Emeritus Professor

Brief Biosketch

Prof. Lee is Emeritus Professor of Manufacturing Engineering of the Department of the Industrial and Systems Engineering, Former Head of State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology, and Former Director of the Knowledge Management and Innovation Research Centre. Prof. Lee had been the President of the Asian-Pacific Symposium on Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (ASPEN), served as ex-Chairman of the Staffing Committee of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, Past President of the Institution of Electrical Engineers Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Association of the Advancement of Science and Technology. Apart from serving on editorial boards of many international journals, Prof. Lee is the editor in chief of the Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems. He has pioneered the research in Dispersed Network Manufacturing in the Mainland since 1997. In 2000, he was supported by Microsoft (HK) to set up the Digital Factory and subsequently the PolyU-Microsoft Enterprise Systems Centre in both logistics engineering and knowledge engineering. He has also pioneered the research and practice of knowledge management and technologies in various organizations which include manufacturing, public utilities, and various government departments.

Teaching and Research Specialties

His teaching and research interests include advanced manufacturing technology, materials processing, ultra-precision machining, manufacturing strategy and knowledge management. Professor WB Lee has pioneered the studies of mesoplasticity modeling and its applications in ultra-precision machining research. He established the Ultra-precision Machining Centre (UMC) in 1996 and the Advanced Optics Manufacturing Centre in 2003 which is the first of its kind in Hong Kong and mainland China to be engaged in the promotion and application of ultra-precision machining technology for precision mould and advanced optics industries. In 2009, the Centre has been approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China as the Hong Kong State Key Laboratory in Ultra-precision Machining Technology.

Honours and Awards

Prof. Lee received the honorary title of Cheng Yi-Chi Chair of Manufacturing Engineering. He and his team had been conferred the 2000 President Team Award of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for the contribution in ultra-precision machining and advanced optics manufacture. Three international awards, the Grand International Press Prize, the Gold Medal and the Award of High Scientific and Technological Level of the Invention, have been granted in the “36th Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions, New Techniques and Products” in 2008. His work on virtual manufacturing engineering also received the 50 Anniversary Merit Paper Award of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society. In 2009, Prof. Lee and his team has been awarded the Second Class Technology Progress Award in Ultra-precision Machining of Free-Form Optics and its Applications from the Ministry of Education, China. In 2011, He received the Outstanding PolyU Alumni Award from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Publications

Prof. Lee has published four research books as well as more than 250 papers in international referred journals. According to ISI Web of Science, Prof. Lee had been ranked as the world’s top 1% scientists with the highest citation in the field of materials engineering, and in terms of the number of worldwide publications he had been ranked 1st place in ultra precision machining, 12th in Knowledge Systems Technologies.