To recognise the achievements of research postgraduate alumni and promote the excellence of research education at PolyU, the Graduate School (GS) organises the PolyU Graduate School Outstanding Research Postgraduate Alumni Award annually.
Recipients of Outstanding Research Postgraduate Alumni Award 2023
Professor LU Weisheng Wilson
Professor and Head, Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong
Doctor of Philosophy 2006, Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE)
Professor Lu joined PolyU as a PhD student in the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) in 2002. His PhD supervisor was Professor Shen Liyin and his research topic was about Chinese construction companies’ competitive strategies. After he obtained his doctoral degree in 2006, Professor Lu joined the University of Reading, UK as a Post-doctoral Fellow. He then returned to Hong Kong and joined the University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2009.
Professor Lu’s research interests focus on two areas: Construction Informatics: Building information modelling, smart construction, big data, and blockchain; and Circular Construction: Management, economics, and public policies. He is the leader of research grants worth HK$60+ million from various prestigious funding regimes. He is the author of two books and more than 200 book chapters and journal papers. He has been ranked as one of the Top 1% Scholar by Clarivate Analytics since 2017.
Currently serving as the Head of the Department of Real Estate and Construction at HKU, Professor Lu is also the Director of iLab@hku, which has made significant breakthroughs in modernising the construction industry in Hong Kong and beyond. He has been the Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Architecture at HKU.
Dr POON Chi-kin Lawrence
Head of Innovative Technology and CEO Advisor of Applied R&D, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI)
Doctor of Philosophy 2004, Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME)
As a leader of innovative technology and advisor of the CEO on the applied R&D in the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI), Dr Poon took the lead in the overall planning and development of ASTRI’s new initiatives in Smart City, Smart Mobility and PropTech R&D. Before joining ASTRI in February 2023, Dr Poon served in the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and Automotive Platforms and Application Systems (APAS) R&D Centre for more than 17 years and managed to grow the R&D team from 9 staff to 140+ scientists and researchers over the past 10 years.
Under Dr Poon's strong leadership, the Smart City Division of HKPC and APAS were set up to steer the applied research activities and commercialization of R&D results in Hong Kong and Greater Bay Area markets with a focus on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Smart Mobility, Electric Vehicles, Autonomous Driving, GeronTech and Metaverse. Dr Poon has won numerous international awards in these areas and he owns more than 10 patents covering a wide range of smart city applications.
Recipient of Outstanding Research Postgraduate Early Career Alumni Award 2023
Dr WANG Lei Leo
"Hundred-Talet Program" Research Fellow, College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University
Doctor of Philosophy 2018, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE)
Dr Wang is a “Hundred-Talent Program” Research Fellow, Doctoral Supervisor, National Excellent Young Scholar (Overseas), and Humboldt Fellow in the College of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University. He obtained his PhD degree from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) of PolyU in 2018.
Dr Wang's research interests include sustainable waste-to-energy technologies, recycling waste into construction materials, CO2 sequestration and mineral utilization. He has published over 80 SCI journal papers in total (with 48 first author or corresponding author papers), including over 70 papers in the Top 10% journals, 5 Hot Papers and 20 Highly Cited Papers, and co-edited two books (over 5400 citations with an h-index of 47, Scopus). He has been selected as the World’s Top 2% Scientist. He has served as an Associate Editor for Soil Use and Manag., Editorial Board for 4 SCI journals, e.g., J. Hazard. Mater., and Guest Editor for 10 SCI journals, e.g., Bioresour. Technol.
Applying research to solve real-world problems is always Dr Wang’s priority. He has developed the carbon-negative climate-smart biochar partition block which was awarded the Silver Medal at the 47th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva.
Once again, let us extend our congratulations to these distinguished alumni who have embodied the transformative potential of research education. They represent the pinnacle of research excellence, and we applaud their outstanding contributions and celebrate their continued success as they inspire future generations of researchers to push the boundaries of knowledge and make a lasting impact on society.
