Issue 68 - June 2016

Table of Contents

• PolyU Ranks Third in Civil Engineering in Global Ranking
• FCE Dean’s Awards 2016
• Head of BRE Elected to University Council
• CEE Academic to Review Air Quality Objectives for Governmental Working Group
• BSE Academic Shares Expert Advice on RTHK
• Research Products of BSE Researchers Exhibited
  
• FCE Researchers Disseminated Findings at News Conference
  
• FCE Talk on Our Physical Built Environment
  
• New Academic Staff
• BRE PhD Student Pens Highly Commented Paper
• Scholarship Students Graduate with Distinction
• HKIS Outstanding Undergraduate Final Year Dissertation Awards 2015
• HKIE Best Individual Dissertation Award 2016
• 23rd FCE Students’ Association
• Forthcoming Event

ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2016 recently ranked PolyU for third place for the discipline of civil engineering. To be included in an engineering subject ranking, the universities have to have published at least 200 scholarly papers over the past 5 years.

According to it, PolyU has the largest group of highly cited researchers in that field of all the universities listed (9 out of 150 researchers worldwide). The concentration of highly cited researchers in China and Hong Kong is only second to that in the US. Hong Kong alone has 18 highly cited researchers in civil engineering, 9 of whom are at PolyU. The PolyU researchers mentioned on the list are all based in the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE). They include Prof. You-lin Xu, Dean of FCE; Prof. Albert Chan and Prof. Heng Li from the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Prof. Hongxing Yang from the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), Prof. William Lam, Prof. Siu Seong Law*, Prof. Yiqing Ni, Prof. Chi-Sun Poon, and Prof. Jin-guang Teng from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Prof. Anthony Chen, a recent addition to CEE, is also listed.

In addition, Prof. Xiangdong Li, Associate Dean of FCE (Research), and Prof. Poon are highly cited in the field of environmental science and engineering, while Prof. Jin-guang Teng is also highly cited in the field of mechanical engineering. In the field of energy science and engineering, highly cited researchers include Dr Meng Ni of BRE and Prof. Shengwei Wang of BSE.

The statistics for the list of highly cited researchers came from the Scopus database, which is produced by Elsevier Company.

*Prof. Law has retired since July 2014.

Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) and a member of the Senate since 2001, has recently been elected ipso facto as the Senate’s representative to the University Council. Prof. Albert Chan will serve on the Council for the remaining term of office from 25 September 2016 to 1 February 2017.

Prof. Tao Wang, Chair Professor of Atmospheric Environment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), has recently been appointed to the Air Science and Health Sub-group of the Air Quality Objectives (AQO) Review Working Group of the Hong Kong Government. The Sub-group is established to review the latest development on air quality standards and the health effects of air pollution; to advise on the methodologies on air science and health assessments, as well as on the assessment of air quality improvements and health benefits under different control scenarios.

Besides contributing his expertise to the Sub-group, Prof. Wang’s work has attracted the favorable attention of the editors of the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, who have chosen to highlight his paper entitled “Observations of nitryl chloride and modeling its source and effect on ozone in the planetary boundary layer of southern China” in a Research Spotlight for the broad science community. Only the research and findings of the best accepted articles are summarized and featured on Research Spotlights.

On 7 June 2016, Dr Horace Mui of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) shared his expert opinions on indoor environmental pollution on the television show “Network MythBusting.” Indoor activities like cooking and smoking generate large amounts of particulate matter PM2.5, while formaldehyde (HCHO) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) are released from household furniture, mats and various home decorating materials. These air pollutants impose long-term health risks on occupants and hence should be dealt with carefully. Dr Mui conducted an experiment in PolyU’s Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) Laboratory to test different materials in absorbing formaldehyde. The results showed that activated carbon and formaldehyde removal spray could lower the formaldehyde level, however the spray released large amounts of TVOC that could be harmful to human beings. He also tested on the pollutants generated from the indoor burning of scented candles. It was discovered that the PM2.5 level rose dramatically during the burning process. He suggested the general public should avoid staying inside the premises while renovation is ongoing, and avoid the use of scented candles indoors.

At the Second Trade Convention of China’s Innovative Technologies in Guangzhou on 27-8 May 2016, two researchers from the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), Dr Lin Lu (Project Coordinator) and Dr Yuanhao Wang (Deputy Coordinator), exhibited the products they developed in a 2-year project funded by the Innovation and Technology Fund. Their novel high dispersed transparent heat insulation paints for glass generated much interest from investors, including Xiaodan Zhu, the Governor of Guangdong province. It is hoped commercialization of their research efforts will follow.

A team of researchers from the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) and the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) disseminated their research findings through a press conference on 27 June 2016. Led by Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) and Chair Professor of Construction Management in BRE, the research project was funded by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the research team was assisted by the Building Healthy Kowloon City Association Limited for the multi-disciplinary year-long research project, which used 3D spatial analysis technology to study plot ratio/ building height restrictions for 21 sites in the Kai Tak Development area. It was found the effects on the surrounding environment such as skyline, ridgeline, sun lighting, wind ventilation and air temperature were minimal if the plot ratio and building height restrictions are moderately increased from the current level.

Members of the research team include Prof. Geoffrey Shen as the Principal Investigator, Dr Stanley Yeung, Associate Professor in BRE; Dr Ivy Wong, Assistant Professor in BRE; Dr Charles Wong, Assistant Professor in LSGI; Dr Orianna Guo, Scientific Officer in BRE, as co-investigators, as well as a group of research staff and students: Dr Jerry Qin, Miss Merissa Sun, Mr Yuanzhen Song, Miss Karena Pang, and Miss Vivian Wong.

On 29 June 2016, Dr Patrick Fong, Associate Head (Partnership) of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), gave a talk on our physical built environment as part of the distinguished lecture series of the International Summer School 2016 at PolyU. Organized by the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), Dr Fong’s talk began with an examination of the built vs. natural environment, how we act as "inventors" and "destroyers" of our physical built environment by enhancing comfort, health and wellbeing on the one hand but also contributing to high energy/resources consumption in buildings, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change on the other, before concluding with some of the latest developments and innovations that have been made to it as well as how interdisciplinary/ anti-disciplinary research can lead to positive changes. FCE students who attended his talk left with a better sense that our physical built environment is more than the steel and concrete that meets our eyes.

The Department of Building and Real Estate welcomed two new assistant professors on 4 July 2016. Dr Joon-Oh Seo received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Architectural Engineering from Seoul National University in South Korea. He obtained his master’s degree in Industrial and Operations Engineering (specialized in Ergonomics) and his PhD degree in Civil Engineering (construction management program) from the University of Michigan in the United States in 2016. Prior to starting his PhD studies, he worked for 5 years as a cost and safety manager in building construction projects in South Korea.

His research focuses on understanding the relationship between the physical demands on construction workers and their impact on construction operations. In his studies, various computing and IT approaches have been applied, including vision-based motion capture, machine learning-based action recognition, and computer simulation, such as discrete event simulation and system dynamics. In addition, he is interested in total scene understanding and wearable sensing, aiming to enhance construction workers’ performances with respect to safety, health, and productivity.

He is a reviewer for the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, the Construction Research Congress, and the International Workshop on Computing in Civil Engineering. He has over 25 peer-reviewed articles, including 8 journal papers.

Dr Hsi-Hsien Wei obtained his master’s degrees in Structural Engineering from National Taiwan University and in Construction Engineering and Management from Columbia University in the US, in 2002 and 2010 respectively. He received his PhD in Project Management from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Maryland at College Park, US.

Dr Wei was a senior Research Fellow in the Department of Structural Engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel from 2013 to 2015, where he was working in the assessment of the resilience and sustainability of urban systems to extreme events on behalf of Israel’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Space.

The research activities of Dr Wei cover a broad range of topics, including resilience and sustainability management of the built environment, disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, construction technology and project management, information technology applications in construction and structural engineering.

Dr Wei also possesses solid experience in consulting and professional practice in the design and management of major construction projects. He is a US Green Building Council LEED AP, specialising in Building Design and Construction, and has participated in several sustainable construction projects in the US.

In the 2016 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence, a paper in Smart and Sustainable Built Environment was selected as a Highly Commented Paper. Entitled “Critical issues in spatial distribution of public housing estates and their implications on urban renewal in Hong Kong,” the paper was co-authored by Wei Zheng, a PhD student in the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), her supervisor Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Dr Hao Wang of the Central University of Finance and Economics in China, and Prof. Patrizia Lombardi of the Politecnico di Torino in Italy.

Two postgraduates in the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) who were supported by Entry Scholarships of the Postgraduate Scheme in Construction and Environment have recently graduated with Distinction in the second semester of 2015/16. They are Mr Tsui Kwong Lam, a graduate of the MSc programme in High Performance Buildings, and Mr Chan Chi Shing, a graduate of the MSc programme in Fire and Safety Engineering. Below are some of their thoughts on studying at PolyU and their future plans.

On 30 May 2016, 5 recent graduates from the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) and 1 from the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) were honoured in an Awards Presentation Ceremony for their outstanding undergraduate final year dissertations at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Mongkok. Organized by the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors (HKIS), the awards are based on merits in research as well as the research output’s applicability to the surveying profession. Following are the details of the winners, each of whom received an award certificate and a prize cheque ($1,500 for Top Award, $1,000 for Second Award).

Mr Law Lim Cho, a recent graduate of the BSc programme in Building Engineering and Management, has been honoured by the Building Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) with the Best Individual Dissertation Award 2016. His dissertation was entitled “A feasibility study for the wider adoption of structural precast elements in high-rise buildings in Hong Kong.” He was supervised by Dr Patrick Lam, Associate Professor in the Department of Building and Real Estate. Mr Law will be working at Leighton Contractors (Asia) Ltd. as a Building Graduate Engineer beginning in August.

On 28 June 2016, 9 committee members of the 23rd Faculty of Construction and Environment Students’ Association (FCESA) presented their plans for their term of office to Prof. Geoffrey Shen, Associate Dean of FCE (Teaching). First amongst these are orientation events for new students in August, such as a 3-day camp with a Greek-myth theme and other fun activities for them to get acquainted with one another. Altogether 13 functions have been planned from mid-August 2016 to late February 2017, including an FCE Night with an athletic theme, various sports competitions for the FCE Cup, an annual dinner, a joint-university Christmas party, and a joint-Faculty mega sale. Participation in these activities is expected to nurture a sense of belonging and enhance student life at PolyU.

RISUD Annual International Symposium 2016
Theme: Smart Cities
Date: 23-24 August 2016
Details: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/eBulletin/public/issue64/RAIS2016.pdf