News

Prof. Nathanael JIN receives AAEES “40 Under 40 Recognition Program” Award 2025

Prof. Nathanael JIN Ling, Member of the Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) and the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), and Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Health Technology and Informatics, has been recognised by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES) as one of the recipients of the “40 Under 40 Recognition Program” Award for 2025. Prof. Jin’s interdisciplinary research focuses on the intersection of environmental chemistry, toxicology and microbiology. His works addresses critical planetary health challenges, including air pollution’s impact on human health and marine pollution’s effects on wildlife. Prof. Jin’s research has been recognised by multiple Best Paper and Most Popular Paper Awards. He was invited by Nature to contribute commentaries to discuss global issues such as microbial hazards in plastic waste and health disparities from air pollution. Full list of the award recipients: https://www.aaees.org/40under40

Prof. Nathanael JIN writes commentary on microbial risks of plastic pollution for Nature

Prof. Nathanael JIN Ling, Member of the Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) and the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), and Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Health Technology and Informatics, was invited by Nature to contribute a commentary titled “What harmful microbes are lurking in the world’s 7 billion tonnes of plastic waste?”. In the paper, Prof. Jin and his team highlighted the microbial risks associated with plastic pollution and proposed a global strategy to address these challenges. Plastic debris creates a new ecological niche for microorganisms, forming a new ecosystem known as the “plastisphere”. The paper outlines the potential risks of plastisphere microbiomes pose to ecosystem functioning and the health of humans and other organisms. To develop a comprehensive global strategy, the paper suggests six priorities: quantifying effects, redefining plastic pollution, sustaining funding, establishing expert panels, adjusting management strategies and protecting people. Read the full paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03150-6  

Three PAIR academics honoured as Fellows of Hong Kong Academy of Engineering

Congratulations to Prof. TAO Xiaoming, Management Committee Member of PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR) and Director of Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems (RI-IWEAR), Ir Prof. YIN Jian Hua, Management Committee Member of Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS), and Ir Prof ZHAO Xiao Lin, Associate Director of RILS, on their elections as Fellows of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering (HKAE). An induction ceremony was held on 20 January 2025 at Hotel ICON. The HKAE is a prestigious organisation dedicated to promoting and advancing the engineering field in Hong Kong. The Academy aims to foster collaboration, innovation, and excellence in engineering, contributing to the advancement of society and the development of Hong Kong and the Nation. It comprises a distinguished group of Fellows from various disciplines, recognised as leaders in their profession, with remarkable achievements in engineering sciences and applications.  Full list of the new Fellows: https://hkae.hk/en/hong-kong-academy-engineering-welcomes-eleven-new-fellows

Prof. Vivien LU integrates green radiative cooling coating with photovoltaics for energy saving in buildings

The PolyU Carbon Neutrality Funding Scheme aims to support the application of university research outcomes and to take the campus as a testbed to apply research solutions, with a goal of achieving carbon neutrality on campus and supporting Hong Kong’s goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. With support from the Scheme, Prof. Vivien LU Lin, Member of the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE), Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) and Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality (RCRE), and Professor of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering, and her research team, has integrated the solar-driven adaptive radiative cooling (SARC) coating they developed, with bifacial solar photovoltaics (PV) to achieve synergistic enhancement in thermal management and power generation, transforming buildings from energy consumers into energy harvesters. The team is planning to install bifacial PV panels on the rooftops of the under-construction PolyU Kowloon Tong Student Hostel, with new coating applied on the corresponding area under the panels, to enhance power generation while radiatively cooling the buildings. The carbon dots (CDs)-driven photoluminescent radiative cooling nanocoating can be applied to building rooftops and exterior walls. This novel coating can automatically adjust its absorption and emission of solar and thermal radiation in response to changes in environmental temperature or light conditions, helping to mitigate the heat island effect caused by building materials. It uses photoluminescence technology to convert ultraviolet light into visible light, thereby improving the absorption and utilisation of light by PV and increasing its conversion efficiency. Compared to traditional coatings, this novel coating can effectively improve effective daytime solar reflectance from 92.5% to 95%, increase the cooling effect by 10% to 20%, and reduce the temperature by up to 25°C when applied to concrete rooftops. This nanocoating is environmentally friendly, water-soluble, volatile organic compounds (VOCs)-free, and can be produced in various colours, thus demonstrating significant application potential. Press Release: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/media/media-releases/2024/0924_polyu-researchers-unveil-novel-carbon-dots-driven-green-radiative-cooling-coating/ Online coverage: Sing Tao Headline - https://polyu.me/4hofXLG (Chinese only)

RISA co-organises The 5th Biomedical Engineering Innovation Competition “Love．Innovate for Happy Ageing”

The 5th Biomedical Engineering Innovation Competition, titled “Love．Innovate for Happy Ageing”, was successfully held on 18 January 2025 on the PolyU campus. This year’s competition, organised by the Department of Biomedical Engineering of PolyU and co-organised by the Research Institute for Smart Ageing and the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, was divided into two categories, including the “Challenge Competition”, an intergenerational robotic car competition and the “Design Competition”, a creative gerontechnology product design competition. This year’s design competition was joined by nearly 650 college, secondary and primary students as well as elders, and they were divided into 62 participating teams. Participants were required to design gerontechnology products for maintaining seniors’ physical and mental health through using STEM knowledge and skills. Online coverage: am730 - https://polyu.me/3Q225es Yahoo HK - https://polyu.me/3EiK9JL Line Today - https://polyu.me/42G52c8

Renowned expert in organic semiconducting polymers from Princeton University delivers PAIR lecture

Prof. Iain McCULLOCH from Princeton University, United States, delivered the 34th PAIR Distinguished Lecture titled “Designing Organic Semiconductors to Optimise Charge Transport” on 14 January 2025 on PolyU campus. The lecture attracted over 100 participants to join in person and captivated an online audience of over 12,700 from different countries and regions who watched the live broadcast on multiple social media platforms, including Bilibili, WeChat, Weibo and YouTube. The lecture commenced with a warm welcome and introduction of the speaker by Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of PAIR. Prof. McCulloch kickstarted his presentation by giving a brief overview of the current molecular designs of organic semiconductor polymers for charge transport. He explained how they enable organic thin film transistors to achieve high charge carrier mobility and their applications in flexible screens and other electronic devices. He then elaborated on the molecular characteristics of the indacenodithiophene-co-benzothiadiazole copolymer, a semiconductor polymer that exhibits high carrier mobility and is commonly used in organic transistors. Prof. McCulloch also emphasised the importance of “conformational coplanarity” and “side chain assisted self-assembly”. These features help enhance one-dimensional transport along the “conjugated polymer backbone” and form sterically free “crossing points”, allowing charges to hop between chains. He further highlighted that current research has shown that the molecular conformation and film microstructure are influenced by the design and processing conditions of organic semiconductor polymers, and these significant findings can help achieve optimal charge transport properties. Following the presentation was a question-and-answer session moderated by Prof. YAN Feng, Associate Director of the Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems (RI-IWEAR) and Chair Professor of Organic Electronics in the Department of Applied Physics. The audience engaged in a productive discussion with Prof. McCulloch. Please click here for an online review.

Prof. XIA Yong awarded ASCE Greater China Distinguished Leadership Medal 2025

Congratulations to Prof. XIA Yong, Member of Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), Research Centre for Deep Space Explorations (RCDSE), and Professor of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, on receiving the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Greater China Distinguished Leadership Medal at the 3rd ASCE Greater China Conference held at Guangxi University from 10 to 12 January 2025. This award recognises Prof. Xia’s exceptional innovative contributions and outstanding leadership in advancing the ASCE Greater China Section and the civil engineering profession in the region. The selection process for this award involved a comprehensive evaluation of criteria such as professional contributions, academic influence and international engagement. The ASCE Greater China Section serves as a vital platform for fostering the growth of civil engineering in Greater China. It facilitates knowledge exchange, networking opportunities and professional development among its members, uniting engineers across diverse disciplines within civil engineering, including structural, geotechnical, construction, environmental, materials and water resources.

PolyU extends partnership with PATA for Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has extended its partnership with the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) for another three years (2024–2027) to continue the publication of the Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts reports. The agreement was signed by Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation), and Mr Noor Ahmad HAMID, Chief Executive Officer of PATA.   Prof. SONG Haiyan, Director of the Research Centre for Digital Transformation of Tourism (RCDTT), Mr and Mrs Chan Chak Fu Professor in International Tourism, and Associate Dean and Chair Professor of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management visited the PATA Headquarter on 10 January 2025 to discuss this important collaborative project with Mr Noor Ahmad HAMID.  The two parties agreed to collaborate on the project titled “Further Development of the Tourism Demand Forecasting for Asia Pacific Region (Phase 4)”. The project aims to leverage advanced statistical forecasting techniques, scenario analyses, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and stakeholder insights to produce comprehensive Asia Pacific Visitor Forecasts reports. These reports cover inbound visitors, tourism receipts and departures, providing tourism professionals, businesses and destinations with crucial insights for policymaking, strategic planning and operational management, thus enabling them to navigate evolving demand patterns and make informed decisions in the face of current and future global challenges. Online coverage: Travel Daily News - https://polyu.me/4gUcVip LeMonde - https://polyu.me/4jdiNEN Travel and Tour World - https://polyu.me/40l4C82 TTR Weekly - https://polyu.me/4hgWmwH  

PolyU-invented Mobile Ankle-foot Exoneuromusculoskeleton wins CES 2025 Innovation Award in US

The Mobile Ankle-foot Exoneuromusculoskeleton developed by Prof. HU Xiaoling, Associate Professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Co-founder of PolyU startup Thecon Technology (HK) Limited, and her research team, received the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 Innovation Award in the Accessibility and AgeTech category at the CES 2025 held in Las Vegas, United States.  Prof. Hu is a Member of the Research Institute for Smart Ageing (RISA) and the Research Institute for Sports Science and Technology (RISports). The award-winning innovation is a multimodal robot rehabilitation designed for ankle-foot rehabilitation, specifically aimed at improving the motor function and walking ability of stroke patients.  Organised by the Consumer Technology Association, CES is the world’s largest and most influential consumer electronics technology exhibition. This year’s event features over 4,500 global exhibitors, showcasing innovations demonstrating the integration of cutting-edge electronic technology with modern living. Press release: https://polyu.me/4gFquC5 Online coverage: KTSF26 - https://polyu.me/3WaypyT The Sun Daily - https://polyu.me/3C3ukGa Sina HK - https://polyu.me/40uDlRR Hong Kong Economic Times - https://polyu.me/3E4pfxG Wen Wei Po - https://polyu.me/40cAQSN Hong Kong Commercial Daily - https://polyu.me/403wlda HK01 - https://polyu.me/4jbzgcI Dot Dot News - https://polyu.me/4fNvaVn Hong Kong China News Agency - https://polyu.me/4hc8f7k Forbes - https://polyu.me/3WgK2V6

First International Conference on Digital Intelligence for Energy Systems successfully held

The First International Conference on Digital Intelligence for Energy Systems, co-organised by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Zhejiang University, was successfully held from 5 to 8 January 2025 on PolyU campus. The opening ceremony was graced by distinguished guests including Ir Dr Otto POON Lok-to, BBS, OBE, and Ir Raymond POON Kwok-ying, JP, Director of Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD). The Conference attracted over 200 experts from academia, industry and government across various countries. Participants shared valuable insights and innovative ideas on various topics related to smart energy, such as artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) in energy system planning, building-grid interaction, carbon neutrality transformation, energy storage, renewable energy, power transmission, smart grid and microgrid operation, energy sustainability, and energy policies. Further reading: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/rise/news-and-events/news/2025/icdies2025/?sc_lang=en