Dean's Message

Ir Professor HC MAN
Dean
Faculty of Engineering

As we approach the end of another semester, we are proud to share with you the numerous noteworthy achievements of our Faculty, which are highlighted in this newsletter. We are excited to continue building on these accomplishments and achieve even higher through the hard work and dedication of our colleagues and students.

Faculty development

As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance synergy and foster collaboration in teaching and research, we are pleased to announce that the Electrical Engineering (EE) and Electronics and Information Engineering (EIE) departments will be merged to form a new Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) department, effective this July. The merger will create a critical mass by bringing together two departments without reducing staff; provide greater access to resources, such as laboratories; encourage interdisciplinary collaboration; and synergise overlapping research areas, such as photonics. We believe this move will synergize and elevate the strengths of both departments to their fullest potential, particularly in teaching and learning, and scholarly research activities, leading to impactful achievements.

The establishment of the EEE department will strengthen the professional status of academics and research disciplines by producing a robust and larger critical mass to expand activities in various research areas. The new department will leverage opportunities in teaching and research activities, streamline processes, and consolidate and optimize resources for financial and efficiency gains. Existing EE and EIE programmes will continue to be offered, and the titles of the schemes, programmes, and awards will remain the same.

In other news, the Faculty of Engineering has initiated work on a new research institute in Wuxi, Jiangsu province. The PolyU-Wuxi Technology and Innovation Research Institute is the first of its kind to be established by a university in Hong Kong in the vibrant Yangtze River Delta. The Institute will pioneer scientific research and participate in the dynamic development of the Yangtze River Delta. It will also provide doctorate degree training for local industrialists. The five-year cooperation agreement with the Wuxi city government came into effect in January of this year.

Located at the Wuxi Airport Economic Development Zone, the institute comprises a teaching and research facility for the engineering doctorate programme, an advanced research platform for cutting-edge technologies, and an innovation hub for translational research and the incubation of start-ups. This partnership will leverage the synergy between Wuxi's many economic strengths and PolyU's world-leading education and research excellence, as well as foster collaboration between Jiangsu province, Hong Kong, and Macau.

Collaboration in motion

Finally, we are proud to share with you the achievements of the PolyU E-Formula Racing Team, which is an excellent example of collaboration. This team , established in 2015 by nine mechanical engineering students, is the first racing team formed by university students in Hong Kong to participate in the Formula Student Electric China competition.

Today, the team comprises 70 students from various disciplines, including engineering, computing, business, and design. They will travel to Silverstone in the UK, the home of British racing, this summer and mainland China this autumn to compete with the electric racing car they are currently designing and building from scratch.

The international collegiate design and manufacturing competition the team participates in is often referred to as the cradle of automotive engineers. Held globally every year in over 13 countries with more than 570 teams participating, the competition promotes excellence in engineering design and project management skills.

We wish the PolyU E-Formula Racing Team the best of luck as they strive to win support from related industries and sponsors and build the car that finishes first.