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.

FCE scholar receives Medal of Honour for exemplary contribution to engineering

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), received a Medal of Honour from the Government of Hong Kong SAR for his exemplary contribution to engineering in Hong Kong, specifically through his impactful research and technology transfer of high strength S690 steel. The Medal was presented to Prof. Chung by Mr John LEE, Chief Executive of HKSAR, on 25 November 2023 at the Government House.

The research and innovations of high strength S690 steel enable significant savings in construction materials and time, manpower demand, and carbon footprints. Typical applications include long span foot bridges and roof structures, highway noise closure, steel piles supporting heavily loaded structures, and supporting members in road bridges.

Two FCE Chair Professors among world’s Highly Cited Researchers 2023

Two of the Faculty’s Chair Professors, Prof. Jerry YAN of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering (BEEE) and Prof. Geoffrey SHEN of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), have been named by Clarivate Analytics in the Highly Cited Researchers 2023 list. Prof. Yan and Prof. Shen are recognised for their significant research impact in the Engineering and Cross-Field categories respectively.

The list identifies the most influential scholars from around the world, determined by the production of multiple highly-cited papers that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and year in the Web of Science citation index over the last 11 years.

Prof. Jerry YAN Chair Professor of Energy and Buildings Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering	Prof. Geoffrey SHEN Chair Professor of Construction Management Department of Building and Real Estate

Smart Traffic Fund for long-span bridge health monitoring system

Prof. Yong XIA of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) has been awarded HK$13.4 million from Smart Traffic Fund 2023 for a project titled “Digital Twin‒based Long-span Bridge Health Monitoring”. The Fund provides support to projects from local organisations or enterprises on vehicle-related research and technology, with an aim to advance road convenience, efficiency and safety.

Prof. Xia’s project targets on developing a digital twin-based long-span bridge health monitoring platform to ensure long-term monitoring for bridge safety and effectiveness, by improving automatic traffic monitoring system, realistic bridge fatigue damage assessment and prediction system, vehicle-barrier collision monitoring system, and vehicle safety assessment system in high winds. Using the Tsing Ma Bridge as the testbed to examine the operational performance in real situations, the project will integrate various techniques and tools into the monitoring system, including sensors on the bridges, cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, and Bridge Information Modelling (BIM).

FCE academics receive RGC funding support for collaborative research across borders

Collaborative research projects can enhance research output and impact across disciplines, institutions and regions. FCE scholars actively engage in and lead collaborative projects with different partners on various scales. In recent months, four FCE academics secured funding support from the Research Grants Council (RGC) for their joint research with partner universities in Mainland China and France.

Public Policy Research Funding Scheme

Six of FCE’s researchers were awarded Public Policy Research (PPR) Funding in the latest three rounds of exercises, from 2022-23 (Fourth Round) to 2023-24 (Second Round). Managed by the Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office (PICO) of the HKSAR, the PPR Funding Scheme targets to foster evidence-based research and facilitate public policy discussion.

Workshop on Strategies for China Grant Applications 2023

FCE is thrilled to report that our academics have received over RMB 10 million from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and over HK$8 million from the NSFC/RGC collaborative schemes in 2023. To share successful experiences among FCE researchers and to boost the success rate of applications for major China research schemes, the Workshop on Strategies for China Grant Applications was successfully held on 6 December 2023.

Prof. Meng NI, Associate Dean (Research) of Faculty, kick-started the workshop by introducing the major China grants and highlighting the performance of FCE researchers in the past few years. The workshop also brought together a group of FCE members who were recently awarded different China grants to share their tips and strategies for developing research proposals. The detailed list of topics shared is as follows, interested FCE staff can download the presentation decks from FCE Staff Intranet.

Around 100 FCE members attended the workshop to familiarise themselves with the process of applying for China grants. They had an interactive and in-depth discussion of application strategies for different funding schemes.

Appreciation lunch for Endowed Professorship named after Prof. Michael Anson

To express gratitude to Able Engineering Company Limited for its generous donation to set up the Michael Anson Endowed Professorship in Civil Engineering, an appreciation lunch was hosted by Prof. Jin-Guang TENG, PolyU President, on 27 November 2023. Attending the appreciation lunch were Prof. Michael ANSON, Mrs Anson, senior management of Able Engineering Company Limited, representatives from PolyU and FCE, and Prof. C. S. POON, appointee of the Endowed Professorship.

The Endowed Professorship is named after Prof. Anson, inaugural Dean of the then Faculty of Construction and Land Use (predecessor to FCE) and Emeritus Professor of FCE, as a tribute to his enormous contributions to the Faculty. It is believed that the Endowed Professorship will impact and motivate generations of academia to continue to build and excel upon the strong foundations laid by Prof. Anson.

FCE cultivates connections with Mainland China partners to explore industry-academia-research collaboration

FCE seizes every opportunity to foster connections with potential partners in the Mainland China to promote collaborations for research, academic exchange, and knowledge transfer.

	Prof. Linda XIAO, Associated Dean (Partnership) of Faculty, represented FCE in the PolyU delegation to Nanjing from 12 - 15 November 2023 for the establishment of a PolyU-Nanjing collaborative translational research institute. The delegation met with government officers of Gulou District to discuss the potential research areas of the research institute that have high impact to the local society, e.g., smart construction and smart cities. The delegation also visited Nanjing University, Nanjing Medical University, and a number of large high-tech companies for R&D collaboration.
Prof. Charles WONG, Associate Dean (Teaching) of Faculty, met with delegates from Xi’an Jiaotong University (XJTU) and Xi’an Tongli International College on 23 November 2023 on behalf of the Dean to explore academic exchange and industry-academia-research collaboration opportunities. The delegates were given a laboratory tour after the meeting to deepen their understanding of FCE’s research strengths. Xi’an Tongli International College was set up by PolyU in collaboration with XJTU to support the development of the western region of Mainland China.

RICS representatives visit FCE for latest taught programme development

FCE’s programmes prepare students for professional careers and leadership positions in a range of construction-related disciplines and most of them are accredited by professional organisations like the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). On 1 December 2023, FCE welcomed Mr Nick INATEY, Head of Assessment Delivery APAC & AEMEA of RICS, and Mr Ian JEAL, Director of Education & Qualifications of RICS, for an informal visit. During the visit, Prof. Charles WONG, Associate Dean (Teaching) of Faculty, presented an overview of the Faculty and the taught programmes offered at FCE to Mr Inatey and Mr Jeal. The academic representatives from FCE’s RICS-accredited programme hosting departments also exchanged views on programme development and enhancement of RICS’s presence in the local community with Mr Inatey and Mr Jeal.

The current RICS-accredited programmes at FCE cover student intakes up to 31 July 2024. The RICS re-accreditation visit is tentatively scheduled around mid-2025.