Awards and Achievements (Research)

Prof. Geoffrey SHEN’s Impact Story – Cross-regional Policy Innovation for Hong Kong-Shenzhen Construction Collaboration

《Prof. Geoffrey SHEN’s Impact Story – Cross-regional Policy Innovation for Hong Kong-Shenzhen Construction Collaboration》 Prof. Geoffrey SHEN, Chair Professor of Construction Management at PolyU and his research team have translated their work on cross-regional collaboration into major real-world breakthroughs for Shenzhen's Qianhai Cooperation Zone Partnering with the Qianhai Authority starting in late 2019, Prof. Shen's team was instrumental in bridging the Mainland market with global and Hong Kong building standards while also establishing a fast-track licensing system for talent mobility. Initially rolled out in 2020, this framework quickly broadened its reach throughout Guangdong Province, eventually securing official recognition from the Chinese central government as an exemplary policy breakthrough. The initiative has significantly widened market access for Hong Kong’s building sector, drawing registrations from more than 600 professionals and 59 firms as of March 2025. More about Prof. Geoffrey SHEN: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/cmi/people/academic-staff/prof-geoffrey-qp-shen/ Please click to watch the video: https://youtu.be/Uc-UiWgherc  

Dr Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari Honoured with the Outstanding Research Postgraduate Young Alumni Award of PolyU Graduate School

《Dr Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari Honoured with the Outstanding Research Postgraduate Young Alumni Award of PolyU Graduate School》 We warmly congratulate our alumnus, Dr Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari, on receiving the Outstanding Research Postgraduate Young Alumni Award from the PolyU Graduate School. The award was conferred by Prof. Kenneth FONG, Associate Dean of the Graduate School, during the Alumni Award Ceremony on 29 September. This honour recognises Dr Antwi-Afari’s outstanding scholarly achievements and professional contributions to his field. He earned his PhD in Construction Information Technology in 2019 under the supervision of Prof. Heng LI, Chair Professor of Construction Informatics. Dr Antwi-Afari’s dedication to research excellence continues to inspire our academic community. Please join us in applauding his well-deserved achievement. More about the Award and Dr Antwi-Afari: https://lnkd.in/e9fR2iPx

Prof. LI Heng’s Impact Story - Landlink and Smart Construction Site Management

《Prof. LI Heng’s Impact Story - Landlink and Smart Construction Site Management》 Led by Prof. LI Heng, Chair Professor of Construction Informatics at PolyU, groundbreaking research is revolutionizing construction safety through ‘Landlink’, a seamless on-site wireless network, and the ‘4S’ Smart Site Safety System.  By integrating AI, cameras, and smart wearables, this innovative technology enables real-time hazard detection to prevent accidents before they happen. Proving its commercial adoption, the system secured HK$30 million in contracts in its first year through the University start-up company. Today, this versatile technology is not only aligning with government initiatives but is also successfully expanding into sports management in Malaysia and mining operations in Australia. More about Prof. LI Heng: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/cmi/people/academic-staff/prof-heng-li/ Please click to watch the video: https://youtu.be/pXPWC1Uoh4w

Press Coverage on Prof. Tarek ZAYED’s Research on Intelligent Sewer Systems

《Press Coverage on Prof. Tarek ZAYED’s Research on Intelligent Sewer Systems》 To protect public health, Prof. Tarek ZAYED and his research team at BRE are leading the way with a new approach to urban infrastructure. By combining Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT), they developed a multi-tiered model for sewer system management. This innovation enables more cost-effective and intelligent solution by predicting exfiltration severity, pinpointing leakage-prone zones, monitoring and forecasting overflows in high-risk areas. Explore more details about the research in the press coverage below: o Wen Wei Po (Print A14) -https://polyu.me/3OjGn8a; o Wen Wei Po Education Tech -https://polyu.me/41WeB4V o Ta Kung Pao (Print A05) -https://polyu.me/3OrIxmm o Mirage -https://polyu.me/41nOG64 More about Prof. Tarek ZAYED: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/.../academic.../prof-tarek-zayed/

Prof. Albert CHAN Honoured with Adelaide University’s International Fellows Award

《Prof. Albert CHAN Honoured with Adelaide University’s International Fellows Award》 Congratulations to Prof. Albert CHAN, MH, Distinguished Research Professor of BRE, on receiving Adelaide University’s International Fellows Award! This fellowship recognises the world’s leading academic and research minds, specifically those from the top 100 ranked universities or top-tier disciplines. The initiative aims to forge enduring international partnerships, increase collaborative research output and broaden global academic influence. It also offers a premier platform for fellows to advance their work within the supportive framework of Australia’s newest university. Through this fellowship, Prof. Chan will collaborate with the Adelaide University community to address global challenges. This honour further demonstrates Prof. Chan’s steadfast pursuit of research excellence and his dedication to a more sustainable future. More about Prof. Albert CHAN: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/.../acad.../ir-prof-albert-pc-chan/  

Prof. Geoffrey SHEN Once Again Recognised Amongst the World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate Analytics

Prof. Geoffrey SHEN Once Again Recognised Amongst the World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate Analytics Prof. Geoffrey SHEN, Associate Vice President (Global Partnerships), Director of Global Engagement, Chair Professor of Construction Management, and Master of the STARS Residential College of PolyU, has been honoured as one of the Highly Cited Researchers for 2025 by Clarivate Analytics. This marks the third consecutive year that Prof. Shen has received this prestigious accolade, showcasing his enduring influence and exceptional contributions to the academic community. Also, his remarkable achievement underscores the profound impact of his research, as reflected by the frequent citations of his scholarly work by peers worldwide. This houour is bestowed upon the world’s top 1% scientists and social scientists whose academic endeavors have demonstrated significant influence within their respective research fields and whose work has been widely cited by international scholars. This year, twenty distinguished scholars from PolyU have been included on the list, further highlighting the University’s unwavering commitment to advancing research excellence and fostering positive societal change through innovation and collaboration.

BRE Scholars Ranked Among Top 2% of Scientists in the World

  Fourteen BRE colleagues are ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists, by Stanford University in 2025! This recognition highlights the significant impact and research excellence of BRE scholars.   The BRE scholars are (in alphabetical order): 1. Dr ANWER Shahnawaz# 2. Prof. Albert CHAN 3. Prof. Daniel CHAN 4. Dr CHIANG Yat Hung* 5. Dr Patrick LAM* 6. Prof. LI Heng 7. Prof. LU Ming 8. Prof. NI Meng# 9. Prof. Geoffrey SHEN 10. Prof. WENG Yiwei 11. Prof. Michael YAM 12. Prof. YI Wen 13. Dr Ann YU* and 14. Prof. Tarek ZAYED   *retired # with BRE during the assessment year   Stanford University has publicly released a comprehensive database of the world’s top-cited scientists, providing standardized information on citations, h-index, co-authorship-adjusted hm-index, citations by authorship position, and a composite indicator (c-score). Scientists are classified into 22 scientific fields and 174 sub-fields according to the standard Science-Metrix classification.

BRE Colleagues’ Successful RGC GRF Applications Principal Investigator

The above colleagues were successful in their applications to the Research Grants Council’s (RGC) General Research Fund (GRF) for 2025-2026.

Prof. LI Heng Ranked Nation’s Top Scientist in Engineering and Technology by Research.com

Research.com   Congratulations! Prof. LI Heng, Chair Professor of Construction Informatics and Associate Director of the Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things (RIAIoT), has been ranked 1st in China and 21st worldwide in Engineering and Technology in the 2025 Best Scientists Rankings by Research.com.   This international recognition, based on the D-index (Discipline H-index) metric that measures scholarly impact through discipline-specific publications and citations, highlights Prof. Li's outstanding contributions to engineering and technology, alongside the significant societal impact of his research.   Prof. Li has led numerous funded research projects on the innovative application and transfer of construction information technologies. His research interests span digital construction, smart construction, ergonomics, and robotics. With a research career of over twenty years, Prof. Li has guided the development of a wide array of products, including computer-aided drawing systems, construction planning and management tools, and advanced intelligent safety systems. In recent years, his work has increasingly focused on cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. More about Prof Li: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/.../academic-staff/prof-heng-li/ Wen Wei Po coverage: https://polyu.me/4mVG3ct

BRE Research Team Honoured with Best Paper Award at CIB World Building Congress 2025

Well done to Mr Sulemana Fatoama ABDULAI, Mr Abdul-Mugis YUSSIF, Dr Ridwan TAIWO, Mr Mohamed ELRIFAEE and Dr Muhammad MUDDASSIR for receiving the Best Paper Award at the CIB World Building Congress 2025! Under the supervision of Prof. Tarek ZAYED, Professor of BRE, the team’s award-winning paper, ‘Automated Detection for Alignment of Modular Integrated Construction Modules Using YOLOv9’ was honoured in the ‘Offsite Construction’ category at the Congress in May. This accolade is a fitting recognition of the team’s efforts and dedication to advancing innovation in the construction field. Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) enhances efficiency through off-site manufacturing, but precise module alignment remains challenging. This study develops an automated detection system using a modified YOLOv9 architecture to improve alignment precision and efficiency. Through a three-stage methodology involving literature analysis, acquisition of 5,000 laboratory images, and model development on a GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, the study achieved exceptional results: a mean Average Precision (mAP50) score of 0.995 and real-time processing capabilities of 3.1 ms per frame. The findings demonstrate the technology's potential to enhance installation precision and reduce human error in MiC practices, contributing significantly to construction automation advancement.