News

LSGI's research won Best Paper Award of the 5th Global Tourism and Hospitality Conference

Research led by PhD student Ke MAI (under the supervision of Dr. Yang XU) from the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) won the Best Paper Award from the 5th Global Tourism and Hospitality Conference held in Hong Kong, 12-14 June 2022. Using mobile phone traces of international travelers collected in Seoul, South Korea and massive social media check-ins that reveal characteristics of places and tourism attractions, the research develops a discrete choice modeling framework to study the factors that affect travelers' propensity to visit different places in the city.   The paper entitled "Understanding and Modelling Tourist Intra-City Destination Choice Using Mobile Phone Data" stood out from 67 conference articles to win the award. The champion team consisted of Mr. Ke MAI, Dr. Yang XU, Prof. Sangwon PARK and Prof. Anthony CHEN.

LSGI project awarded Public Policy Research Funding

A project proposed by Dr Zhu Xiaolin, Assistant Professor of PolyU’s Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, has been awarded a funding of HK$281,060 from the first round of the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme managed by the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office.   Dr Zhu’s project, “Developing Low-Cost Remote Sensing System for Detecting Illegal Dumping of Construction Waste in Hong Kong”, is one of the only two projects receiving the funding out of 27 applications. The other one was proposed by a scholar from the School of Professional Education and Executive Development of PolyU.  

LSGI Scholar Conferred Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences for Autumn 2021

Prof. John Shi, Chair Professor of Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), has been conferred a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK), in recognition of his outstanding contributions to social sciences for public benefit. The Academy’s Fellowship gathers concerted efforts of social scientists from academia, the public, private and third sectors, to support the Academy and its work. Through leadership, scholarship, applied research, policymaking, and practice, they have helped to enhance public understanding of, and address, emerging global and societal challenges.

PolyU President's Awards and Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2021

PolyU recognises the distinguished accomplishments and contributions of staff members through the two tiers of awards, namely the President’s Awards and the Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement. The accolades, categorised into individual and team awards, are presented in the areas of Teaching, Research and Scholarly Activities, and Services. Introducing the new award category of “Knowledge Transfer” recently, the University honours outstanding knowledge transfer endeavours that have created significant impact on industry and society. The awardees from the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) are as follows. President’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2021 Category of Award Individual Award / Team Award Post Knowledge Transfer Sub-category: Industry Prof. Bo WU Professor   FCE Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2021 Category of Award Individual Award / Team Award Post Knowledge Transfer Sub-category: Industry Prof. Bo WU Professor Knowledge Transfer Sub-category: Society Prof. John W.Z. SHI (team leader) Dr Anshu ZHANG Dr Min ZHANG Chair Professor Research Assistant Professor Research Assistant Professor Services Dr Wallace Wai Lok LAI Associate Professor   Congratulations to all award winners!

LSGI Academic among World's Top 10 Scholars

In the latest “Updated science-wide author databases of standardised citation indicators” compiled by Stanford University, it consists of over 100,000 top scientists worldwide. We are glad to share that Prof. Weng Qihao from LSGI ranked 9th among 52,403 scientists in the field of Geological & Geomatics Engineering globally. Congratulations to Prof. Weng!

LSGI Academic in Action to Engage Prospective Students through Online Lecture

On 7 May 2022, Prof. Qihao Weng of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) gave an inspiring online lecture on the topic “The Greater Bay Area (GBA) from Space: Daytime vs. Nighttime, and Big Data vs. Small Data” as part of the PolyU Online Lecture Series organised by Global Engagement Office (GEO). Prof. Weng analysed the urbanisation process in the GBA by comparing big data and small data methods during the one-hour lecture which was well-attended by around 250 prospective Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) students from the Mainland China. Prof. Weng’s lecture gave prospective JEE students a glimpse into PolyU’s educational and research excellence.

Young Researcher Collaborative Research Fund Supports Early-career Researchers

This year the Faculty launched the FCE Young Researcher Collaborative Research Fund (FCE YRCRF) to encourage young researchers to develop their research skills and methodologies by engaging in collaborative research with their peers. The FCE YRCRF is not only conducive to the long-term development of young researchers to better prepare for the Research Assessment Exercise, but also lays the foundation for the Young Collaborative Research Grant (YCRG) to be launched under the RGC Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) in early 2022. We are delighted to announce that there are two projects led by LSGI researchers that have gained support in the 2021/22 exercise. Principal Investigator Project Title Amount (HK$) Dr Yang XU Quantifying the Potential Impact of Shared Autonomous Vehicles on Parking Demand and Fleet Size Requirements in Cities $493,200 Dr Xiaolin ZHU Green Energy Solution to Carbon Neutrality in Hong Kong: Spatiotemporal Modelling and Optimization $500,000

Prof. John Shi was conferred as Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences

Professor Shi Wenzhong John, Director of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute and Chair Professor of LSGI was conferred as Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) for his contribution to social science in late 2021. The Academy’s Fellowship is made up of distinguished individuals from academic, public, private and third sectors, across the full breadth of the social sciences. Through leadership, scholarship, applied research, policymaking, and practice, they have helped to deepen the understanding of, and address, some of the toughest challenges facing our society and the world. New Fellows are named due to the excellence and impact of their work, which addresses matters of vital importance and contributes to the social sciences for the public good. Through leadership, scholarship, applied research, policymaking and practice, they have helped to deepen the understanding of some of the toughest challenges facing our society and the world. Congratulations to Prof. Shi!

PolyU Students Won the Third Prize in Huawei APAC ICT Competition 2022 & Advanced to Global Final

Huawei APAC ICT Competition 2022 is the largest ICT skills contest in the Asia Pacific region developed by Huawei to promote a sound talent ecosystem. Entrants had to compete in one of two technology tracks: Network or Cloud. The PolyU’s Polynomials team won the Third Prize in Cloud track for their multidisciplinary knowledge, outstanding performance, and good teamwork. They stood out from 114 students who advanced to the regional final. The team is passionate on big data, AI, cloud, and geospatial technologies, and relevant applications in E-Commerce, IoT, and Smart City. Through learning from a comprehensive set of tutorials provided by Huawei, the team quickly got on board with the Huawei burgeoning ecosystem both in theory and in practice. The team obtained in-depth knowledge of four kinds of state-of-the-art IT technologies as well as their evolutionary history and applications. The PolyU winning team will continue their journey for the Global Final in June 2022 which will be held in Shenzhen, China.   Polynomials Team members: Feng Yun Lin, Zhong Xiu Ming and Tang Man Kit (students from Department of Computing and Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics) Instructor: Dr. Yang XU, Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics

Result of LSGI Outstanding Alumni Award 2022

The Outstanding Alumni Award of LSGI aims to give public recognition to outstanding graduates of the department for their professional achievements and significant contributions to the community and their alma mater. The two awardees in 2022 are listed as follows:   The Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU LSGI 2022 – Awardee Award Category - Professional Achievement Sr CHAN Siu Bun, Ben (1986, Higher Certificate in Land Surveying) Mr Ben CHAN Siu-bun graduated from the Centre of Land and Engineering Surveying of the Hong Kong Polytechnic, which equipped him to enter the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). Joining the Lands Department in 1990, Ben pursued his MSc studies in “Geographical Information System” and “Geodetic Survey” in the United Kingdom in 1992 and 2002 respectively. He was involved in the first Internet Map for Hong Kong for tourists, Internet broadcasting of GPS correctional signals for precise positioning, and 3D city mapping. Whilst serving as the Principal Government Land Surveyor and Deputy Director (Survey & Mapping) of the Lands Department in 2020-21, Ben led the re-organisation of the Survey and Mapping Office with a new vision on “Bring Spatial Data to Life, Develop a Smart City through Survey and Mapping”, opening up government digital maps for free use, and promoting development of the surveying industry. As the chair of Geomatics Committee and a member of the RICS Hong Kong Advisory Board (2016 – 2021), external examiner of LSGI (2013-2018) and a member of the Built Environment Panel of the 2019 RAE of the University Grants Committee, Ben has long been dedicated in collaboration among government, industry, academia and research institutes.   The Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU LSGI 2022 – Young Awardee Award Category - Entrepreneurial Achievement Sr ZHANG Wei, Jack (2009, MSc in Geomatics)   Sr Zhang Wei, Jack is the founder and managing director of Geosys Hong Kong Ltd and Shenzhen Intergeo Innovation Technology Co., LTD, which is a global leading geospatial technology solution provider. Sr Jack Zhang graduated from Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics Department of PolyU with Master's Degree in Geo-informatics in 2009 and now member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and member of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors. He started his career in Leica Geosystem and Intergraph after graduation as technical engineer. He founded Geosys in 2014 and then leading a professional team in innovative digital surveying and mapping technologies research and development and a project team to deliver professional services to the market till now. The VR3D™ digital twin cloud platform is one of the company R&D product, provides industrial leading cloud service with reliable performance and powerful functions based on cloud computing, artificial intelligence and patented 3D GIS platform engine technologies. Now the platform and technology has been adopted by the Hong Kong Police Force, Planning Department, Lands Department, CEDD, Housing Authority, Urban Renewal Authority, Architectural Services Department, Shenzhen City Planning and Natural Resources Bureau and many public developers and contractors in the region. The platform also won many international and local awards by The International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), Hong Kong Institute of Planners (HKIP), Construction Industry Council (CIC) etc in these years.   Congratulations to our alumni!