News

Ir Prof. Albert CHAN awarded Medal of Honour

Ir Prof. Albert CHAN awarded Medal of Honour Congratulations to Ir Prof. Albert CHAN Ping-chuen, Associate Director of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), Dean of Students, Able Professor in Construction Health and Safety and Chair Professor of Construction Engineering and Management, for receiving the Medal of Honour from The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July 2024, in recognition of his contributions in the construction policy research and in nurturing young talents to join the construction industry. The Government of the HKSAR Press Release: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202407/01/P2024063000273.htm   陳炳泉教授獲頒榮譽勳章 熱烈恭賀可持續發展研究院副院長、學務長、安保建造業健康與安全教授兼建築工程及管理講座教授陳炳泉，於2024年7月1日獲香港特別行政區政府頒發榮譽勳章，以表揚其積極從事建造業政策研究，並致力培育建造業人才，貢獻良多。 香港特別行政區政府新聞公報： https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202407/01/P2024063000265.htm?fontSize=1   陈炳泉教授获颁荣誉勋章 热烈恭贺可持续发展研究院副院长、学务长、安保建造业健康与安全教授兼建筑工程及管理讲座教授陈炳泉，于2024年7月1日获香港特别行政区政府颁发荣誉勋章，以表扬其积极从事建造业政策研究，并致力培育建造业人才，贡献良多。 香港特别行政区政府新闻公报：https://sc.isd.gov.hk/TuniS//www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202407/01/P2024063000265.htm?fontSize=1

RISUD member received the 2024 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from ASCE

Prof. Zhen LENG, Member of RISUD and Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, for being selected by American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Committee on Technical Advancement to receive the 2024 Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize for his innovative research in developing durable low-carbon cost-effective pavement materials and technologies. The Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize (Huber Award) is the highest-level mid-career research award in all areas of civil engineering. The award is annually given to individuals with notable achievements and contributions in research with respect to all disciplines of civil engineering. This award was first established by the ASCE board of direction in 1946 and was given for the first time in 1949. Congratulations to Prof. LENG.

The Workshop on Climate-resilient Coastal Cities and Rural Areas II was successfully held

The Workshop on Climate-resilient Coastal Cities and Rural Areas II was successfully held at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 19 June 2024. The workshop aims to provide a platform for in-depth exchanges on the development of climate-resilient coastal cities, and to serve as a catalyst for developing further collaborations on engineering adaptation of coastal cities to cater for the effects of extreme weather events. 6 leading researchers from local, Mainland, and overseas institutions were invited to share their perspectives and insights on key topics, covering both the current status and future challenges, to identify future research needs and collaboration opportunities. The workshop concluded with a round-table discussion session to consolidate the current understanding of key issues and to outline key research directions for the future.

RISUD member received the prestigious “Uichi Inouye - Asia International Award”

Prof. Jianlei NIU, Member of RISUD and Chair Professor of Building Environment and Energy of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), has been awarded the Uichi Inouye Memorial Award - Asian International Award 2024 by The Society of Heating, Air-Conditioning and Sanitary Engineers of Japan (SHASE). Prof. NIU received the award on 10 May 2024 in Tokyo in recognition of his milestone contributions to the development, design, research, and education in the field of air conditioning, heating, and environmental engineering. The Uichi Inouye Memorial Award was launched by SHASE in 2010 in memory of the late Prof. Uichi INOUYE, a pioneer of modern building services design in Japan. This prestigious award is presented to at most one recipient per year. Congratulations to Prof. NIU.

PolyU develops intelligent traffic monitoring system

Prof. Alan LAU, Management Committee Member of the Photonics Research Institute (PRI), Member of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) and Associate Head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and his team have developed an Intelligent Real-time Traffic Monitoring System (ITMS) that harnesses fiber optic sensing technology to monitor the traffic flow without any additional hardware.   Prof. Lau explained that the ITMS leverages deployed fibre optic network for telecommunications that covers major roads in Kowloon and Hong Kong to collect location-specific vibration signals generated by vehicles that drive through these busy areas in real time. He believes the real-time data collected by the system could be used to monitor and reduce traffic congestion as well as providing valuable information for road maintenance.   Online coverage: Oriental Daily News - https://polyu.me/4dM4qVf Hong Kong Economic Journal - https://polyu.me/44PfhtF (subscription required) am730 - https://polyu.me/3wKespc Wen Wei Po - https://polyu.me/4bJRVrx Quamnet - https://polyu.me/3ypWKYF Line Today - https://polyu.me/3wGphZB

PolyU study reveals effectiveness of GBGI infrastructure in mitigating urban heat

Prof. GUO Hai, Member of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), Management Committee Member of the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS), and Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, together with global researchers, have conducted a first-of-its-kind study on the effectiveness of green-blue-grey infrastructure (GBGI) in cooling urban heat across various regions. The study findings have been published in the international interdisciplinary journal The Innovation. The study revealed regional and city-specific variations in the effectiveness of GBGI for mitigating urban heat. In Europe, Asia, North America and Australia, the overall cooling effect of GBGI is up to 18.9°C, 17.7°C, 12°C and 9.63°C respectively. In addition, the implementation of green and blue infrastructures has proven to be highly effective in lowering air temperatures globally. While green infrastructures can regulate urban heat through evaporation, transpiration, shading and thermal insulation, blue infrastructures absorb heat and cool the surrounding area through evaporation. The study also showed notable effects of various GBGI features in mitigating urban heat in Mainland China cities. The most effective means include botanical gardens, wetlands, green walls and attenuation ponds which exhibited temperature reductions of up to 10°C, 9.27°C, 8°C and 7°C respectively. Although the cooling effect ranges are generally similar in the north and south of China, there is variability within the same region. For example, in Beijing, botanical garden could result in up to 10°C temperature decrease while that in Shaanxi province only contributed to 2.7°C. In Hong Kong, parks, green roofs and golf courses were found to play substantial roles in cooling urban heat, resulting in temperature reductions of 4.9°C, 4.9°C and 4.2°C respectively.   Press release: https://polyu.hk/BqOJh Read the full paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666675824000262?via%3Dihub Online coverage: Sing Tao Daily - https://polyu.me/4bbXhvP Sing Tao Headline - https://polyu.me/4bYufjt Ta Kung Pao - https://polyu.me/3K1bUGq Dot Dot News - https://polyu.me/3UIActC Xinhua Finance Agency - https://polyu.me/3K719Cg Hong Kong China News Agency - https://polyu.me/44HGhex Associated Press - https://polyu.me/3UHAC3v ETNet - https://polyu.me/3V3LgTw Macau Business - https://polyu.me/3UJ5CA7 Taiwan Business News - https://polyu.me/3V1UkZ5 Global News - https://polyu.me/4bIX8zF GBA Biz Tech Magazine - https://polyu.me/3V6Aj3O HXCJ - https://polyu.me/4biIXSo Cntechw.com - https://polyu.me/44J3mxq Scienmag - https://polyu.me/4bQn7p4 Science Daily - https://polyu.me/4avRaRS

Four RISUD members win awards at International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva

Impactful innovations from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) won a record-breaking number of accolades at the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva (Geneva Inventions Expo), a widely recognised annual event devoted exclusively to invention. 43 PolyU innovations seized 45 accolades, including two Special Prizes, five Gold Medals with Congratulations of the Jury, 18 Gold Medals, 13 Silver Medals and seven Bronze Medals. Among the award-winning projects, 4 of them are led by RISUD members. Congratulation to Prof. YANG, Prof. YAN, Dr HUANG and Dr CHOY. Project Principal Investigator(s) Gold Medal A Fireproof Solar PV Vacuum-Glazing Wall Panel (FSVG) as Building Insulation Layer Prof. YANG Hongxing Professor, Departmentof Building Environment and Energy Engineering, Management Committee Member of Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) Flexible Perovskite Solar Modules Based on Surface Reconstruction Technology Prof. YAN Feng Chair Professor of Organic Electronics, Department of Applied Physics and Member of Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) Silver Medal Smart Firefighting Robot Dr HUANG Xinyan Associate Professor, Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering and Member of Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) Smart Headset featuring Adaptive Noise Filters for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder Dr CHOY Yat Sze Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Member of Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) *In order of prize level and alphabetical order of project names

Concurrent heatwaves and sea level rises happening more at coastal locations, PolyU study finds

A research conducted by Dr WANG Shuo, Member of RISUD and Associate Professor in the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), and his team has found that the concurrent occurrence of heatwaves and extreme short-term sea level rises at coastal locations significantly increased between 1998 and 2017 when compared to the preceding 20 years. The study also predicted that, under a modelled high emissions scenario, the probability of the occurrence of such events in 2025–2049 may multiply by fivefold. The study has been published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.   Read the article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01274-1   Online coverage: Forbes - https://polyu.me/4aw2tKM The Straits Times - https://polyu.me/3W0TgWf France 24 - https://polyu.me/43VGjiq Eyewitness News - https://polyu.me/3VSO2vK Deccan Herald - https://polyu.me/3vGHlCp The Telegraph Calcutta, India - https://polyu.me/49Afgdy Malay Mail - https://polyu.me/3vHSjaO Daily Excelsior - https://polyu.me/4aWw145 EurekAlert - https://polyu.me/3UgcSV1 China News Service - https://polyu.me/3W2qmoV ifeng.com - https://polyu.me/3UdjgMT

The Workshop on Climate-resilient Coastal Cities and Rural Areas I was successfully held

The Workshop on Climate-resilient Coastal Cities and Rural Areas I was successfully held at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 11 April 2024. The workshop aims to provide a platform for in-depth exchanges on the development of climate-resilient coastal cities, and to serve as a catalyst for developing further collaborations on engineering adaptation of coastal cities to cater for the effects of extreme weather events. 12 leading researchers from local, Mainland, and overseas institutions were invited to share their perspectives and insights on key topics, covering both the current status and future challenges, to identify future research needs and collaboration opportunities. The workshop concluded with a round-table discussion session to consolidate the current understanding of key issues and to outline key research directions for the future.

Prof. WEI, RISUD member, received Hong Kong Engineering Science and Technology Award 2023

Professor WEI Minchen Tommy, Professor of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering and member of RISUD, has been honored with the prestigious Hong Kong Engineering Science and Technology (HKEST) Award 2023. This esteemed award recognizes Prof. WEI's exceptional contributions and achievements in the field of optical engineering, with a particular focus on color and imaging science. The HKEST Award, presented by the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences (HKAES), celebrates individuals who have made significant advancements in the domains of engineering, science, and technology. Prof. WEI's groundbreaking research and remarkable work in optical engineering have earned him this well-deserved recognition.