCE, Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Associate Dean (Partnership), Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Prof. Ya-Ping Du, Associate Head of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), Ir Prof. William Lam, Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Prof. John Shi, Head of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), and the Presidents of the five alumni associations, which organized the ball jointly with FCE.

An appreciation ceremony was held during the ball to thank Ms Marjorie Yang, who served as the Council Chairman from 2010 to 2015. Prof. Xu, Dean of FCE, delivered a special farewell speech to thank her support of FCE and to wish her well in her golden years. He also presented a token of thanks to Ir Prof. Johnny Fan for his dedicated service as President of the Federation of PolyU Alumni Associations from 2011 to 2015.

Entertainment was provided by the band Patriopia and several singers, including an unforgettable performance by Ir Prof. Fan, who sang his heart out. There were also games and dancing for the ball-goers’ amusement. Supported by various professional organizations, the ball concluded with a vote of thanks from Ir Lam Cheuk Fung, President of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Alumni Association and a co-chairman of the Organizing Committee. It was truly a memorable occasion for all involved.

Prof. Chow Wan-ki, Head of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), has recently been named a Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), a professional organization that is highly regarded by industry practitioners world-wide. Founded in 1894, it has advanced human well-being through sustainable technology for the built environment. Being named a Fellow ASHRAE is a recognition of a member’s distinction and substantial contributions to education, research, engineering design and consultation, publications and mentoring.

A project on wastewater-derived energy for smart towns has been awarded HK$8,900,553 from the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF). Led by Prof. Xiangdong Li, Chair Professor of Environmental Science and Technology and Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), the project involves six researchers and will last from 30 June 2016 to 29 June 2018.

Five academics in the Faculty of Construction and Environment have recently been approved for research funding from the PolyU Postdoctoral Fellowships Scheme 2015. Following are the details:

Prof. John Shi, Head of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), has added a Postdoctoral Fellow to his research team. Dr Tao Jia is the latest mainland scholar to receive an offer from the Hong Kong Scholars Programme 2015, which has promoted academic/ scientific exchanges and collaboration between mainland China and Hong Kong since December 2010. Dr Jia was recommended by Wuhan University to work under the supervision of Prof. Shi on a project on data processing in geographic information science and remote sensing for two years.

Six other academics of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) are also serving as supervisors in the Hong Kong Scholars Programme 2015. They are Prof. Albert Chan (BRE), Prof. Hong-xing Yang (BSE), Prof. Wei Chu (CEE), Dr Jian-guo Dai (CEE), Prof. Xiangdong Li (CEE), and Prof. Xiaoli Ding (LSGI). More details are at http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/eBulletin/public/issue58/#02

On 6 January 2016, the PolyU campus held the 2016 Oblique Photogrammetry Workshop. Jointly organized by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) and the Oblique Photography Technology Alliance of China, the workshop presented the latest research and developments in the principles, technologies, products, and applications of oblique photogrammetry, including a presentation by Dr Bo Wu of LSGI on automatic and reliable image matching in oblique photogrammetry. More than 150 participants from the government, industry, professional bodies, and universities in Hong Kong and mainland China attended the workshop.

An emerging technology with an important role to play in smart city development, oblique photogrammetry is a highly efficient and cost-effective way to build 3D models covering a wide range of applications. It can be used in real estate registration, land-related fields, planning, tourism, public security, disaster response, and military defense etc.

Dr Wong Ling Tim of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) has recently been appointed by the government of the HKSAR to the Court of the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) for two years from January 2016. As a member of the Court, Dr Wong has a duty to consider reports made to it by the Council, discuss any motion on general University policy, and promote the interests of the University in Hong Kong and elsewhere, amongst other things.

The Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) has honoured an Assistant Professor, Dr Johnny Wong, with its Departmental Award for Outstanding Teacher (2014/15) for his exceptional teaching performance. Dr Wong teaches courses on building measurement and documentation, quantity surveying practice, cost planning and control, and sustainable construction. His adoption of building information modelling in his teaching has enhanced students’ learning and received very positive feedback from students. The theses of a number of undergraduates he supervised have also received awards. In addition, the PolyU Advisory Committee on eLearning (ACE) has rewarded him the eLearning and Blended Learning Development Fund to further develop online teaching materials for quantity surveying and building measurement.

Dr Horace Mui of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) has recently been appointed to serve as an affiliate faculty member of PolyU’s School of Nursing (SN) from January 2016 through December 2017. An extension of his substantive appointment at BSE, this affiliation requires him to conduct seminars regularly and participate in research seminars/ workshops/ conferences organized by SN. He may also contribute to the host department by collaborating in research with its core faculty, co-teaching and advising its students, serving on its examination committees etc.

A 2016 joint PolyU-Tongji PhD graduate, Dr Xuhua Chang, has been appointed Assistant Professor at The Intellectual Property (IP) Institute of Tongji Law School, Tongji University in Shanghai since 1 January 2016. During his studies at PolyU, he was supervised by Dr Patrick Fong, Associate Head and Associate Professor in the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE). His supervisor at Tongji University was Prof. Qiang Chen of the School of Economics and Management. Dr Chang has published many refereed journal and conference papers in collaboration with his supervisors. His research interests focus on technology transfer, intellectual property law, and policy evaluation related to science and technology. He attributes his 2-year PhD experience at PolyU as the main reason for his obtaining his current position at Tongji University. He has the support of his department to earn a qualification as a solicitor and eventually go to The Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich, Germany, for academic attachment. Max Planck Institutes are world-leading research institutions operated by the Max Planck Society, with dozens of Nobel Prizes awarded to their scientists. Speaking of his time at PolyU, Dr Chang is very impressed with PolyU’s academic diversity and spirit of scientific inquiry. He is willing to further the connection between PolyU and Tongji.

Dr Jian Guo, a Scientific Officer of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), has been appointed a Key Technology Partner Visiting Fellow at the University of Technology in Sydney (UTS) from 14 to 27 February 2016. Based in the Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building, Dr Guo will collaborate with UTS staff on a comparison of urban redevelopment strategies at Kai Tak in Hong Kong and Barangaroo in Sydney. She will also visit the labs and facilities of the School of Built Environment at UTS to explore ways for BRE academics to take advantage of the Sustainable City Lab in the department. It is hoped that the foundations for a larger and longer-term project could be built from this visit.

A second-year student in the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) has been honoured with the Dr Ng Tat-lun Memorial Scholarship of HK$20,000. Mr Tsang King Fai has participated in numerous extra-curricular activities to distinguish himself from his peers. He was a trainee ambassador of the International Student Ambassador Scheme from September 2014 to August 2015 and participated in the Community Service Partnership Scheme of the Urban Renewal Authority. He also went on a 10-day service trip to Sri Lanka to serve the children and local farmers there. He has been the General Secretary of HKPUSU’s 5th Wofoo Leaders’ Network since May 2015, responsible for organizing different activities.

A 2015 graduate of the BSc (Hons) in Surveying programme of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Ms Tsui Wing Sum, has won a Best Project Award from the Occupational Safety and Health Council (OSHC) for her critical study of safety climate and safety performance for private sector construction projects in Hong Kong. She received a certificate and a cash prize of HK$3000 in an award ceremony on 15 December 2015 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. She was supervised by Dr Daniel Chan, Associate Prof. of BRE.

Organized annually by the OSHC, the award aims to encourage post-secondary students to appreciate the importance of occupational safety and health in their studies. Submissions are judged on their relevance, quality, and originality.

From 16 to 21 December 2015, a group of 19 undergraduates and 5 graduates from the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) went on a study visit to Wuhan University in mainland China. Sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China under the “Ten Thousand Students Scheme,” this visit provided an opportunity for PolyU students to learn about campus life at Wuhan University and the diverse cultures of the mainland. Besides touring Wuhan University, Hubei Provincial Environmental Monitoring Center, and Wuhan Environmental Protection Bureau, the students also visited the Three Gorges Dam, the largest water conservancy project in China. Led by Prof. Hai Guo of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the tour was the second exchange with Wuhan University organized for the undergraduates of the Environmental and Occupational Safety & Health (EOSH) programme. It was an enriching experience for all the participants.

On 9 January 2016, more than 300 prospective students flocked to the campus of PolyU to learn more about the postgraduate programmes offered by the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE). Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean (Teaching), gave a well received overview of the Postgraduate Scheme in Construction and Environment, after which info seminars on the different MSc/PgD programmes were held. The info seminars for the MSc/PgD in Construction and Real Estate as well as for the MSc in Building Services Engineering were especially popular. It was a great way for prospective students to learn about the entry requirements and have their questions answered before deciding if they should invest their time and energy on further studies.

Applications are now invited for the following taught postgraduate programmes. For further details and online application, please visit http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/postgrad-scheme/acad.html

Master of Science (MSc)/Postgraduate Diploma (PgD) in: Building Services Engineering 屋宇設備工程學 Civil Engineering 土木工程學 Construction and Real Estate 建築及房地產學 Construction Law and Dispute Resolution 建築法及爭議解決學 Environmental Management and Engineering 環境管理及工程學 Facility Management 設施管理 Fire and Safety Engineering 消防及安全工程學 Geomatics (Geographic Information Systems) 測繪及地理資訊學(地理資訊) Geomatics (Surveying) 測繪及地理資訊學(測量) High Performance Buildings 高效能建築 Project Management 項目管理 Sustainable Urban Development 可持續城市發展學

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