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’s engineering-related UG programmes granted HKIE Accreditation

After the visit by The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) accreditation team on 3 and 4 November 2022 and the accreditation board meeting on 28 April 2023, the Faculty is pleased to report that HKIE has granted full accreditation for our engineering-related bachelor’s degree programmes including the BEng (Hons) in Building Sciences and Engineering* (including the programme with the specialism of Building Services Engineering), the BSc (Hons) in Building Engineering and Management, the BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering, the BEng (Hons) in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development for a period of five years for all intake classes up to and including the year 2027. Provisional accreditation is also granted to the BEng (Hons) in Civil Engineering (Structural and Fire Safety Engineering)^ until the first cohort of graduates (2023).

Graduates of the accredited programmes will be qualified to apply for HKIE membership after gaining appropriate training. The accreditation of FCE’s engineering-related bachelor’s degree programmes is an affirmation of the quality and professionalism of the Faculty’s teaching.

*Retitled from BEng (Hons) in Building Services Engineering with effect from the 2022/23 cohort of intake

^Retitled from BEng (Hons) in Structural and Fire Safety Engineering with effect from the 2022/23 cohort of intake

Prof. K.F. Chung honoured with National Award for Excellence in Innovation

Prof. K.F. CHUNG of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), also Director of the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Steel Construction (Hong Kong Branch), has been awarded a Certificate of Merit at the 3rd National Award for Excellence in Innovation for his outstanding contributions to the field of structural steel engineering.

Being the only awardee from Hong Kong this year, Prof. Chung has unyieldingly devoted his efforts to the research and innovation of high strength steel materials to increase construction quality and productivity and also to promote sustainable infrastructure development locally, nationally and internationally. Under his leadership, CNERC-Steel has also been working actively to apply advanced structural engineering materials and technologies on regional major construction projects to achieve the Nation’s “dual carbon” goals on carbon reduction.

Jointly hosted by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the China Association for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, the Award is held triennially to recognise the achievements of no more than 300 technology scientists in various areas, such as frontier research and knowledge transfer.

Research study on carbon mitigation potential by rooftop photovoltaics in China published in Nature Communications

Solar power has become the most popular renewable energy resource around the world, with its clean and relatively cost-effective features. In China, the high building density in some densely-populated cities has created great potential for the country’s installation of rooftop photovoltaics (RPVs) for facilitating solar power development to provide a more sustainable and distributed energy supply.

A research article titled "Carbon mitigation potential afforded by rooftop photovoltaic in China", which is co-authored by Prof. Jerry YAN of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), has recently been published in Nature Communications. The research is a result of cross-institutional collaboration between Prof. Yan and two scholars from Nanjing Normal University, namely Prof. Min CHEN and Prof. Guonian LÜ, the three of them are the corresponding authors of the paper. It is a national assessment that adopted multi-source heterogeneous geospatial data and machine learning regression, and successfully identified 65,962 km2 of rooftop area for 354 Chinese cities in 2020, assuming 4 billion tons of carbon mitigation capacity in the country. It reveals the potential shift of the current energy structure from heavy reliance on non-renewable energy sources, which could effectively reduce energy-related greenhouse gas emissions and achieve China’s goal of decarbonisation. The research not only provides insights into the planning of RPVs adaptation in China but also serves as the foundation for other countries with high building densities.

The full article is available here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-38079-3

BRE member receives Young Innovative Researcher Award 2023

Dr Ho Lam HEUNG of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) has been awarded the PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA) 2023 for his research on robot-assisted recovery system for survivors with stroke.

Dr Heung has been focusing his research mainly on the development of wearable and portable robotic exoskeletons for rehabilitation and human augmentation. The advanced wearable robotic products he developed can help stroke survivors regain mobility and improve their quality of life. Dr Heung is the only Research Assistant Professor among the six awardees who stood out from numerous outstanding submissions from 14 departments across all faculties in PolyU.

The YIRA aims to recognise and encourage 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 in the future.

5 FCE projects receive over $3.2 million funding from Environment and Conservation Fund

We are glad to announce that five research projects led by FCE scholars have secured a total funding of over HK$3.2 million from the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF). The awarded projects aim at tackling different environmental challenges that face our city through various strategies, such as energy efficiency improvement, pollution prevention and waste-to-energy technologies.

The ECF has been set up by the Government since 1994 to provide funding support to non-profit making projects and activities on environmental and conservation matters, which mobilise the community to act and contribute to the overall environment of Hong Kong.

Students make positive impact through service learning programme in Cambodia

Service learning is an indispensable part of holistic education at PolyU. Recently a group of students who enrolled in the subject LSGI 2S03-Land and Resource Management for Sustainable Development in Rural Area finished a week-long service learning programme in Cambodia.

The service learning programme aimed to develop students’ generic competencies of innovative problem-solving, teamwork and communication, and enhance their sense of social awareness and responsibilities. Apart from attending subject-related activities such as rural area planning workshops, map making, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) mapping, and weather and water samples collection, the students also learnt about the history, culture, and traditions of Cambodia through visits to museums, temples, and cultural sites. Furthermore, they worked with a local organisation for a workshop on disease prevention and awareness for local youngsters and organised educational and recreational programmes for local young children. The programme was well-received by both the participating students and the local community.

LSGI hosted international conference to explore challenges and prospects of geomatics education

On 10-12 May 2023, the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) hosted the International Conference on Geomatics Education – Challenges and Prospects (ICGE) to explore new ideas and perspectives on geomatics education. The conference bought together around 100 leading researchers, engineers, practitioners, and educators in geomatics, geodetic surveying and related fields to the PolyU campus for a dynamic three-day journey of ideas and innovations.

Staff promotions

Congratulations to the promotions of the following academics of FCE with effect from 1 July 2023!

Promotions to Professor
	Prof. Joseph LAI Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering		Prof. Tommy WEI Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering
	Prof. Tak-Ming CHAN Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering		Prof. Zhen LENG Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Promotions to Associate Professor
	Dr Sunliang CAO Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering		Dr Xinyan HUANG Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering
	Dr Hung Lin CHI Dept of Building and Real Estate		Dr Yi SUN Dept of Building and Real Estate
	Dr Chao ZHOU Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering		Dr Yi JIANG Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering
	Dr Shuo WANG Dept of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics

Long-serving staff of FCE

After more than 30 years of service at PolyU, Ms Yorki IP, Personal Secretary in the Faculty Office, retired on 27 June. Prof. Xiang-dong LI, Dean of Faculty, presented a token of appreciation to Ms Ip at a farewell tea gathering before her last day of service. The Dean thanked Ms Ip for her service to the Faculty Office and wished her a happy retirement.