Thanks to Supporters

Toy industry leader supports PolyU to realise the potential of Smart Robotics

Toy industry leader Ir Dr Wong Tit-shing, an outstanding alumnus of PolyU and University Fellow, is a fervent supporter of PolyU. Having supported PolyU’s Service-Learning projects with his generous donation for decades, Dr Wong recently further his effort by setting up an Endowed Young Scholar to pledge his dedication to support the research in Smart Robotics and making it the fourth Endowed Young Scholar since the Scheme was launched last year. Dr Wong saw great potentials in the future development of Smart Robotics, “Smart robotics have been not only the most essential elements to take the toy industry to the next level, thanks to PolyU, advanced development in Smart Robotics is in fact but also helping us to enhance human-robotic collaboration for the good of human kind. It can improve quality of human’s lives in the long run”. Dr Zheng Pai, with his tremendous achievements in Smart Robotics, has been appointed as Wong Tit Shing Young Scholar in Smart Robotics. In his five-year renewable appointment, Dr Zheng will make good use of the annual funding from the Endowed Young Scholar Scheme, to experiment and actualise ideas, however small they may be, have the chance to be turned into big impactful products. Dr Zheng, Assistant Professor of Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Lab-in-Charge of Digitalized Service Laboratory, and Leader of PolyU’s Research Group of AI for Industrial Digital Servitization, focusses his research on human-robot collaboration, smart product-service systems, and smart manufacturing systems. He sincerely thanks Dr Wong’s for his trust and support, “The appointment of an Endowed Young Scholar is a valuable recognition and support to me and my team’s efforts in the exploration of Smart Robotics. The research will contribute to achieving a symbiotic and proactive human-robot collaboration towards futuristic smart manufacturing.”  We welcome like-minded philanthropies to join hands with PolyU to create powerful impact through the Endowed Young Scholars Scheme. Please contact AADO or browse the Scheme website for more information.

PolyU partners with Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation and Keswick Foundation to promote service-learning in secondary schools

PolyU will launch a three-year research project entitled, “Capacity Building Scheme for Secondary School Teachers: Promoting Meaningful Social Engagement for Young People through Service-Learning”, with a generous donation from Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation and Keswick Foundation. Through our extensive experience in implementing service-learning (SL), the Capacity Building Scheme aims to promote “academic service-learning” in secondary school education through equipping school teachers with essential attitude, knowledge and skills, and ultimately promote meaningful social engagement for young people as well as enhance their academic learning. The project finds its root in the complex issues related to the education of youth in Hong Kong over the last several decades. Students are often stressed with their exam-oriented school life, and fail to see the meaningful linkage between academic knowledge and their real-life application. To this end, we wish to introduce service-learning to secondary school students as a means to discover the meaning of study through applying their knowledge to serve the community. A multi-disciplinary team co-led by Prof. Daniel Shek, Associate Vice President (Undergraduate Programme), Li & Fung Professor in Service Leadership Education and Chair Professor of Department of Applied Social Sciences and Dr Grace Ngai, Head of Service-Learning and Leadership Office and Associate Professor of Department of Computing, aims to empower secondary school teachers with a systematic professional training and development package about the benefits and challenges of SL, how to develop and sustain community partnership, design, implementation and assessment of SL. This project is expected to benefit over 100 secondary schools, 500 teachers, 600 secondary school students, and over 2,000 service recipients.

PolyU’s supporter joins hands with the University to advance research on aerospace technology

The Endowed Professorship Scheme recognises the achievements of world-renowned researchers in their specialised discipline to create societal impact for the betterment of mankind. The newly established Fiona Cheung Endowed Professorship in Spatial Science is a great example to showcase the community's recognition of PolyU's research achievements. “Scientific research is a meaningful job and it takes us on a journey towards unknown territories and makes the world better. The Endowed Professorship definitely inspires me to think out of the box and explore new ideas.” Prof. Wu Bo, Fiona Cheung Professor in Spatial Science Professor Wu Bo, Associate Head (Research) and Professor of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, is the appointee of Fiona Cheung Professor in Spatial Science. Prof. Wu has been practicing his expertise in surveying in several National Space exploration missions, playing a key role in making great space discoveries. Prof. Wu had developed innovative 3D topographic mapping and geomorphological analysis techniques which contributed to the landing site mapping and selection for China’s Chang’E-3, Chang’E-4, Chang’E-5 lunar missions, and the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars. Other than space missions, another outstanding achievement of Prof. Wu was the innovation of “Novel Integrated 3D Mapping Model” in 2016. Reforming from the two major traditional 3D mapping techniques of photogrammetry using satellite/aerial imagery and laser scanning, the innovative model integrates multi-platform satellite/aerial imagery and laser scanning data. Fiona Cheung Professorship in Spatial Science was endowed by Ms Fiona Cheung Sum-yu, Chairman of Forest Zone Limited. Ms Cheung has been a keen supporter of PolyU and is currently a member of the Governing Committee of PolyU Foundation and the University Fellow, providing invaluable advice to support fundraising and outreach effort of the University. She is also a Convenor of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Nanjing, and has been actively engaging herself in community service and philanthropic activities in Hong Kong and the Nation. Ms Cheung is proud of Prof Wu’s dedication and significant contributions to the National Space Mission and wishes to establish the Endowed Professorship to encourage young scholars to follow the footstep of Prof. Wu in devoting his career to research and innovation, making positive contributions to the development of the Nation and the world. We hope like-minded philanthropists will witness the powerful impact of the Endowed Professorship Scheme in the appointment of the aforesaid professorships. Please contact Alumni Affairs and Development Office or browse the Scheme website for more information.

Town and gown partnership to improve patients’ quality of life by advancing research on pain management

The Endowed Professorship Scheme connects like-mind philanthropists and PolyU to join hands to drive new discoveries and breakthroughs in the research discipline that they mutually value. With the aim of alleviating pain among patients to greatly improve their quality of life, Peter Hung Endowed Professorship in Pain Management has been established to support the research works of a renowned PolyU researcher and practitioner. “The Endowed Professorship is an encouragement that truly fuels my academic passion. I believe more people will benefit from further research on pain management.” Prof. Amy Fu, Peter Hung Professor in Pain Management Professor Amy Fu, Associate Head of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Director of PolyU Rehabilitation Clinic, is the appointee of Peter Hung Professor in Pain Management. Prof. Fu’s endeavours in pain study range from serving elite athletes to frail seniors, from pain mechanisms to management, and from academic research to clinical practice. She implements state-of-the-art approaches to study muscles, tendon and joints, and explores how exercise and physiotherapy enhance healing and relieve pain. Apart from conducting researches, Professor Fu also provides hands-on treatments to patients. She has been consistently invited by the National Sports Bureau of the Mainland China to oversee rehabilitation therapy plans for national athletes. Peter Hung Endowed Professorship in Pain Management is endowed by H H Hung Charitable Foundation, which was founded by Mr Peter Hung Hak-hip, Honorary Chairman of Hop Hing Group, an industry-leading enterprise specialising in food processing, distribution and retail. The Foundation wishes to support talented researchers like Prof. Fu, who contribute to the advancements in pain medicine and pain treatment, while looking forward to the emergence of innovative, effective and affordable treatments that alleviate pain among patients and greatly improve their quality of life. We hope like-minded philanthropists will witness the powerful impact of the Endowed Professorship Scheme in the appointment of the aforesaid professorships. Please contact Alumni Affairs and Development Office or browse the Scheme website for more information.

PolyU receives generous support from Lee Wan Keung Charity Foundation to nurture the next generation of researchers

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has received a generous donation from the Lee Wan Keung Charity Foundation to support the Undergraduate Research and Innovation Scheme (URIS), which provides the opportunity for full-time undergraduate students to conduct research projects under the supervision of the University’s scholars, and to develop their high-order thinking skills, such as logical, creative and critical thinking. A URIS - Student Sharing Session held on 29 December 2021 was graced by the presence of Ms Rosanna Lee, Director of Lee Wan Keung Charity Foundation. Other participants from PolyU included: Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President; Dr Miranda Lou, Executive Vice President; Prof. Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation); Prof. Jiannong Cao, Dean of Graduate School and Head of College of Undergraduate Researchers and Innovators (CURI); Prof. Christina Wong, Associate Dean of Graduate School; Dr Horace Mui, Residential College Master of CURI; and chief supervisors of research projects. Nine students from the departments of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, Building Environment and Energy Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and School of Optometry shared their research projects and learning experiences with the guests. PolyU President, Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, extended his sincerest gratitude to Lee Wan Keung Charity Foundation for the generous support to the University and this Scheme, and is deeply grateful for joining hands with the Foundation to nurture the next generation of researchers and innovators. PolyU has launched the URIS for the 2021/22 academic year. Close to 200 undergraduate students have been selected to conduct individual or group research that last for up to two years for the first cohort of the Scheme. The University will provide a range of support for students enrolling on the Scheme, which combines knowledge application and innovative ideas, including training, seminars, and exchange with professors and expertise from different disciplines, as well as scholarships and small research grants. In addition, participating students will be automatically admitted to the College of Undergraduate Researchers and Innovators (CURI). They will also have priority admission to the new Residential College of CURI. Through the URIS, the University hopes to nurture a significant number of graduates with the interest and commitment to go on to pursue research, with a view to enhancing technological innovation capabilities for the advancement of Hong Kong and beyond.

Wofoo Foundation supports students’ holistic education and research on youth and elderly

On 15 November, PolyU held an appreciation luncheon to express its gratitude to Wofoo Foundation for the generous donation to support university development, nurturance of students’ leadership training and Service-Learning, and applied research projects on the well-being of young people and elderly initiated by the Department of Applied Social Sciences and the Institute of Active Ageing. Professor Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU, extended his heartfelt appreciation to Dr Joseph Lee, GBS, OStJ, JP, Founder and Chairman of Wofoo Foundation, for his staunch support to the University over the years. The donation has not only enabled PolyU to nurture students to become responsible global citizens and tomorrow’s leaders, but also to make a positive impact on youth and elderly well-being.

Appreciation Meeting for Scholarship and Bursary Donors 2020/21

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) arranged appreciation meetings via Zoom web-conferencing to thank donors who have set up scholarships and/ or bursaries for students in the academic year 2020/21. In 2020/21, PolyU received over HK$14.2 million from around 603 donors, in the forms of scholarships and bursaries, benefiting over 1,186 students. Scholarship and bursary student recipients extended their heartfelt gratitude to donors during the meetings. This precious gift encourages them to strive for excellence and provide opportunities to fully develop their own abilities. Certificates of appreciation were presented to donors who have supported the University’s scholarship/bursary scheme for over 15 years. 7 student awardees of the “Dr Ng Tat-lun Memorial Scholarship” joined the Zoom meeting with Ms Irene Ng, daughter of the late Ir Dr Ng Tat-lun, to express their appreciation. Ms Ng thanked PolyU for its enthusiasm for education and has been cultivating many outstanding talents for different industries. She also congratulated the awardees and encouraged them to face the current challenges with gratitude and hope.

PolyU receives staunch support from the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation for the establishment of the Smart Cities Research Institute and the Research Institute for Smart Energy

Thanks to a generous donation from the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation (the Foundation), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has established two research institutes in support of the University’s research endeavours in the areas of smart cities and sustainable energy. The two research institutes are named the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) and the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE) in appreciation of the Foundation’s significant contributions. Officiated by Dr David Chung, Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government, the naming ceremony was held earlier this month. It was attended by Ir Dr Otto Poon Lok-to, Founder of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation, Dr Lam Tai-fai, PolyU’s Council Chairman, Professor Jin-Guang Teng, PolyU’s President and others. In his welcoming remarks, PolyU’s Council Chairman Dr Lam Tai-fai extended his heartfelt gratitude to Ir Dr Otto Poon Lok-to for his long-standing support to PolyU, “Dr Poon is a strong advocate of using innovation and technology to solve societal problems. Smart cities and energy challenges are two topics of great importance to society today. We are excited to join hands with Dr Poon to set up two research institutes focusing on these strategic areas in order to contribute to the further development of Hong Kong, the Nation and the wider international community.” The Under Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Dr David Chung, said that the Government had been collaborating with the two Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institutes in conducting trials and pilots in a number of smart city projects, ranging from the application of urban informatics to smart and sustainable energy, in order to improve the quality of life of our citizens. “The Innovation and Technology Bureau will continue to develop Hong Kong into a smart city and to make space for our local talents to help contribute to the betterment of Hong Kong as well as our country. I urge all of you to take advantage of the opportunities brought about by the National 14th Five-year Plan and development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. There is much to gain from collaboration with our neighbour cities and we have much to learn from each other, especially on the new frontier of smart city development. PolyU, with its outstanding research institutes and academics, will have a big role to play in building Hong Kong into an international I&T hub,” Dr Chung added. Founder of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Ir Dr Otto Poon Lok-to remarked that “the notion of smart cities embraces a wide array of topics. The establishment of SCRI will serve as a catalyst to blend the various elements of smart cities together in order to contribute to the success of Hong Kong’s Smart City Blue Print 2.0.” Ir Dr Poon also raised concerns regarding climate change, and noted that renewable energy and energy storage were two essential research topics. He appreciated PolyU researchers' dedicated commitment to advancing the frontiers of technology and knowledge to cope with energy challenges. Professor Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU, thanked Ir Dr Poon for his unwavering support to PolyU over the years and said “Interdisciplinary collaboration can provide solutions to address societal challenges. Against this backdrop, the University has established the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR), a hub to promote research and innovation across disciplines. To date, ten research institutes and five research centres have been established to offer impactful solutions in areas including land and space creation, smart ageing, advanced manufacturing, smart cities, smart energy and more.” Established in 2020, SCRI and RISE will bring together PolyU experts from diversified fields to develop impactful interdisciplinary research. SCRI aims at being a global centre of excellence in urban informatics and a living smart cities laboratory for Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in order to promote smart cities development in Hong Kong and in the country. Its research focus areas include Smart Mobility, Smart Living, Smart Environment, Smart People, Smart Government, and Smart Economy. SCRI is collaborating with some of the world’s top universities including the University of Cambridge and University College London, as well as major industrial players to develop innovative solutions. SCRI’s innovations have received worldwide recognition and won two Gold Medals at 2021 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days and two prizes in the 2021 Smart 50 Awards. RISE strives to pursue translational research on innovative solutions for energy-related problems. Its five research focus areas include District Energy Systems and Smart Grid, Smart Buildings and Smart Energy Systems, Advanced Energy Storage Technologies, Advanced and Renewable Energy Conversion Technologies, and Advanced Energy Materials. RISE’s world-class research has been recognised in various global research rankings. According to a recent report by Stanford University, 16 RISE members have been listed among the top 2% of scientists in relevant research fields globally, with three members ranking in the top 25 places. In addition, three RISE scholars have been acknowledged in the Highly Cited Researchers 2020 list by Clarivate Analytics. To see some happy moments at the ceremony, please click here. For more details about the research institutes, please visit the respective websites: Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) https://www.polyu.edu.hk/scri/ Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE) https://www.polyu.edu.hk/rise/

PolyU received donation from Yakult for supporting impactful interdisciplinary research in human health

PolyU received a generous donation from Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd. (Yakult) to establish the “PolyU-Yakult Joint Research Laboratory for Probiotics and Prebiotics in Human Health”. A signing ceremony was held on 17 September 2021. During the ceremony, Mr Susumu Tsukamoto, Managing Director of Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd stated that, “The Yakult Group's corporate philosophy is to contribute to the health and happiness of people around the world through pursuit of excellence in life science in general and our research and experience in microorganisms in particular. As Yakult and PolyU share the same philosophy, we truly believe our collaboration will be a great success.” The Joint Research Laboratory is under the PolyU Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood). Dr Wong Ka Hing, Director of RiFood, indicated that the RiFood, newly established in May this year, is committed to facilitate impactful interdisciplinary research in food science and human health. Dr William Tai, Executive Director of the Joint Lab, said that, “The Joint Research Laboratory aims to pursue impactful and cutting-edge research in probiotics and prebiotics for the prevention and treatment of gut and brain diseases and eczema. Evidence-based research will form a basis to increase awareness and understanding amongst the public of probiotics and prebiotics and their intake for personal health, altogether contributing to Hong Kong, the nation and the world.”

Two endowed young scholars contribute to society by means of knowledge transfer

Two early-career and brilliant scholars, Dr Hsu Li-ta, Associate Professor from Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering and Dr Gilman Siu, Associate Professor from Department of Health Technology and Informatics, have recently been appointed Limin Endowed Young Scholars. Both of them have demonstrated strong passion and have proven records in driving innovations that bring positive and long-term changes to society. The Young Scholar titles were conferred upon them in July 2021 in recognition of their contribution in creating benefit to society through knowledge transfer. Dr Hsu has involved in research relating to aerospace navigation since his undergraduate study. He has undertaken numerous collaborative R&D projects on three-dimensional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning for smartphones and intelligent vehicles, which are crucial to highly urbanised cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. Dr Hsu has keen research interests in everything related to GNSS positioning and signal processing, including GNSS real-time kinematic positioning and ways to improve GNSS performance under challenging reception conditions. His contributions to the localisation and navigation of unmanned autonomous systems for drones and unmanned vehicles in smart cities while integrating multiple sensors are also eminent. Dr Gilman Siu, on the other hand, is not a stranger to Hong Kong people in his efforts of battling COVID-19. Dr Siu and the team’s use of their rapid sequencing technique has played a pivotal role in identifying and stopping virus transmission chains of COVID-19 in Hong Kong, providing scientific support for the government to formulate anti-pandemic measures. Dr Siu has been actively engaged in researches related to microbial genomics, encompassing domains such as advanced molecular testing for rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases; genetic mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance and virulence in highly infectious bacteria and viruses (for example, mycobacterium tuberculosis and HIV); and molecular epidemiology of newly emerging infectious agents (like the COVID-19 virus). Dr Hsu is appointed as the Limin Young Scholar in Aerospace Navigation and Dr Siu is appointed as the Limin Young Scholar in Medical Laboratory Science.  “I am deeply honoured by this appointment. I will continue to strive for research excellence, creating impactful and translational benefits for the betterment of society, the Nation and the world.” Dr Hsu Li-ta, Associate Professor, Limin Young Scholar in Aerospace Navigation “The accolade of Endowed Young Scholar is the greatest honor to me ever. I regarded my work on COVID-19 as the duty of a healthcare professional and an academic during the pandemic. I am glad that my research is helpful in establishing health policies and infection control measures.” Dr Gilman Siu, Associate Professor, Limin Young Scholar in Medical Laboratory Science  Limin Endowed Young Scholar positions were established with the donation made by PolyU Technology and Consultancy Company Limited (PTeC), the strategic professional service arm of PolyU. The Chinese words for “Limin”, literally “to benefit the people”, was taken from PolyU’s motto “To learn and to apply, for the benefit of mankind”. The naming serves to reflect the aims of PTeC, and the University’s mission to benefit society by means of knowledge transfer. The donation, together with a contribution from the University, will be put into an endowed fund. Through the Limin Endowed Young Scholars, Dr Hsu and Dr Siu will receive an annual funding generated from the endowed fund to support their research activities. It can also be used as seed funding for the pursuit of ideas with high potential, and the furtherance of their impact to society. PolyU hopes like-minded philanthropies will witness the powerful impact of the Endowed Young Scholars Scheme in the appointment of Limin Endowed Young Scholars. Please contact AADO or browse the Scheme website for more information.