BEEE academic garners Young Innovative Researcher Award 2022

Dr Tommy Wei of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) has been awarded the PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2022 for his research “Human Vision-based Solutions for Lighting and Imaging Systems”. The research focuses on colour science, trying to understand how humans see colour and light using different methods (e.g., psychophysics, eye-tracking, etc). The findings help to develop algorithms and solutions for various industries, including lighting, cameras, displays, smartphones, VR/AR/MR-enabled metaverse systems, through the collaborations with world-leading high-tech industrial partners. Dr Wei is one of the six inaugural awardees of YIRA selected from 59 submissions across 22 departments. He will receive research funding support of HK$500,000 and personal cash prize of HK$20,000 as an encouragement for his research novelty and impact.

The YIRA aims to honour young PolyU researchers under the age of 35 who have demonstrated novelty, contributed to technology advancement, and propelled transformational innovation into solutions for addressing problems in society with a vision for a positive change to the future.

 
 
 
   

FCE scholars listed among National Top 20 by Research.com

According to the 2022 Top Scientists Rankings by the international academic website Research.com, nine FCE scholars rank among China’s top 20 in their respective academic fields. It is another recognition of the Faculty’s teaching and research excellence.

The scholars are:

Top Scientists National Ranking(s)
Discipline(s)
Prof. Albert Chan
Dept of Building and Real Estate
2nd / 31st
Business and Management/
Engineering and Technology
Prof. Heng Li
Dept of Building and Real Estate
4th / 6th
Business and Management/
Engineering and Technology
Prof. Shuncheng Lee
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
11th
Environmental Sciences
Prof. Jin-Guang Teng
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
13th
Engineering and Technology
Prof. Xiang-dong Li
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
14th
Environmental Sciences
Prof. Daniel Tsang
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
15th
Environmental Sciences
Prof. Hongxing Yang
Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering
15th
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Prof. Shengwei Wang
Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering
19th
Engineering and Technology
Prof. You-Lin Xu
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
19th
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
 
   
 

FCE scholars secure over HK$12M funding from Smart Traffic Fund

Four projects led by FCE scholars were awarded the Smart Traffic Fund (STF) by the Transport Department (TD) of HKSAR in 2022 to facilitate the development of intelligent transport that meets Hong Kong’s needs. The STF was set up by the TD to provide funding support for research and application projects on vehicle-related innovation and technology with the objectives of enhancing commuting convenience, enhancing efficiency of the road network or road space, and improving driving safety. FCE scholars have received 5 approved projects out of the total 17 projects from the STF since its commencement in 2020/21.

Project Project Investigator Amount (HK$)
The Smart Charging Development of Zero-Emission Autonomous Electric Vehicles by the X2V and V2X Technologies with respect to the Dynamic Traffic, Grid and Energy Information Dr Sunliang Cao
Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering
2,205,792
Smart Assessment of Bridge Deck Efficiency and Safety in Hong Kong Prof. Tarek Zayed
Dept of Building and Real Estate
8,099,657
Development and Deployment of an AI-enabled Parking Vacancy Prediction Framework using Multi-source Data Dr Wei Ma
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
985,034
Road Safety Assessment using Advanced Driving Simulation Approach with 3D Geo-spatial Model Dr Tony Sze
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
1,456,137
 
 
   

Public Policy Research Funding

Four FCE academics have been awarded Public Policy Research (PPR) Funding in the latest two rounds of funding. The PPR Funding Scheme, managed by the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office (PICO) of the HKSAR, aims to promote public policy research and evidence-based research to facilitate public policy discussion.

Year Project Principal
Investigator
Amount (HK$)
2021/22
(Fourth Round)
Study on the Critical Influencing Factors and Policy Effectiveness Improvement of the Collaborative Governance of the Construction and Demolition Waste Recycling Chain in Hong Kong Prof. Heng Li
Dept of Building and Real Estate
310,270
2021/22
(Fourth Round)
Towards People-centric Smart City Development: Investigating the Citizens' Preferences and Perceptions about Smart-City Services in Hong Kong Dr Hsi Hsien Wei
Dept of Building and Real Estate
469,401
2021/22
(Fourth Round)
Identifying and Prioritizing Development Zones for Green Roofs in Hong Kong: A Geospatial Smart City Way towards Carbon Neutrality Dr Wei Yao
Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
599,150
2022/23
(First Round)
Developing Low-Cost Remote Sensing System for Detecting Illegal Dumping of Construction Waste in Hong Kong Dr Xiaolin Zhu
Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
281,060
 
   

 

University Court members visit FCE research facilities

Chairman of the PolyU University Court, Dr Katherine Ngan, and some Court members visited the Intelligent Building (IB) Laboratory and the Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality (RCRE) on 1 June 2022. Prof. Shengwei Wang, Director of Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE) and Chair Professor of Building Energy and Automation of BEEE, and Prof. C.S. Poon, Director of RCRE and Chair Professor of Sustainable Construction Materials of CEE, introduced the research facilities to the Court members respectively.

The IB Laboratory aims to conduct interdisciplinary research to provide innovative building management and control solutions to smart cities. It provides facilities for R&D on intelligent building technologies, including the development of advanced building system control, energy management and diagnosis strategies, big building operational data analytics, demand response strategies for smart grids and network communication software.

The RCRE aspires to establish PolyU as a forefront global research centre in solid waste recycling issues to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions for achieving carbon neutrality. The multi-disciplinary team of researchers at the RCRE are dedicated to finding solutions to reducing and recycling solid wastes.

 
 
   

LSGI student receives Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2022

Miss Deanna Xu, a year 3 student of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), received the Innovation and Technology Scholarship (the Scholarship) 2022 for her outstanding academic performance, passion for innovation and technology, and service to the community.

The award was presented to her on 6 June by the Chief Executive of HKSAR, Mrs Carrie Lam. Deanna is one of the 25 awardees selected from different local universities and disciplines. She would be awarded a scholarship of up to HK$150,000 to participate in exchange programmes in overseas/ Mainland universities and to undertake internships in local innovation and technology companies.

The Scholarship is jointly organised by the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) of HKSAR, HSBC and The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) to enhance the city’s potential in the innovation and technology sector by nurturing and encouraging outstanding undergraduates in Hong Kong.

 
   
 

LSGI-led cross-disciplinary research wins Best Paper Award

At the 5th Global Tourism and Hospitality Conference held on 12-14 June 2022, a cross-disciplinary team led by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) won the Best Paper Award for their paper entitled “Understanding and Modelling Tourist Intra-City Destination Choice Using Mobile Phone Data”.

The team developed a discrete choice modeling framework to study the factors that affect travellers' propensity to visit different places in the city by analysing mobile phone traces of international travelers collected in Seoul, South Korea and massive social media check-ins that reveal characteristics of places and tourism attractions. The paper was selected from 67 conference articles.

The winning team consisted of PhD student Mr Ke Mai (LSGI), Dr Yang Xu (LSGI), Prof. Anthony Chen (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering) and Prof. Sangwon Park (School of Hotel and Tourism Management).

 
 
   

PhD student of BRE receives Third Prize in University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition

Mr Siyuan Zhao, a PhD student of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), won a Third Prize in the Innovation: Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering Category of the 8th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. The prize was awarded for his project entitled “A Flexible High-Voltage Zn-Air Battery with All-in-One Acid-Alkaline Hydrogel Electrolyte”. Winning innovation projects will continue to represent Hong Kong in the Challenge Cup National College Students’ Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Contest.

   
 

FCE Awards recognise academic and non-academic staff

The Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) recognises, rewards and celebrates the many accomplishments and contributions of both its academic and non-academic staff through the FCE/Dean’s Awards. Congratulations to the following recipients:

Dean’s Award 2022

To give due recognition to the efforts and achievements of its academics, the Faculty established the Dean’s Awards in 2008 for outstanding performance in different areas to encourage colleagues to strive for greater success. This year, 14 academics have received the Dean's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding because of their success in securing external competitive research funding. The full list of funded projects is available here.

Department Awardee
Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering Prof. Jian-lei Niu Chair Professor
Prof. Mingli Chen Professor
Prof. Cheuk Ming Mak Professor
Prof. Horace Mui Professor
Prof. Linda Xiao Professor
Dr Tommy Wei Associate Professor
Dr Ruoyu You Assistant Professor
Dept of Building and Real Estate Prof. Heng Li Chair Professor
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering Prof. Hai Guo Professor
Prof. Yuhong Wang Professor
Dr Tak Ming Chan Associate Professor
Dr You Dong Associate Professor
Dr Chao Zhou Assistant Professor
Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics Prof. Charles Wong Professor

 

FCE Award for Outstanding Administrative/Technical Services 2021

The FCE Award for Outstanding Administrative/Technical Services is newly established to give due recognition to administrative or technical staff of the Faculty and its academic departments, at the same time to motivate teamwork among colleagues. The awardees of 2021 are as follows:

Faculty/Department Award Category Awardee
Faculty of Construction and Environment Individual Ms Angela Lee Assistant Officer
Individual Ms Joanne Ma Executive Officer
Team Ms Cherry Leung*
Ms Yorki Ip
Senior Executive Officer
Personal Secretary
Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering Individual Ms Kendy Kwok Clerical Officer II
Individual Ms Ida Leung Senior Executive Officer
Team Ms Persia Lai*
Mr Peter Chiu
Executive Officer
Office Assistant
Dept of Building and Real Estate Individual Mr Ken Chui Assistant Technical Officer
Individual Mrs Vivien Kao Senior Executive Officer
Team Ms Irene Wu*
Ms Esther Leung
Mr Wing Man Leung
Mr Kam Kei Cheong
Executive Officer
Assistant Officer
Technician
Technical Officer
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering Individual Ms Connie Lam Administrative Assistant
Individual Mr Kwok Leung Tang Office Assistant
Individual Dr Dongxing Xuan Laboratory Manager
Team Ms Sindy Fung*
Mr Yuen Him Chan
Ms Emily Fung
Mr Henry Cheung
Mr Kwok Hing Leung
Executive Officer
Assistant Technical Officer Technician
Assistant Technical Officer
Technician
Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics Individual Ms Vaness Yu Clerical Officer II
* Team leader
 
   

Staff promotions

Congratulations to the promotions of the following academics of FCE with effect from 1 July 2022:

Promotions to Professor
Prof. Horace Mui
Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering
Prof. Zhenyu Yin
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Promotions to Associate Professor
Dr Hsi Hsien Wei
Dept of Building and Real Estate
Dr You Dong
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr Tony Sze
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Dr Xintao Liu
Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
Dr Xiaolin Zhu
Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
 
   

 

Dean of FCE welcomes newly recruited young faculty members

Prof. Xiang-dong Li, Dean of the Faculty, met two groups of newly recruited young faculty members on 20 June. Prof. Li extended a warm welcome to the new joiners and introduced to them the Faculty’s structure, strengths, research focuses, as well as the resources provided by the Faculty and the University to facilitate their career development. He encouraged the new members to apply for the RGC General Research Fund (GRF) as a kick-start to their research and shared some crucial tips for proposal preparation.

 
 

   

Long-serving staff of FCE

FCE has two long-serving staff retiring in June 2022. Dr Patrick Fong (in top photo), Associate Professor of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), retired upon almost 28 years of service at PolyU. Ms Fanny Li (in bottom photo), Personal Secretary of the Head Office of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), served PolyU for 34 years. They both received a souvenir as a token of appreciation from the Faculty Dean, Prof. Xiang-dong Li, on their last day of service.

 
 
 

FORTHCOMING
EVENTS

  PolyU InnoTech Open Day
Date: 16 July 2022 (Saturday)
Time: 9:30am – 5:00pm
Venue: PolyU Campus
Details: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/85anniversary/polyu-innotech-open-day/
 
 
    FCE Alumni Reunion Day 2022
Date: 13 August 2022 (Saturday)
Time: 2:00 – 6:00pm
Details: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/news-and-events/events/2022/8/alumni-reunion-day/
 
 
    FCE Annual Forum
Date: 22 August 2022 (Monday)
Time: 2.30 – 5.35pm
Venue: Z205, Block Z, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
 
 
      PolyU 85th Anniversary FCE Chair Professor Lecture Series
Date: July to November 2022
Time: 6:00 – 7:00pm
Format: Online / Physical
Event Schedule:
Date Speaker
26 July (Tue) Prof. Yi Qing Ni (CEE)
30 August (Tue) Prof. Christopher Chao (BEEE)
27 September (Tue) Prof. Qihao Weng (LSGI)
25 October (Tue) Prof. Qingyan Chen (BEEE)
22 November (Tue) Prof. Ben Young (CEE)









Details: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/news-and-events/events/2022/6/fce-chair-professor-lecture-series/?sc_lang=en
 
 
      PolyU Info Day 2022
Date: 8 October 2022 (Saturday)
Details: to be announced
 
 
 
 
 

INVITATION FOR
PROGRAMME ADMISSION 2022/23

 
 
 

Applications are invited for the following programmes.
Undergraduate Programmes https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/study/undergraduate-programmes/
Taught Postgraduate Programmes https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/study/taught-postgraduate-programmes/
Research Postgraduate Programmes https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/study/research-postgraduate-programme/

For e-Prospectus, please visit https://www.polyu.edu.hk/study