News

BSE Seminar: Research and Development of Perovskite Solar Cells for Industrialization on 23 May 2016

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) organized a CPD seminar on 23 May 2016. Dr. FAN Bin was invited to speak on “Research and Development of Perovskite Solar Cells for Industrialization”. This seminar had attracted over 70 current students and professionals in the industry who had interests in solar energy areas. First of all, Dr. FAN was welcomed and introduced by BSE Professor YANG Hongxing. Professor YANG gave a welcome speech and expressed thanks to Dr. FAN on his presentation.   Thereafter, Dr. FAN started to introduce his presentation on the Perovskite photovoltaic. Perovskite photovoltaic is one of the most promising technology for high-efficiency and low-cost solar-electricity generation. Dr. FAN has been working on perovskite solar cells since his PhD study in 2013. He has set up a pilot production line for perovskite solar modules of 45 cm by 65 cm and the solar module efficiency of around 10% has been achieved, which is the world champion efficiency for the perovskite solar modules with an area of above 10 cm2. Dr. FAN introduced his experience in research and development of this new type of solar cell and shared his achievements in the industrialization of the technology in China.

BSE Project Awarded "Special Merit Award" and "Gold Medal" at the 44th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is honoured to announce that one of BSE projects entitled “Highly Dispersed Nanocomposite Paste for Self-cleaning Solar Panels” has been awarded a “Special Merit Award” and a “Gold Medal” at the 44th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva. Under the patronage of the Swiss Federal Government, the State and the City of Geneva as well as the World Intellectual Property Organization, the 44th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, Switzerland was held from 13 to 17 April 2016. Professor Hongxing YANG and his research team members, Dr. Lin LU and Dr. Yuanhao WANG, of the Renewable Energy Research Group in BSE Department, PolyU developed this innovative nanocomposite material for cleaning solar photovoltaic panels. Highly Dispersed Nanocomposite Paste for Self-cleaning Solar Panels is described as follows: This low-cost, environmentally friendly and highly transparent paste can be coated on different kind of surfaces including solar panels which can protect them from organic and inorganic dirt under sunlight activation and rainwater brush. It can significantly reduce 70% cleansing cost as well as increase the average output power of solar panels. This highly transparent with robust multifunctional coating also protects the surfaces from corrosion of sandstorm and acid rain so as to extend the life span of solar panels.   Congratulations to Professor YANG and his research team members on their accomplishments! The Department will continue to dedicate to the green management and contribution to community.

BSE Seminar: Indoor Environmental Solutions for Improving Occupant's Comfort, Health and Performance on 20 April 2016

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) held a public seminar titled "Indoor Environmental Solutions for Improving Occupant’s Comfort, Health and Performance" on 20 April 2016. Dr. Josephine LAU from the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, University of Nebraska-Lincoln was invited to be the speaker. It attracted more than hundred professionals and research students attending the seminar. After welcomed and introduced by Professor S.K. TANG from BSE Department, Dr. LAU started her talk by highlighting various research projects that were carried out by her and her research team in the past 10 years, including: (1) CO-2 based Demand Control Ventilation; (2) Applying Upper Room Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) in Schools with Real- time Bioaerosal Monitoring and (3) School Environmental Factors on Students Achievements. After the talk, there was a 10-minute Q&A session with active involvement. At the end of the seminar, Professor TANG presented a souvenir to Dr. LAU to thank for her sharing. Dr. LAU is an Associate Professor in University of Nebraska-Lincoln – Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction. She has expertise in air-cleaning technologies, indoor air quality simulation and measurement, and energy modeling and monitoring for various mechanical ventilation systems and different building types. She has written over 30 peer-reviewed publications related to indoor air quality and energy efficiency of ventilation systems. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University, PA. She received her M.S. of Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, IN; and was originally from Hong Kong, and graduated from PolyU. Dr. LAU received Henry Y Kleinkauf Family Distinguished New Faculty Teaching Award in 2013 and Architectural Engineering Mentoring Award in 2011. Besides, she also served as the Associate Editor of the Journal of Architectural Engineering (JAE) and the Deputy and Regional Editor of the Journal Indoor and Built Environment (IBE).

BSE’s student awarded Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Hong Kong Branch Scholarship Prize on 17 March 2016

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that one of our students, Ms. LEE Siu Yan, has been awarded “Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers Hong Kong Branch Scholarship Prize”. The award certificate was delivered to her by Mr. C.M. CHUNG, Chairman of Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) Hong Kong Branch, in the Annual Dinner of CIBSE Hong Kong Branch, 17 March 2016. CIBSE Hong Kong Branch has donated one scholarship to the Department. Ms LEE is a final year student of the BEng (Hons) in Building Services Engineering programme. Her excellent academic performance is well recognized by CIBSE.

BSE's student awarded “Outstanding Student Award of Faculty” on 15 March 2016

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is proud to announce that our BSE student Mr. LEUNG Yu Kit has been selected as the Outstanding Student, Faculty of Construction and Environment, 2015 under the PolyU’s Outstanding Students Award Scheme. The objectives of the scheme are motivate students to excel in both academic and non-academic pursuits while they are studying and PolyU, and help cultivate a campus culture and communicate a public image favourable to the development of all-round graduates. The Outstanding Student Awards Presentation Ceremony was held on 15 March 2016 at the Chiang Chen Studio Theatre. At the ceremony, Mr. LEUNG was presented a certificate and a cash prize of $3,000 from Professor Timothy W. TONG, President of PolyU. The Outstanding Student Awards are given annually to full-time final-year students in recognition of their outstanding academic achievement, strong leadership ability, active involvement in extra-curricular activities, substantial community service experience and exposure, and good personal qualities. In these 4 years study, Mr. LEUNG received a number of scholarships, including the Gold Prize for the PolyU SPECIAL All-round Student Award in 2014/15, the Sliver Award for Volunteer Service (Individual) in 2004, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Scholarship, Dr Ng Tat-lun Memorial Scholarship, Hong Kong Mediation and Arbitration Centre Scholarship, Fung Scholarship and the Service Learning Scholarship 2014/15. Mr. LEUNG was being an active participant in various extra-curricular activities and international events, for example Peer Mentoring Programme, student exchange programme at Sweden, the 20th Asia Pacific Youth Conference in Taiwan. In summer 2015, he initiated and developed a web-based programme named “PolyU EasyReg”, which helped students process their subject registration effectively by providing some automotive functions. There were over 20,000 visits after published on web. BSE would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. LEUNG on his academic success and achievement on winning the award.

BSE Visited by Two Mainland High Schools on 1 February 2016

Students from two famous high schools in Guangzhou visited the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 1 February 2016. The two high schools were The Affiliated High School of South China Normal University (華南師大附屬中學) and Guangdong Experimental High School (廣東實驗中學). Around 70 students and teachers joined the visit. The BSE Associate Professor, Dr. Vivien LU extended a warm welcome to all students and teachers from the two high schools, after which introduction of the Department and the BSE’s academic undergraduate programmes were presented.   The students were very attentive. They showed a strong interest in BSE's undergraduate programmes, raised meaningful questions regarding course structure and career prospect in the building services engineering industry in the Q&A session.

The HKIE Safety Specialist Committee Student Project Competition 2015

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that two of our PhD BSE students have been awarded in the HKIE-SSC Student Project Competition 2015, which is organized by Safety Specialist Committee (SSC) of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE). Under the Doctorate Degree Group, Dr. LAU Kwai Wing won the Champion of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) Award for his project titled “A Study on Installing Water Curtain System at Refuge Floor of Supertall Buildings in Hong Kong” and Dr. PANG Chi Leung won the Runner-up of the CIC Award for his project titled “A Study on Fire Detection Systems for Supertall Buildings”. Both of the awardees were supervised by Professor W.K. CHOW.

ASHRAE Fellowship on 29 January 2016

As announced during the Plenary Session on 23 January 2016, Professor W.K. Chow JP FHKEng is named as a Fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), in recognition of his contributions to education, research, engineering design and consultation, publications and mentoring in this profession. The presentation was held at ASHRAE’s 2016 Winter Conference in Orlando, Florida, USA. Recognition is in the form of a plaque with a medallion and a lapel pin. Professor Chow is one among the 17 recipients all over the world awarded with this honor this year. The following citation is copied from the Plenary Session booklet: Wan Chow is chair professor of Architectural Science and Fire Engineering, Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. A researcher on architectural science and fire engineering for more than 30 years, his contributions focus on building fire safety, fire suppression systems and atrium fire engineering. He developed an experimental full-scale burning facility, the State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China, for the study of atrium smoke movement and the associated fire protection systems. The project sought to determine whether overseas standards are suitable to be applied in the Asia-Oceania regions. Consequently, a hot smoke test scheme proposal on evaluating the performance of atrium smoke management systems was accepted to use in Hong Kong. More information on this award is available on ASHRAE website: https://www.ashrae.org/membership--conferences/honors--awards

BSE Mentorship Programme 2015-16 Kick-off Meeting on 22 January 2016

The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) held its Mentorship Programme 2015-16 Kick-off Meeting on 22 January 2016. A total of 57 mentees and 18 mentors enthusiastically participated in the event.   The Head of Department, Professor W.K. CHOW 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 Professor 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, Professor CHOW 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.

PolyU Info Day for Taught Postgraduate Programmes on 9 January 2016

The PolyU Info Day for Taught Postgraduate Programmes was successfully held on 9 January 2016. The Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) participated actively in the Info Day to provide prospective taught postgraduates with up-to-date and comprehensive information of master programmes and curriculum. After an overview of the Postgraduate Scheme in Construction and Environment by the Scheme Chairman, break-out sessions on individual postgraduate programmes were conducted. Postgraduate programmes offered by BSE included MSc in Building Services Engineering, MSc in Facility Management, MSc in Fire and Safety Engineering and MSc in High Performance Buildings which were under the programme leadership of Professor DU Yaping, Dr. Joseph LAI, Dr. N.K. FONG and Dr. C.K. CHAU respectively.