News

Dialogue with CEE – JUPAS Admission Strategies

The Dialogue with CEE – JUPAS Admission Strategies held on 23 June 2025 (Monday) was a resounding success. The online seminar brings together over 30 students from various secondary schools, providing them an invaluable opportunity to gain first-hand insights into the programme information and to explore the exciting academic journey that awaits in CEE. The seminar commenced with an informative session hosted by Prof. Andy Leung, Associate Head of CEE and Dr Barbara Siu, Senior Lecturer of CEE, who shared the latest updates on JUPAS admission criteria and offered a comprehensive overview of the CEE programme structure. To have a closer interaction with secondary school students, two current CEE students took the stage to share their university experiences and future aspirations. Their candid stories gave attendees a glimpse into the vibrant campus life and the wealth of opportunities available at CEE, inspiring many to envision their own futures in the field. We hope the activity has sparked students’ curiosity and passion for engineering, and we look forward to supporting their academic journey in the years to come.  

New joiner – Dr Huichuan Zhuang

Dr Liangfu Ge earned his Ph.D. from Tongji University in 2022, following his Bachelor's degree from Southwest Jiaotong University in 2017. Before joining PolyU as a Research Assistant Professor, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Western Ontario from 2023 to 2025. His research focuses on developing cutting-edge methodologies for infrastructure assessment and management in smart cities, utilizing computer vision, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Dr Ge has joined us on 2 July 2025.  

New joiner – Dr Bin Pan

Dr Bin Pan obtained his B.E. Degree (2011) from Xi’an Jiaotong University, M.S. degree from Zhejiang University (2014), and Ph.D. degree (2022) from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Before joining PolyU as a Research Assistant Professor, Dr. Pan had worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at PolyU for two years. Dr. Pan’s research mainly focuses on pipe hydraulics, pipe health monitoring, pipe defect detection, numerical modelling, water quality control, and advanced oxidation techniques. Dr Pan has joined us on 1 July 2025.  

New joiner – Dr Huichuan Zhuang

Dr. Huichuan Zhuang received his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Engineering from PolyU in 2021, after completing his Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Harbin Institute of Technology. Following his Ph.D., he worked as a Postdoctoral fellow at PolyU before being appointed as a Research Assistant Professor. His research focuses on anaerobic biotechnologies for wastewater treatment and biomass valorization. He focuses on applying bioinformatics and thermodynamic modeling approaches to investigate microbial community evolution and metabolic interactions, aiming to advance sustainable and efficient environmental biotechnologies. Dr Zhuang has joined us on 1 July 2025.  

CEE Three Minute Thesis Competition 2025

CEE recently wrapped up its eagerly awaited Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) Competition Final on 12 May 2025 (Monday). The event highlighted the research capabilities and presentation skills of CEE's RPg students. Out of the 8 CEE RPg students who participated in the competition, six finalists emerged from the Semifinal to deliver captivating presentations on their theses in three minutes or less. The top honors were awarded to three outstanding finalists, with one champion, a first runner-up, a second runner-up, and a people's choice award recipient. All of the six talented individuals will be competing in the 3MT® competition organized by FCE on 10 June 2025 (Tuesday), where they will face off against students from other departments. The 3MT® competition, originally developed by The University of Queensland, Australia in 2008, aims to celebrate the discoveries and achievements of RPg students while cultivating their academic, presentation, and research communication skills. The competition has gained global popularity, with over 900 universities in more than 85 countries hosting their own 3MT® events. Kudos to all the participants and winners of the CEE 3MT® Competition for their remarkable performances and their effort in pushing forward research and communication within civil and environmental engineering. Keep an eye out for more updates as they gear up for the upcoming interdepartmental competition! Highlights of the Competition: https://youtu.be/z2jVLmX_QIA  

PolyU CEE Webinar Series: Some Recent Developments on Offshore Structural Vibration Control

Prof. Kaiming Bi delivered a seminar with the topic of “Some Recent Developments on Offshore Structural Vibration Control” on 21 May 2025. It was co-organized with HKIE Civil Division. Find the full version of the webinar in the below link: https://youtu.be/xL85SAdNPZI  

CEE PhD Student Awarded Outstanding Young Engineer Contribution Award by IABSE

Congratulations to Mr Lanxin Luo, CEE PhD student supervised by Prof. Yong Xia, on receiving the “Outstanding Young Engineer Contribution Award” at the IABSE Symposium Tokyo 2025 on 18-21 May 2025. The symposium, organized by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE), themed Environmentally Friendly Technologies and Structures: Focusing on Sustainable Approaches. Mr Luo's research, titled “Hybrid Physics Data-driven Modeling for Structural Nonlinear Boundary Condition Identification”, addresses the critical issue of blind boundary condition identification in nonlinear dynamics. The project introduces a finite element-neural network hybrid modeling approach, which integrates the finite element method for linear components with multilayer perceptrons to represent unknown nonlinear elements. The unknown boundary is identified from output-only data without any prior model information. This advancement improves the interpretability of physics-informed neural networks and provides a practical solution for the blind nonlinear identification of operational structures. Kudos to Mr Luo for this remarkable achievement and we look forward to the positive impact his groundbreaking research will bring to our living environment.  

FCE Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding 2025

Eight exceptional CEE members have been awarded the 2025 FCE Dean's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding. This prestigious award acknowledges their endeavor in securing external competitive research funding—a testament to their ground-breaking work and commitment to innovation. The achievement reflects their dedication to pushing the boundaries of technological advancements and their unwavering contribution to research excellence. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the award recipients. Their ground-breaking research will continue to bring positive impact and shape the future of civil and environmental engineering.  

CEE Departmental Visit - Tung Chung Catholic School (21 May)

A group of 35 students from Tung Chung Catholic School visited CEE on 21 May 2025 (Wednesday). Ir Chung-Lim Kwan, Senior Teaching Fellow of CEE, introduced the admission information of BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering and BEng (Hons) in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development. The civil engineering industry updates and career prospects were shared with the students. To arouse the students’ awareness on air pollution control, the students joined the Air Purifier Model DIY Workshop and learned to make their own air purifier. They all found the visit comprehensive and fruitful. After the informative session and the hands-on workshop, the students had the opportunity to visit our Air Pollution Laboratory and Waste and Water Laboratory, where they were able to monitor the concentration of air pollutants with the devices and watch the waste water management process at a close distance. We hope the visit not only reinforced the students’ understanding on environmental protection but also empowered them to take actionable steps in their daily lives.  

Dr Yong Tao Awarded Young Innovative Researcher Award 2025

We are proud to announce that Dr Yong Tao, Research Assistant Professor of CEE, was awarded the PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2025. This accolade recognizes Dr Tao’s outstanding contribution and positive impact his research, titled "Advancing CO2 Mineralization and Waste Concrete Valorization for a Sustainable Future", might bring to the society. The YIRA is a university-level award that honours young faculty members who have have demonstrated originality, contributed to technological advancement, and propelled transformational innovation into solutions addressing global challenges through their research. This year, a record 70 submissions were received from across all schools and faculties, and after a rigorous selection process, six remarkable individuals have been chosen as awardees. Congratulations to Dr Yong Tao on this well-deserved achievement! We believe this award will further encourage his impactful work in tackling global challenges through sustainable solutions.