FCE Academics among World’s Top 50 Scholars

In the latest “Updated science-wide author databases of standardised citation indicators” by Stanford University, PolyU has the most top 2% scientists in the fields of Building and Construction (18 academics) and Civil Engineering (13 academics) globally. Among these top-notch scientists,12 FCE academics made it to the top 50 scholars in the world in their respective fields.

The database is compiled by Stanford University and consists of over 100,000 top scientists worldwide.

PolyU President’s Awards and Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2021

PolyU recognises the distinguished accomplishments and contributions of staff members through the two tiers of awards, namely the President’s Awards and the Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement. The accolades, categorised into individual and team awards, are presented in the areas of Teaching, Research and Scholarly Activities, and Services. Introducing the new award category of “Knowledge Transfer” recently, the University honours outstanding knowledge transfer endeavours that have created significant impact on industry and society.

Congratulations to the FCE award winners!

LSGI Scholar Conferred Fellow of Academy of Social Sciences for Autumn 2021

Prof. John Shi, Chair Professor of Geographic Information Science and Remote Sensing of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), has been conferred a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK), in recognition of his outstanding contributions to social sciences for public benefit.

The Academy’s Fellowship gathers concerted efforts of social scientists from academia, the public, private and third sectors, to support the Academy and its work. Through leadership, scholarship, applied research, policymaking, and practice, they have helped to enhance public understanding of, and address, emerging global and societal challenges.

FCE Academics in Action to Engage Prospective Students

CNERC-Steel Received Green Building Award 2021

The Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Steel Construction (Hong Kong Branch) (CNERC-Steel), together with the Jockey Club Design Institute for Social Innovation, received a Merit Award in Research and Planning Category of the Green Building Award (GBA) 2021, for their cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional project entitled “Expandable housing by Modular Integrated Construction”. The project demonstrates GBA 2021’s theme of “Shaping Liveability • Excellence in Sustainable Built Environment”. The Jury Panel also remarked that the team’s development of the expandable-retractable and reusable Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) system can better cater for different accommodation needs and terrain constraints in Hong Kong, as well as the module size limitation during road transportation and installation.

Inaugurated in 2006, the biennial GBA is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Green Building Council and the Professional Green Building Council, to recognise outstanding building-related projects and organisations for their contributions to green building practice.

LSGI MSc Student Heading to Global Final of Huawei ICT Competition 2022

Master of Science in Geomatics (MSc) student Mr Xiu Ming Zhong of Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) advanced another step closer on his way to the final stage of Huawei ICT Competition 2022 – the Global Final.

Xiu Ming, and his two teammates from the Department of Computing, teamed up to compete in this largest ICT skills contest in the Asia Pacific region, with Dr Yang Xu from LSGI as their instructor. After winning the First Prize in Hong Kong region last December, their team Polynomials competed with other elite students in APAC region and won the Third Prize in Cloud Track. Being the only team from Hong Kong among all finalists, they will represent Hong Kong in the Global Final to be held in June 2022 in Shenzhen.

The Huawei ICT Competition is a competitive ICT talent exchange event that fosters international competition and communication among global college students. The competition equips students with practical skills in applying their ICT knowledge for innovative solutions and nurtures young talents for the ICT industry.

Welcome New Staff to FCE

Prof. Jianli Chen joined the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) as a Professor in April 2022. After obtaining his PhD in Geophysics from The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), he had spent 28 years at the Center for Space Research of UT Austin, and was a leading science team member of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On missions. His research covers topics related to global climate change and geophysical applications of space geodetic techniques.

Prof. Chen is a fellow of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG), and has served as the Chair of the Special Bureau for Hydrology in the United States since 2004, which is a component of the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS). He was a recipient of the 2005 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honour presented by the United States government on early career scientists and engineers.

Long-Serving Staff of FCE

FCE has two long-serving staff retiring recently. Prof. Siu-lai Chan (in top photo), Chair Professor of Computational Structural Engineering of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), served PolyU for more than 34 years. Mr Leung Tat Wah (in bottom photo), Technician of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) retired upon almost 30 years of service at PolyU. They both received a souvenir on their last day of service from the Faculty Dean, Prof. Xiang-dong Li.