News

LSGI Scholar’s Scientific Approach to Keep New Virus off Campus

As part of PolyU’s efforts to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, remote infrared body temperature measurement was implemented at various entrances of the university in early February 2020. This was done with the help of Dr Wallace Lai of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), who converted prior work developed by Dr Steven Tsang in the Department of Building and Real Estate back in 2003 to fight SARS into feasible practice within a short period. Based on the scientific ground work done by Prof. Lung-Sang Chan and his team from the University of Hong Kong, Dr Lai elaborated on the science behind this preventive measure for the colleagues of the Facilities Management Office for their implementation.

Research Impact Fund 201920

PolyU has been awarded about 45% of the Research Impact Fund 2019/20, the largest share among the local universities. Of the 5 projects received by PolyU, one was led by Dr Bo Wu of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), with co-principal investigators from the University of Hong Kong, collaborators from Europe, as well as partners from mainland China and local institutions. Entitled “Mapping and characterization for optimized evaluation of potential landing sites on the moon and Mars to support future missions,” the 4-year project will receive HK$4,469,360 from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, which funds 70% of the project cost, with the remaining 30% from the university and other partners.

Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Processes and Control Launched

As one of the first ten joint laboratories in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Joint Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Processes and Control unveiled its plaque on 19 December 2019 in Guangzhou. The joint laboratory was a venture led by the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in collaboration with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental Science and Technology, with Prof. Ping’an PENG (Professor of GIG and CAS Academician) and Prof. Xiangdong LI (Chair Professor of CEE at PolyU and Associate Dean of FCE) as the co-directors. The establishment of the joint laboratory marks the further integration of research teams and resources in the GBA, and gives a big boost to the large-scale collaborative research to address pressing environmental issues in the region, such as air quality and human health, ecological risks of emerging contaminants in estuarine and coastal environments, environmental quality in city clusters, control and remediation of soil mixed contamination, and disposal of municipal waste and sewage treatment in rural areas.

FCE Academics Recognized as Highly Cited Researchers

3 academics of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) are among the world's most influential researchers of the past decade according to a recent list compiled by the Web of Science. In the field of engineering, Prof. Hongxing Yang of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE) and Prof. Kwok Wing Chau of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) have been named. Another CEE colleague on the list is Prof. Shun Cheng Lee, who is being recognized in a cross field. All three of them are being recognized for having produced multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for their respective fields. The list can be found at https://recognition.webofsciencegroup.com/awards/highly-cited/2019/

Head of LSGI Elected to IEAS

For his outstanding achievements in geographic information science, remote sensing, urban informatics and smart cities, Prof. John Shi, Head of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), has been elected to be an academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences (IEAS), an organization established in 1996 to integrate the sciences, technology, and the economy for a harmonious society. Joining a worldwide community of renowned scientists and experts from the natural sciences, engineering, and social sciences, he will be honoured in a ceremony scheduled for 16 November in Beijing at the China Science Center of IEAS.

PolyU Entry Scholarship Award Ceremony

An award ceremony for non-local students who received entry scholarships to PolyU was held on 22 August 2019 at the Chiang Chen Studio Theatre. Over 60 scholarship students and some of their parents attended the ceremony. PolyU President, Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, gave a welcome address, and presented certificates to scholarship students with Executive Vice President Dr Miranda Lou and Vice President (Student Affairs) Prof. Ben Young. In attendance were Associate Vice President (Academic Support) Prof. S.L. Ho and the Deans of the various Faculties and Schools, including Prof. You-Lin Xu, Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE). 8 of the scholarship recipients are enrolled at FCE. 5 of them are from Kazakhstan, with the others from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan respectively.

Head of BRE Appointed Able Professor in Construction Health and Safety

Prof. Albert Chan, Head of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Associate Director of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, and Chair Professor of Construction Engineering and Management, has been appointed the Able Professor in Construction Health and Safety with effect from 1 August 2019. This is the fourth appointment for the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) in PolyU’s Endowed Professorship Scheme, which honours distinguished scholars for their outstanding academic and research achievements. For more than three decades, Prof. Chan has conducted research on a wide range of topics across the broad field of construction engineering and management, including construction health and safety, project success, construction partnering, and public-private-partnership. His outstanding contributions have earned him a string of awards and prizes, including the Hong Kong Institute of Project Management Achievement Awards (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018), the Asia Pacific Project Management Achievement Awards (2014, 2017, 2018), the First Class Scientific Advancement Award (2016), the Grand Award in the Community Excellence category, Distinguished Knowledge Transfer Awards (2016), Gold Medals in the 36th and 44th International Exhibition Inventions, New Techniques and Product, Geneva, Switzerland (2008, 2016), the Premier Award of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) International Innovation & Research Awards in the Innovation Achiever’s Award Category (2008, 2015), and Local Grand Prize Winner of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) Innovation Award (2015). His current research interests focus on exploring how extreme hot and humid weather affects the health and productivity of construction workers and developing innovative devices to help improve their well-being.

RGC Theme-based Research Scheme 2019/20

Prof. Asif Usmani, Head of the Department of Building Services Engineering (BSE), has recently been awarded funding of HK$33.333 million from the RGC Theme-based Research Scheme for his project entitled “SureFire: Smart Urban Resilience and Firefighting.” Addressing the key scientific challenges of smart firefighting and emergency response to make SureFire-based critical event forecasting technically possible and urban infrastructure more resilient to the fire hazards, the project is expected to last for 5 years, from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2024. The project team includes Prof. Heng Li of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), Dr Qixin Wang of the Department of Computing, Dr Fu Xiao and Dr Xinyan Huang of BSE, Prof. John Shi of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), Prof. George Huang of the University of Hong Kong, Prof. Xinzheng Lu of Tsinghua University, Prof. Jose Torero of the University College London, and Dr Stephen Welch of the University of Edinburgh. This is the third FCE project that has been funded consecutively by the RGC Theme-based Research Scheme. In 2017/18, Prof. Tao Wang’s project on photochemical air pollution in highly urbanized subtropical regions received similar funding, followed by Prof. Jin-Guang Teng’s project on sustainable marine infrastructure enabled by the innovative use of seawater sea-sand concrete and fibre-reinforced polymer composites in 2018/19.

HKIE Accreditation

Subsequent to the visit by the accreditation panel on 29 and 30 November 2018 and the accreditation board meeting on 16 April 2019, the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) has granted full accreditation to all engineering-related degree programmes of the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE), namely, the BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering, the BEng (Hons) in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development, the BEng (Hons) in Building Services Engineering as well as the BSc (Hons) in Building Engineering and Management. The accreditation granted to all FCE UGC-funded engineering-related degree programmes is valid for 5 years for all intake classes up to and including the year 2022. A status report on the accredited programmes to address the progress being made on HKIE’s recommendations is expected by 30 June 2021. Graduates of the accredited programmes will be qualified to apply for HKIE membership after gaining appropriate training.

PolyU in Top 100 of QS Rankings

In the latest QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Rankings 2020, PolyU was ranked 91st, up from last year’s position of 106th, as a result of its outstanding academic and research achievements. In Asia alone, PolyU was ranked 24th. A recognition of its efforts in teaching and research, the jump in rankings from the year before is highly encouraging. Altogether, 1000 tertiary institutions from 82 countries and regions were ranked based on surveys of 94,000 academics and 44,000 hiring managers. 11.8 million research papers and 100 million citations were also analyzed to determine the research impact made by the universities, one of the factors affecting the overall ranking. Other factors included academic standing, graduate employability, student-staff ratio, and internationalisation. According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019, the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) has 2 disciplines in the top 20. The ranking for Architecture/ Built Environment was in 20th place, while Civil and Structural Engineering was in 15th place.