Inauguration of Endowed Professorships and Endowed Young Scholars

Being appointed as an Endowed Professor or an Endowed Young Scholar is a joint recognition from the University and the wider community of an academic’s outstanding contributions in their respective fields of research. It also represents immense support and faith that the academic’s research endeavours will advance the frontiers of knowledge and benefit both society and the world at large. FCE is proud to have eight academics bestowed the honours at the Fourth Inauguration of Endowed Professorships cum the First Inauguration of Endowed Young Scholars held on 31 August 2022.

The Endowed Professorship Scheme was established by PolyU in 2012 to honour distinguished scholars for their outstanding academic and research achievements. The current Endowed Professors at FCE are as follows, you may click on the titles to learn more about each Endowed Professorship.

New Endowed Professorship
	Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Endowed Professorship in Smart Buildings Prof. Shengwei Wang Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering
	Able Endowed Professorship in Construction Health and Safety Prof. Albert Chan Dept of Building and Real Estate
	Michael Anson Endowed Professorship in Civil Engineering Prof. C. S. Poon Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
	Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Endowed Professorship in Urban Informatics Prof. John Shi Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
	Fiona Cheung Endowed Professorship in Spatial Science Prof. Bo Wu Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics
Successive Endowed Professorship
	Ko Jan Ming Endowed Professorship in Sustainable Urban Development Prof. Xiang-dong Li Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
	Yim, Mak, Kwok & Chung Endowed Professorship in Smart Structures Prof. Yiqing Ni Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
The Endowed Young Scholars Scheme was introduced by PolyU in 2021 to support promising early-career academics to advance the frontiers of knowledge and technology. Dr Chao Zhou (CEE) is among the first batch of Endowed Young Scholars of PolyU.
New Endowed Young Scholar
	Tsui Tack Kong Endowed Young Scholar in Civil Engineering Dr Chao Zhou Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
It is hoped that by partnering with visionary philanthropists, the Endowed Professors and the Endowed Young Scholar of FCE will be empowered to step up their excellent work in research and education and bring positive changes to the world.

Dr Tommy Wei named NSFC Excellent Young Scientist

Dr Tommy Wei, Associate Professor of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), was awarded RMB 2 million by the National Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) 2022, a highly competitive fund under the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) which is granted annually to support young scholars who have attained remarkable research achievements.

Dr Wei’s awarded project, “Colour Appearance Model and Colour Space”, aims to investigate colour appearance and difference under complicated conditions. The research findings, which can be used for various imaging systems, such as cameras, smartphones, drones and metaverse-related systems, will be of great scientific and practical importance for colour science and industry. Dr Wei’s project is one of the 25 projects funded across Hong Kong and Macau and is the only winning project from PolyU this year.

Dr Wei has been recently appointed as the Limin Young Scholar in Colour and Imaging Science by PolyU for his excellent scholarly and research achievements, and his knowledge transfer endeavours in the form of collaborations with world-leading high-tech companies for the development of solutions and algorithms applied to imaging systems, lighting systems and metaverse-related systems. Many of his research outcomes are used in production lines and have turned into real products on the market, greatly benefiting our daily lives.

Click here to learn more about Dr Wei’s research in colour and imaging science.

FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses 2021/22

The FCE Awards for Outstanding PhD Theses are established by the Faculty to recognise outstanding PhD students for their high-quality theses. Winning the awards signifies great significance and innovation of the PhD students’ research, superb presentation skills, as well as exceptional academic performance and publication track records.

To win the awards, the theses had to be rated “excellent” by the Board of Examiners (BoE) concerned, go through the selection of Departmental Research Committees (DRCs) and finally win the support of a Selection Panel of the Working Group of the Faculty Research Committee (FRCWG) by an oral presentation.

The 2021/22 awards go to the following PhD students:

FCE and China Road & Bridge Corporation sign MoU to advance construction technology applications for transportation infrastructure

FCE believes that scientific knowledge should not be confined to the ivory tower, thus the Faculty encourages academic departments and staff to engage in knowledge and technology transfer collaborations with the industry.

On 7 September 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), one of China’s major engineering and construction firms. PolyU, with the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) being the responsible unit, and CRBC agreed to collaborate in terms of scientific research, technological innovation and consultation, as well as talent development in the coming two years.

Prof. Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU, signed the MoU on the PolyU campus, while Mr Gang Li, Vice President of CRBC, signed the MoU in Beijing simultaneously. Prof. Xiang-dong Li, Dean of Faculty, Prof. C.S. Poon, Head of CEE, Prof. K.F. Chung, Director of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Steel Construction (Hong Kong Branch), and Dr Zhen Leng of CEE attended the signing ceremony on campus.

Dean solicits concerted efforts of Chair Professors for FCE development

Senior academics play a critical role in leading FCE’s education and research undertakings, it is vitally important that they share the same pedagogic and research aspirations with the Faculty. On 1 September 2022, Prof. Xiang-dong Li, Dean of Faculty, held a meeting with a group of Chair Professors to solicit their views and concerted efforts for the implementation of FCE’s strategic plan for the coming years.

Apart from presenting the Faculty strategies and grand challenges, the Dean also called upon the Chair Professors to contribute in the following ways: to mentor and nurture young researchers; to build research teams in their respective disciplines and establish new academic fields; to lead applications for major funding schemes, and to promote FCE’s connection with the industry and international professional bodies. The meeting was hoped to steer the efforts of the Faculty’s top scholars to achieve FCE’s vision to be a leading academic entity on the international scene in the construction, environment, and sustainable urban development fields. The three world-leading scholars who joined FCE as Chair Professors during the past year, including Prof. Qihao Weng, Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence, Prof. Xiao Lin Zhao, Chair Professor of Civil Infrastructure, and Prof. Jerry Yan, Chair Professor of Energy and Buildings, were warmly welcomed at the meeting and introduced themselves to their fellow Chair Professors. Leading by example, Prof. Li shared his first-hand experience of the RGC Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) application with the group.

Dean meets with newly joined RAPs

The Dean continued his regular meetings with newly recruited young researchers to welcome them to FCE and deepen their understanding of the Faculty. On 22 September 2022, Prof. Xiang-dong Li had a meeting with a group of new Research Assistant Professors (RAPs) where the new joiners were presented with an overview of FCE and the Faculty’s expectations of them. Prof. Li also answered some questions from the new RAPs on future academic career paths and relevant assessments.

FCE Chair Professor Lecture Series

Prof. Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU and Chair Professor of Thermal and Environmental Engineering of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), delivered the third lecture of the FCE Chair Professor Lecture Series to over 240 online participants on 30 August 2022. Entitled “Sharing of some Research Endeavors for Carbon Neutrality and PolyU’s Action Plan”, the online lecture was kick-started by a brief welcome speech from Prof. Xiang-dong Li, Dean of Faculty.

Prof. Chao then presented the global trends in carbon neutrality and the vital role of buildings in reducing carbon emissions. An overview of related technologies currently available in the market or will be available in the near future, as well as those still in the R&D stage were introduced in the lecture. Prof. Chao also shared PolyU’s most updated action plan to achieve carbon neutrality on campus.

The lecture ended with a dynamic Q&A session where Prof. Chao, Prof. Li and participants discussed the opportunities and challenges of further applying various technologies on the PolyU campus and in Hong Kong, such as passive radiative cooling paint, solar cells and green pavements, to reduce carbon emissions and reach sustainable development goals.

Long-serving staff of FCE

An instructor of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), Mr On Wa Lam, has retired after 27 years of service at PolyU. He served the University from October 1995 to September 2022. On his last day of service, a souvenir was presented to him by the Faculty Dean, Prof. Xiang-dong Li, as a token of appreciation.