News

PolyU Education Info Day 2017 - BSE Activities on 30 September 2017

The 2017 PolyU Education Info Day held on 30 September 2017 was a huge success. The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) actively participated in the Info Day to provide prospective undergraduates with first-hand and comprehensive information of BSE programmes and curriculum. Professor Asif Usmani, Head of Department, joined the Faculty Opening Ceremony on behalf of the Department. The Deputy President’s Tour commenced soon after the ceremony. The Info Day was featured by a wide variety of events including programme information seminars, exhibition booth, game and guided laboratory visits, which deepened visitors’ understanding of BSE programmes. The exhibition booth aimed to showcase BSE programmes and the unique features in teaching and learning, invention of BSE, student activities such as WIE and student exchange programme, and facilities in BSE to the public. Two information seminars with the theme “Building Services Engineering: A Bridge to a Lifelong Exciting Career” were held in the morning and afternoon sessions. Interested parents and students were provided with in-depth idea of the Department, building services engineering and our programme. The professionalism and career prospects were also highlighted in the presentation. Following the BSE introduction by Prof. Usmani and Undergraduate Programme Leader Dr. Mui, our guest speakers Ir Herbert Lam and Mr. Alex Fung were invited to share their perspectives on BSE as department excellent graduates. They were keen to point out the challenging career prospects of BSE and illustrate the excitement in university life. Information related to admission arrangements was provided to our visitors who were mostly secondary school students and their parents. Enquiries about admission were also addressed on the spot at the seminars. We would like to express our greatest gratitude and appreciation to all colleagues, alumni, guests and student ambassadors for their enthusiastic participation in the Info Day. We believe that the PolyU Education Info Day has successfully facilitated prospective students’ understanding of our Department and academic programmes. We look forward to welcoming them to join our programme in the near future.

Welcome Message from the Head of Department

I am delighted to welcome all students joining us at the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) for the new academic year 2017/18. My special welcome and congratulations to all new students to the programmes offered by BSE, I am very grateful that you have chosen to study with us. Having joined the University in August 2016, I have been very impressed with the hard work and dedication of all BSE staff in helping you achieve your academic goals and to enable you to join this exciting profession in various capacities (or seek higher qualifications if you so choose). My staff and I will continue to ensure a high quality of service in teaching, learning and other support to all our students, however I would also like to emphasise that you own efforts will have the greatest impact in how much you benefit from the services provided by BSE staff. So please ensure that you dedicate sufficient time and effort to your studies and aim to excel in the subjects you choose while also maintaining a good work and life balance so you also enjoy the excellent student facilities and activities on offer at PolyU. Recently re-articulated, the BSE mission is “to imagine, engineer and promote sustainable, salutogenic and safe environments for human habitation”. I believe that as our students you are our most important contribution to society and will become enthusiastic agents in spreading our vision of a safer, healthier and more sustainable urban environment and help us fulfil this mission in whichever part of the world you choose to work in. I trust that all of you, like me, are ready for the new challenges and opportunities this new academic year will bring. As a new or returning student in BSE, you may have questions or need further information about your studies or other academic or personal matters. Please feel free to contact the BSE General Office (Room ZS867, 8/F, Block Z) during opening hours from 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. from Mondays to Fridays in person or by phone (2766-5847) or by email (beenquiry@polyu.edu.hk). We are here to help you. I wish you all a very positive and productive academic year ahead and look forward to getting acquainted with you over the course of the year. Best regards, Professor Asif Sohail Usmani Head of Department Department of Building Services Engineering

PolyU Summer Programme 2017 on 12 July 2017

The annual PolyU Summer Programme is one of the largest departmental events for senior secondary school students to learn more about the variety of building engineering systems, and to arouse their interests before making university programme choices. The PolyU Summer Programme held on 12 July 2017 was jointly organized by the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) and Secondary School Relations Section (SSRS) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). It was a One-day Programme that provided a good chance for senior secondary school students to tour the departmental laboratories and meet with BSE professors and current students. Meanwhile, they had the opportunity to explore the Renewable Energy Technologies and their applications in Hong Kong. Some 33 senior secondary school students from different famous secondary schools in Hong Kong, namely King’s College, SKH Lam Kau Mow Secondary School and Ying Wa Girls’ School, participated in the PolyU Summer Programme.   In the morning session, BSE Associate Head, Professor S.K. TANG, and Associate Professor, Dr. Vivien LU warmly welcomed the students and introduced the Department and our academic programmes. A current year-1 student Herman TSUI was invited to share his study life and learning experience with the participants and let them know more about the campus life in PolyU.   The group was guided to tour the BSE laboratories so as to have a deeper understanding of our Department shortly afterwards. How teaching activities and applied research could be better conducted with the laboratories were explained and demonstrated. Students were strongly interested in the tour and they raised meaningful questions.   During the afternoon session, the student group visited Ma Wan Theme Park to explore the Renewable Energy Technologies and their applications in Hong Kong. The BSE Renewable Energy Research Group (RERG) had developed seven alternative energy systems at the Ma Wan Theme Park. Dr. CAO Sunliang and Mr. ZHANG Weilong introduced various demonstration installations that produce electrical energy from different renewable sources to the students, including Rooftop Solar PV Shelter, Biomass Gasification System and Small Hydro Power Generation System. BSE believes that this programme has deepened the senior secondary school students’ understanding of Building Services Engineering. We look forward to seeing them again in the near future.

MEng in BSE Student Won Second Prize in the 11th National Scientific and Technological Competition

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that our Master of Engineering in Building Services Engineering (MEng in BSE) student, NIU Jiajia, has won second prize in the 11th National Scientific and Technological Competition. In order to promote the sustainable development of the disciplines of Energy and Power Engineering, Built Environment and Energy Engineering and to encourage the creativity and innovation from college students, China Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Industry Association organized the 11th National Scientific and Technological Competition for college students in the above disciplines from June to July 2017. The theme of the competition was “Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Technology in Naturally Harmony’, aiming at encouraging competitors to design innovative refrigeration and air conditioning systems / products to reduce environmental impacts and save energy. The competition was organized in 6 regions, i.e., North China, East China, Central China, South China, Northeast China and West China. More than 4000 students from all over the country participated in the competition and over 400 students from more than 110 colleges / universities entered the finals in the 6 respective regions. The competition was divided into 2 groups, an undergraduate group and a postgraduate group. This was the first time that a representative from BSE of PolyU participated in such a high-profiled national event. On 30 June 2017, Miss NIU won second prize in the postgraduate group competition of South China region with her project titled “A PMV based Fuzzy Logic Controller for a Direct Expansion Air Conditioning System and Evaluating Energy Saving Effect Using a Local Fan” which was based on her MEng dissertation supervised by Prof DENG Shiming, Professor of the BSE Department. Winning a second prize in a national competition reflected the quality of research and teaching of the BSE students and staff.   BSE would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Miss NIU on her academic success and achievement on winning the prize.

BSE Associate Professor Awarded Global Innovation Award at the TechConnect World Conference and Expo 2017

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is proud to announce that Dr. Vivien LU’s innovation Multi-functional nano-coating for glass1 has been awarded the Global Innovation Award at the TechConnect World Conference and Expo 2017 (TechConnect World). PolyU is the first and only university awardee from Hong Kong. TechConnect World is one of the largest multi-sector gathering of technology IP, technology ventures, industrial partners, and investors in the world. The purpose of TechConnect World is to bring together the world’s top technology transfer offices, companies, and investment firms to locate the most promising technologies and early stage companies from across the globe. The TechConnect Innovation Awards identify the top 15% of submitted technologies as ranked by the TechConnect Corporate & Investment Partner Committee. Innovation rankings are based on the potential positive impact the submitted technology will have on a specific industry sector. Innovations are submitted from global academic technology transfer offices, early-stage companies, small business innovative research awardees, and government and corporate research laboratories. Congratulations to Dr. LU and her team for this excellent achievement and hope Dr. LU keeps moving onwards and upwards. 1 See Annex for details. Annex Multi-functional nano-coating for glass – Dr. Vivien LU With large amount of outdoor near-infrared light transmitting through windows, drawing indoor temperature rise, many buildings in Hong Kong suffer from high-cost air-conditioning. In recent years, there were also repeated fatal accidents arising from cleaning windows in high-rises. The novel multi-functional transparent nano-coating for glass developed by PolyU researchers can help address the two problems at the same time. The super-hydrophilic self-cleaning coating has thermal insulation and photo-catalysis properties. Besides blocking over 90% of near-infrared light and 99% ultra-violet light, the coating can also break down organic pollutants. The highly cost-efficient coating can be widely used in building glass curtains (including shopping malls, offices), smart homes, aircrafts, etc. It is developed mainly with nanoscale TiO2 and Cesium Tungsten Bronze mixture particles. The two materials are synthesized respectively by low-cost hydrothermal method and high-temperature calcination technique.

New Assistant Professor Announced – Dr. Cao Sunliang

Dr. Cao Sunliang Assistant Professor Department of Building Services Engineering The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) is pleased to announce that Dr. Cao Sunliang has been appointed the new Assistant Professor of BSE, starting on 20 March 2017. Dr. Cao Sunliang obtained his Doctor of Science (Technology) from the School of Engineering at Aalto University, Finland in 2014. He obtained his master’s degree (MSc) from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland in 2010, while his master’s thesis project was conducted at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway. Before joining The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Dr. Cao was successively employed as a research assistant, doctoral researcher and postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University since 2010. In January and February 2016, Dr. Cao also worked as a Visiting Scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Fraunhofer ISE), Germany, for a joint research between Fraunhofer ISE and Aalto University. Dr. Cao’s main research expertise is in the fields of low-energy and zero-energy buildings, advanced on-site renewable energy systems (solar heating and cooling, PV, ground source heat pump, micro-CHP, and micro-wind turbine), building integrated energy storage solutions, HVAC technologies, and the integrations between buildings, hybrid smart grids and new energy vehicles. He participated in the International Energy Agency (IEA) “Solar Heating and Cooling Programme (SHC) Task 44”/ “Heat Pump Programme (HPP) Annex 38” (Solar and Heat Pump Systems) and the IEA “Energy in Buildings and Communities Programme (EBC) Annex 67” (Energy Flexible Buildings) as a Finnish representative and a Finnish observer, respectively. So far, Dr. Cao has published more than 20 scientific publications, including 13 high-IF (impact factor) international SCI journal papers.

BSE Visited by Khon Kaen University on 6 March 2017

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to report that a visit group from Khon Kaen University of Thailand had paid a visit to the Department on 6 March 2017. The Head of Department, Prof. Asif Usmani, warmly welcomed and gave a brief introduction of the Department to the visit group.   The group had demonstrated a strong interest in BSE's programmes and raised meaningful questions regarding course structure and career prospect in the building services engineering industry.

The HKIE Control, Automation & Instrumentation Division Student Paper Competition 2016/17

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that our BSE student has been awarded in Student Paper Competition 2016/17 organized by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Control, Automation & Instrumentation Division.   Mr. Li Wai Lok, our current MEng student under the supervision of Dr. Chan Ming Yin, won the Champion with his project titled “A Thermal Comfort Study of Bed-based Task/Ambient Air-conditioning System”,   The award presentation will be held in the Annual Symposium of the Division on 17 March 2017.   The Student Paper Competition is organized by the Control, Automation & Instrumentation Division with the aim to promote the Control, Automation & Instrumentation technologies and to encourage young / potential engineers and technologists to join them.   BSE would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Li’s on his academic success and achievement on winning the award.

The HKIE Safety Specialist Committee Students Project Competition 2016

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that two of our BSE students have been awarded in the HKIE-SSC Students Project Competition 2016, which is organized by Safety Specialist Committee (SSC) of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE). Dr. LIU Jing won the Runner-up (MTR Award) in the Doctorate Degree Group with her project titled “A Study on Fires & Associated Provisions in Open Kitchens in Small Residential Units of Tall Buildings”. Mr. CHEUNG Ka-ming, MSc student, won the Champion (Towngas OSH Award) in the Master Degree Group with his project titled “A Study on the Evacuation Strategies for Deep Underground Subway Station”. Both students were supervised by Professor W.K. CHOW. Professor CHOW was invited to the Annual Dinner cum Award Presentation of the HKIE/SSC - Students Project Competition 2016 held on 13 January 2017 at YMCA, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.     Prof. CHOW representing the winning students to receive awards The aims of the Student Projects Competition are to promote safety and health in the field of engineering and science regime, and to provide an open and competitive platform for engineering students to demonstrate their engineering capabilities and share their learning process in the aspects of safety and health.

BSE Mentorship Programme 2016-17 Kick-off Meeting on 3 February 2017

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) held its Mentorship Programme 2016-17 Kick-off Meeting on 3 February 2017. A total of 47 mentees and 14 mentors enthusiastically participated in the event. The Head of Department, Prof. Asif Usmani extended a warm welcome to all mentors (practitioners from the BSE industry) and mentees (BSE students) at the beginning of the meeting. To begin with, a concise introduction of the programme was given by Prof. C.M. Mak, the leader of the BSE Mentorship Programme.   The Mentorship Programme has been established since 2002 in the BSE Department. The programme aims to allow each full-time BSE student to have the opportunity to learn from a mentor, who is a mature, wise and sensitive practitioner. Mentoring is a structured relationship between the mentee and the mentor, such mentor-mentee relationship is expected to last until the graduation of the mentee. The kick-off meeting gave a good chance for mentees and mentors to have face-to-face interaction. Certainly, the regular and constant contacts between the two parties were also encouraged in future.   The objectives for such interaction are: • to foster a caring and supportive relationship • to encourage the mentee to develop to his/her fullest potential • to help the mentee develop his/her vision and aspiration for the future • to help groom the mentee to be a "preferred graduate"   To express gratitude for the mentors’ support to the Mentorship Programme, Prof. Usmani presented the souvenirs and certificates of appreciation to the mentors as recognition of their contribution and efforts to the programme. Immediately after presenting the certificates, a lively sharing session was held between the mentors and mentees. The mentors shared their valuable learning and working experience. The mentees showed strong interest in knowing more about the challenges that they might encounter in the work place.   BSE would like to take this opportunity to thank all parties for their contribution to the Mentorship Programme and their support in the kick-off meeting.