News

LSGI undergraduate students receive HSBC Scholarships 2021/22

Since 1965, the HSBC Scholarships have been supporting tertiary students in Hong Kong through different scholarship schemes, so as to help them unleash their potential and contribute to the society. Among the 26 PolyU undergraduate students who have been awarded scholarships under the HSBC flagship scholarship schemes 2021/22, two are from LSGI. The awardees are recognised not only for their outstanding academic performance, but also for their substantial community service and strong leadership ability. The LSGI awardees are: Scholarship scheme Awardee HSBC Hong Kong Scholarship 2021/22 Yi Nam Xu, BSc (Hons) Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics HSBC Vocational Education Scholarship 2021/22 Ka Wai Wong, Higher Diploma in Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics   (Photos and source from FCE e-bulletin issue 142)

People's Republic of China Ten Thousand People's Scheme

Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Faculty of Land Science & Technology of China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (CUGB) have succeeded in acquiring a collaborative project under People’s Republic of China Ten Thousand People’s Scheme 2021 (萬人計劃) from Ministry of Education to promote and advance the undergraduate and master education, research interests as well as collaboration between the two universities. Prof. George LIU and Dr. Xiaolin ZHU officiated the online opening ceremony on behalf of LSGI on 2 Aug 2022. The weeklong online seminars on 2 to 6 Aug 2022 covered public talks by Ir. Dr. Wallace Wai Lok LAI, Dr. Xiaolin ZHU, Dr. Xintao LIU, Dr. Shuo WANG, Dr. Wei YAO, Dr. Yang XU and Mr. Nelson CHAN from LSGI which attracted more than 2,800 audiences through Zoom and Bilibili. LSGI also took the change to introduce our BSc and MSc programmes. The Ten Thousand People's Scheme provides experiential learning opportunities for students from the Mainland China and Hong Kong.  Through short courses, research projects, internships, academic competitions, service learning activities and visits, the scheme seeks to promote exchanges between higher learning institutions of the two places and enhance their students’ understanding of the country. On the last day, students from these two universities gave presentations on what they have learnt and gained in the past five days and shared their research projects. With our deepest gratitude to CUGB, the scheme has provided a notably eye-opening experience to all the participants. After this fruitful journey, we look forward to exploring more collaborations with mainland professionals.

LSGI Orientation Day 2022

On 24 August 2022, LSGI Orientation Day was held successfully for all undergraduate and master programmes freshmen of LSGI in face-to-face format. Prof. Wu Chen, Professor and Head of LSGI, welcomed the students and gave introduction of department, as well as introduced our academic, teaching and supporting staff to all the students. The orientation day was held online for the last two years due to the epidemic. This semester, face-to-face classes will resume at PolyU and we have chance to meet our students in person. To have a good starting for the new semester, in addition to programme introduction by co-responding programme leaders, we also invited representatives from Library and office of general university requirement to give sharing for students. Miss Deana Xu, our BSc Year 4 student, shared some tips for new students on how to utilize different resources and enjoy their fruitful university time. Bachelor degree’s students also met their academic advisors at the break-out session. We hope all students received this useful information to plan their study ahead, so as to enjoy a wonderful university life at PolyU. 

Training on Remote Sensing and Machine Learning

A training course on Remote Sensing and Machine Learning was successfully held by Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) on 18, 19, and 23 August with 20 staff from the Lands Department, HKSAR Government participated. The participants explored engaging topics on remote sensing and machine learning under the guidance of Prof. Qihao Weng, Chair Professor of LSGI and Director of the JC STEM Lab of Earth Observations and his research team. On 18 Aug, Prof. Wu Chen, Head of LSGI, gave a welcoming speech to tick start the training. While Prof. Xiaoli Ding, Director of Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS), presented the training certificates to participants at the end of training. During the three-day training, participants learned about the fundamental of artificial intelligence, how to apply their knowledge and skills in the lab exercises, as well as developed their sense of solving remote sensing related issues in a deep learning fashion. The training equipped the participants with knowledge about deep learning and critical thinking skills for remote sensing engineering problems, so as to prepare themselves for new opportunities and challenges to excel in their careers.

PolyU Summer Programme 2022 – LSGI Session

On 16 August 2022, thirty secondary school students joined PolyU Summer Programme held by Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) at Geomatics Computing Laboratory of PolyU LSGI. The Programme is designed to give secondary school students a taste of various PolyU disciplines, and to better prepare them for their future academic pursuits. This programme was held online for the last 2 years. This year, we are delighted that we can arrange a face-to-face one to meet and communicate with all participants, so as to give them a better understanding on our discipline and areas of application. On behalf of LSGI, Dr Sissi Chen, Teaching Fellow and Deputy Programme Leader of LSGI’s BSc programme, welcomed the participants and shared the Digital Roadmap of Hong Kong. Her talk also covered the introduction of Geographic Information System (GIS) and different spatial applications which are followed by a hands-on CSDi & GIS workshop. Students can experience how to analyze different geo-spatial data to meet the social needs. Last but not the least, students visited our laboratories to understand the equipment and technologies of LSGI as well as our profession. Certificates were presented to participants for completion of programme by Dr Xiaolin Zhu, Associate Professor and Programme Leader of our BSc programme, at the end of programme.

FCE Alumni Reunion Day 2022

The FCE Alumni Reunion Day was successfully held at Block Z on 13 August 2022. More than 200 alumni participated the event to celebrate the 85th Anniversary of PolyU and the accomplishments of the Faculty. LSGI alumni also joined the award presentation for Outstanding Alumni Award in 2022. Prof. Wu Chen, Head of LSGI, presented the certificate to the awardees Mr Ben Chan and Mr Jack Zhang. We also shared our gratitude to generous donation from alumni during the ceremony. It was followed by a lab tour to showcase the latest technologies and research development of LSGI. The Reunion Day provided a precious opportunity for our alumni to reconnect with teachers, classmates and friends and share their gratitude towards their alma mater.   (Photos from FCE e-bulletin issue 142)

LSGI staff and graduate published a book in atmospheric water vapor

Atmospheric water vapor is critically important in meteorology and many other areas. Water vapor arguably lies at the heart of all key terrestrial atmospheric processes. It plays a significant role in studies such as weather forecasting, hydrology, climate change, atmosphere science, to name a few. It can significantly degrade the accuracy of GNSS-based (Global Navigation Satellite System) positioning and navigation. However accurate observation and modeling of atmospheric water vapor have long been a challenge in the meteorological and other communities. Recently one book titled “Tomographic Reconstruction of Atmospheric Water Vapor Field and Its Potential Applications” has been published by the Press of Central South University. The publication of this book represents a climax of the decade-long research work that has been conducted at Dr. George Liu’s Micro-Laboratory of Atmospheric Research and Geomatics Engineering (Micro-LARGE) at the Department of Land Surveying & Geo-Informatics (LSGI), the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). In addition to the introduction of fundamentals of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) meteorology as well as various atmospheric water vapor models and observation techniques, this book has presented many advanced algorithms to reconstruct three-dimensional (3D) distribution of atmospheric water vapor accurately. The applications of the 3D tomographic modeling results in studies of severe weather events, atmospheric river, and GNSS Precise Point Positioning have also been demonstrated. This 203-page book was coauthored by Dr. Biyan Chen, a former PhD graduate at the Micro-LARGE Lab, Dr. George Liu, Prof. Wujiao Dai, and Prof. Lixin Wu. Dr. Chen currently is working as an associate professor at the Central South University, the same institution as Profs. Dai and Wu. Dr. Chen was the first one at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) to receive the “Zhu Kezhen” Prize awarded by the Hong Kong Meteorological Society in 2017.

Research Achievement Selected as "Research Highlights" in Nature Journal

LSGI researchers, Dr Wang Shuo (Assistant Professor) and Dr Li Xiangfei (Postdoctoral Fellow) revealed the potential connection between winter snow reduction and spring/summer heatwave under a warming climate. They further investigated an emerging compound hazard, namely snow droughts followed by extreme heatwaves, and found that such compound hazard occurred most often in drier regions such as North China, East Europe, and Western North America. The research findings provide new insights into the development of sustainable water management policies and ecosystem protection strategies in the context of climate change.  The research achievement has been published in Geophysical Research Letters (Nature Index Journal) and selected as the “Research Highlights” in Nature journal. Please click the following links for details. Geophysical Research Letters: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL099925 Nature’s Research Highlights: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01846-1

Staff Promotions 2022

We are delighted to share the news that Dr. Xintao Liu and Dr. Xiaolin Zhu have been promoted to Associate Professor effective from 1 July 2022. Dr. Liu and Dr. Zhu joined LSGI as Assistant Professor in 2016. Congratulations to Dr Liu and Dr Zhu!

FCE Awards recognise academic and non-academic staff from LSGI

The Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) recognises, rewards and celebrates the many accomplishments and contributions of both its academic and non-academic staff through the FCE/Dean’s Awards. Congratulations to the following recipients from the Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics Department (LSGI): Dean’s Award 2022 To give due recognition to the efforts and achievements of its academics, the Faculty established the Dean’s Awards in 2008 for outstanding performance in different areas to encourage colleagues to strive for greater success. This year, Prof. Charles Wong has received the Dean's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding because of his success in securing external competitive research funding. The funded projects led by Prof. Wong are as follows. Allocation Date/ Grant Approval Date Project Title Funding Scheme 1 Jul 2019 Development of an Integrated Model for Estimating 3D Solar Energy Potential Using GIS, Remote Sensing and Deep Learning Techniques RGC General Research Fund 24 Jul 2019 Next-Generation Air Pollution Physics and Chemistry Model for Urban Areas RGC Collaborative Research Fund – sub-project 1 Jul 2020 An Integrated Knowledge-based Remote Sensing and GIS Dynamic Model for the Urban Thermal Environment RGC General Research Fund 4 Oct 2021 Study of Artificial Intelligence for Road Surface Depression Detection Using 3D LiDAR Data CIC Research and Technology Development Fund Congratulations to Prof. Wong!   FCE Award for Outstanding Administrative/Technical Services 2021 The FCE Award for Outstanding Administrative/Technical Services is newly established to give due recognition to administrative or technical staff of the Faculty and its academic departments, at the same time to motivate teamwork among colleagues. Ms Vaness Yu, Clerical Officer II of LSGI, is one of the awardees in the individual award category of 2021. Congratulations to Miss Yu!