We welcome comments and suggestions from staff, students, alumni, and friends of the Faculty, please contact the Faculty Office at faculty.ce@polyu.edu.hk.
 
     

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 captivates prospective students with array of dynamic activities
PolyU Info Day 2023

FCE offers a comprehensive range of construction and environment related academic programmes which are all well recognised by local and international professional bodies. On 21 October 2023, the Faculty took part in the PolyU Information Day (Undergraduate and Taught Postgraduate Programmes) (Info Day) which attracted more than 1,600 participants to a broad range of activities that provided first-hand admissions and programme information to the participants. Apart from consultation booths to introduce the departments and their undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes, guided laboratory tours and seminars were also organised for students, parents, and members of the public. One of the key activities this year is the student sharing session where students from the four departments shared their personal experiences at FCE and engaged in a Q&A session with the prospective students.

FCE Faculty Logo Design Competition Prize Presentation Ceremony

To strengthen the brand identity of FCE among the young generation, the FCE Faculty Logo Design Competition was organised in May 2023 to invite creative Faculty logo designs from local secondary school students. The competition received an overwhelming response, over 110 design submissions from 50 local secondary schools were received. To draw in more high-calibre prospective students to the PolyU Information Day on 21 October 2023, a Prize Presentation Ceremony was held on the same day to reward winning entries that best reflect the vision, mission and expertise of FCE. All participants in the competition received a souvenir and a certificate as a token of their creativity and enthusiasm.

The winners of the competition are:

Individual Category
Gold Award Hei Ching IP
CCC Rotary Secondary School
Silver Award Kwan To LAM
CCC Kei Yuen College
Bronze Award Hoi Ki PANG
Baptist Lui Ming Choi Secondary School
Merit Chloe Lok Yiu CHAN
ELCHK Lutheran Academy

Lok Hang KOO
TWGHs Mr & Mrs Kwong Sik Kwan College

Hiu Nam LAM
CCC Ming Kei College

 

Team Category
Gold Award Ka Ying TSOI, Wai Yin LO
Good Hope School
Silver Award Emil Wun Hei HUNG, Ivana Wun Ching HUNG
West Island School
Bronze Award Nehal SIHAG, Sameeha Afaaf MUHAMMAD IBRAHIM
YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College

 
Visit from King's College

As part of the Faculty’s ongoing endeavours to attract high-calibre prospective local students, FCE received a group of Form 5 students from King’s College on 6 October 2023. Prof. Charles WONG, Associate Dean (Teaching) of Faculty, provided an overview of FCE to the visiting students and shared some admission information. To offer a comprehensive perspective, a few current FCE students were also invited to share their personal experiences at FCE. The visit concluded with a tour of the four departments’ laboratories which allowed the students to better understand the foci and strengths of each department.

 
   

FCE fosters international connections and exchanges with partners from Sweden
Swedish Consul General exchanges with FCE experts on sustainability

The Consul General of Sweden to Hong Kong and Macau, Ms Louise BERGHOLM, visited FCE on 3 October 2023 to gain insights into Hong Kong's current advancements in the areas of sustainability and environment. Prof. Xiang-dong LI, Dean of Faculty, introduced FCE’s research foci to Ms Bergholm at the informal meeting. FCE experts in green technology and innovation, including Prof. Jerry YAN of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), Prof. C.S. POON of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), and Dr Xintao LIU of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) shared their research and perspectives on sustainable construction materials and renewable urban energy at the meeting. Ms Bergholm also shared some of Sweden’s latest environment-friendly initiatives. As FCE continues to champion sustainability, the Faculty looks forward to forging stronger ties with Sweden and finding innovative solutions for global challenges.
FCE strengthens ties with KTH to foster collaboration on student exchange

FCE engages with universities across the globe to provide our students with international learning experiences. On 16 October 2023, we welcomed our student exchange counterparts from the School of Architecture and the Built Environment of KTH Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) to foster better understanding and more collaborative opportunities between each other.

Prof. Linda XIAO, Associate Dean (Partnership) of Faculty, hosted a meeting and presented an overview of FCE to the KTH visitors. Representatives from the participating departments and the Global Engagement Office (GEO) discussed some current student exchange arrangements with the KTH guests. Department sessions followed for in-depth exchanges between the participating departments and the KTH coordinators.

 
 

   

Chair Professor Distinguished Lecture on structural engineering for extreme loads

The FCE Chair Professor Distinguished Lecture delivered by Prof. Ahmed ELGHAZOULI, Chair Professor of Earthquake Engineering and Structural Integrity of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), was successfully held on 26 October 2023.

The lecture was kick-started by Prof. Xiang-dong LI, Dean of Faculty, by briefly introducing Prof. Elghazouli to the audience. As an expert on seismic design and structural robustness, Prof. Elghazouli then shared his insights into the topic “Structural Engineering for Extreme Loads”. He began with an overview of the challenges posed to structural engineers when designing and sustaining structures and infrastructure under seismic and other extreme loading conditions, and discussed the recent advancement in structural engineering research in performance-based structural design methodologies for extreme loads. He further explained the gradual shift in practice of the field from prescriptive codes to performance-based design procedures, which contributes to the effective estimation and reduction of economic and physical losses in extreme events around the globe.

A Q&A session moderated by Prof. Li followed. The audience was inspired to have an interactive and inspiring exchange with Prof. Elghazouli.
 
 
 

FCE scholars receive funding support from NSFC

Recently both young and senior academics from FCE have demonstrated their dedication to scientific advancement of Hong Kong and the Nation by securing research funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

Prof. Xiaoli DING, Chair Professor of Geomatics of Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) was awarded a project entitled “Detection of Underground Water Pipe Leakage based on Multi-temporal PollnSAR Technology” under the NSFC’s Key Program. The project with RMB 2.23 million research funding aims to develop a satellite remote sensing technology for more effectively detecting water pipe leakage to save the precious water resources. The research will in particular better understand the relationship between the scattered polarimetric SAR signals and subsurface water content when there are different surface features.

In the 2023 exercise, Dr S.K. LAI of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) also received RMB 530,000 from the General Program for his project titled “Dynamic analysis of a physics-informed neural network-based tri-hybrid gentle wind-driven energy harvesting technique”. Additionally, 19 FCE young researchers proved their research capabilities in conducting research independently and won support from the Young Scientists Fund. They will each receive a funding up to RMB 300,000 to support their research projects for three years. Their innovative projects span various research areas, including sustainable construction materials, the durability of structures to withstand different physical and environmental conditions, and the advancement of safety in railway transport, etc.

 
 
   

Three FCE projects supported by MTR Research Funding Scheme 2023

The extensive railway network in Hong Kong has been a relatively efficient and green mass public transport to cater for the needs of the densely-populated city. To address the soaring challenges in developing smart railways for long-term and sustainable benefits, the MTR Research Funding (MRF) Scheme was established by MTR Academy in early 2023 to explore innovative projects in the field of railway technology. The three projects led by FCE scholars are supported by the MRF Scheme 2023 for their insights in enhancing system performance and service provision quality.

Principal Investigator Project Title Project Amount
Dr Xinyan HUANG
Associate Professor
Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering		 Intelligent Emergency Digital Twin System in Metro Station for Fire Evacuation HK$1,378,750
Dr Anthony YUEN
Assistant Professor
Dept of Building Environment and Energy Engineering		 Coupling Fire and Toxicty Predictions Using CFD-MD Simulations for Enhanced Pedestrian Movement Modelling and Fire Resilience Designs of Metro Stations HK$970,658
Dr S.K. LAI
Associate Professor
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering		 Development of a New Inerter-based Rail Damper to Mitigate Railway-induced Ground-borne Noise by a Physics-informed Deep Learning Framework HK$1,271,239
 
 

 
 

Insightful study addressing ozone pollution challenges with synergistic control published in One Earth

An international research team led by Prof. Hai GUO of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) has published an insightful perspective article in the prestigious journal One Earth to address the challenges of rising tropospheric ozone levels.

The article titled “A synergistic ozone-climate control to address emerging ozone pollution challenges” highlights the emerging global challenge of ozone pollution, especially the unintentional rise in ozone due to the uncoordinated emissions reduction and increasing climate penalty. The research team proposed a synergistic ozone-climate control strategy incorporating joint control of ozone and fine particulate matter. The proposed strategy offers an opportunity to alleviate tropospheric ozone pollution for a low-carbon global environment in the future.

The full article is available here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590332223003111?via%3Dihub

 
 
   

FCE academic awarded IBPSA Fellow for achievements in enhancing building energy efficiency

Prof. Linda XIAO, Associate Dean (Partnership) of Faculty and Professor of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE), has been conferred the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) Fellowship for her key contributions in the field of building performance simulation. Prof. Xiao has devoted herself to research on smart energy-efficient and resilient buildings to address the surging challenges brought by complex building energy systems in modern society. Her research employs simulation and modelling, control and optimisation techniques, IT/IoT, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence for innovative solutions and developments.

IBPSA is an international society of specialists dedicated to promoting building performance optimisation around the world. Its Fellowship is awarded to members who have been active in the field for at least a decade and have attained distinction.

 
   

Welcome new staff to FCE

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) welcomed Dr Shipeng ZHANG to the post of Assistant Professor in August 2023. Dr Zhang received his BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2013, and his MEng and PhD in Civil Engineering from McGill University in 2016 and 2020, respectively. Prior to joining CEE, Dr Zhang served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at McGill University and later as a Research Assistant Professor at PolyU. Dr Zhang’s research interests include environmental-friendly construction materials and technologies for facilitating sustainable construction, as well as waste management and recycling technologies which contribute to the key development goal of carbon neutrality across the globe.

Dr Qing PEI is jointly employed by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) and the Department of Chinese History and Culture to the post of Associate Professor in September 2023. He obtained his Bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Economics and Management and in Law (double degree) from Renmin University of China, and received his MPhil and PhD in Geography from The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He has rich postdoctoral experience in universities around the world, including HKU, the University of Cambridge in the UK, and the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Prior to joining PolyU, he served as the Assistant Professor (2016 - 2021) and Associate Professor (2021 - 2023) at The Education University of Hong Kong. Dr Pei’s multidisciplinary research covers topics across physical and human geography, including historical geography, climate history and social-ecological resilience.

 
 

FORTHCOMING
EVENTS

   29th Congregation (FCE Sessions)
Date: 14 and 15 November 2023 (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Format: Online/ Physical
Details: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/ar/graduates/congregation-arrangements/29th-congregation/event-schedule_congregation-arrangements/
 
 
 
 

INVITATION FOR PROGRAMME ADMISSION

 
 
 

Applications are invited for the following programmes.
Undergraduate Programmes https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/study/undergraduate-programmes/
Taught Postgraduate Programmes https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/study/taught-postgraduate-programmes/
Research Postgraduate Programmes https://www.polyu.edu.hk/fce/study/research-postgraduate-programme/

For e-Prospectus, please visit https://www.polyu.edu.hk/study

  
 
 

SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS

  
 
 

Please click here for the scholarships and awards of the Faculty.