Donor
Ir Yau Kwok-fai
A graduate with a Higher Diploma and a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering from Hong Kong Polytechnic, Ir Yau Kwok-fai obtained a Diploma and a Master of Science degree in Structural Steel Design by Imperial College London and the University of London respectively in 1991. A civil and structural engineer by profession, he is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Able Engineering Holdings Limited.
Holding fast to his belief in the necessity of "giving back to one's alma mater, honouring one's teachers, supporting teaching and research, and leading by example", Mr Yau has remained ever responsive to the development needs of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). In 2015, he facilitated the establishment of the Endowed Professorship in Sustainable Structures and Materials with a generous donation from Vantage Charity Foundation. The Endowed Professorship is named after lr Professor Ko Jan-ming, former Vice President and Chair Professor of Structural Engineering of the University, as Mr Yau's tribute to Professor Ko for his guidance.
In 2017, Mr Yau set up on his own behalf another Endowed Professorship in support of PolyU's research in Structural Engineering. To pay homage to the guidance of his teachers from Kwun Tong Government Secondary Technical School, currently known as Kwun Tong Kung Lok Government Secondary School, this Endowed Professorship is named after the following four teachers: Mr Yim Kwong-yung, Ms Mak Suk-hing, Mr Kwok Hei-leung and Ms Chung Wai-fan.
With these Endowed Professorships, Mr Yau wishes to honour such model teachers' selfless dedication to their students and their great contributions to society.
Appointee
Ir Professor Ni Yiqing
Ir Professor Ni Yiqing, currently Director of National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering Technology Research Centre (Hong Kong Branch), and Chair Professor of Smart Structures and Rail Transit in PolyU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, earned his BSc degree in Structural Engineering and MSc degree in Structural Dynamics from Zhejiang University, and his PhD degree in Structural Dynamics from PolyU.
Professor Ni takes great interest in various research endeavours in the realms of structural science and rail engineering, ranging from smart materials and structures, structural health monitoring, and structural dynamics and control, to sensors and actuators, and high-speed rail and maglev safety. A prolific researcher with more than 200 papers published on leading journals indexed by Science Citation Index and Web of Science Core Collection, and over 320 conference papers, Professor Ni also serves as the Vice President of International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure, a member of Board of Directors of International Association for Structural Control and Monitoring, and an Executive Board Member of Asian-Pacific Network of Centres for Research in Smart Structures Technology.
In addition, Professor Ni was named SHM Person of the Year 2017 by the journal Structural Health Monitoring and garnered 2016 State Scientific and Technological Progress Award (Second Class) in China. He won both a Gold Medal and a Grand Prize twice at the International Exhibitions of Invention, New Techniques and Products in Geneva, Switzerland in 2009 and 2013.
