The Faculty of Construction and Environment is pleased that the following colleagues have been awarded funding from the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) as well as the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF). Following are the details:

Dr George Zhizhao Liu of the Department of Land Surveying & Geo-Informatics (LSGI) has recently been appointed to the editorial board of GPS Solutions, a top Science Citation Index (SCI) journal in the field of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) published by Springer-Verlag GmbH in Germany.

With an impact factor of 4.061 as of 2017, the highest one in the GNSS and related fields, GPS Solutions covers issues related to GNSS system design and a range of current and emerging applications of GNSS such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Chinese Beidou and various augmentations. The journal can be found at the website https://link.springer.com/journal/10291.

Dr Liu has made significant innovations and contributions to the GNSS community. His pioneering method for GNSS carrier phase cycle slip detection and repair, a very fundamental issue for any high-precision GNSS applications, has been cited more than 120 times in the past few years and has been used worldwide by many groups. His research group was the world’s first to investigate the anomalous phenomenon in the GPS receivers’ recording of GPS satellite ionosphere coefficients, which has gone unnoticed in the GPS community for a few decades.

A workshop for a sub-project funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) was held at PolyU’s Shenzhen Research Institute from 6 to 7 December 2017. Attended by 55 academic and research personnel from more than 10 universities and organisations, the workshop was chaired by the sub-project leader, Prof. Hai Guo of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Overall introduction of the national key R&D project on the environmental risk management system of toxic and hazardous air pollutants in China was provided by Prof. Gan Zhang of the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry. Sampling schedules for the sub-project were shown by Dr Xiaopu Lyu, who received expert feedback from Prof. Changhong Chen of Shanghai Academy of Environmental Sciences, Prof. Likun Xue of Shandong University, and Prof. Shichun Zou of Sun Yat-Sen University.

Moreover, participants were trained to collect samples of ambient volatile organic compounds (VOCs), oxygenated VOCs, persistent organic pollutants and heavy metals from various mainland cities and 10 sampling sites in the Pearl River Delta. The workshop got the sub-project off to a great start.

Participants of the workshop

As part of its 80th Anniversary celebrations, PolyU hosted Open Days on 2 and 3 December 2017 to showcase the university. Officiating at the opening ceremony were Mr Carlson Tong, Chairman of the University Grants Committee (UGC); Mr Tze-Ching Chan, Council Chairman; and Prof. Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU. In attendance were Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE); Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE); Prof. Asif Usmani, Head of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE); 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; as well as various university staff. FCE staff also participated in the 8 x 80 Cycling Kick-off ceremony on 3 December.

In addition to guided tours of some of FCE’s laboratories, namely, the Smart Construction Lab, the Smart City Lab, Indoor Environmental Quality Lab, the Water and Waste Teaching Lab, and the Underground Utility Survey Lab, there were well-received talks by Prof. Shuncheng Lee of CEE and Prof. Shengwei Wang of BSE respectively. Prof. Lee’s talk was about indoor and outdoor air pollution, while Prof. Wang talked about green and smart buildings. Award-winning research projects led by Prof. Albert Chan, Prof. Hong-xing Yang of BSE, and Prof. Chi-sun Poon of CEE were also displayed in an exhibition. These ranged from anti-heat stress clothing for construction workers in hot and humid weather to development of a highly dispersed self-cleaning paste to turning waste into eco-construction materials.

At the opening ceremony

FCE staff and senior management at the opening ceremony	Mr Tong with a few senior management at one of the exhibitions	A demonstration in a FCE laboratory

On 21 December 2017, the Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government, Mr Kam-Sing Wong, GBS, JP, and his administrative assistant, Mr Patrick Lee, visited PolyU. They were welcomed by Prof. Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU, and 10 senior staff of the university, including Executive Vice President Dr Miranda Lou, Vice President (Campus Development and Facilities) Mr Andy Tong, Vice President (Research Development) Ir Prof. Alex Wai, Associate Vice President (Institutional Advancement), Dr Kitty Yam, and Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Ms Tracy Ng. Selected projects were presented by Prof. Wing-tak Wong, Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles (FAST), and Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), before Mr Alex Lui, Chairman of the Green Deck Task Force and a member of the University Court, presented the Green Deck Project.

In addition, the visitors toured a few laboratories of FAST and FCE. Besides seeing for themselves the Catalyst for Green Biodiesel Production and the Algae Cultivation for Production of Biofuel Laboratory of FAST, they were also introduced to the University Research Facility in Chemical and Environmental Analysis by its Associate Director, Prof. Xiangdong Li, and a few laboratories of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) by its Head, Prof. William Lam, and some of its academics, namely, the Atmospheric Research Laboratory by Prof. Tao Wang, the Concrete Materials Laboratory by Prof. Chi-sun Poon, the Water Analysis Laboratory by Prof. Xiangdong Li, as well as the Water and Waste Laboratory by Dr Henry Lee. Impactful research outcomes for urban sustainable development were also highlighted to the guests during the laboratory visits.

(left to right) Dr Lee, Prof. Wang, Prof. Li, Prof. Xu, Prof. Lam, Prof. Poon, Prof. Wai, Prof. Tong, and Mr Wong

From 7 to 9 December 2017, about 80 scholars and engineers gathered at PolyU for the 8th International Conference on Water Repellent Treatment and Protective Surface Technology for Building Materials (HYDROPHOBE VIII). They were warmly welcomed by the international organizing committee, which was chaired by Dr Jian-Guo Dai of PolyU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Co-chairs of the conference were Prof. Hiroshi Yokota of Hokkaido University and Prof. Tiejun Zhao of Qingdao University of Technology. The booming construction in Asia has led to Hong Kong hosting the Hydrophobe conference for the first time. In his opening speech, Prof. William Lam, Head of CEE, highlighted the importance of promoting the research and development in durability enhancement and preventive maintenance of building and concrete infrastructures.

With 7 distinguished keynote and 4 invited lectures in 4 plenary sessions, participants heard from Prof. Folker H. Wittmann of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), Prof. Changwen Miao of Southeast University, Prof. Surendra P. Shah of Northwestern University, Prof. Koji Takewaka of Kagoshima University, Prof. Caijun Shi of Hunan University, Prof. Zongjin Li of Macau University, Prof. Hongxing Yang of PolyU, Prof. Seongsoon Kim of Daejin University, Prof. Jiaping Liu of Jiangsu Research Institute of Building Science Co. Ltd., Prof. Konstantin Sobolev of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Prof. Andreas Gerdes of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

In addition, there were 8 technical sessions on various aspects of the surface treatment technology from material manufacturing to performance characterizations to field applications. On the final day of the conference, participants made a technical visit to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge. The 3-day conference was financially supported by Jiangsu Sobute New Materials Co. Ltd., Australia Research Council (ARC) Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Nanoscience Based Construction Material Manufacturing at Monash University, China Harbour Zhenhua Co. Ltd. Hong Kong, CEE and the Faculty of Construction and Environment.

Participants of the conference

The 22nd International Conference of the Hong Kong Society for Transportation Studies (HKSTS) was held from 9 to 11 December 2017 at the InterContinental Grand Stanford Hotel. Jointly organized by HKSTS and PolyU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), the conference attracted over 250 participants from 22 countries. They were warmly welcomed by Prof. Anthony Chen and Dr Tony Sze, co-chairs of the organizing committee from CEE; Prof. K.Y. Wong, Associate Vice President (Research Support) of PolyU; and Prof. William H.K. Lam, President of HKSTS.

Echoing the theme of the conference, a keynote address entitled “Transport Infrastructure for Society” was delivered by Mr Daniel Chung, JP, Director of Highways of the HKSAR Government. In addition to plenary speeches from 6 internationally renowned scholars, including Prof. Richard Allsop of University College London; Prof. Tetsuo Yai of the Tokyo Institute of Technology; Prof. Yu (Marco) Nie of Northwestern University in the US; Prof. Mark Hickman of the University of Queensland in Australia; Prof. Haijun Huang of Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics; and Dr James Wang of the City University of Hong Kong, over 190 papers on various aspects of transport and society were presented.

Financially supported by Autotoll Limited, Cathay Pacific, Excel Asphalt Limited, Volvo Bus Corporation, and the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), the conference was also sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong Kong (CILTHK), the Eastern Asia Society for Transport Studies (EASTS), and the Logistics and Transportation Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE).

Members of the HKSTS with some guests

From 10 to 13 December 2017, the International Symposium on GNSS 2017 (ISGNSS 2017) was successfully held at PolyU. The ISGNSS is an Asia-Pacific annual conference that focuses on the technologies and applications of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Dr George Liu, Associate Professor at the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), served as the Chairman of the local organizing committee.

Welcome speeches were delivered by Ir Prof. Ping-kong Alexander Wai, Vice President (Research Development) of PolyU, and Mr Paul Kwok-wai Ng, Deputy Director (Survey and Mapping) of the Lands Department of the Hong Kong SAR. In addition, keynote speakers representing the Chinese BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) Programme Office and the US Global Positioning System Programme Office shared the latest progress of the two navigation systems respectively.

With 12 oral sessions and a poster session, the Symposium covered a wide range of research topics, including GNSS algorithms and methods, geodesy surveying and mapping, GNSS augmentations, and GNSS remote sensing and many others. Over the 4-day period, approximately 180 participants from Asia, Australia, Europe, North America attended this symposium, which provided an excellent platform for academia and industry to discuss and promote new ideas, innovations and latest developments.

To encourage the participation of students and recognize their work, Best Student Paper Awards (one for each session) and a Best Poster Award were presented at the closing ceremony. It was also announced that the next ISGNSS 2018 conference would be held at Bali, Indonesia. For more details of the ISGNSS 2017, please visit http://event.lsgi.polyu.edu.hk/ISGNSS2017/index.html.

At the Symposium

The Annual Partnership Meeting between the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and PolyU was held on 19 December 2017. Representing PolyU were 9 academics of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), led by Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean (Teaching). In attendance were 4 representatives from RICS (including Mr Daniel Shum, Regional Representative/Local Employer; Prof Daniel Ho, External Examiner; Mr Ernest Leung, Regional Professional Development Director, RICS East Asia; and Mr Kevin Lui, Senior Membership Development Officer, RICS East Asia). After introductions were made, each side took turns briefing one another on its current position and latest developments. This was followed by a joint review on course provision and course development, with attention paid to the annual monitoring report, the external examiner’s report, the threshold standard, research strategy, and employability of graduates. Mutual aims and objectives were also reviewed before the end of the meeting.

At the partnership meeting

On 6 December 2017, half a dozen Wuhan government officials visited the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) to explore and strengthen collaboration between PolyU and universities in Wuhan to address the challenge of air pollution. They were introduced to FCE by Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Associate Dean (Partnership), the research activities of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) by its Head, Prof. William Lam, as well as research on transportation and air quality by Prof. Hai Guo. The application of the smart city system and Hong Kong’s air pollution control measures in Wuhan were discussed. It was a fruitful visit for all concerned.

(left to right) Prof. Guo, Prof. Lam, and Prof. Ding with the delegates from Wuhan

On 11 December 2017, 6 delegates from Zhejiang University (ZJU) visited the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) to learn more about management strategies at both Faculty and departmental levels as well as how to raise its profile in global university rankings. Led by Prof. Yaozhi Luo, Dean of the College of Civil Engineering and Architecture at ZJU, the visitors met with Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of FCE; Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Associate Dean (Partnership); Prof. Xiang-dong Li, Associate Dean (Research); and Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), to discuss these very issues in addition to exploring the potential for collaboration in a memorandum. They also had a brief tour of the Faculty’s laboratories and the Innovation Tower before meeting Emeritus Prof. Jan-ming Ko and Prof. Yi-qing Ni, Director of the National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering Technology Research Center (Hong Kong branch), respectively for 2 separate interviews in the afternoon.

Moreover, some of the visitors talked to the Faculty Secretary, Ms Carmen Lee, and 2 Senior Executive Officers, Ms Yoyo Tsui and Ms Marie Yip, about the work involved in managing the Faculty office. The leadership of ZJU had a chance to congratulate Prof. Jin-guang Teng on his recent election to the Chinese Academy of Sciences before the end of the visit.

The visitors with their hosts

Dr Ling-tim Wong of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) has been re-appointed to the Court of the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) for 2 more years by the government of the HKSAR. He has served as a member of the Court since January 2016. His new term began on 1 January 2018.

At the International Symposium on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) held on the PolyU campus from 10 to 13 December 2017, 2 PhD students from the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, Ms Zhe Yang and Ms Huan Luo, were recognized for their work. Ms Yang’s paper entitled “Post-processing Analysis of Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on RTK GPS Positioning at Low-Latitude Region“ received the Best Student Paper Award, which came with a certificate and HK$1,500. She is supervised by Dr George Liu. Ms Luo was honoured with the Best Student Poster Award of HK$1,000 and a certificate for her work entitled “BLE and PDR integration for seamless positioning system under GNSS challenged environment“. She is supervised by Prof. Wu Chen.

An Asian-Pacific conference focusing on GNSS technologies and applications, the annual event provides a platform for academia and industry to share and discuss new ideas and the latest developments. Approximately 180 participants from Asia, Australia, Europe, North America attended the Symposium, which consisted of 12 oral presentations and a poster session. More details of the Symposium are at http://event.lsgi.polyu.edu.hk/ISGNSS2017/index.html.

A recent PhD graduate of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), Dr Biyan Chen, has been awarded the prestigious Zhu Kezhen Prize from the Hong Kong Meteorological Society (HKMS). Established to commemorate the outstanding service of its founding Chairman, Mr Patrick Sham Pak, to HKMS and in honour of the distinguished Chinese meteorologist, Zhu Kezhen, the prize includes a certificate and HK$1,000.

Dr Biyan Chen is the first recipient of the prize from PolyU and the eighth recipient since it was first given in 1999. Given to a meritorious publication in the field of meteorology identified in the preceding year, the prize honours Dr Chen and his former supervisor, Dr George Liu, for their 2016 paper in the American Geophysical Union’s Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, entitled “Global water vapor variability and trend from the latest 36 years (1979 to 2014) data of ECMWF and NCEP reanalyses, radiosonde, GPS, and microwave satellite.”

From 13 to 17 November 2017, the International Reference Ionosphere Workshop was held in Taiwan to train young researchers in the basics of ionospheric monitoring and modelling, online databases of ionospheric ground and space data and web interfaces to ionospheric models. Ms Zhe Yang, a PhD candidate in the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), was chosen to attend with the financial support of the organizer, the Committee on Space Research of the International Council for Science. Not only did she meet other researchers from various countries, she also worked with 3 of them to investigate the ionospheric effects of the solar eclipse on 21 August 2017. Her presentation of their work was honoured with a Silver Prize on the last day of the workshop.

Supervised by Dr George Liu of LSGI, Ms Yang is finishing her PhD studies investigating ionospheric scintillations near the equatorial anomalous region using ground- and space-based ionospheric data.

A postdoctoral fellow was recently approved for funding in the FCE Postdoctoral Fellowships Scheme. Details are as follows: