| Name | Designation |
|---|---|
| Dr Ling Leng | Research Assistant Professor |
| Dr Arun Krishna Vuppaladadiyam | Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
| Dr Huichuan Zhuang | Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
| Dr Huaimin Wang | Postdoctoral fellow |
| Ho Yin (Leo) TSE | PhD Candidate |
| Shazia Rehman | PhD Candidate |
| Rabia Jalil | PhD Candidate |
| Chun Yin (Chris) Lau | PhD Candidate |
| Jianyu Guan | PhD Student |
| Raffel Dharma Patria | PhD Student |
| Chun Bong (Bryan) Yuen | Research Assistant |
Dr Ling Leng
Dr Ling Leng is now a research assistant professor at HKPolyU in the CEE department.
Dr Leng obtained his B.S. in Water Science and Engineering from Chongqing University (2012),
M.S. (with Distinction, 2013) and Ph.D. (2018) in Environmental Engineering from PolyU. Before
joining PolyU, Dr Leng had positions at University of Hawaii, US (2018) and National Institute
of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan (2018-2021) as Postdoctoral
Researcher and JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow, respectively.
Dr Leng’s research focuses on microbial process and technology for the degradation of
recalcitrant environmental contaminants and synthesis of biorenewable products from waste
streams. His specialties include applying molecular biology, bioinformatics and machine learning
tools to discover complex microbial processes in both environmental and engineered ecosystems
and further improve our biotechnology for achieving environmental sustainability. Dr. Leng works
close with Dr. Shao-Yuan Leu at PolyU and Dr. Masaru K. Nobu at AIST.
Dr Arun Krishna Vuppaladadiyam
Distinguished Postdoctoral Research FellowDr Arun Krishna Vuppaladadiyam is a Distinguished Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Dr. Shao-Yuan Leu’s (Ben) group at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPolyU). He received PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China in July, 2019. His research at Tsinghua University was mainly focussed on evaluating synergistic interactions between aquatic biomass and organic solid waste biomass. His expertise in thermochemical conversion, e.g., pyrolysis and gasification, biochemical conversion and sustainable integrated systems. Dr Arun received prestigious awards such as Outstanding Dissertation Award and Outstanding Graduate Award from Tsinghua University for his efforts during PhD. Before joining PolyU in 2021, Dr. Arun worked as Postdoctoral Fellow at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD). Dr. Arun also worked at United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a consultant for plastic waste management project. At PolyU, he is working on reactor design, process control, and lignin depolymerization.
Dr Huichuan Zhuang
Postdoctoral Research FellowDr. Huichuan Zhuang is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Dr. Shao-Yuan Leu’s (Ben) group. He obtained a Doctorate in environmental engineering from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in December 2021. During his Ph.D. study, he focused on third-generation sequencing and bioinformatics analysis for methanogenesis anaerobic digestion system, thermodynamics and kinetics coupling agent-based modeling for anaerobic processes, and bioenergetics of anaerobic microbial metabolism. Dr Zhuang is an expert in biochemical conversion of solid waste and production of high value-added chemicals. At GEPL, he is engaged in lignin-first fungal pre-treatment of lignocellulosic waste.
Ho Yin (Leo) TSE
PhD CandidateLeo is a PhD student who joined PolyU in 2017. He obtained his B.S degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). His research studies mainly focus on sustainable functional nano-materials development and application, lignin valorization and fundamental photo-physic and photochemistry of the organic-inorganic hybrid functional materials. He is also involved in several ITF projects of Ben’s group, such as ITF/ESS, ITF/Tier 2 with DSD & ITF/UICP. He and his work has been received different awards as following: Outstanding Oral Presentation in the symposium Wood-based polymer: From functional structures to applications sponsored by Lenzing in the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting and Exhibition 2019; HKSAR Government Scholarship: Reaching Out Award 2019; Fulbright - RGC Hong Kong Research Scholar Award Programme 2020/21; and Lee Hysan Individual Scholarship- Lee Hysan Scholar at Yale University.
Shazia Rehman
PhD CandidateShazia is a PhD student since September 2018 working under the guidance of Dr. Ben at CEE, PolyU. She received her M.S. degree in Environmental Engineering & Energy from Myongji University (South Korea) and B.S. degree in Applied & Environmental Microbiology from University of Karachi (Pakistan). Her main research area is biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels and value-added products. Her expertise is in Environmental Microbiology, Biofuels and Biorefinery, and Fermentation technology, of which she successfully isolated functional xylose-utilizing strains for whole sugar conversion of biomass into biochemicals (majorly 2,3-Butanediol). Using her novel bacterial strains, she is interested in exploring the metabolic pathways involved in 2,3-butanediol production via omics-based technologies and bioinformatics.
Rabia Jalil
PhD CandidateRabia is currently third year Ph.D. student at PolyU under Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS). She received her M.S. degree in Environmental Sciences from COMSATS University (Pakistan). Her research interests include water and wastewater treatment using membrane-based technologies and novel adsorbent materials. Besides, she also works on the valorisation of lignin in composite systems for advanced engineering applications.
Chun Yin (Chris) Lau
PhD CandidateChris obtained his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and masters’ degree in Earth System Science from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is currently a PhD student in Dr Ben Leu’s team. His research mainly focuses on the catalytic and photocatalytic degradation of wastewater inorganic and organic pollutants and convert them to useful products. He utilizes organometallic and macrocyclic catalysts on partial oxidation of sulfide species in wastewater to elemental sulfur with the utilization of aeration for inputting oxygen into wastewater for the sulfide removal process. He is also interested in the development of heterogeneous catalysts for organic compound degradation in wastewater.
Jianyu Guan
PhD StudentJerry is currently a second year Ph.D. student in Dr. Ben Leu’s Team. He received his M.S.degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2018. He is particularly skillful in Biorefinery, Mathematical dynamic analysis in sewage treatment (Modelling), and various instruments analyses such as NMR (HSQC), GC-FID/MS, GPC. His research interests include the Lignin first biorefinery processes and the relationship between lignin structure modification and lignin hydrogenation. He is now investigating the C–C bond and ether-linked cleave in high β-5 content lignin for the efficient production of biofuels and value-added chemicals (Monomer).
Raffel Dharma Patria
PhD StudentRaffel Dharma Patria is a PhD student since September 2021 at Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), the Hong Kong Polytechnic University working under the supervision of Dr. Ben Shao-Yuan Leu. Prior to his PhD study, he obtained his degrees of M.S. Chemical Engineering in University of California, Berkeley and B.Eng. Chemical Engineering in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His expertise is in Environmental Microbiology, Biofuels and Biorefinery, Fermentation, Anaerobic Digestion, and Enzymatic Hydrolysis Kinetics. His research interest is waste valorization and fermentation. Currently in the laboratory, he processes food waste and convert it into valuable biofuel by enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation. He is interested in promoting carbon neutrality, green biorefinery, and circular economy by converting waste feedstocks to valuable and environmentally friendly products.
Chun Bong (Bryan) Yuen
Research AssistantBryan is the research assistant since January 2021 working under the guidance of Dr. Leu at CEE, Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He obtained his BSc degree in Natural Science from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2021. His main research area is the modify of lignin first pre-treatment for biomass, the production of wood-plastic composite by using the biomass, the synthesis of organometallic compound and application of photocatalyst in wastewater treatment. Bryan is now in charge of a part of an ITF project-Investigation and Demonstration to Convert Camellia Oleifera Shell Biomass into Functional Bio-composites. His expertise is in organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and environmental chemistry. He is interested in the production of colourless wood-plastic composite by chemically modify of the structure of biomass.ircular economy by converting waste feedstocks to valuable and environmentally friendly products.
Alumni
- Ka-Lai Chan, Ph.D. in CEE, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; B.S. in Environment and Sustainable Development at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2021.
- Md Khairul Islam, B.S./M.S. in Applied Chemistry and Chemical Technology at the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
- Wing Hei Wang, B.S. student in Biomedical Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong;
- Ying Wang, Ph.D. of Microbiology Engineering, Kyushu University, Japan; [Current Post] Associate Professor at Department of Biological Science, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan Normal University;
- Chengyu Dong, Ph.D. of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, dissertation defended at Oct. 24th, 2018; [Current Post] Lecturer at Biomass Group, College of Engineering, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China;
- Man Yee Cheung, Research Assistant, B.S. in Applied Biology (Biotechnology) at the Hong Kong Baptist University; [Current Post] PhD student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong;
- Uen Ling Ho, B.S. in Geomatics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
- Shazia Farzana, Ph.D. of Environmental Science at the City University of Hong Kong.
- Lan Pan, Ph.D. of Biology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; [Current Post] Assistant Professor, South China Agricultural University.
- Pejman Hadi Myavagh, Ph.D. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; [Current Post] Research Fellow in New York State Center for Clean Water Technology, Stony Brook University, USA.
- Hao Liu, Ph.D. of Pulp and paper engineering at the South China University of Technology; [Current Post] Associate Professor, South China University of Technology.
- Han Zhang, M.S. in School of Life Science, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, [Current Post] PhD student, South China Agricultural University.
- Akansha Bhatia, Ph.D. of Environmental Science at the Gurukul Kangri University Haridwar, India; [Current Post] Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. Visiting Scholars
- Prof. Diego Rosso (Feb. 2018 – Mar. 2018), Professor and Director, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, University of California, Irvine (under ITF project Wastewater-derived Energy for Smart Towns);
- Prof. Jerry C.C. Chan (Nov. 2017 – Dec. 2017) Professor, Dept. Chemistry, National Taiwan University (visiting grant supported by the Kwang-Hua Education Foundation, Hong Kong);
- Prof. Chun-Han Ko (Jan. 2015 – Feb. 2015), Professor and Chairman, School of Forestry and Resource Conservation, National Taiwan University (visiting grant supported by the Kwang-Hua Education Foundation, Hong Kong);