News

ShanghaiRanking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2026

The recent announcement by the ShanghaiRanking revealed CEE’s world-leading results in the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2026. CEE has achieved remarkable positions globally in three key research areas, securing 1st in Transportation Science and Technology, 3rd in Civil Engineering, and 23rd in Environmental Science and Engineering, while also ranking at the top in Hong Kong for the first two disciplines. These accolades underscore CEE’s international standing and reaffirm our unwavering commitment to academic excellence, high-impact research, and visionary engineering solutions. The GRAS uses a range of objective academic indicators and third-party data to evaluate the performance world universities across various criteria, including research output, research impact, international collaboration, research quality, and international academic awards. Among the listed 2,000 universities across 100 countries and regions, CEE stands out for its ongoing pursuit of academic and research excellence. Heartfelt congratulations to all CEE members whose continuous dedication, hard work, and innovation have made this remarkable milestone possible. For the full version of GRAS 2026, please visit:  https://www.shanghairanking.com/rankings/gras/2026  

CEE PhD Students Won First Place in KAJIMA-FOMLIG AI Challenge 2026

We are delighted to share that the team comprising Mr Hansong Pang and Ms Yang Liu, CEE PhD students supervised by Prof. Andy Y. F. Leung, has secured First Place among 11 participating teams in the KAJIMA-FOMLIG AI Challenge (Challenge 1) and received a cash award sponsored by Kajima Corporation Technical Research Institute Singapore (KaTRIS). The competition formed part of the GeoTechathon at the Fourth Workshop on the Future of Machine Learning in Geotechnics (4FOMLIG), held from 26 to 28 August 2026 at Dongguk University in Seoul, Korea. Challenge 1, “Automatic Extraction of Geotechnical Foundation Data”, invited graduate and PhD students to develop practical AI-based systems for converting information from scientific papers into structured foundation-engineering databases.  The team’s award-winning solution employs a hybrid architecture that integrates large language models (LLMs) with deterministic algorithms. Through semantic interpretation, evidence linkage, figure and table digitization, and quality control, the system converts unstructured geotechnical literature into traceable, verifiable and reusable structured data. Congratulations to the team on this remarkable achievement! More information about the challenge, please visit: https://www.issmge.org/news/student-competitions-announced-for-the-4th-fomlig-workshop-in-seoul   

Prof. Charles Xu Elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

We are proud to announce that Prof. Charles Chunbao Xu, Chair Professor of Advanced Biorefinery of CEE and Director of Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality (RCRE), has been elected as a Fellow of the Academic of Science of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). This prestigious honour recognizes his outstanding contributions and dedication to developing transformative biorefinery technologies that benefit multiple industrial sectors in Canada.  This year, 105 distinguished scholars worldwide were elected as new RSC Fellows, with Prof. Xu being one of only three scholars across Hong Kong SAR to receive this recognition. Founded in 1882, the RSC is composed of leading international scholars in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences. It is dedicated to recognising the academic excellence of outstanding scholars, promoting knowledge innovation, and providing scientific solutions and academic advice for public policy and global challenges. Prof. Xu said, “I am deeply honored to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Academy of Science. This fellowship reflects my team’s ongoing work in fundamental and applied research, transforming biomass and bioresources into fuels, chemicals, and materials across molecular and system levels. With the strong support of PolyU, PAIR, FCE, CEE, and especially the Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality, we continue to advance transformative biorefinery technologies to industrial scale, turning organic waste into high-value bioproducts.”  Join us in congratulating Prof. Xu for this well-deserved recognition. This remarkable achievement not only highlights Prof. Xu’s stellar academic and research career, but also reinforces CEE’s commitment to driving world-class research and sustainable innovation for the betterment of society.  

CEE PhD Student Receives Best Paper Award at the 38th Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Noise

We are proud to announce that Ms Yixuan Liu, CEE PhD student supervised by Prof. Kai Zhou, has won the 2026 Best Paper Award (1st Place) at the 38th Conference on Mechanical Vibration and Noise (VIB), a prestigious track within the ASME IDETC/CIE conference. This award recognizes her outstanding contributions to vibration and noise research. Ms Liu’s award-winning paper, titled “Vision-Enabled Dynamic Response Tracking of Floating Platforms Under Degraded Observations”, focuses on developing a reliable vision-enabled motion tracking of floating platforms is critical for structural fatigue assessment, yet remains challenging under degraded marine observations due to water-surface refraction, reflection, and occlusion. This work proposes a new robust vision-enabled framework combining stable-region geometric alignment, a recurrent diffusion model for motion proposals, and particle-filter integration with rendering-based scoring and structure-aware refinement, enabling accurate long-term tracking under severe visual degradation. Organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the annual IDETC/CIE conference is a premier, high-impact platform where theoretical advances meet practical engineering applications across mechanical and civil engineering, design engineering, manufacturing, and cyber-physical systems. Kudos to Ms Liu for this remarkable achievement. This award highlights her dedication to research excellence and underscores CEE’s ongoing commitment to fostering cutting-edge, impactful innovation. More information about the conference, please visit: https://event.asme.org/IDETC-CIE  

New joiner – Dr Chunlan Fan

Dr Chunlan Fan obtained her Ph.D. degree in Environmental and Symbiotic Science from the Prefectural University of Kumamoto, Japan. Before being appointed as a Research Assistant Professor, Dr Fan worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for three years. Her current research bridges environmental microbiology, atmospheric processes, and public health, with an emphasis on the environmental dissemination, persistence, development of antifungal resistance, and clinical relevance of airborne drug-resistant fungi. Dr Fan has reported on 7 September 2026.  

The Second J.M. Ko Award Ceremony and International Symposium on Advances in Structural Engineering

The Second J.M. Ko Award Ceremony and International Symposium on Advances in Structural Engineering was successfully held at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 20 August 2026. This event, organized by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at PolyU, sponsored by Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for Marine Infrastructure, and supported by various industry and academic partners, focused on the outstanding contributions and latest advancements in structural engineering. The Second J.M. Ko Award Ceremony honours two exceptional young researchers, Prof. Jamie Padgett from Rice University and Prof. Dimitrios Lignos from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), for their outstanding contributions to the science and technology of Structural Engineering. The event started with an Opening Session by Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU and Prof. Songye Zhu, Head of CEE, followed by the Award Ceremony and technical lectures/presentations by the two Laureates (i.e., J.M. Ko distinguished lectures) and six esteemed scholars in the structural engineering field. The symposium fostered a vibrant exchange of ideas and set a new benchmark for future structural engineering symposia.  

CEE PhD Student received SINOPEC “Cleaner Energy Better Life” Research Student Award 2026

We are delighted to share that Ms Zhuowei Wang, CEE PhD student supervised by Prof. Anthony Chen, has been awarded the 2026 SINOPEC “Cleaner Energy Better Life” Research Student Award (Distinction) at the Research Student Excellence and Engagement Day (ReSEED) 2026. This award showcases her outstanding research achievements and high-impact publications. Organized by the Graduate School on 21 August 2026, a major highlight of ReSEED was the presentation ceremony for the SINOPEC “Cleaner Energy Better Life” Research Student Award. During the event, Ms Wang delivered a presentation on her winning paper, titled “Driving under the sun: Future of solar buses in Hong Kong, China.”  The award underscores the strong collaborative partnership between PolyU and SINOPEC, reflecting their shared dedication to nurturing future research talent and driving sustainability innovations. Once again, congratulations to Ms Wang for her remarkable achievement and we look forward to her onward journey in the field of transportation engineering.   

FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2025/26

We are thrilled to announce that Dr Weihang Ouyang, CEE PhD graduate, has been awarded the FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2025/26. Supervised by Prof. Siwei Liu, Dr Ouyang’s thesis, titled, “Second-Order Analysis of Pile-Supported Framed Structures by Machine Learning-Enhanced Finite-Element Method”, has been recognized for its significance and innovation. Dr Ouyang’s thesis introduces the Neural-Operator Element Method (NOEM), a new hybrid numerical framework for solving general partial differential equation (PDE) problems. NOEM embeds reusable, data-driven neural operators into the finite-element assembly process, combining the efficiency of machine learning with the interpretability and generality of conventional numerical methods. The framework was successfully applied to the second-order analysis of pile-supported framed structures, accurately capturing nonlinear structural responses and soil–pile interactions while substantially improving computational efficiency. The winners were selected based on the outstanding quality of their research, their effective presentation skills, and their ability to respond to questions from the Working Group of the Faculty Research Committee. Their academic performance and publication track records were also key factors in the selection process. We extend our warmest congratulations to Dr Ouyang on this well-deserved honor, which underscores his commitment to research excellence in structural engineering. We look forward to his continued achievements and the positive impact his work will bring to the society.

New joiner – Dr Yao Lu

Dr Yao Lu received his B.Sc. degree in Chemistry from Sun Yat-sen University and his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Tsinghua University in 2017. He then worked as a Professional Engineer at China Everbright Environment Group Limited, contributing to environmental technology development in waste treatment and resource recovery, as well as government–enterprise strategic environmental planning. From 2019 to 2021, he conducted postdoctoral research in Environmental Engineering at the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, Tsinghua University, focusing on emerging contaminants, their formation mechanisms, and toxicological implications during water treatment. Before being appointed as a Research Assistant Professor, Dr Lu had worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Fellow at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of PolyU for nearly five years. With a multidisciplinary background in organic and analytical chemistry, environmental engineering and toxicology, Dr Lu develops AI-assisted approaches that integrate nontargeted chemical analysis, interpretable machine learning and large language models, and cell-based experimental validation to identify and prioritize emerging contaminants. His current research focuses on the AI-enabled characterization and health-risk assessment of emerging contaminants in atmospheric and aquatic environments, with particular emphasis on identifying toxicity-driving organic compounds in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and translating predictive models into web-based tools for environmental health applications. Dr Lu has reported on 1 September 2026.  

New joiner – Dr Annalisa De Leo

Dr Annalisa De Leo received her Ph.D. degree in Fluid Dynamic and Environmental Engineering in the University of Genoa (Italy) in 2022. Former Postdoctoral Fellow at PolyU, she manages the deployment of a coastal HF-Radar network. Her research bridges fundamental fluid mechanics with practical applications, using real-time radar data to enhance coastal resilience against environmental and flood risks. Dr De Leo has reported on 1 September 2026.