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ASTRI Team Visited JC STEM Lab of Earth Observations for Potential Collaborations

The core members from Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) visited the JC STEM Lab of Earth Observations (JC STEM Lab) and discussed with the principal investigator – Prof. Qihao Weng and some major lab members about the potential collaborations on 6th Feb, 2023. ASTRI was founded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong’s competitiveness through applied research. Over the years, ASTRI has nurtured a pool of research, I&T talents and received numerous international awards for its pioneering innovations as well as outstanding business and community contributions. ASTRI has recently set up a framework for cultivating the university technology transfer and collaboration ecosystem. Under the initiative, ASTRI will pursue opportunities to apply funding to do joint projects with universities. With the aim of discovering potential collaboration opportunities with our lab, a total of six core members from ASTRI’s University Tech Transfer Committee, led by Ms. Priscilla YEUNG discussed with Prof. Weng and lab members. The project meeting was led by Prof. Qihao Weng, Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence and Global STEM Scholar at LSGI, and Director of JC STEM Lab at PolyU. Ir Professor Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU, Chair Professor of Thermal and Environmental Engineering, attended the meeting and gave an opening speech on behalf of the university. Prof. Wu Chen, Head of LSGI, and Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Director of Research Institute of Land and Space, also attended the meeting. Other participated members included: Dr. Zhiwei Li (Research Assistant Professor), Dr. Cheolhee Yoo (Research Assistant Professor), Dr. Qiming Zheng (Research Assistant Professor), and Dr. Jessie Jia (Postdoc Fellow). Participants introduced their research field and how they can work hand in hand with ASTRI to cultivate a vibrant ecosystem. In the meeting, Prof. Weng introduced the focus areas of the JC STEM Lab with eleven examples of research: (1) Apartment/house vacancy estimation; (2) Building energy efficiency; (3) Nighttime lighting safety; (4) Accident surveillance; (5) Lighting sources discrimination and pollution monitoring; (6) Bird monitoring for biodiversity conservation; (7) Land cover and land use mapping; (8) Vegetation carbon uptake monitoring; (9) Extreme heat waves and vulnerability; (10) Public health concerns constrained by environmental factors; and (11) Urban Flood Hazard Monitoring and risk assessment. The ASTRI members showed sincere interest in the research areas of the JC STEM Lab. Mr. Andy Lam introduced the opportunities for future collaborations. Ms. Priscilla YEUNG explained such collaborations in much detail, e.g., the function that ASTRI plays in the collaborations, the kind of support they can provide, and the expected outcomes, as well as the foci of immediate research collaboration. Other ASTRI members provided additional information related to the collaboration. Through the in-depth discussions between ASTRI’s University Tech Transfer Committee and the JC STEM Lab at PolyU, more collaborations and business opportunities are expected in the near future.

LSGI student shines in the Universities Rowing Championships

Our Higher Diploma (HD) Second Year Student, Nimbus Kwun Ho TSANG, represents PolyU participating the Hong Kong Universities Rowing Championships 2022 held on 25 December 2022. Together with a first-year undergraduate student, Anakin Chun Hei CHAN from BRE, they took the first place in the Heat round, and 2nd runner up in the Final in the Men’s double sculls event. Nimbus is also the class representative of the HD programme in LSGI.   

LSGI Career Talk 2023

To share the latest career opportunities in various related disciplines for undergraduate and master’s degree students, the LSGI Career Talk 2023 was successfully held on 13 Jan 2023, at PolyU Campus. Ir Dr Wallace Lai, Associate Head in Teaching and Associate Professor, welcomed our guest speakers and kicked start the seminar with admission information for senior place of our bachelor's progrmame in 2023/24. Prior to this talk, we also invited the representatives from Survey and Mapping Office of Lands Department to give sharing on career opportunities and path in land surveying at the Government during another classes. In this Career Talk, we invited 4 guests from public and private sectors to share their jobs and related career opportunities. Speakers included: Ms. KO Mun-wah, Connie, Chief Survey Officer, Planning Department, HKSAR Government; Mr. CHEUNG Ho-tim, Alfred, Survey Officer, Planning Department, HKSAR Government; Ms Yvonne Cheu, Executive Director and Technical Director, GIS, Innovative Solutions Department, AECOM Ltd.; and Ms Phoebe Sze, BIM Manager, CHAIN Technology Development Co. Ltd. Speakers shared their company development, career path and recruitment tips. Speakers stayed after the talk to have group chat with our students. Thank you to all speakers for their sharing.

Training for Malaysia Land Surveyor Board

Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) received a delegation of six top-rank Malaysian land surveyors from Board of Land Surveyor Malaysia during 10-16 November 2022 and 9 – 13 January 2023. The purpose of the visit is to attend the 2-phase underground utility survey training at Q-Leak of Water Supplies Department of HKSAR Government, conducted by Ir Dr. Wallace Lai of LSGI, his research team, and several overseas/local trainers from the academia/industry. In addition to theatrical training and practical demonstration, the training included two courtesy visits to Survey and Mapping Office of Lands Department and Hong Kong Accreditation Services of the HKSAR Government. The 10-day training does not only foster knowledge transfer and information exchange but also accelerates future collaboration between Hong Kong and Malaysia on the underground utility survey matters from perspectives ranging from practice, innovation technologies, management and tech-driven policy & legal framework.

2022 Dean's Honours List

We are glad to announce that 11 students from LSGI have earned a place in the Dean's Honours List of the Faculty of Construction and Environment at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. These students have been recognized for their outstanding academic performance during the 2021/2022 academic year. BSc (Hons) in Land Surveying and Geo-informatics (34478) FONG Tung Sum HUI Man Kwong HUNG Ling Sum LAU Chung Tung LEUNG Lok Hei MAO Hoi Ching Jacqueline WONG Tsz Chung XU Yi Nam BSc (Hons) in Land Surveying and Geo-informatics (34478-SY) TANG Justin Hayse Chi Wing G. WU Kin Wai HD in Land Surveying and Geo-informatics (34379) YUEN Chi Chung We would like to extend our warmest congratulations to all the recipients on their outstanding academic achievements. The full list of recipients can be found at here. We are proud of our students and wish them continued success in their academic pursuits.

HKIE Delegation and FCE Alumni visit LSGI

On 9 Jan 2023, LSGI received 2 delegations, 39 members from Hong Kong Institution of Engineers – ITD and 40 members from FCE alumni group. The first delegation was led by Ir Ricky Kwong, Chairman of IT Division while the second delegation composed PolyU alumni from different departments led by AAO colleagues. Tours to 2 laboratories of LSGI was arranged: i. Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics (Smart City Lab) (ZN607) ii. Remote Sensing Laboratory (ZB213) Professor John Shi, gave demonstration on research output at Smart City Lab while Professor Charles Wong, shared the applications and key research facilities in Remote Sensing Lab. The lab tours provided good opportunities to visitors to understand the latest research development in Smart Cities and Remote Sensing of LSGI. Valuable exchange of idea was also conducted among visitors and 2 laboratory-in-charges.

LSGI Research Retreat 2023

The first LSGI Research Retreat was held on 3 Jan and 4 Jan 2023 at the Hong Kong Ocean Park Marriott Hotel. Prof. Wu Chen, Head of LSGI, kicked off the retreat with a welcome speech for the 1.5-day event. Following the welcome speech, Prof. Bo Wu, Departmental Research Committee Chairman, provided an overview of the departmental research performance, which covered research performance in recent years, the new policy on PhD student recruitment, academic staff appraisal and Mock RAE 2016. After that, Prof. George Liu, Dr Shuo Wang and Dr Yang Xu shared their progress reports on LSGI Collaborative Research Projects respectively, followed by Q&A session. The second day of the retreat focused on Collaborative Research Topics. Some colleagues were invited to present their ideas on proposed research direction. The following presentations were given in the morning session: Data Driven Approach for Better Mitigating Impacts of Geohazards by Prof. Xiaoli Ding Research Opportunities in Urban Informatics by Prof. John Shi Carbon Emissions and Sinks: Geospatial AI Approaches to Urban- and Nature-based Solutions by Prof. Qihao Weng Global and Regional Sea Level Rise by Prof. Jianli Chen In the afternoon session, all staff were divided into 4 groups for discussion under group leaders and representatives from each group gave sharing on their views and suggestions on further development in the topic. It was a valuable occasion for staff to exchange ideas and interact with each other. We look forward to more collaborative research projects by our colleagues to come.

LSGI holds smart city competitions for secondary school students

The Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) holds an Innovative for Smart City Competition for senior secondary school students in 2023. A seminar for introduction of smart city development in Hong Kong was held on 17 Dec 2022 (Sat) at PolyU. It is a great honor to invite three representatives from different government departments to share the latest development with the audience. Secondary school teachers and students from different schools joined the seminar and raise their questions on competition.   Topic and speakers of the seminar: Overview of Smart City Blueprint 2.0 by Ms. Cari WU Chief Systems Manager (Smart City), Office of the Government Chief Information Officer, HKSAR Government Smart Mobility Development in Hong Kong by Ir Mr. Clarence CHENG Chief Engineer/Smart Mobility, Transport Department, HKSAR Government 3D Digital Map for Smart City Development by Mr. CHEUNG Wing-kai, Alvin Senior Land Surveyor, Survey and Mapping Office, Lands Department, HKSAR Government Towards Future Smart Cities by Professor John Wen-zhong SHI Chair Professor, Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, Director, Otto Poon C. F. Smart Cities Research Institute, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University   Group in 3 to 4 students in secondary 3 to 6 with a supervising teacher are welcome to join the competition. The initial topic submission should be submitted by 13th Jan 2023 with topic, category and description. The judging panel will give some comment on students’ submissions by end Feb, students can then further develop their idea and prepare their final submission, a powerpoint file with no more than 10 slides and 5 min supporting video. Finalist teams will be invited to give presentation by Jun 2023. The winning team, including a teaching, can join the smart city study tour to Singapore in 2023. Don’t miss the chance to share your innovative idea.   More details: Innovation for Smart City Competition

International Graduate Workshop on Geoinformatics 2022

The International Graduate Workshop on Geoinformatics 2022 was successfully held online on December 5-6. IGWG 2022 was hosted by the Department of Land Surveying and Geoinformatics (LSGI), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and co-organized by the Institute of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (IRSGIS), Peking University, and the State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Survey, Mapping and Remote Sensing (LIESMARS), Wuhan University. Thanks to the enthusiastic support and active engagement of staff, students and researchers, the number of participants in the VooV meeting and live streaming platform has surpassed 10,000 times. Prof. LIU Zhizhao (Associate Head of LSGI) hosted the opening ceremony of IGWG 2022 and introduced the distinguished participants. Then Prof. CHEN Wu (Head of LSGI) offered the welcome address for the workshop, followed by the guest address delivered by Prof. HUANG Zhou (Vice Director of IRSGIS) and Prof. WU Huayi (Vice Director of LIESMARS). Dr. Bridget Scanlon, a Senior Research Scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, kicked off the workshop with an excellent keynote address. The workshop consisted of seven sessions, and a total of 56 research graduate students did wonderful sharing. Moreover, the research students involved in many in-depth discussions with senior professors and young faculty representatives in geoscience area. There are lots of fruitful interactions with the audience in the Q&A part. During the round table session, outstanding student representatives and excellent young faculty representatives deeply discussed cutting-edge science questions and shared their research experiences. Next, Prof. CHEN Wu delivered a concluding address and presented awards to the outstanding presenters of the workshop at the closing ceremony. Finally, Prof. LIU Zhizhao declared the successful close of IGWG2022 and thanked all the faculty and students for their participation.

LSGI funded by ITF for technology promotion on unfolding the lost WWII heritage in HK

How many WWII heritage and brave stories are still hidden and buried in Hong Kong’s forests and natural terrain? Wartime heritages and histories are whittled away elsewhere but innovative geo-spatial and geophysical technologies can unfold and sustain their legacy. Ir Dr. Wallace Lai and Dr. Yan Wai Yeung from LSGI have obtained a $4.75M Innovation Technology Fund (ITF) to develop and promote airborne and terrestrial geo-spatial/geophysical technologies as a means on baseline assessment on wartime archaeology and subsequent historical interpretation. Other team members of the ITF project include historians, archaeologists, forensic anthropologists, geologists, and geomorphologist from Hong Kong Baptist University, The University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The 2-year project "Unfolding the lost WWII heritage: promotion of geo-spatial and geophysical technologies" will start in Jan 2023. It is supported by five Government departments/bureau (AFCD, LandsD, WSD, CEDD and CSTB), and an industrial in-kind sponsor Camptopia, a campsite in Fanling which will provide venue for the Art-Tech exhibition "Lest we forget: The 80th Anniversary of WWII in HK reconstructed by Art-Tech". Through a variety of public engagement activities, we look forward to the development and promotion of the technologies to be blended in an holistic Art-Tech approach for historical interpretation, heritage conservation & tourism, and STEAM education.