A research forum exploring the possibility of setting up a Centre of Excellence in Smart Construction in the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) was held on 22 August 2017. It was spurred by the interest of one of PolyU’s industry partners, Able Engineering Co. Ltd. (ABLE). Established in 1976, the company is a multi-disciplinary corporation in building construction, repair, maintenance, alteration & addition works, building conversion, as well as fitting out works. 

The forum began with a welcoming speech from Prof. Jan-ming Ko, former Vice President of PolyU. The Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of ABLE, Mr Rex Ip, then presented the vision and strategic direction of the proposed centre, which is expected to improve time, cost, quality, environmental and safety performance of the company’s construction projects by adopting and advancing the latest technologies and management systems. This was followed by presentations from 7 representatives of ABLE, who took turns introducing their focus areas to provide an overview of their research activities. 

Subsequently, 14 academic staff of FCE shared their major research achievements, led by Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Prof. Heng Li, and Prof. Geoffrey Shen, who spoke respectively on construction health and safety, digital construction, and sustainable urban systems. Participating in the open discussion was Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, Director of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development. More collaboration between FCE and ABLE is planned for the future.

On 5 September 2017, 5 representatives of Jinan University visited the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) to explore the possibility of future collaboration in research areas of mutual interest. Led by its Chancellor, Prof. Xin Cheng, the delegates were welcomed by Prof. You-Lin Xu, Dean of FCE, Prof. Xiang-Dong Li, Associate Dean (Research), and Prof. Chi-Sun Poon, Associate Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Prof. Poon also gave them a guided tour of some of the department’s lab facilities before they continued on their visit to the Hong Kong Science Park in the New Territories.

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) welcomed a new assistant professor in September 2017. Dr Xinyan Huang received his PhD (2016) in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College London, where he investigated the smouldering combustion of peat, the largest fire phenomenon on earth. Before that, he conducted research on the ignition and flame spread theory during his MSc (2012) study at the University of California, San Diego, and on solar energy during his BSc (2010) study at Southeast University, China. Prior to joining PolyU, Dr Huang was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and a Lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley, where he conducted research with NASA and JAXA on microgravity combustion and fire safety in the International Space Station.

Dr Huang’s research interests range from the fundamental combustion of kinetics, flame, and smouldering to applied fire research on energy safety, wildfires, fire modelling, and emission control. A member of the editorial board of Fire Technology and Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering, he has co-authored 26 journal papers and reviewed for more than 20 journals. He has received several awards, including the Best PhD Thesis in Thermofluids from Imperial College, a Medal for Research Excellence in Clean Fossil Fuels from Qatar Petroleum, a Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Student Abroad, and Best Poster Awards in five international conferences. Dr Huang is passionate about teaching and has helped supervise 17 graduate and undergraduate students.

The Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) also welcomed a new assistant professor recently. Dr Francis Siu received his BEng and MPhil from PolyU’s Department of Civil and Structural Engineering* in 2009 and 2011 respectively. He received his PhD in 2016 from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta, Canada. Later that year, he began a Postdoctoral Fellowship and served as an Instructor in the same department there. His research focuses on developing innovative methods and technologies in project planning, control, and visualization. He has collaborated with multiple construction companies in both Hong Kong and Canada in industrial research. He hopes to build on that experience to advance the knowledge and practice of building, infrastructure, and industrial construction.

*now known as the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering