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PolyU researchers collaboratively develop high-performance titanium alloys through additive manufacturing

The industrial production of titanium alloys has always been plagued by challenges associated with quality and waste management. Engineering scientists from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), in collaboration with RMIT University and the University of Sydney, have successfully used additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, to solve these long-standing issues in titanium alloy production. The research study, titled “Strong and ductile titanium-oxygen-iron alloys by additive manufacturing”, was recently published in Nature. Titanium alloys are advanced lightweight materials that play an indispensable role in many critical applications. The research team’s discovery of the innovative use of additive manufacturing for the production of titanium alloys and potentially other metal materials offers numerous advantages, such as reduced costs, improved performance, and sustainable waste management. Through the use of 3D printing, the research team has produced a new strong, ductile, and sustainable titanium alloy (α–β Ti-O-Fe alloy). These properties are achieved through the incorporation of inexpensive and abundant oxygen and iron, which are the two most powerful stabilising elements and strengtheners for α–β phase titanium alloys. The new titanium alloy exhibits immense potential for diverse applications, ranging from aerospace and marine engineering to consumer electronics and biomedical devices. Compared with the Ti-6AI-4V benchmark material, which has been widely used since its formulation in 1954, the new titanium alloy produced by the research team demonstrates better mechanical performance, with comparable ductility and considerably higher strength. Although traditional manufacturing methods, such as casting, can also be used to produce the new titanium alloy, the poor properties of the resulting material may render it unsuitable for practical engineering. Additive manufacturing effectively overcomes the limitations of traditional methods to improve alloy properties. The energy-intensive Kroll process, typically used to produce titanium alloys, generates off-grade sponge titanium, which accounts for approximately 10% of all sponge titanium, resulting in substantial waste and increased production costs. Additive manufacturing effectively addresses this problem by enabling the recycling of off-grade sponge titanium, converting the waste into powder for use as raw material. Dr Zibin CHEN, Assistant Professor of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at PolyU, an awardee of the Young Innovative Researcher Award 2022 and a leading author of the research, stated, “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.” The research integrates alloy design, computational simulations, and experimental characterisation to explore the additive manufacturing process-microstructure-property space for the new titanium alloy (α–β Ti-O-Fe alloy). The study highlights that additive manufacturing enables the one-step production of complex and functional metal parts, thereby accelerating product development with reduced costs. Additionally, it can be used to fabricate metal parts with unique structures and compositions, which cannot be achieved using traditional methods. In terms of quality improvement, additive manufacturing allows for the adjustment of the microstructure of metal alloys, resulting in increased strength, flexibility, and resistance to corrosion and water. Furthermore, lightweight but strong metal parts with intricate internal patterns can be manufactured. This research breakthrough opens up possibilities for holistic and sustainable material design strategies facilitated by 3D printing. Prof. Keith K.C. CHAN, Chair Professor of Manufacturing Engineering at the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at PolyU and a co-author of the study, noted, “This work can serve as a model or benchmark for other metal alloys that use 3D printing to enhance their properties and expand their applicability. Metal 3D printing is an emerging field, and it will take time before it is widely adopted in materials manufacturing.”  

PolyU awarded RGC Strategic Topics Grant to address societal needs in mental healthcare

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has received funding support from the Strategic Topics Grant (STG) 2023/24 of the Research Grants Council (RGC) for a health technology project aimed at promoting a new paradigm shift with creation of an integrated solution to address urgent mental healthcare needs. In Hong Kong, major psychiatric disorders (MPDs), such as major depressive disorder, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, have a high prevalence rate of 13.3%. In addition, less than 40% of patients achieve complete symptoms control after initial treatment. Currently, the standard diagnosis criteria rely on cognitive and behavioural indicators. The PolyU project introduces an innovative and integrated strategy that utilises artificial intelligence (AI) and genomic and biomedical technology to support diagnosis, treatment planning and understanding of disease mechanisms. The project has been funded under the STG topic of using AI to address imminent challenges in healthcare, proposing an AI-based, data-driven approach to diagnosis and personalised therapy. Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation) said, “Under this new RGC funding scheme, PolyU has received the highest funding allocation among all institutions to support our scholars in conducting interdisciplinary and collaborative research in areas pertinent to the strategic needs of Hong Kong. PolyU has been working with various sectors to provide solutions to societal challenges. This major funding received from the RGC demonstrates PolyU’s experience in mental health research and its strengths in translating academic research for the benefit of the society.” Prof. Weixiong ZHANG, Chair Professor of Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics at PolyU, leads the project “Integrated innovative artificial intelligence, and genomic and biomedical technologies in healthcare: Objective diagnosis, personalised therapy and determination the etiology of major mental disorders,” which has been awarded funding of over HK$37 million. With a strong academic and research background in interdisciplinary fields, Prof. Zhang is a professor at both the Department of Health Technology and Informatics and the Department of Computing at PolyU. He is also a Hong Kong Global STEM Professor. The project aims to revolutionise the approach to diagnosing complex diseases like MPDS by shifting from symptom-based diagnosis to AI-based, data-driven diagnosis, disease study and personalised therapy. It builds upon Prof. Zhang’s extensive research in heuristic search, planning and optimisation, as well as his innovative techniques in AI and big data. By combining these techniques with genomics and biomedical technologies that he has been studying over the years, the project seeks to develop medical explainable AI (XAI) solutions for MPD diagnosis, etiology disease study and personalised therapy. Prof. Zhang said, “This is a multidisciplinary project that responds to the urgent need for new technologies to improve mental healthcare in Hong Kong and beyond. The research team combines expertise from diverse fields such as computer science, biology and medicine, to address some fundamental challenges in complex disease studies.” The project will involve 20 investigators and collaborators from eight institutions in Hong Kong, the Mainland China and the United States. The STG has been set up to support collaborative research in specific areas which can help Hong Kong overcome imminent challenges and tap fast-evolving opportunities. The maximum duration of a project is five years. The ceiling of project cost per project to be awarded by the RGC is $40 million (excluding on-costs).   Details of the funded project Project Coordinator: Prof. Weixiong Zhang - Chair Professor in Bioinformatics & Integrative Genomics in the Department of Health Technology and Informatics and Department of Computing - Hong Kong Global STEM Professor   Project Title: Integrated Innovative Artificial Intelligence, Genomic and Biomedical Technologies in Healthcare: Objective Diagnosis, Personalised Therapy, and Determining the Etiology of Major Mental Disorders Abstract:   The project proposes a paradigm shift from symptom-based diagnosis to AI-based, data-driven diagnosis and a personalised therapy approach. By integrating AI, genomics and biomedical technologies, the research team aims to create an explainable AI-enabled treatment planning system that can support reliable diagnosis and guide personalised repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy.   The research project encompasses three research focus (RF) areas: RF-1 : Identify genetic disease biomarkers and brain activity patterns to classify MPDs into distinct categories. RF-2 : Study the longitudinal impact of stress on diseases and their inheritance. RF-3 : Combine the findings of previous research focus areas by applying genetic biomarkers and brain patterns from RF-1 and the knowledge of disease mechanisms obtained from RF-2, so as to guide reliable diagnosis and personalised therapy, ultimately improving mental healthcare.    

PolyU announces the establishment of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition to nurture food specialists and promote innovative and sustainable development

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) announced the establishment of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition (FSN), which is Hong Kong’s first UGC-funded academic department specialising in Food Science and Nutrition. To celebrate its inauguration, an International Conference on Food and Human Health was held at PolyU, followed by a Grand Opening Ceremony last week (13-14 July). More than 300 guests, including government officials, community leaders, industry partners, and staff attended the opening ceremony. Miss LAU Lee Kwan Vivian, Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology Bureau (Food Branch) of the HKSAR; Dr LAM Tai-fai, Council Chairman of PolyU; Prof. Wing-tak WONG, Acting President of PolyU; Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU; Prof. Raymond WONG, Dean of Faculty of Science of PolyU; and Prof. CHEN Sheng, Head of Department of Food Science and Nutrition of PolyU, officiated the ceremony. Since 21st century, the food supply has become a complex and specialised industrial process, with quality management being a key challenge throughout the entire food supply chain. In 2008, PolyU launched the self-financed BSc (Hons) in Food Safety and Technology to address the escalating concerns of food safety related to the outbreak of a number of large-scale food safety incidents. Based on the key pillars of Food Safety, Food Technology, Human Nutrition, and Chinese Medicine, FSN is dedicated to providing professionally crafted trainings to nurture food specialists. FSN is also focused on addressing health-related issues and pursuing impactful research to promote innovative and sustainable development that benefits the world and mankind. Miss Lau Lee Kwan said, “With the establishment of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, we expect that experts from relevant fields will come together to collaborate and share their knowledge and experience, making positive contributions to the development of innovative solutions to benefit society. We are also happy to see young professionals being groomed in the related fields.” Dr Lam Tai-fai said, “The new Department of Food Science and Nutrition is well positioned to become a centre of excellence in research, education, and outreach in the areas of food and human health. I am confident that the Department will make significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge in these areas for the betterment of society as a whole.” Two fascinating food projects were presented during the Grand Opening Ceremony. The first was an award-winning project on the AkkMore™ formula, which has been further developed into a low-calorie ice cream by Dr Gail CHANG, Research Assistant Professor of FSN. The second project was on modernised and sustainable mariculture at a demonstration farm, specifically the cultivation of grouper, by Dr Kevin KWOK, Associate Head of FSN. The grouper was served as one of the dishes at the Ceremony dinner. Prof. Raymond Wong said, “With the growing concern over food safety and sustainability, and nutrition-related health issues, our role has never been more important. Through the pursuit of excellence in holistic education, impactful research and knowledge transfer, we strive to contribute to the development of innovative solutions in Food Science and Nutrition for the betterment of our society.” Prof. Chen Sheng said, “We believe that the challenges we face in this field are multifaceted and require an interdisciplinary approach to tackle. That’s why our Department brings together scientists, nutritionists, engineers, and social scientists so that people with expertise in different areas can complement each other and work towards the common goal of improving human health.” FSN will work hand-in-hand with Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) and Research Centre for Chinese Medicine Innovation (RCMI) to provide interdisciplinary solutions for major societal challenges through advanced research and knowledge transfer, creating positive impacts to improve the health and well-being of mankind.

PolyU mathematics scholar receives Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award from the Ministry of Education

Mathematics scientist of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has received the Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award (Science and Technology) 2022. Prof . Tong YANG, Chair Professor of Mathematical Science in the Department of Applied Mathematics at PolyU has been bestowed the First-Class Award in Natural Science for a joint research project titled “Mathematical theory of compressible Navier-Stokes equations and related models.” The research was jointly conducted by Prof . Changjiang ZHU and Prof . Huanyao WEN at South China University of Technology The Awards from the Ministry of Education aim to recognize outstanding contributions made by researchers towards advancing scientific and technological development. The mathematics model, known as the compressible Navier-Stokes equations, is fundamental in describing the motion of compressible fluids, and its mathematical theory research has long been recognised as a significant research area in the global mathematics community. Prof. YANG has made significant contributions to scientific research on Conservation  laws, Boltzmann equation and Boundary layer theories. The awarded project is Prof. YANG’s core research area, and it is conducted in collaboration with South China University of Technology.  

PolyU partner with Transsion to advance display colour management technology

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) collaborates with Transsion Holdings to translate the latest research results of colour characterisation into actual products, so as to improve the display quality and user experience of smartphones. As smart products become indispensable in our daily life, the improvement of user experience on imaging systems largely depends on the colour calibration and management technologies. The research team led by Prof. WEI Minchen, Tommy, Director of Colour Imaging and Metaverse Research Centre at PolyU proposes to apply a 3D piecewise model to tackle the poor performance of conventional models. Based on the measurements of the tristimulus values of 64 combinations of digital signal values, the 3D piecewise model divides the display gamma encoded colour space into 27 subspaces and characterizes the crosstalk effects. This high-quality solution allows a fast and automatic colour calibration of smartphone displays, resulting in an average color difference ΔE00 reduced from 3.96 to 0.72, which reaches the industry-leading level. This solution has been implemented on the smartphone production line for automatic colour calibration, ensuring that users can enjoy accurate and faithful colour appearance under a wide range of viewing conditions.

Two PolyU projects awarded the RGC Theme-based Research Scheme funding

Two research projects led by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have won close to HK$100 million funding from the Research Grants Council’s Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2023/24 to foster sustainable development for the city. Prof. Yi-Qing NI, Chair Professor of Smart Structures and Rail Transit in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, leads the project “INTACT: Intelligent Tropical-storm-resilient System for Coastal Cities,” which has been awarded funding of HK$48.293 million. Addressing the challenges posed by extreme winds and complex urban environments, Prof. Ni’s project aims to mitigate the risk of tropical storms for high-rise building clusters in coastal cities by developing a real-time early-warning and resilience system. Enabling development of a sustainable environment is the ultimate research goal, which is one of the TRS designated research themes. Prof. CAO Jiannong, Chair Professor of Distributed and Mobile Computing in the Department of Computing, leads another project “High-performance Collaborative Edge Computing Enabling Smart City Applications: Framework and Methodologies,” which has received funding of HK$50.821 million. Pushing forward the development of smart cities, Prof. Cao’s research aims to meet the requirements of advanced applications such as autonomous vehicles, industrial IoT and the metaverse, by developing a collaborative edge computing framework. The project has been funded under the designated research theme of advancing emerging research and innovations important to Hong Kong. Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation) said, “PolyU is dedicated to transforming research excellence into impactful and practical innovations through multidisciplinary collaborations. This remarkable funding achievement is encouraging and highlights PolyU’s strategic importance in driving Hong Kong’s long-term development. Moving forward, we remain committed to providing all-round and in-depth support to our scholars, enabling them to address global challenges.” The TRS aims to focus the research efforts of UGC-funded universities on themes of strategic importance to the long-term development of Hong Kong. The maximum duration of a funded project is five years. Details of the two funded research projects: Project Coordinator Prof Yi-Qing Ni Director of the National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering Technology Research Centre (Hong Kong Branch) Yim, Mak, Kwok & Chung Professor in Smart Structures Chair Professor of Smart Structures and Rail Transit in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Project Title INTACT: Intelligent Tropical-storm-resilient System for Coastal Cities Abstract Ongoing population growth and the impact of climate change pose heightened risks of typhoon and tropical storm-related hazards in coastal cities. Hong Kong was hit by Super Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, causing significant disruption to the safety of the city and well-being of residents. The objective of this project is to minimize the losses caused by typhoons by establishing an intelligent tropical-storm-resilient system for coastal cities. The project will devise a framework that enables efficient and accurate assessment of turbulence flows from sparse measurements. It will also quantify urban-environment tropical storm risks that arise due to complex urban aerodynamics. The project will establish a real-time urban typhoon risk early-warning and management prototype that will be made accessible to the public for guiding effective emergency responses, such as evacuation measures and the temporary reinforcement of glass panels. The project outcomes will also lead to new methodologies and design codes/standards for high-rise buildings that are more resistant to tropical storms. This will in turn create a safer environment, benefiting the construction industries and developers, public and city planners in the long run. The fundamental scientific discoveries and technologies developed for Hong Kong’s complex urban environment will have easy transferability to other cities, including those in the GBA, and can serve as case models for global reference. Approved Budget* HK$48.293 million;   Project Coordinator Prof Jiannong Cao Dean of Graduate School Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Professor in Data Science Chair Professor of Distributed and Mobile Computing in the Department of Computing Project Title High-performance Collaborative Edge Computing Enabling Smart City Applications: Framework and Methodologies Abstract Existing edge computing projects focus on vertical collaboration among cloud, edge and end devices while neglecting horizontal edge-to-edge collaborations, which leads to unoptimised resource utilisation, restricted service coverage and uneven performance. This project aims to build a new smart city computing infrastructure enabled by collaborative edge computing with edge/cloud collaboration, city-scale edge network deployment and built-in AI services. The Collaborative Edge Computing Framework (CECF) proposed by this project aims to construct a future ubiquitous computing infrastructure by connecting, sharing and managing the resources of a large number of edge nodes. CECF provides new abstractions and functionalities for geo-distributed edge nodes to share computing and data resources and collaborate to perform application tasks, enabling advanced smart city applications. The project addresses many key challenges, including large-scale resource management, performance-guaranteed task scheduling, resource-aware edge AI and secure data sharing. It will ultimately enable emerging advanced smart city applications to flourish in HK and establish a first-mover advantage for the City in new computing infrastructure. Approved Budget* HK$50.821 million   *RGC provides 90% of the approved budget and the remaining 10% will be provided by the coordinating University.

PolyU recognises six scholars with the Young Innovative Researcher Award

Talent is an important asset for the innovation and technology ecosystem. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is committed to supporting and encouraging young researchers. The Young Innovative Research Award 2023 recognises faculty members aged under 35 who have demonstrated research excellence in addressing global challenges. This year’s six young awardees are dedicated to research in fields that include renewable green energy, wearable medical rehabilitation devices, nanotechnology, soft materials to aid the visually impaired, human-machine collaborative manufacturing systems and information networks. Their research is geared towards constructing a sustainable future and improving human life, and showcases PolyU’s academic and research excellence in meeting societal demands and creating practical solutions. Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation), congratulated the awardees and said, “It gives me great pleasure to chair the award assessment panel for the second year running and witness the original and innovative research conducted by our young researchers. With a vision for a positive future, their remarkable work showcases novelty, contributes to technological advancement and drives transformational innovation towards solutions for addressing societal problems. I would like to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our exceptional awardees and express my pride in having them as particularly valued members of the PolyU community.”   The six awardees of the Young Innovative Researcher Award 2023  Awardee(s)  Research Focus Dr Songhua CAI Assistant Professor Department of Applied Physics Research project Towards next-generation halide perovskites: In situ STEM characterizations assisted structure engineering Details This project aims to improve the lifespan and efficiency of perovskite solar cells by revealing the microscopic mechanisms that cause perovskite solar cell performance degradation in the working environment. The research results are expected to equip industry with the knowledge necessary to promote the practical application of perovskite solar cells. https://www.polyu.edu.hk/ap/people/academic-staff/dr-cai-songhua/ Dr Ho Lam HEUNG Research Assistant Professor Department of Building and Real Estate Research project Robot-assisted recovery system for stroke survivors Details The project focuses on developing a lightweight, wearable and easy-to-use medical-grade rehabilitation robotic exoskeleton. The system is designed to detect the movement intent of users and provide adaptive assistive force to empower joint movement. Regular use during rehabilitation training can aid in the reorganisation of the brain cortex and recovery of mobility. https://www.polyu.edu.hk/bre/people/academic-staff/dr-heung-holam-kelvin/ Dr Kai LENG Assistant Professor Department of Applied Physics Research project Scalable growth of 2D hybrid perovskite film Details A set of nanotechnology tools and methods has been developed for the molecularly thin 2D hybrid perovskite. Development has included preparation, materials transfer, atomic characterization and nano-device fabrication. Her team is currently focusing on achieving scalable growth for hybrid 2D perovskite monolayers and their integration into large-scale devices, to further enable the realisation of their impactful applications. https://www.polyu.edu.hk/ap/people/academic-staff/dr-leng-kai/ Dr Yuan MA Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical Engineering Research project Flexible surface haptics technology for aiding the visually impaired Details To help individuals with visual impairments interact with digital devices and the digital world more easily, this project aims to develop a novel touch feedback technology on soft materials that can generate various touch sensations. Advanced haptic technologies and artificial intelligence algorithms will be combined to create a more efficient and user-friendly experience. https://www.polyu.edu.hk/me/people/academic-teaching-staff/ma-yuan-dr/ Dr Shuowen ZHANG Assistant Professor Department of Electronic and Information Engineering Research project Smart and reconfigurable 6G wireless networks aided by intelligent reflecting surfaces Details With the increase in the volume of mobile data traffic and emergence of mobile applications like virtual reality, this research focuses on intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRS) as a pivotal technology to achieve high data rates in 6G wireless communication networks. This project also aims to devise efficient IRS phase shift optimisation algorithms, thereby approaching the data rate limits of IRS-aided 6G networks in practice. https://www.polyu.edu.hk/eee/people/academic-staff-and-teaching-staff/dr-zhang-shuowen/  Dr Pai ZHENG Assistant Professor Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Research project Towards futuristic human-machine symbiotic manufacturing system Details This project aims to establish a holistic human-machine symbiotic manufacturing environment by exploring manufacturing system technologies, immersive human-robot interaction mechanisms and robot learning methods. The environment will enable humans and machines/ robotics to more effectively and efficiently co-exist, collaborate and evolve together through improved collaborative intelligence. https://www.polyu.edu.hk/ise/people/academic-staff/pai-zheng/

Harnessing materials and mechanics science for a sustainable future

Cutting-edge materials science and engineering play a key role in clean energy conversion. Sustainable development sets the goal for researchers across disciplines, requiring active collaborations to optimise impacts. Dr Xiao ZHANG, Assistant Professor of Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), is leading research efforts focused on advanced materials and electrochemical reactors for clean energy conversion.  Dr ZHANG’s research on sustainable energy sources and production has received significant citations, spanning multiple disciplines such as materials science, chemistry, chemical and mechanical engineering. The research focuses on achieving decarbonisation through clean electricity with special emphasis on the production of valuable chemicals from the earth’s abundant resources.  Engineering plays a crucial role in promoting sustainable development by creating solutions for energy systems, production, and resource management that can reduce carbon emissions, conserve resources and protect the environment. The primary focus of Dr ZHANG’s highly cited papers is the exploration of novel layered materials for clean energy conversion. His research interests also extend to the conversion of waste pollutants such as carbon dioxide, nitrate and biomass into valuable chemical and fuels.  Dr ZHANG said, “I am thrilled by this prominent achievement to influence frontier sciences and subsequent innovative applications. Our research has enhanced scientific knowledge in materials science and chemical engineering, particularly in the understanding of 2D materials and development of electrochemical reactors for sustainable production.” Advancing the knowledge of material structures and catalytic processes is crucial to clean energy production. Dr ZHANG said, “Our research has facilitated the development of practical reactors capable of producing valuable chemicals at an industrial-relevant rate. These novel findings have significant impact on the development of sustainable manufacturing, environmental remediation and resources efficiency.”    Novelty in research Researchers work tirelessly to bring scientific breakthroughs. Dr ZHANG’s works have unravelled fundamental theories and technologies in materials sciences which serve as useful references for other researchers to explore further across various disciplines.  Dr ZHANG said, “I’m encouraged by our highly cited works, which eventually bridge the gaps between frontier scientific findings and practical production applications.” For instance, one of his highly cited research on catalytic interface engineering and electrochemical reactor has facilitated the design for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production.  The study “Electrochemical oxygen reduction to hydrogen peroxide at practical rates in strong acidic media” was published in Nature Communications in 2022. The research presented a cation-regulated interfacial engineering approach to promoting the H2O2 selectively under industrial-relevant generation rates in strongly acidic media. A double-PEM (proton exchange membrane) solid electrolyte reactor was further developed to realise a continuous, selective and stable generation of H2O2.  Practically, the acidic H2O2 solution delivers a wider range of applications and greater demand. This strongly motivates studies in the high-performance electrochemical generation of H2O2 in acidic media. Another novel study in material sciences demonstrated a unique approach to structure tuning of material, resulting in effective manipulation of its catalytic properties and functionalities. The research meticulously investigated structural change during the lithiation-induced amorphization process. The highly cited research, “Lithiation-induced amorphization of Pd3P2S8 for highly efficient hydrogen evolution” was published in Nature Catalysis in 2018.  The study showcased a breakthrough in the amorphization of layered materials, transforming inherently non-catalytic materials into highly efficient catalysts for cathodic hydrogen production. The atomic-level structural engineering of inorganic materials has proven to be a compelling strategy for tuning their physical, chemical and electronic properties, thus enhancing their performance in various applications, particularly in electrocatalysis.  Increasingly concerns about the rising levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and its influence on climate change have made it essential to create efficient strategies to reduce CO2 emissions. Dr ZHANG's team identifies the potential of integrating CO2 capture and electrochemical conversion as a promising approach to tackle this challenge. Recently, Dr ZHANG and his research team have made a noteworthy advancement in the sustainable energy field through their groundbreaking study published in  . The review paper "Integration of CO2 capture and electrochemical conversion" delves into the exploration of combining CO2 capture and electrochemical conversion. A comprehensive investigation was conducted in the study to develop an efficient and sustainable system that captures CO2 from emission sources, and subsequently converts it into valuable chemicals or fuel. The findings provide valuable insights and practical strategies for researchers, policymakers, and industries working towards sustainable CO2 management and developing a circular carbon economy. The integration of CO2 capture and electrochemical conversion can help us move toward a greener and more sustainable future.   Go beyond Constraint The transition from the ubiquitous goal of sustainability and clean energy to intricate scientific concepts and discoveries poses the challenge of consistently pushing the boundary of knowledge while upholding high research standards and adapting to evolving technological landscape. Throughout the research journey, Dr ZHANG’s studies have fostered interdisciplinary collaborations in pursuit of sustainable developments across various fields.   “Knowing that your work has significantly impacted the field, leading to further discoveries and innovations, is immensely rewarding. While keeping up with the latest advancements and addressing new research questions can be demanding, it is also highly fulfilling,” said Dr ZHANG.  The high citation rates would increase the researcher’s visibility within the scientific community and attract more opportunities for collaboration, driving the vision to shape the future of sustainable research on a global scale.  Looking forward, Dr ZHANG said, “I am actively seeking collaborative opportunities while staying focused on my research vision. My goal is to drive positive change and advance the field of clean energy conversion.”  Research Interests: Electrocatalysis, Carbon Capture and Conversion, Electrochemical Reactor Design; Membrane Electrode Assembly, 2D Nanomaterials Highly Cited Researcher: 2020-2022 (Clarivate Analytics) Selected Highly Cited Publications: X. Zhang, Z. Luo, P. Yu, Y. Cai, et. al., Lithiation-induced Amorphization of Pd3P2S8 for Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution, Nature Catalysis, vol 1, 460, 2018. X. Zhang, H. Xie, Z. Liu, C. Tan, et. al., Black Phosphorus Quantum Dots, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 54, 3653, 2015. X. Zhang, X. Zhao, P. Zhu, ZY Wu, et. al., Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction to Hydrogen Peroxide at Practical Rates in Strong Acidic Media, Nature Communication, vol 13, 2880, 2022. X. Zhang, Q. Xia, K. Zhang, T. Zheng, et. al., Integration of CO2 capture and electrochemical conversion, ACS Energy Letters, June 2023.  Download Version

Two PolyU research projects receive funding supports from Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has received funding supports from the RGC’s Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (HSSPFS) for two social sciences projects, driving the development of human mental and psychological wellbeing.  The two awarded projects demonstrate PolyU’s academic and research excellence in addressing human and social needs. Led by Prof. Juan CHEN, Professor of Department of Applied Social Sciences, the project titled “Developing Community Mental Health Care in Rural China: Local Policy Network, Implementation, and Advocacy,” has been awarded funding support of HK$396,000. The other project led by Prof. Krishna SAVANI, Professor of Department of Management and Marketing, titled “The Choice Mindset: A Nudge to Improve the Quality of People’s Decision Making,” has been granted HK$211,700 in funding support. Prof. CHEN’s project, leveraging on her social work expertise, seeks to advocate local and/or national policy changes and viable social service provisions for mental health care. The ultimate objective is to contribute to sustainable development of community mental health care within and beyond China. The research also aims to identify feasible strategies and potential resources that local government and social organisations can utilise to build a community health care system tailored to the local context.  Prof. SAVANI’s project, with the focus on the psychology of decisions making, explores whether a choice mindset can mitigate decision-making biases resulting from people’s lack of awareness about the options that are available to them. The research investigates whether a choice mindset can lead to better decision-making through a deeper cognitive processing.  Introduced in 2012/13, HSSPFS aims at granting extend time-off and supporting funds to the outstanding investigators under the social sciences and humanities disciplines. Each awardee receives funding support for a period of up to 12 months. 

A vision to enhance image quality and analysis

Being open and embracing new techniques are crucial to scientific research.  The high-quality images and videos on our smartphones and digital devices nowadays are the product of scientists’ scrupulous research on innovative solutions. Prof. Lei ZHANG, Chair Professor of Computer Vision and Image at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), has contributed to this field of study with a vision of enhancing image resolution and quality for our daily life applications.  Better picture quality is an end result of image enhancement and analysis, which are increasingly helpful for diverse digital and computer products. Prof. ZHANG’s research has substantially influenced the field of image restoration, enhancement and quality assessment.  Image restoration and enhancement aim to reproduce a high-quality image from a low-quality input that is noisy, blurred or low-resolution, while quality assessment seeks to predict the perceptual quality of a given image. Prof. ZHANG’s works in these areas are frequently cited by academics and industry professionals for useful and novel ideas and references.    Highly cited research on image enhancement With research interests focused in computer vision and image processing, Prof. ZHANG’s studies have profoundly benefited ubiquitous applications on smartphone and digital cameras. Over the decade, research outputs have contributed to enhancing the quality of photographs on cameras, image editing software and biomedical image analysis.  Prof. ZHANG said, “Being open and embracing new techniques are important to scientific research. The honour to be a highly cited researcher has driven me to a more valuable contribution in this field, with impactful research to generate sustainable influence and value to the society.”    Enhancing images Prof. ZHANG’s research “Weighted Nuclear Norm Minimization with Application to Image Denoising” showed that the weighted nuclear norm minimization (WNNM) algorithm outperforms many previous state-of-the-art denoising algorithms such as block-matching and 3D filtering (BM3D) for noise reduction in terms of both quantitative measure and visual perception quality. WNNM has become one of the most representative denoising algorithms before the deep learning era.   One of Prof. ZHANG’s highly cited papers, titled "Beyond a Gaussian Denoiser: Residual Learning of Deep CNN for Image Denoising" on IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, presented one of the first denoising convolutional neural network (DnCNN) models. This research finding not only produces favourable image-denoising performance quantitatively and qualitatively but also delivers promising run time by GPU implementation. Significantly, it paves the way to investigate proper CNN models for denoising images with complex noise and image restoration tasks.  With the rapid proliferation of digital imaging and communication technologies, image quality assessment (IQA) is crucial for numerous applications such as image acquisition, transmission, compression, restoration and enhancement. A novel feature similarity (FSIM) index for full reference IQA was introduced in the paper named “FSIM: A Feature Similarity Index for Image Quality Assessment.” It is proven that FSIM can achieve much higher consistency with subjective evaluations than state-of-the-art IQA metrics.    Open to change Technology, particularly in the field of computer science, moves incredibly fast. However, research does not necessarily move at the same speed. In the past 20 years, the dominant technologies in image processing, computer vision and pattern recognition, which are of Prof. ZHANG’s research interests, have significantly changed and evolved. From 2006 to 2016, sparse representation, dictionary learning and low-rank analysis dominated the area of image restoration and enhancement. Currently, the focus is on deep learning.  Prof. ZHANG said, “Every time new techniques emerge, the field is greatly impacted. If you cannot catch up, you will lag behind your peers and lose the opportunity. Therefore, being open to new techniques and keeping exploration for them are key drivers to produce impactful research outputs.”  Looking ahead, the computing resources required for artificial intelligence (AI) research also bring many challenges. Nevertheless, Prof. ZHANG added the honour of being a highly cited researcher is a driver to think more and explore deeper to create innovative solutions and excel in technological development.   Research Interests: Computer Vision, Image/Video Processing, Pattern Recognition Highly Cited Researcher: 2015-2022 (Clarivate Analytics) Selected Highly Cited Publications: K. Zhang, W. Zuo, Y. Chen, D. Meng, L. Zhang, Beyond a Gaussian Denoiser: Residual Learning of Deep CNN for Image Denoising, IEEE Trans. on Image Processing, vol 26, July 2017.  S. Gu, L. Zhang, W. Zuo, and X. Feng, Weighted Nuclear Norm Minimization with Application to Image Denoising, Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR),  pp. 2862-2869, 2014. Lin Zhang, Lei Zhang, X. Mou, and D. Zhang, FSIM: A Feature Similarity Index for Image Quality Assessment, IEEE Trans. on Image Processing, vol. 20, no. 8, 2011.  Download Version