News

2021 Willi H. Hager Best Reviewer Award

Congratulations to Dr H.F. Duan for getting the 2021 Willi H. Hager Best Reviewer Award established by International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) Council.  The award  is made biennially to up to three reviewers preferably under 45 years of age judged to provide most outstanding reviews of the papers submitted to the Journal of Hydraulic Research during the preceding two-year period. 

LPM Contractors Scholarship 2020

A student of BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering, Mr LUI Chun Wah, has been awarded the LPM Contractors Scholarship 2020. It recognizes his outstanding academic performance, motivation and passion in geotechnical engineering. This scholarship aims to provide financial assistance and encouragement to undergraduate students to pursue studies in geotechnical engineering. 

AECOM Prize for Best Student of the Year 2020

A student of BEng (HONS) Civil Engineering, Mr NG Ming Ho, has been awarded the AECOM Prize for Best Student of the Year 2020. This AECOM Prize is presented to students with outstanding performance in geotechnical subjects in local universities that offer eligible undergraduate programmes accredited by the HKIE for Scheme “A” training in the geotechnical discipline.

New Joiner - Dr Kai Mingfeng

Dr KAI received his BEng in Civil Engineering from Southeast University (China) in 2014, MEng in Structural Engineering from Hunan University (China) in 2017, and Ph.D. in Architecture and Civil Engineering from City University of Hong Kong in 2020. After graduation, he joined PolyU as a postdoctoral research fellow. Dr KAI’s research focuses on cement and geopolymer-based composites. He employs molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to study the properties of eco-friendly and high-performance composites. He studied the properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) and graphene reinforced composites. In addition, he researched the effect of nuclear wastes and supplementary cementing materials (like fly ash) on the properties of the cement-based materials. His experimental studies focused on the mechanical, dynamical, thermal and damping properties of cementitious composites (including engineered cementitious composite (ECC) and CNT reinforced cementitious composites) using Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS), and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) machine.  Dr KAI has joined us on 2 July 2021.

New Joiner - Dr WANG Pei

Dr Pei WANG obtained his Ph.D. in Geotechnical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, USA in May 2019, MEng in Civil Engineering from Tongji University and BEng in Highway Engineering from Chang’an University. He joined PolyU as a postdoctoral research fellow in July 2019.   Dr WANG’s work focuses on the multi-scale computational modeling of granular materials, micro-mechanical analysis of soil behavior, numerical analysis of particle breakage with DEM, soil-structure interface and size effect of granular materials.  Dr WANG has joined us on 2 July 2021.  

Learn More about ACS Environmental Au’s Deputy Editor – Prof. Xiangdong Li

ACS Environmental Au is an open-access journal publishing experimental research and theoretical results in environmental science and technology aspects. Being the Deputy Editor of the journal, Prof. Xiangdong Li has revealed more about himself and offer some tips for developing a research career in an interview with ACS Publications. Read more at here.

FCE Dean's Awards 2021

Congratulations to CEE members who received FCE Dean’s Awards 2021 for various categories.  Dr Daniel C.W. Tsang was awarded the Dean’s Award for Highly-cited Researchers, which recognizes him for having produced multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations in the field of Environment and Ecology and on the 2020 Highly Cited Researcher List compiled by the Web of Science Group. The following four academics were chosen for the Dean’s Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding for their success in securing external competitive research funding in the past few years:    Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding Awardee  Allocation Date/ Grant Approval Date Project Title (Funding Scheme) Prof. J.G. DAI  8 Jan 2019  Study of Super-fast Large-area Economical Marine Reclamations for Housing and Infrastructural Developments in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area  (RGC Research Impact Fund – sub-project)  1 Jul 2019  A New Avenue for Fire Protection of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Strengthened Reinforced Concrete Structures (RGC General Research Fund)  30 Oct 2020   Research and Development on Waste Ash/Slag-based Artificial Aggregates for Applications in Concrete (NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme) Prof. C.S. POON    14 Nov 2018  Fundamental Study on Turning of Incineration Sewage Sludge Ash (ISSA) and Heavy Metal Contaminated Sediment from Rivers or Coastal Areas as Low-carbon and Eco-friendly Construction Materials (NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme)  1 Jan 2019  Sustainable Marine Infrastructure Enabled by the Innovative Use of Seawater Sea-Sand Concrete and Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Composites  (RGC Theme-based Research Scheme – sub-project)  1 Jul 2020  Development of Anti-bacterial Geopolymer Composite with Incineration Sewage Sludge Ash and Waste Glass for Sewerage Structure Rehabilitation (RGC General Research Fund)  Prof. Yong XIA  1 Jul 2016  Improving Construction Precision of Supertall Structures Through Integration of Field Monitoring and Advanced Analysis (RGC General Research Fund)  1 Jul 2017  Study on Temperature Behavior of Bridges in Real-Time Through the Integration of Field Monitoring with Advanced Computational Techniques (RGC General Research Fund)  30 Nov 2019  跨海集群設施服役狀態評估及智慧維養技術與裝備 (MOST National Key Technologies R&D Program)  1 Jul 2020 Sparse Bayesian Learning for Damage Detection of Steel Structures under Varying Temperature Conditions (RGC General Research Fund)  Dr Zhen-yu YIN  8 Jan 2019 Study of Super-fast Large-area Economical Marine Reclamations for Housing and Infrastructural Developments in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area  (RGC Research Impact Fund – sub-project)  1 Jul 2019 Coupled Hydro-mechanical Modeling of Suffusion in Gap-graded Cohesionless Soils (RGC General Research Fund)  30 Oct 2020  Study of Multi-Physics Coupling Mechanism of Deep Sea Pipeline and Soft Marine Organic Deposits Interaction Considering Time and Temperature Effects (NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme)

PolyU Ranked 5th for Civil Engineering in the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2021

In the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2021 released by ShanghaiRanking, PolyU was listed as the 5th best in the world in Civil Engineering, confirming once again our global excellence in education and research in the discipline. ShanghaiRanking has published the world university ranking by academic subjects since 2009 and the GRAS was first published in 2017, which is regarded as one of the most influential and widely observed university rankings. It uses a range of objective academic indicators and third-party data to measure top world universities’ performance in respective subjects, including research output, research influence, international collaboration, research quality, and international academic awards.  The GRAS has analyzed the universities that have published a certain number of publications during 2015 – 2019.   The full version of GRAS 2021 and its methodology can be found at here.    

ICE Model Building Competition 2021

Congratulations to the team “Bridge The Gap” for obtaining the 1st runner-up in the Model Building Competition 2021 organized by Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Hong Kong Association Graduates and Students Division. Participants were required to build a model made of balsa wood within a given time limit, which was tested by applying loads on the bridge fixing a wind tunnel machine. Students were able to apply their technical knowledge and creativity into practical use. The team consists of five CEE international students: ANWER Kamran, PUA Lance Edric Lou, RIFKY Ahamed Azem, STANLEY Ignasius and YATAROV Rassul. 

Infrastructure Maintenance, Renovation and Management – R&D Governmental Program in Japan

Prof. Yozo Fujino was invited to deliver a seminar on “Infrastructure maintenance, renovation and management - R&D governmental program in Japan” to CEE research personnel and alumni on 18 May 2021. Prof. Fujino shared inspiring visions of research in Civil Engineering and introduced the latest research and development programme in Japan’s infrastructure.