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PolyU and Nanjing Zhuling signed MoU to establish joint laboratory on industrialised construction

Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Mr DAI Angang, Chief Executive Officer of Nanjing Zhuling Technology Co., Ltd. signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 25 July to build a joint laboratory on industrialised construction. The joint lab will focus on research directions such as construction digitalisation in the industrial metaverse, digital twins, construction robotics, smart building systems as well as advanced automation and AI-driven solutions. By harnessing the advantages of both parties in terms of research resources, testing environments and application scenarios, it is aimed for enhancing the safety and efficiency of the construction process.  Breakthrough research results could be achieved to enable digital transformation of the construction industry.   The joint lab will be led by Dr ZHAO Zhiheng , Member of the Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM), Research Assistant Professor in Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and Dr LIU Hengzhi, Chief Operating Officer and Product Director of Nanjing Zhuling Technology Co., Ltd. The first collaborative research project, “Development of Construction Robots Digitalization System for Industry Metaverse” will be carried out under RIAM.   The collaboration will involve applying the research outcomes generated in the project “Industry 4.0 Smart Prefabrication Yard for Modular Construction Fitout”, which is led by Prof. George Q. HUANG, Director of RIAM, to promote innovative development in the construction field, foster new quality productive forces and inject new momentum into the industry.

PAIR young scholar receives SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award

Congratulations to Dr ZHENG Pai, Member of the Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM), Wong Tit Shing Young Scholar in Smart Robotics and Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, for being honoured with the 2024 Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).   The SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award recognises manufacturing engineers aged 35 or younger who have made exceptional contributions and accomplishments in the manufacturing industry.   Dr Zheng’s research is at the frontier of the fields of smart manufacturing and robotic systems, and focuses on human-robot collaboration, smart product-service systems, and engineering design informatics. The inventions he developed have been patented and licensed for translation into practical applications, bringing significant contributions to the industry.   Dr Zheng is committed to nurturing the next generation of talent. He has led his student teams to excel in many major competitions, garnering prizes including the Winner Award of the 21st Asia-Pacific Information and Communications Technology Alliance (Student—Tertiary Technology), Gold Award of the 8th China International College Students’ “Internet+” Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and Grand Award of Hong Kong ICT Awards 2022—Student Innovation Award. Dr Zheng is also the winner of the PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2023.

RIAM co-organises 3D scanning and printing demonstration for secondary and primary school students

The Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM) and the University Research Facility in 3D Printing (U3DP) successfully co-organised a 3D scanning and printing demonstration session for a group of students from Po Leung Kuk Laws Foundation College and Po Leung Kuk Luk Hing Too Primary School on 22 March 2024. Prior to the workshop, the U3DP had received an invitation from the College to help the school in reconstructing a dolphin skeleton which the school had received from Ocean Park using PolyU’s advanced manufacturing technologies. The 3D-printed replica of the dolphin skeleton will be used as an exhibit. RIAM and U3DP arranged a demonstration session for the students, demonstrating the replication of the dolphin skull using 3D scanning and printing technologies. The U3DP team employed specialised 3D structured light scanners, which capture the intricate details of the original dolphin skeleton from multiple angles, to generate a highly detailed and accurate digital 3D model of the skeleton. After the 3D scanning process, U3DP replicated the dolphin skeleton using Stereolithography (SLA) printing technology. This technology uses a liquid resin material that is selectively cured layer by layer using a laser. As each layer is cured, the replica of the dolphin skeleton gradually takes shape. The SLA printing process ensures that the replica closely resembles the original skeleton in terms of its geometry and surface characteristics. The level of detail and accuracy achieved through this technologyallows for a faithful representation of the dolphin skeleton. The replicated dolphin skeleton can be used for various purposes, including educational displays, scientific research, museum exhibits, or even as a visual aid in veterinary or marine biology studies. It provides a tangible and accurate representation of the original skeleton without the need to handle or potentially damage the fragile original specimen. U3DP’s combination of 3D scanning and SLA printing technologies offers a practical and efficient solution for creating replicas of complex skeletal structures like the dolphin skeleton. Watch the video via Pinterest

PAIR research projects shine in RGC Collaborative Research Fund 2023/24 exercise

In the Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) 2023/24 exercise of the Research Grant Committee (RGC), PolyU has 9 projects granted with a total of HK$55.491 million from the Collaborative Research Project Grant (CRPG), ranking first among Hong Kong universities in the amount of CRPG funding awarded; and 2 projects granted with a total of $9.435 million from the Young Collaborative Research Grant (YCRG). Among them, eight CRPG projects and both YCRG projects are led by PAIR researchers.   Name of PI Title(s) and Constituent Research Unit(s) Research Project Amount PAIR projects supported by CRPG Prof XIA Yong Management Committee Member of RIAIoT Member of RISUD and RCDSE Towards future climate-resilient sea-crossing bridges via intelligent learning of long-term real monitoring data $5,056,919 Prof YANG Mo Member of PRI and RISports High-resolution single-cell multi-omics: Joint profiling of multiple types of biomolecules in the same single cell $6,412,248 Prof CHEN Jianli Member of RILS Multi-sensor monitoring, geophysical interpretation and prediction of sea level rise in Hong Kong $6,567,108 Dr TAN Youhua Member of RISA and RCSV The roles of mechanically heterogeneous local niches within primary tumors in metastatic organotropism $5,985,252 Prof. CAO Jiannong Director of RIAIoT Management Committee Member of RISUD Member of RiFood, RI-IWEAR, RISE, RISA and SCRI Heterogeneity-aware collaborative edgeAIacceleration $7,364,305 Prof. WANG Yuhong Member of RILS, RISE, RISUD and RCRE Improving the health and stability of roadside trees in compact urban development through novel road systems and tree root “training” $5,407,780 Dr CHENG King Yip Kenneth Member of RiFood and RCMI White adipose tissue (fat) dysfunction in ageing and its related metabolic diseases: New insights and therapeutic potential $8,166,029 Dr ZHAO Jiong Member of RIAM Scalable two-dimensional polymorphic ferroelectrics towards in-memory processing $4,100,714 PAIR projects supported by YCRG Dr Bolton CHAU Associate Director of MHRC The role of the human frontopolar cortex in complex decision making: Neural network modelling, aging, and enhancement $4,591,504 Dr LIU Liang Member of RIAIoT Sensing in 6G cellular networks $4,843,318  

PAIR researcher receives national outstanding impact award

Congratulations to Dr ZHANG Xiao, Member of the Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM) and the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE), and Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, for winning the “2023 China Rising Stars in Science and Technology – Outstanding Impact Award”. The results of this year’s selection were announced at the China New Technology Forum held in Zhejiang on 14 December 2023. Launched by ScholarSet in 2015, the programme elects winners of the “2023 China Top Ten Rising Stars in Science and Technology Award” and other special prizes, based on public and experts’ votes, to recognise outstanding young scholars in China for their remarkable achievements in scientific research and promoting the transformation and popularisation of scientific research outcomes. Online coverage: QQ - https://polyu.me/48g4QQ5

RIAM member awarded Smart Traffic Fund to develop a system utilizing artificial intelligence for parking management

Dr Yung Po TSANG, Member of the Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM) and Research Assistant Professor of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, received funding support of approximately HK3.95 million from Smart Traffic Fund, for his project titled “Blockchain-enabled Cyber Physical System for the City-wide Parking Management”.   The project utilises Web 3.0 and blockchain technology to establish decentralised identity for drivers, enabling intelligent access control to car parks. Additionally, an AI-powered spatiotemporal clustering analysis system will be developed to evaluate the supply of and demand for parking spaces.   Press release: https://polyu.me/3RI3E2Q   Online coverage: Oriental Daily News - https://polyu.me/3GGaQpJ Yahoo HK - https://polyu.me/3RFbaLB

Dr Zhang Xiao recognised amongst world’s most highly cited researchers

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has achieved the third highest number of the world’s most highly cited researchers in Hong Kong in the list of “Highly Cited Researchers 2023” by Clarivate Analytics. Congratulations to our RIAM member, Dr ZHANG Xiao being one of the fifteen PolyU academics (including two former PolyU scholars).   This year, a total of 6,849 researchers from 67 countries and regions across a diverse range of research fields have received the designations. The list identifies the most influential scholars from around the world, determined by their production of multiple highly cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for their field(s) and publication year in the Web of Science citation index over the past decade.   This is the fourth consecutive year Dr Zhang has been recognized. RIAM is proud of Dr Zhang’s outstanding achievement at such an early career stage.   Further reading: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/en/media/media-releases/2023/1121_15-polyu-academics-recognised-amongst-worlds-most-highly-cited-researchers/

11 RIAM Members Ranked Among the World’s Top 2% Most-cited Scientists (2023)

Stanford University has recently released an update of the list that represents the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists in various disciplines. The report was prepared by a team of experts led by Prof. John Ioannidis, the eminent Professor at the Stanford University.   The latest ranking covers over 100,000 top scientists across the globe. The database grouped scientists under 22 subject fields and 174 sub-fields, and the ranking was compiled based on indicators of research publications, including information on citations, individual’s scientific research output, co-authorship and a composite indicator for career-long citation impact up to the end of 2022.   As per the data published by Elsevier on 4 October 2023 (version 6):  https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/6   Congratulations to our eleven RIAM members on ranking among the world’s top 2% scientists. Name Subject field Ir Prof. MAN Hau Chung Materials Ir Prof. CHAN Kang Cheung, Keith Materials Prof. FU Mingwang Materials Prof. HUANG Guoquan, George Operations Research Prof. CHEUNG Chi Fai, Benny Industrial Engineering & Automation Prof. Asif Sohail USMANI Civil Engineering Prof. DAI Jian-Guo Building & Construction Prof. HUANG Haitao Nanoscience & Nanotechnology Prof. TANG Chak Yin Materials Dr AN Liang Energy Dr REN Jingzheng Energy

Five PAIR railway technology projects supported by MTR Research Funding Scheme

PolyU received a total funding of HK$7.25 million in the 2023 MTR Research Funding Scheme for six research projects that aim at developing cutting-edge technologies for the future advancement of railways. Among them, five projects are led by PAIR researchers:   In alphabetical order of last name: Principal Investigator PAIR Research Unit Project Title Prof. CHUNG Chi-yung Photonics Research Institute (PRI) Developing an Electromagnetic Energy Harvesting System to Energise Monitoring Systems in the Hong Kong MTR System Dr HUANG Xinyan Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) Intelligent Emergency Digital Twin System in Metro Station for Fire Evacuation Dr LAI Siu-kai   Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) Development of a New Inerter-based Rail Damper to Mitigate Railway-induced Ground-borne Noise by a Physics-informed Deep Learning Framework Dr REN Jingzheng Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM) and Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality (RCRE) Promoting Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) in MTR for Pursuing Sustainable Development Goals and Better Service Quality Dr YE Hongbo Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) Planning and Operation of Future Railway System with Autonomous Modularised Trains and Virtual Coupling Signalling   Read more: https://polyu.me/45mTfNr   Online coverage (Chinese only): Oriental Daily News - https://polyu.me/46jFost HK01 - https://polyu.me/46pRZdU

RIAM researchers develop 3D-printed high-performance titanium alloys with universities in Australia

Two PolyU researchers from the Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM) and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE), in collaboration with RMIT University and the University of Sydney, have successfully produced a new strong, ductile, and sustainable titanium alloy (α–β Ti-O-Fe alloy) using 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing). The research study, titled “Strong and ductile titanium-oxygen-iron alloys by additive manufacturing”, was recently published in Nature. The new titanium alloy exhibits immense potential for diverse applications, ranging from aerospace and marine engineering to consumer electronics and biomedical devices.   Dr CHEN Zibin, Assistant Professor in the ISE Department, and Prof. Keith K.C. CHAN, Associate Director of RIAM, Associate Dean of Faculty of Engineering and Chair Professor of Manufacturing Engineering in the ISE Department, are the leading author and the co-author of the study, respectively.   The new titanium alloy produced by the research team was made through the use of 3D printing and the incorporation of oxygen and iron. The 3D printing method involved the recycling of off-grade sponge titanium, a waste product in traditional manufacturing, which were converted into powders as raw materials for producing high-performance titanium alloy. Oxygen and iron are inexpensive and abundant elements and can increase the stability and strength of α–β phase titanium alloys.   “Our work can facilitate the recycling of more than 10% of the waste generated by the metal alloy production industry. This can significantly lower both material and energy costs for industries, contributing to environmental sustainability and carbon footprint reduction,” said Dr Chen.   Press release: https://polyu.me/3OCEJfz   Online coverage: Oriental Daily News - https://polyu.me/3O9ACGl (Chinese only) Hong Kong Economic Times - https://polyu.me/3Kd40u9 (Chinese only)