News

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.

PolyU Partners with Industry in Strategic Collaborations

2 Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) have recently been signed between PolyU and industry partners to collaborate on spatial big data analytics. One was with the Companhia de Telecomunicacoes de Macau (CTM), and the other was with SuperMap Software Co. Ltd. Representing PolyU at both signings was Prof. John Shi, Head of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), who said the collaboration with CTM would not only facilitate the development of a smart city in Macau, especially with respect to tourism, but also serve as a testbed for the development of smart cities in the Greater Bay Area. As a result of the MoU with CTM, a spatial big data analytics study on the needs and preferences of tourists in Macau will be conducted by LSGI’s Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics, with an aim to improving Macau's tourism service and enhancing tourists' experience through innovative services.  Meanwhile, the MoU with SuperMap Software Co. Ltd. will contribute to the development of an international platform for geographic information services (GIS) by taking advantage of the respective strengths of PolyU and SuperMap in research, undergraduate teaching, training, and market services. The donation of GIS software by SuperMap to PolyU for teaching and research purposes is expected to further develop the Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics at LSGI. 

Living smart in a smart environment

In the “Smart City, Smart Mobility Conference 2019” organised by Hotel ICON on 21 May, Prof. John Shi Wen-zhong, Head of PolyU’s Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics and Director of Laboratory for Smart City and Spatial Big Data Analytics, shared with academics and industry experts the University’s innovations in smart mobility, smart environment and smart living. He also introduced the laboratory’s advanced technologies in satellite images and maps as well as satellite positioning, which are crucial to the development of autonomous driving cars.  

HKIPM Project Management Achievement Awards 2018

At the 16th anniversary dinner of the Hong Kong Institute of Project Management (HKIPM) on 16 May 2019, Prof. Albert Chan of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) was honoured with a Project Management Achievement Award 2018 for developing a personal cooling system for combating heat stress in the construction industry. His 11-member research team included his BRE colleagues Prof. Michael Yam, Dr Daniel Chan, Dr Edmond Lam, Dr Jackie Yang, and Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Construction (HKIC) Dr Francis Wong. The same project also received a Project Management Award from the Asia Pacific Federation of Project Management in November 2018. Supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council for 3.5 years, the project not only improved the well-being of construction workers, but also developed a standard of heat stress precautionary measure that was subsequently adopted by the Construction Industry Council. A personal cooling vest from the project is also being licensed by the Occupational Safety and Health Council to benefit workers who require protection from heat in their occupation.  

PolyU Outstanding Alumni Awards 2019

2 alumni of predecessors of PolyU have been honoured with PolyU’s Outstanding Alumni Awards on 30 April 2019. They are Sr Ping-cheung Lau, GBS, JP, a 1974 Higher Diploma graduate of the Hong Kong Polytechnic in Quantity Surveying, and Mr Alex Lui, a 1964 Higher Certificate graduate of the Hong Kong Technical College in Building. Sr Lau, a respected figure in the field of surveying, has served many public boards and government advisory committees related to a range of issues, from economic development, land and housing, education to integration of Hong Kong with the Mainland. Currently a PolyU Council Member, he also serves on the University’s Governance Committee and Campus Development Committee. His extensive social commitments were rewarded with the Silver Bauhinia Star in 2004, Justice of the Peace in 2016, and the Gold Bauhinia Star in 2017. Mr Lui has made substantial contributions to Hong Kong’s urban development in the past decades. Recognized as a University Fellow of PolyU in 2017, he is currently Project Director of PolyU’s Green Deck project. Having served numerous professional and public organizations, he is also a recipient of the Outstanding BRE Alumni Award 2018 from the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE). He was a member of the PolyU Council and Chairman of its Campus Development Committee, and is currently a member of the PolyU Court. The Outstanding PolyU Alumni Award was first launched in 1996 and this year marks the 12th award presentation. So far, more than 70 distinguished alumni in various professions have been honoured.