In the last few decades, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) have made tremendous impacts on technological innovations. GNSSs have become a global Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) infrastructure to support diversified economic activities, such as transportation, construction, mobile communication, power grids, space explorations, and scientific research. Prof. Wu Chen of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) and his team have developed a seamless urban navigation system that can overcome the difficulties of satellite positioning in urban centres packed with skyscrapers. Its accuracy can be within 10 m with smartphones and up to 10 cm when specialised receivers are used. A powerful cloud server ensures positioning is updated in real time, supporting various smart city functions.

Using multiple Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements, 3D city modelling and various data gathered from smartphone sensors to enhance accuracy, the system accesses four major GNSSs, namely China’s BeiDou, GPS of the US, Europe’s Galileo, and Russia’s GLONASS at the same time, which results in higher precision because more satellites are used. It was recently showcased at the Virtual Inno Carnival 2020 organized by the Innovation and Technology Commission.

In addition, Prof. Chen gave an online presentation on 11 December 2020 reviewing the development of GNSSs and the technologies behind them. He shared a few examples of Beidou applications to illustrate the impact of GNSS technologies in our daily lives.

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) of the People’s Republic of China recently gave its approval for the establishment of a collaborative research platform known as the National Observation and Research Station of Transport Industry for the Structural Safety of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It is jointly formed by the HZMB Authority, China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Fourth Harbour Engineering Research Institute Co. Ltd., Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The PolyU research team consists of Prof. Yong Xia, Prof. Songye Zhu, Dr You Dong, Dr Yi Zhou, Dr Qi Xia, and Mr Wanglin Wu, all from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE).

The National Observation and Research Station will focus on long-term observation of the operational environment, material corrosion and structural performance of the HZMB. It will continuously collect basic research data related to bridge safety, scientifically assess and predict the in-service condition of the bridge, and develop advanced technologies for intelligent construction, operation and maintenance of major projects in China’s transportation industry.

In the 2020 Policy Address of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Government, it was announced that the Development Bureau would commence a three-year study to collect and analyse data from tilt sensors to test their effectiveness in identifying trees at risk of collapse. This is a follow-up of the Jockey Club Smart City Tree Management Project led by Dr Charles Wong of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), whose collaboration with the Development Bureau since 2018 has resulted in significant knowledge transfer and social impact to make Hong Kong a more livable city.

China’s first lunar mission to collect samples from the moon has returned to Earth. The sampling process was generally smooth, except the surface sampling and packing system had once dug too deep and collected more samples than expected, but the research team at PolyU had prepared for such situations and successfully removed the excess soil to complete the task. Prof. Bo Wu of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) has contributed to previous missions by developing innovative techniques for high-precision high-resolution 3D mapping and geomorphologic analysis of the landing region. He is expecting some samples of the lunar regolith can be distributed to Hong Kong for scientific research, such as mineralogy of the samples, young volcanic basalts, and crater chronology.

A group of researchers from the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) has developed a mobile application known as “Safety Guarder” for app users to learn if they have visited a venue where a COVID-19 confirmed case was discovered in the past 14 days. Users can also access the following:

1. COVID-19 related information released by the Hong Kong government;
2. tracking records for the past 14 days;
3. the overlap locations between a user’s trajectory and infected building locations from the government list during the past 14 days.

Data collected by this app will be kept in a user’s mobile phone and will NOT be transmitted to any other servers. To help test this app, please download the app from the web links below:

iOS: https://install.appcenter.ms/orgs/safetyguarder/apps/safetyguarder-ios/distribution_groups/safetyguarder%20public
Android: https://install.appcenter.ms/orgs/safetyguarder/apps/safetyguarder-android/distribution_groups/safetyguarder%20public

For iphone users, please change your phone settings by following the procedure below to activate the app.

Setting of iOS users

Go to “Setting”	Step2: Go to “General”	Step3: Click “Device management”
Step4: Click Here	Step5: Click Here	Step6: Click “Trust”

If you encounter any problems, please contact LSGI via this email address: lsgiapp@polyu.edu.hk

To reinforce the bonds between PolyU, the department and its alumni, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) has established the CEE Research Scholars Alumni Association (CEE-RSAA). Its first committee meeting, chaired by Chairman of CEE-RSAA Prof. Jun Chen, was held online on 5 December 2020 to discuss its medium to long-term goals, working mechanism, information platforms, and cultural construction responsibility etc. Prof. Chi Sun Poon, Head of CEE, updated members on the latest development of the department, including its student population, research facilities, research focus and PolyU’s world ranking in the discipline of civil and structural engineering. Prof. Yong Xia, Associate Head (Research Development), then stated the aim of the CEE-RSAA to reconnect all its research alumni and scholars, who were encouraged to work together for the benefit of the association and the wider community. Afterwards all 18 committee members shared their learning/ working experiences at CEE, and expressed their eagerness to serve the University.

The online meeting of CEE-RSAA

At the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Integrate Conference on 17 November 2020, two undergraduates from the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) won big in an inter-institutional competition on facility management project presentation. Miss Erica Lau won a platinum trophy, while Mr Alvis Chow won a gold trophy. A student of Dr Joseph Lai, Associate Professor and leader of the MSc programme in Facility Management, Miss Lau used the analytic hierarchy process to evaluate the importance of different attributes that contributed to the satisfaction level of the two swimming pools at PolyU. Mr Chow’s research project investigated the feasibilities of achieving zero emission building with energy conservation and renewable energy measure to retrofit current MTR facilities. He is a student of Dr Sunliang Cao.