The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) has approved funding from its 2017 National Key Technologies R&D Program for the following sub-projects led by 4 academics of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE).

Prof. Wen-zhong Shi, Chair Professor and Head of Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), has won the 2017 Grand Prize of the Science and Technology Progress Award in Surveying and Mapping, as the leading scientist for a project on key technologies for reliable national geographic survey and dynamic monitoring.

Approved by the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geo-information and bestowed by the Chinese Society for Surveying, Mapping and Geo-information, the prize is awarded to institutions and individuals who have made major achievements in scientific research, technological innovation or application in the geomatics discipline.

Prof. Shi and his team have made major contributions to reliability theory and technology for geographic data and analysis. These include a formed basis theory and methods on the reliability of geographic data, reliable change detection methods and technology based on satellite images, and reliable geographic analysis methods.

The developed theory and technologies have been successfully applied to the First National Geographic Census organized by the State Council of China. The technological solutions for this major project are also applicable to similar projects worldwide.

Clarivate Analytics, formerly the Intellectual Property and Science business of Thomson Reuters, has published its list of Highly Cited Researchers for 2017. It includes 4 academics from PolyU, 1 of whom is from the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE). He is Prof. Hong-xing Yang of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE). Selected based on their respective output of top-cited papers in their fields, the highly cited researchers distinguished themselves from their peers by publishing a high number of papers that rank in the top 1% of the most cited in their fields over a recent 11-year period. The list is compiled from objective citation statistics available on the Web of Science, the most authoritative compendium of influence and visibility in worldwide research.

Dr Songye Zhu of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and his mainland counterpart, Dr Shitang Ke of the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, were recently awarded HK$948,800 from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) and RMB$810,000 from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) for their joint study on the mechanism and application of energy transfer in the nonlinear self-excited system for 10 mw level wind turbine system. The project is expected to last for 4 years.

Dr Horace Mui of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) was awarded about HK$2.8 million from the Recycling Fund to implement and evaluate a food waste collection system (FWCS) for the catering industry. The proposed research is a collaboration between the industry, the government, and PolyU to promote sustainable development on campus. The findings will shed light on whether a food waste collection system can i) raise the quantity and quality of the food waste recovered from the food waste stream, thus reducing disposals in our landfills; ii) generate industrial support, thus providing greater impetus to local landfill diversion; and iii) enhance the overall capability, capacity, efficiency and skills as well as market information of the recycling industry.

To further technological cooperation between Beijing and Hong Kong, the 21st Beijing Hong Kong Economic Cooperation Symposium was held on 28 November 2017 in Hong Kong. Two representatives of Beijing Enterprises Water Group Ltd. visited the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) that morning. They met with Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Associate Dean (Partnership) and Dr Henry Lee of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) after visiting the latter’s Sewage Lab on Stonecutters Island. The visitors also had a chance to meet other FCE academics who specialize in water-related research.

In the afternoon, the visitors joined their compatriots in the opening ceremony of the Symposium at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. On hand were a few senior management of PolyU, including Prof. Alex Wai, Vice President (Research and Development); Prof. Angelina Yuen, Vice President (Student and Global Affairs); Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of FCE; Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean (Teaching); Prof. Xiaoli Ding; and Prof. Edwin Chan of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE).

As part of the opening ceremony, 3 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed between PolyU and various parties from Beijing to promote research collaboration. The first MoU was signed by Prof. Alex Wai on behalf of PolyU. It was with the Beijing Sustainable Development Centre and the Environment Governance Alliance in Beijing to further exchanges and collaboration in research areas of common interest.

Representing PolyU to sign the other 2 MoU was Prof. You-lin Xu. One was between PolyU and the Beijing Enterprises Olympic Construction Co. Ltd. to address technological challenges brought about by construction projects for the 2022 Winter Olympics. The other was between PolyU and the Beijing Enterprises Water Group Ltd. to jointly provide research expertise in wastewater management for the city of Beijing. Both MoU are in effect for 5 years from the date of signing, which was witnessed by Prof. Alex Wai and Prof. Angelina Yuen.

Prof. Xu (front centre) at the signing ceremony

The 23rd Congregation and Prize Presentation Ceremony of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) was celebrated in style on 31 October and 1 November 2017. With 3 sessions per day, graduates of various programmes at different levels took turns going onto the stage at the Jockey Club Auditorium to receive their hard-earned diplomas. Officiating at the congregation in his capacity as Dean of the Faculty, Prof. You-lin Xu delivered a rousing address to about 1,500 graduates in all, who were joined by their families and friends in the packed audience. Speeches from the valedictorian of each of the 4 departments as well as the 3 guests of honour, Ir Mo Cheung Ying, Ir Hon Chi-keung, and Ms Ada Fung, made the respective sessions of the Departments of Building Services Engineering (BSE), Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), and Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) especially memorable. In addition to honouring outstanding students with prizes and awards, the ceremony also celebrated outstanding staff members who received the Dean’s Awards, Faculty Awards, as well as Departmental Awards.

Prof. Xu	Ir Mo	Ms Fung	Ir Hon

The Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) hosted 21 delegates from the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation of China (國家測繪地理資訊局, NASG) from 31 October to 3 November 2017. A symposium titled “One Belt, One Road and Geomatics” was jointly held by LSGI and NASG on 2 November 2017 at PolyU.

Officiating at the symposium were Dr Pengpeng Fu (Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR), Mr Wu Zhu (NASG team leader), Dr Haitian Lu (Associate Head & Associate Professor of the School of Accounting & Finance, PolyU), Dr Shaojun Zhang (Associate Professor of the School of Accounting & Finance), Dr Conrad Tang (Chairman, Land Survey Division, HKIS), Dr Lilian Pun (Associate Head and Associate Professor of LSGI), and Ms Serein Han (Master of Ceremonies and Scientific Officer of LSGI).

The symposium provided a platform to discuss various opportunities and challenges brought by "One Belt and One Road" to the field of surveying and mapping, including laws and regulations, dispute resolution, analysis of economic status and technological innovation in both Hong Kong and mainland China.

Moreover, NASG members visited LSGI’s Underground Utility Survey Laboratory, the Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Data Analytics and the Survey & Mapping Office of the Lands Department (HKSAR Government). There was also fruitful discussion and interaction between the delegation and LSGI representatives during the presentations of Prof. John Shi, Department Head of LSGI, and other LSGI colleagues, including Dr Wei Yao, Dr Lei Zhang, Dr Xintao Liu, Dr Charles Wong and several LSGI PhD candidates from the belt-and-road countries.

Not only did the visit facilitate the participation and integration of surveyors from the Belt and Road, it also served as a basis for future exchanges and collaboration between Hong Kong and mainland China.

The visitors with their hosts

On 24 November 2017, the International Symposium on Advances in Steel and Composite Structures was held at PolyU to disseminate the latest research findings on advanced construction technology of steel and composite structures as well as modular construction for residential buildings, with special emphasis on practical applications.

Jointly organized by the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre (CNERC) for Steel Construction (Hong Kong branch) of PolyU and the Hong Kong Constructional Metal Structures Association (HKCMSA), the event was also supported by the Construction Industry Council. Officiating at the opening ceremony was Prof. Alex Wai, Vice President (Research and Development) of PolyU. As the Master of Ceremony, Ir Prof. Michael Yam, Deputy Director and General Secretary of CNERC, introduced the guest of honour, Ir C.K. Hon JP, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) of the government’s Development Bureau. Together with Ir Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), Ir K.T. Leung of Architectural Services Department, and Mr Y.K. Pang of HKCMSA, they witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for research collaboration in the area of steel construction engineering amongst the CNERC at PolyU, the Steel Construction Institute in the UK, and the China Construction Steel Structure Corporation Ltd (CCSSC). This was followed by 8 presentations from several practitioners and engineers, including Prof. Wang Hong of CCSSC; Mr James Law JP of Cybertecture; Ir Naeem Hussain of ARUP; Ir K.H. Mok of Hip Hing Construction; Prof. Mark Lawson of the Steel Construction Institute; Prof. H.H. Lau of Curtin University in Malaysia; Dr Aaron Wang of CapitalLand Shanghai; and Ir Prof. Kwok-Fai Chung, Director of CNERC at PolyU, who also delivered the closing remarks. In attendance were Ir Dr Paul Lam, Chairman of the Education and Training Committee at HKCMSA, Dr T.M. Chan, Deputy General Secretary of CNERC at PolyU, and Ir Prof. Joseph Mak, Chief Engineer at CNERC. Attracting more than 130 researchers and scholars, the symposium was well received by all.

From 13 to 15 November 2017, about 100 people gathered at PolyU for the 1st International Conference on Urban Informatics. Chaired by Prof. Wen-zhong Shi, Head of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), the conference promoted research and development of urban informatics, with topics ranging from urban systems to urban sensing and spatiotemporal big data to urban computing and urban solutions. After welcoming remarks from Ir Prof. Alex Wai, Vice President (Research Development), Mr Paul Ng, Deputy Director of Survey and Mapping in the government’s Lands Department delivered an opening address.

Amongst the keynote speakers were Prof. Michael Goodchild of the University of California at Santa Barbara, Distinguished Chair Professor of LSGI and member of the United States National Academy of Sciences; Prof. Anthony Yeh of the University of Hong Kong and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; Prof. Jianya Gong, Dean of the School of Remote Sensing Information Engineering at Wuhan University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; and Prof. Michael Batty of University College London, also Distinguished Chair Professor of LSGI and Fellow of the British Academy. The session speakers included Dr Shih-Lung Shaw of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and editorial board member of the International Journal of Geographical Information Science and the Journal of Transport Geography; Prof. Mei-Po Kwan of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Distinguished Chair Professor of LSGI and Editor of Annals of the American Association of Geographers; and Prof. May Yuan of the University of Texas at Dallas and Chief Editor of the International Journal of Geographical Information Science. The conference concluded with a panel discussion on research initiatives in urban informatics moderated by Prof. Wen-zhong Shi. Papers from the conference will be published in the International Journal of Urban Informatics and a book.

Participants at the conference

On 3 November 2017, a seminar on transitional pre-fabricated modular housing was held to explore its potential for alleviating the housing shortage in Hong Kong, which was chaired by Prof. Alex Wai, Vice President (Research and Development). After a warm welcome from Prof. Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU, opening remarks were delivered by Dr Raymond So, Under Secretary for Transport and Housing of the Hong Kong Government. This was followed by presentations from 9 academics of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), namely, Prof. Eddie Hui (represented by his PhD student), Prof. Edwin Chan, and Prof. Geoffrey Shen on the policy, planning, and management of such housing, Prof. Kwok-fai Chung, Prof. Asif Usmani, and Dr Andy Leung on its structural, fire resistance, and foundation designs, Prof. Cheuk-ming Mak, Dr Lilian Pun, and Ir Dr Wallace Lai on the built environment, transport, and underground utility for it.

External presenters included Mr James Law of James Law Cybertecture, who spoke on the adaptable city, Mr Ricky Yu of Light Be (Social Realty) Co. Ltd., who introduced new housing models for different low-income groups, as well as Mr H.W. Chua of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS), who shared his insight on a related project that HKCSS has worked on. About 90 professionals from non-governmental organizations, various businesses, and the government attended the seminar, which facilitated interactive discussions and networking for all its participants.

A delegation of more than 10 academic staff and students from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Seoul National University (SNU) came to PolyU on 20 November 2017 to participate in a workshop on recent advances in construction management and transportation, environmental engineering, and structural engineering. Jointly organized by the 2 Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering from SNU and PolyU, the workshop promoted knowledge exchange and collaboration. A welcoming address was delivered by Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), after which Prof. William Lam, Head of PolyU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), and Prof. Ho-Kyung Kim, Head of the respective department at SNU, introduced their department one after another before 3 parallel group sessions. Representatives of the Korean delegation spoke at each of these sessions before their PolyU counterparts. Introducing their research in the session on bridge/ wind engineering, structural/ system reliability, and disaster/ hazard resilience were Prof. Jin-guang Teng, Prof. Siu Lai Chan, Prof. Kwok-fai Chung, Prof. Yong Xia, Prof. Yiqing Ni, Dr Jianguo Dai, Dr Songye Zhu, Dr Siu-Kai Lai, and Dr You Dong. In the session on construction management and transportation, Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), and his colleagues, Dr Joon Oh Seo and Dr Minkoo Kim, as well as Prof. William Lam, Head of CEE, Prof. Anthony Chen, Dr Mark Hsu, and Dr Tony Sze briefed participants on their ongoing research projects, while their CEE colleagues Dr Ben Leu, Dr Po-Heng Lee and Dr Yi Jiang spoke in the session on environmental engineering. The workshop facilitated discussion and further collaboration between the 2 universities.

Participants of the workshop

On 28 November 2017, a sharing session on teaching excellence was held. Organized by the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), the session began with an opening address by Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean (Teaching), who introduced the featured speaker, Ir Dr Wallace Lai, recipient of a Faculty Award for Outstanding Performance/ Achievement in Teaching (Individual) 2014/15 and a UGC Teaching Award Finalist 2017.

Ir Dr Lai shared his self-reflection on his teaching of underground utilities in the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI). He described teaching as a solar system, with the Sun being in-class lectures and tutorials while the orbiting planets are different kinds of outside classroom activities. In his solar system, the “Sun” includes the use of a story-telling approach like using pictures to stimulate students’ thoughts, multi-disciplinary teaching (involving science, engineering, and management), and a list of “Dos” and “Don’ts” in class to facilitate student learning. Examples of the orbiting activities are open-book exams, the design of labs, blind testing to detect underground voids, international work-integrated education (WIE), involving students in research and consultancy projects, and even asking them to help organize international conferences. He believes that the teaching model in the “solar system” can be different for individuals, but the creation and interaction between the “Sun” and “Planets” and even amongst the “Planets” are indispensable in any good teaching.

The sharing session ended with lively discussions among Dr Lai, Prof. Shen, and some members of the FCE academic staff.

A seminar for continuing professional development (CPD) was held on the evening of 24 October 2017 at PolyU. Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Project Management (HKIPM) and the Building Division of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE), the seminar was led by Ir Prof. K.K. Choy, who used to be an Assistant Director of the government’s Buildings Department before his retirement in 2011. More than 120 people attended the seminar, which was on building planning and control in Hong Kong. Not only were they introduced to the underlying legal principles of local building control, they also learnt about various policies and strategies for building control with respect to structural engineering design, construction and demolition of local private buildings.

To explore and strengthen collaboration with PolyU on various fronts, a delegation from the Universite Cote d’Azur in France came to visit on 10 November 2017. After meeting with a representative of the International Affairs Office, Prof. Kwok-yin Wong, Associate Vice President (Research Support), and Dr Ma Cong of the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, the 2 visitors, Ms Marianne Mensah, International Executive Director, and Prof. Laurent Counillon, Specialist in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Faculty of Medicine and Chairman of Evaluation Committees of life science programs in France and Europe, met with Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Associate Dean (Partnership) of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), Prof. Jinguang Teng, Director of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, and Dr Bo Wu, Associate Professor of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI). They discussed research and programme collaboration related to Smart Cities. They also visited the newly established Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Data Analytics.

At the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) World Workplace 2017 held in Houston, Texas, from 16 to 20 October 2017, Ms Amy Cheng, a second-year student in the MSc programme in Facility Management, was honoured with an IFMA Scholarship (Hong Kong Chapter) of US$1,500 with fully funded registration to attend the IFMA's World Workplace Conference and Expo. Amy is a student of Dr Joseph Lai, Associate Professor and leader of the Facility Management programme in the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) at PolyU.

Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean (Teaching) of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), has recently been appointed to serve as a member of the Engineering Panel of the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong until 31 October 2019. He joins Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), and Prof. Kwok-Fai Chung, Associate Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), who are serving panel members of RGC.

At the 9th National Symposium on Fire Technology of Structures held in Lanzhou, China, from 13 to 14 October 2017, Dr Wan-Yang Gao received the Best Paper Award for his technical paper entitled “Experimental Study on Fire-damaged RC Slabs Strengthened with Shotcrete Made of FRP Textile-Reinforced Cementitious Matrices.” Dr Gao was a former PhD student and post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) under the chief supervision of Dr Jianguo Dai, who was one of the paper’s co-authors. The work for the paper was made possible by a grant from the CII/ PolyU Innovation Fund. Dr Gao recently joined Shanghai Jiaotong University as a Research Associate Professor.