2 academics in the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) have been awarded funding for their projects from the Research Grants Council’s Germany/ Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme 2017/18. Dr Hsi-hsien Wei of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) was awarded $85,800 for a project entitled “Assessing and Managing Risk-based Resilience to Climate-change-related Flood Risk in Hong Kong.” His co-investigator is Prof. Scheffran Jurgen of the University of Hamburg. Another FCE colleague, Dr Wei Yao of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), was awarded $71,500 to work on a 2-year project entitled “Construction Site Monitoring Based on 3D Point Clouds Mapped by Different Platforms and Sensors” with Prof. Stilla Uwe of the Technical University of Munich.

The following projects have recently been supported by the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) and the Public Policy Research (PPR) Funding Scheme.

Dr Daniel Tsang of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) has been awarded $2,499,280 from the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) for a project entitled “Enhancing Water Resilience with Blue-Green Infrastructure: A Pilot-scale Study on Bio-retention Systems for Storm-water Harvesting in New Development Areas.” His co-investigators include his colleagues Prof. Xiangdong Li and Prof. Onyx Wai of the same department as well as 3 other non-PolyU staff.

The work of Dr Charles Wong of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) and Dr Vivien Lu of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) on the potential of solar photovoltaic energy in Hong Kong was recently voted the 2nd Runner-up in the Most Favourite PolyU Research News campaign. They received a certificate from Ir Prof. Alex Wai, Vice President (Research Development), on 13 February 2018. More details of the research are at https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/eBulletin/public/issue76/content76/#ra04

A sharing session on how to develop MicroMasters was held on 6 February 2018. Organized by Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean (Teaching), the session featured a guest speaker from PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM), which has been offering credit-bearing massive open online courses (MOOCs) for a number of years. Prof. Hanqin Qiu shared her experiences of promoting SHTM’s Master programmes to potential students in various countries. In attendance were about 20 academics from the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), including Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of FCE. Similar MicroMasters leading to a certificate that can be transferred to a full master degree may be offered by FCE in the future. At present, a MOOC entitled “Introduction to Urban Geo-Informatics” is being offered by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI).

Prof. Xu (left) presenting a souvenir to Prof. Qiu		Prof. Qiu speaking at the session

A seminar for continuing professional development (CPD) was held in the evening of 2 February 2018. Jointly organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Project Management (HKIPM) and the Hong Kong Institute of Construction Managers (HKICM), together with the support of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), the seminar was led by Ms Addie Cheng, an architect by profession and the co-founder/ director of Synergy Biz Group Ltd. Her talk on co-space development in Hong Kong attracted 75 people, most of whom were members of HKIPM and HKICM or BRE graduates. In addition to highlighting the challenges and opportunities in developing co-space projects in Hong Kong, she also shared her experiences of creating co-working and co-living spaces across the territory, including her latest co-living project called Bibliotheque in Mongkok, Kowloon.

A presentation ceremony for the Long Service Awards was held at the Jockey Club Auditorium on 31 January 2018. Among those honoured were 6 staff from the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), 9 staff from the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), and 10 staff from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). To be eligible for the Long Service Award, a staff must have served PolyU for at least 10 years. Staff members are also honoured after they have served 15, 20, 25 and 30 years.

At the Long Service Award Ceremony

On 2 February 2018, about 40 delegates from the Faculty of Engineering of the Muslim University of Indonesia (MUI) in Makassar visited the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) to learn more its departments and its programmes. Led by Mr Hanafi Ashad, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at MUI, they were introduced to FCE and CEE respectively by Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Associate Dean (Partnership) of FCE, and Prof. Siu-lai Chan, Associate Head (Partnership) of CEE, both of whom gave presentations that were comprehensive and informative. Prof. Ding and Prof. Chan also addressed questions from the visitors, who had a chance to tour a few facilities afterwards, including the Fire Engineering Laboratory, the Underground Utility Survey Laboratory, and the Smart Construction Laboratory. It was a rewarding visit for both universities. More exchanges and collaboration between them can be expected in the future.

Prof. Ding (left) presenting a souvenir to Mr Ashad, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at MUI		Dr Wallace Lai introducing the equipment in the Underground Utility Survey Laboratory		The visitors with Prof. Ding and Prof. Chan

A consultative meeting cum briefing session on selection of major was held on 9 February 2018 for students studying the Broad Discipline of Construction and Environment (BDCE). The opening address was delivered by Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean (Teaching), before students separated into 4 groups to meet with the BDCE Academic Advisors to express their views, provide feedback and ask questions about BDCE. Arrangements for selection of a major were introduced by the Broad Discipline Leader, Dr Daniel Chan of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE). This was followed by an introduction of each department/ major respectively by Prof. Onyx Wai for the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Dr Daniel Chan for BRE, Dr Horace Mui for the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), and Prof. John Shi for the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI). A Q&A session on major selection was subsequently conducted for students to have their questions answered before they declare their major choices by the end of February 2018. It was an informative event for all concerned.

Prof. Shen delivering the opening address		The FCE academics at the briefing session

To promote student exchanges and encourage more students to spend some time studying abroad, a sharing session on student exchange was held on 12 February 2018. Organized by the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), the session attracted more than 50 students. Dr Patrick Fong, Associate Head (Partnership) of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), gave a presentation highlighting the many reasons for venturing overseas to experience university life on a different campus. He also dispelled some popular myths surrounding the idea of student exchange. His emphasis on personal growth during the exchange experience was echoed by a final-year student from the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), Mr Bingnan Li, who spent the fall semester of 2017 as an exchange student at the University of Pittsburgh in the United States. In addition to sharing his experience of studying overseas, Mr Li also helped to answer some questions from the audience. It is hoped more students will seize the opportunity to go on exchange before they graduate.

Dr Fong giving a presentation		Mr Li at the sharing session

A presentation ceremony for the Outstanding Student Awards 2017 was held on 26 February 2018. Prof. Timothy W. Tong, President of PolyU, presented the certificates for the awards, which recognize the achievements of full-time final-year students who have excelled in both academic and non-academic pursuits during their studies. The Outstanding Student Award of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) went to Mr Dachi Chen, who also won a similar award from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Other FCE students receiving the Outstanding Student Award of a Department were Mr Ka Tsun Cheng of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Mr Chun Yin Kwok of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), and Mr Yi Nok Lee of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI).

At the Presentation Ceremony

A career talk jointly organized by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) and the executive committee of the LSGI Students’ Society was held on 26 January 2018. After a welcome address and introduction from Ir Dr Wallace Lai, the BSc programme leader, students heard from a few alumni and industry representatives, including Sr Kenny Chan from the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS), Ms Iris Choi and Sr Raymond Choi from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Ms Ellis Tong from Esri China (Hong Kong) Ltd. and Ms Pinky Lee from Castco Testing Centre Ltd. Sharing their work experiences and career paths in LSGI, the speakers provided much insight into the job prospects in fields like land surveying, geo-information technology, and underground utility surveying for future LSGI graduates. Students also had a chance to learn about the different routes to membership in professional organizations.

A 2017 PhD graduate of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Dr Boluwatife Abidoye Rotimi, has joined the Faculty of Built Environment at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia as a Lecturer of Property and Development. Dr Rotimi was a recipient of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship in 2014 under the supervision of Ir Prof. Albert P. C. Chan, Head of BRE. His PhD research focused on accuracy in property valuation and he intends to focus on housing supply and real estate theory and practice in the future. He recently passed the professional assessment to be a chartered valuation surveyor and became a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.