News

Best Research Postgraduate Student of the Year 2023

We are pleased to learn that two PhD students from FCE were honoured with the Best Research Postgraduate Student of the Year 2023 by the Graduate School (GS), scooping two out of the three awards this year. The award is established by GS to recognise research postgraduate students with exceptional research and academic performance, and their significant contributions to the research community at PolyU. The awardees will receive a cash prize and a certificate as a token of their outstanding performance. Mr Siyuan ZHAO of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) is one of the awarded students. His research focuses on improving the power output and energy efficiency of zinc-air batteries. His research not only solves the key issues in zinc-air batteries, but also advances the commercialisation of zinc-air batteries for long-duration energy storage. Mr Zhao’s supervisor is Prof. Meng NI, Associate Dean (Research) of Faculty and Professor of BRE. Another awardee from FCE is Ms Yamin QING of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI). She is supervised by Dr Shuo WANG, Associate Professor of LSGI. Her research focuses on investigating extreme weather events and water-related hazards by utilising remote sensing tools and geospatial techniques. The research provides new insights into environmental policy implementation, especially when facing emerging climate-induced disasters.

29th Congregation of FCE

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2023! The FCE session of the 29th Congregation was held in hybrid mode on 14 and 15 November 2023 at the Jockey Club Auditorium on the PolyU campus. More than 1,600 graduates from the four departments were conferred degrees and awards across four sessions. Prof. Xiang-dong LI, Dean of Faculty, presided over the ceremony and encouraged graduates to follow the examples of FCE alumni and make lasting impacts in their chosen paths. Graduates who could not attend the Congregation in person were presented virtually and live broadcasting was arranged to allow friends and families of the graduates to witness the ceremony online from all over the world. The four departments each invited a guest of honour to share with the graduating class their visions for the future of Hong Kong’s development in construction and environment fields, as well as invaluable life lessons and mottos. Departmental session Guest of Honour Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering Ir Dr Barry LEE President, The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Department of Building and Real Estate Mr Kevin SIU, JP Commissioner of Rating and Valuation, Rating and Valuation Department, HKSAR Government Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Ir Tack-kong TSUI PolyU University Fellow / Managing Director, T.K. Tsui & Associates Limited Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics Mr Kelvin LO, SBS, JP Sr Advisor (Hospital Development Plan), Health Bureau, HKSAR Government    

FCE honours outstanding alumni and enhances connection with alumni community

FCE takes great pride in the numerous exceptional professionals in the construction and environment fields we have nurtured over the decades. To give recognition to distinguished FCE graduates for great distinction in their chosen fields, active support to their alma mater, as well as impactful contributions to the wider community, FCE conferred the Outstanding Alumni Award of PolyU FCE 2023 on four alumni earlier this year. An award presentation ceremony and a luncheon were held on 20 October 2023 to celebrate the accomplishments of the awardees and to enhance the bond between the Faculty and the alumni community. Presidents of the FCE departmental alumni associations and the Federation of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Alumni Associations (FHKPUAA) joined the senior management of Faculty and departments for the memorable occasion. As Prof. Xiang-dong LI, Dean of Faculty, said in the welcome speech, alumni are crucial stakeholders of the Faculty. Their experiences and successes are the best evidence of FCE’s educational excellence; they are also an important source of support for FCE’s development. FCE will continue to sustain the deep connection with the alumni community and solicit their support for the future advancement of the Faculty. Click here to learn more about the awardees’ accomplishments.  

FCE's remote sensing research gets boost from PolyU-HKATG partnership on satellite technology

PolyU and FCE have been committed to remote sensing-related research for many years to promote the development of smart cities. On 25 July 2023, an MoU was signed between PolyU and the Hong Kong Aerospace Technology Group (HKATG) to explore opportunities for collaboration in satellite navigation and communication, satellite remote sensing, payload development and strengthening exchanges among industry, academia and research sectors. In a cross-departmental media briefing on satellite technology held on 30 August 2023, Prof. Charles Wong, Associate Dean (Teaching) of Faculty and Professor of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), introduced the use of satellite technology in the University’s research and application for the development of smart cities. Prof. Wong expressed great enthusiasm for the potential benefits of the conventional optical remote sensing and synthetic aperture radar observation data in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area to be provided by HKATG, which will be more frequent and of higher resolution than the current data. He emphasised how this valuable resource can greatly aid research efforts. High-resolution optical satellites can assist remote sensing research projects related to multispectral features including carbon neutrality research, tree health monitoring, land cover classification, marine water quality monitoring and research on urban surface characteristics. The partnership between PolyU and HKATG will hugely boost FCE’s smart city and environment-related research endeavours in the future and make positive impacts on society.  

SHKP-Kwoks’ Foundation x PolyU Building Homes with Heart Scholarship Programme supports FCE to nurture new generation of talent for industry

Ten FCE students received scholarships from the Building Homes with Heart Scholarship Programme, a joint initiative by the SHKP-Kwoks’ Foundation (the Foundation) and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), at the programme’s inaugural award ceremony on 3 August 2023. The ten undergraduate and postgraduate students come from the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE). Each student was awarded a scholarship of up to HK$40,000 to relieve their financial challenges and support them in their pursuit of studies in construction, real estate, or engineering-related disciplines. Director of the Foundation Mr Thomas KWOK expressed at the ceremony that he hopes the scholarship programme will become a driving force for the students to achieve greater success in their studies and careers, thereby contributing to the future development of the country and Hong Kong. The scholarships were presented to the awardees by Mr Thomas KWOK, and SHKP Executive Directors Mr Adam KWOK and Mr Robert CHAN. After the ceremony, the awardees had the chance to engage in an exchange with Mr Adam KWOK who encouraged the students to maintain their lifelong pursuit of learning. Also joined the ceremony were PolyU Vice President (Student and Global Affairs) Prof. Ben YOUNG, PolyU Dean of Students Prof. Albert CHAN, and Dean of FCE Prof. Xiang-dong LI.  

FCE project receives HK$48 million funding in RGC Theme-based Research Scheme 2023/24 for tropical-storm-resilient system

As a densely populated and highly developed coastal city, Hong Kong faces increasingly severe tropical-storm-related hazards due to constant population growth and climate change. Tropical storms like Super Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018 caused the city enormous economic losses. To protect the safety, quality of life, and economic vitality of Hong Kong and other similar coastal cities, there is a need for real-time tropical storm risk warning and urban-resilience assessment systems. Prof. Yi-Qing NI, Chair Professor of Smart Structures and Rail Transit of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), Director of National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering Technology Research Centre (Hong Kong Branch), and Yim, Mak, Kwok & Chung Professor in Smart Structures, received HK$48.29 million funding from the Research Grants Council (RGC) Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2023/24 (Thirteenth Round) for the project “INTACT: Intelligent Tropical-storm-resilient System for Coastal Cities”. The project team is comprised of experts in urban aerodynamics, climate modelling, wind engineering, fluid mechanics, structural engineering and monitoring from CityU, CUHK, HKU, HKUST, and PolyU. Prof. Ni will lead the team of multi-disciplinary experts to establish a real-time urban typhoon risk early warning and management analysis framework and elucidate and model the underlying causes of tropical storm-generated turbulent flows and urban risks. This will result in the development of a new kind of damage mechanism involving wind pressure-windborne debris-rainwater chain effect that is specific to Hong Kong owing to densely spaced tall building clusters. Furthermore, the project will develop educational programmes and policy recommendations for urban sustainability. In this round of TRS exercise, the RGC received 66 eligible preliminary proposals, 29 proposals were shortlisted for full proposal submissions and 20 of the full proposals were selected for interview. Finally, the RGC supported nine proposals. Prof. Ni’s project is one of the two awarded PolyU-led projects this year. Since the first round of TRS exercise in 2011/12, FCE academics have secured six TRS projects for PolyU, including Prof. Tao WANG of CEE (2017/18), Prof. Jin-Guang TENG/Prof. Tao YU of CEE (2018/19)*, Prof. Asif USMANI of BEEE (2019/20), Prof. Jianlei NIU of BEEE (2021/22), Prof. Xiang-dong LI of CEE (2022/23), and Prof. Yi-Qing NI of CEE (2023/24). * The project was originally led by Prof. Teng. Prof. Yu took over the role of the Project Coordinator in March 2020 after Prof. Teng assumed his duty as the President of PolyU. Prof. Teng now serves as the Advisory Project Coordinator of the project.  

FCE Three-minute Thesis Competition 2023

In response to the University’s inaugural PolyU Three-minute Thesis Competition (3MT®) this year, FCE hosted a faculty-level 3MT® on 14 June 2023 to cultivate the academic, presentation, and research communication skills of our research postgraduate students.  The 3MT® is a competition developed by The University of Queensland, Australia and was first launched in 2008. During the live competition, the participants each had 3 minutes to present their own research to the adjudicating panel and non-specialist audience with the aid of one static PowerPoint slide. Apart from the three winners selected by the adjudicating panel, a People’s Choice Award was also voted by audience ballot. The winners received cash prizes and certificates from Prof. Xiang-dong LI, Dean of Faculty, and Prof. Meng NI, Associate Dean of Faculty (Research). The FCE awardees would participate in the PolyU 3MT®, the final winner would have the opportunity to represent PolyU at the Asia-Pacific Competition.  

FCE joins hands with CEDD on research studies for sustainable infrastructure development and land formation

Sharing a common vision to create a safe, green and sustainable environment for the benefit of society, FCE and the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 4 May 2023. The collaboration would couple FCE’s research strengths with CEDD’s experience in construction projects by developing new technologies for application in public works projects to cope with the limitations of existing engineering technologies and reduce construction time. The MoU was signed by Director of Civil Engineering and Development, Mr Michael FONG, and Dean of Faculty, Prof. Xiang-dong LI, and witnessed by Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), Mr Ricky LAU, and President of PolyU, Prof. Jin-Guang TENG. FCE has partnered with CEDD to apply our research results for developing engineering solutions to enhance productivity, project quality and site safety. Examples include the use of high strength grade 690 steel in the building of the Cross Bay Link in Tseung Kwan O and the use of AI techniques to carry out automated identification of landslide trails on aerial photographs for slope safety management. With the MoU in place, the collaboration between FCE and CEDD will be deepened to further promote research in sustainable infrastructure development and land formation.

Outstanding Student Award of FCE 2022

Miss Yi Nam XU, a BSc (Hons) in Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics student of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), has been honoured with the Outstanding Student Award of FCE 2022 for her great character, academic excellence, exceptional attainments in extra-curricular activities, and passion for community service.  Being the awardee at both the department and faculty levels, Miss Xu excels in her academic and non-academic pursuits. She was selected for the Dean’s Honours List in 2019/20 & 2021/22, received a remarkable number of competitive scholarships such as the Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2022, and served summer internships at the Planning Department of the HKSAR and Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong. She is also an active volunteer in various social organisations like The Green Earth and The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.    During her study at FCE, Miss Xu has developed a great interest in geospatial science and environmental conservation. Her overseas research attachment to the University of Wisconsin-Madison also helped her see the potential in remote sensing in environmental monitoring, particularly in forestry, wildfire, and species modelling. Miss Xu plans to further her studies in remote sensing and conservation after graduation and aspires to become a researcher in the abovementioned fields. PolyU's Outstanding Students Award Scheme was established in the academic year 1998/99 to award full-time final-year students who excel in both academic and non-academic pursuits during their studies, the awards offered under this scheme are conferred at departmental, faculty and university levels.

Innovative high strength S690 steel technology wins HKIE Grand Prize

Led by Prof. K. F. CHUNG of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, also Director of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Steel Construction (Hong Kong Branch), a research and development project entitled “Innovative construction technology and application of high strength S690 steel in construction” received the Grand Prize for Innovative Application of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Grand Award 2023.   The winning project promotes a broad application of high strength S690 steel and its welding technology, enhancing its effective use in construction. It brings significant savings in construction materials, manpower demand, and carbon footprint, promoting sustainable infrastructure development in Hong Kong.  The prize was presented to the project team on 9 March 2023 by Ms Winnie W.Y. HO, Secretary for Housing of the HKSAR, and Ir Aaron K.M. BOK, President of the HKIE.   The HKIE Grand Award is newly established in 2023, and it aims to recognise achievements and contributions of the engineering profession in Hong Kong. It comprises three major categories - Innovation, Industrial, and Infrastructure.