Thanks to Supporters

Appreciation for Fiona Cheung’s support to establish Endowed Professorship in Spatial Science

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is honoured to be the only Hong Kong tertiary institution involved in China’s space exploration projects, contributing to the development of the Nation’s space programme. Ms Fiona Cheung, Chairman of Forest Zone Limited, who has been a keen supporter of PolyU, has provided a generous donation to establish the Fiona Cheung Endowed Professorship in Spatial Science, in order to support PolyU’s continuous contributions to China’s space exploration projects. Prof. Wu Bo, Associate Head of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, has been appointed as the Endowed Professor. To express its sincere gratitude for Ms Cheung’s generous support, PolyU held an appreciation lunch on 14 June 2022, hosted by PolyU’s President Prof. Jin-Guang Teng. Prof. Teng extended his heartfelt appreciation to Ms Cheung for her staunch support to the University. With this professorship, PolyU will further strengthen its research endeavours to make greater contributions to the advancement of space technology and science. Prof. Wu developed innovative 3D topographic mapping and intelligent geomorphological analysis techniques which contributed to landing site mapping and selection for China’s Chang’e-3, Chang’e-4, and Chang’e-5 lunar missions, as well as the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars. Expressing his gratitude for Ms Cheung’s support, Prof. Wu stated that this professorship is a great encouragement to the staff and students of the Faculty, driving them to strive for excellence in education and research. Ms Cheung, a member of the Governing Committee of the PolyU Foundation and a University Fellow, has been providing invaluable advice to support the fundraising and outreach efforts of the University. Ms Cheung believes the Endowed Professorship can encourage young scholars to follow the footsteps of Prof. Wu, devoting their careers to research and innovation. With the support of donors, the Endowed Professorship Scheme recognises the achievements of world-renowned researchers in their specialised disciplines and enables the Endowed Professors to explore and advance cutting-edge research projects for the betterment of mankind. We hope that like-minded philanthropists will witness the powerful impact of the Endowed Professorship Scheme in the appointment of the aforesaid professorship. Please browse the Scheme website for more information.

PolyU Establishes Endowed Professorship and Endowed Young Scholar in Textiles Technologies

PolyU recently set up an Endowed Professorship in Textiles Technologies and an Endowed Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies. The endowments will enable the Institute of Textiles and Clothing (ITC) to advance research in areas not limited to functional textiles, fashion and intelligent wearable technology. PolyU has been a forerunner in research and education for the textiles industry with ITC being recognised as the world leader at the intersection of fashion design, technology and business. Professor Fan Jintu, Head and Chair Professor of Fiber Science and Apparel Engineering of ITC, is appointed as the Lee Family Professor in Textiles Technologies. Professor Fan is a world-class expert in functional textiles and fashion with prominent international standing. His exceptional contributions to clothing thermal comfort, theories of heat and mass transfer in fibrous materials, personal thermal management and fashion aesthetics have tremendous impacts on the industry. His prolific research outputs include the world’s first sweating fabric, transient heat and mass transfer model in fibrous material via radiation and phase change, biomimetic textiles, and Volume-Height Index that objectively determines bodily attractiveness. Dr Shou Dahua, Assistant Professor of ITC, and Assistant Director of PolyU DRRC Novel Material Science and Technology Innovation Centre, is appointed as the Limin Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies. Dr Shou bases his research on cutting-edge multi-physics mechanisms in hierarchical fibrous porous media, and his interests cover personal thermal and moisture management, smart wearable technologies, soft robotics, and green energy. With a view to reinvent intelligent textiles and clothing as human’s second skin, he strives to enhance their performance in human-environment and human-computer interfaces, imbuing them with self-adaptive properties amid extreme and dynamically changing environments. Ultimately, his goal is to provide healthy, comfortable, efficient and sustainable apparels for all. We sincerely thank Dr Harry Lee, Chairman of TAL Apparel Limited, for his generous donation to establish the impactful Endowed Professorship and Endowed Young Scholar, and for his fervent support to and wholehearted trust in ITC over the years. We hope like-minded philanthropists who share our belief in “partnership for impact” will find inspiration from these appointments. Please contact Alumni Affairs and Development Office or browse the Scheme website for more information.

The Faculty of Construction and Environment proudly debuts PolyU’s first faculty-based education and research Fund

On 26 March 2022, the Faculty of Construction and Environment (FCE) launched the FCE Education and Research Fund (FCE Fund) in an online ceremony. The FCE Fund is the first faculty-based platform at PolyU with the aim to solicit concerted and sustainable support of its alumni and the community for the advancement of education and research development of the Faculty. Prof. Li Xiangdong, the Faculty Dean said, “FCE, as a world-leading faculty in civil and structural engineering as well as architecture and built environment disciplines, is determined to create innovative solutions for sustainable urban development, building smart cities and improving people’s lives”. So far, over HK$10 million has already been raised from alumni, industry stakeholders, partners and friends. The FCE Fund will be used to support strategic initiatives and holistic development of the Faculty, accelerating the emergence of new knowledge and innovative ideas, grooming talents, and realising research projects with high societal impact. “To multiply the donation for greater impacts, PolyU will match $1 for every $2 donation to the FCE Fund”, Prof. Li said. Ir Yau Kwok-fai, a graduate in civil engineering, appealed to fellow alumni to make a donation to support the FCE Fund. “Studying at FCE is a dream to many young students. A lot of alumni are very successful in their career and have fond feelings for their alma mater. The FCE fund provides a meaningful platform for us to support research and education development, it is also a connection point for alumni of different generations.” Please DONATE NOW to support the FCE Fund or visit the Fund homepage for more details.

Private family foundation found Endowed Young Scholars Scheme instrumental in serving society

Thetos Foundation, a Christian faith-based private family foundation, is dedicated to support talents or organisations that are genuinely engaged in serving the community. They have therefore prioritised their support to scholars whose research are related to social services as they believe those research disciplines usually lack funding support. They found PolyU’s Endowed Young Scholars Scheme a good choice worthy of their support. “It is the Foundation and the Scheme’s shared vision to support a new generation of aspiring young scholars who cannot fully develop their potentials due to lack of funding support,” said Chairman of the Foundation, Hong Kong Solicitor Mr Charles To. “We are looking forward to having further opportunities of this kind to give back to society”. Fully understanding Thetos Foundation’s objective of setting up the endowed fund, a rigorous selection process was carried out at PolyU, Dr Ada Fung was appointed as the Thetos Foundation Young Scholar in Social Services. Dr Ada Fung, Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Social Sciences, is a renowned scholar specialised in the early detection and prevention of dementia. From her experience in large-scale epidemiological studies, she successfully established an association between late-life anxiety and cognitive decline, particularly in episodic memory, as she developed novel interventions to alleviate symptoms and slow down or even prevent dementia progression. “I am deeply honoured to be appointed as Thetos Foundation Young Scholar in Social Services. The Endowed Young Scholars Scheme will offer great support to my work in formulating personalised interventions that would prevent cognitive implications due to loneliness. I will continue to delve into my field for the benefit of society,” said Dr Fung. We welcome like-minded philanthropies to join hands with PolyU to create powerful impact through the Endowed Young Scholars Scheme. Please contact AADO or browse the Scheme website for more information.

Toy industry leader supports PolyU to realise the potential of Smart Robotics

Toy industry leader Ir Dr Wong Tit-shing, an outstanding alumnus of PolyU and University Fellow, is a fervent supporter of PolyU. Having supported PolyU’s Service-Learning projects with his generous donation for decades, Dr Wong recently further his effort by setting up an Endowed Young Scholar to pledge his dedication to support the research in Smart Robotics and making it the fourth Endowed Young Scholar since the Scheme was launched last year. Dr Wong saw great potentials in the future development of Smart Robotics, “Smart robotics have been not only the most essential elements to take the toy industry to the next level, thanks to PolyU, advanced development in Smart Robotics is in fact but also helping us to enhance human-robotic collaboration for the good of human kind. It can improve quality of human’s lives in the long run”. Dr Zheng Pai, with his tremendous achievements in Smart Robotics, has been appointed as Wong Tit Shing Young Scholar in Smart Robotics. In his five-year renewable appointment, Dr Zheng will make good use of the annual funding from the Endowed Young Scholar Scheme, to experiment and actualise ideas, however small they may be, have the chance to be turned into big impactful products. Dr Zheng, Assistant Professor of Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Lab-in-Charge of Digitalized Service Laboratory, and Leader of PolyU’s Research Group of AI for Industrial Digital Servitization, focusses his research on human-robot collaboration, smart product-service systems, and smart manufacturing systems. He sincerely thanks Dr Wong’s for his trust and support, “The appointment of an Endowed Young Scholar is a valuable recognition and support to me and my team’s efforts in the exploration of Smart Robotics. The research will contribute to achieving a symbiotic and proactive human-robot collaboration towards futuristic smart manufacturing.”  We welcome like-minded philanthropies to join hands with PolyU to create powerful impact through the Endowed Young Scholars Scheme. Please contact AADO or browse the Scheme website for more information.

PolyU partners with Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation and Keswick Foundation to promote service-learning in secondary schools

PolyU will launch a three-year research project entitled, “Capacity Building Scheme for Secondary School Teachers: Promoting Meaningful Social Engagement for Young People through Service-Learning”, with a generous donation from Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation and Keswick Foundation. Through our extensive experience in implementing service-learning (SL), the Capacity Building Scheme aims to promote “academic service-learning” in secondary school education through equipping school teachers with essential attitude, knowledge and skills, and ultimately promote meaningful social engagement for young people as well as enhance their academic learning. The project finds its root in the complex issues related to the education of youth in Hong Kong over the last several decades. Students are often stressed with their exam-oriented school life, and fail to see the meaningful linkage between academic knowledge and their real-life application. To this end, we wish to introduce service-learning to secondary school students as a means to discover the meaning of study through applying their knowledge to serve the community. A multi-disciplinary team co-led by Prof. Daniel Shek, Associate Vice President (Undergraduate Programme), Li & Fung Professor in Service Leadership Education and Chair Professor of Department of Applied Social Sciences and Dr Grace Ngai, Head of Service-Learning and Leadership Office and Associate Professor of Department of Computing, aims to empower secondary school teachers with a systematic professional training and development package about the benefits and challenges of SL, how to develop and sustain community partnership, design, implementation and assessment of SL. This project is expected to benefit over 100 secondary schools, 500 teachers, 600 secondary school students, and over 2,000 service recipients.

PolyU’s supporter joins hands with the University to advance research on aerospace technology

The Endowed Professorship Scheme recognises the achievements of world-renowned researchers in their specialised discipline to create societal impact for the betterment of mankind. The newly established Fiona Cheung Endowed Professorship in Spatial Science is a great example to showcase the community's recognition of PolyU's research achievements. “Scientific research is a meaningful job and it takes us on a journey towards unknown territories and makes the world better. The Endowed Professorship definitely inspires me to think out of the box and explore new ideas.” Prof. Wu Bo, Fiona Cheung Professor in Spatial Science Professor Wu Bo, Associate Head (Research) and Professor of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, is the appointee of Fiona Cheung Professor in Spatial Science. Prof. Wu has been practicing his expertise in surveying in several National Space exploration missions, playing a key role in making great space discoveries. Prof. Wu had developed innovative 3D topographic mapping and geomorphological analysis techniques which contributed to the landing site mapping and selection for China’s Chang’E-3, Chang’E-4, Chang’E-5 lunar missions, and the Tianwen-1 mission to Mars. Other than space missions, another outstanding achievement of Prof. Wu was the innovation of “Novel Integrated 3D Mapping Model” in 2016. Reforming from the two major traditional 3D mapping techniques of photogrammetry using satellite/aerial imagery and laser scanning, the innovative model integrates multi-platform satellite/aerial imagery and laser scanning data. Fiona Cheung Professorship in Spatial Science was endowed by Ms Fiona Cheung Sum-yu, Chairman of Forest Zone Limited. Ms Cheung has been a keen supporter of PolyU and is currently a member of the Governing Committee of PolyU Foundation and the University Fellow, providing invaluable advice to support fundraising and outreach effort of the University. She is also a Convenor of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference in Nanjing, and has been actively engaging herself in community service and philanthropic activities in Hong Kong and the Nation. Ms Cheung is proud of Prof Wu’s dedication and significant contributions to the National Space Mission and wishes to establish the Endowed Professorship to encourage young scholars to follow the footstep of Prof. Wu in devoting his career to research and innovation, making positive contributions to the development of the Nation and the world. We hope like-minded philanthropists will witness the powerful impact of the Endowed Professorship Scheme in the appointment of the aforesaid professorships. Please contact Alumni Affairs and Development Office or browse the Scheme website for more information.

Town and gown partnership to improve patients’ quality of life by advancing research on pain management

The Endowed Professorship Scheme connects like-mind philanthropists and PolyU to join hands to drive new discoveries and breakthroughs in the research discipline that they mutually value. With the aim of alleviating pain among patients to greatly improve their quality of life, Peter Hung Endowed Professorship in Pain Management has been established to support the research works of a renowned PolyU researcher and practitioner. “The Endowed Professorship is an encouragement that truly fuels my academic passion. I believe more people will benefit from further research on pain management.” Prof. Amy Fu, Peter Hung Professor in Pain Management Professor Amy Fu, Associate Head of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Director of PolyU Rehabilitation Clinic, is the appointee of Peter Hung Professor in Pain Management. Prof. Fu’s endeavours in pain study range from serving elite athletes to frail seniors, from pain mechanisms to management, and from academic research to clinical practice. She implements state-of-the-art approaches to study muscles, tendon and joints, and explores how exercise and physiotherapy enhance healing and relieve pain. Apart from conducting researches, Professor Fu also provides hands-on treatments to patients. She has been consistently invited by the National Sports Bureau of the Mainland China to oversee rehabilitation therapy plans for national athletes. Peter Hung Endowed Professorship in Pain Management is endowed by H H Hung Charitable Foundation, which was founded by Mr Peter Hung Hak-hip, Honorary Chairman of Hop Hing Group, an industry-leading enterprise specialising in food processing, distribution and retail. The Foundation wishes to support talented researchers like Prof. Fu, who contribute to the advancements in pain medicine and pain treatment, while looking forward to the emergence of innovative, effective and affordable treatments that alleviate pain among patients and greatly improve their quality of life. We hope like-minded philanthropists will witness the powerful impact of the Endowed Professorship Scheme in the appointment of the aforesaid professorships. Please contact Alumni Affairs and Development Office or browse the Scheme website for more information.

PolyU receives generous support from Lee Wan Keung Charity Foundation to nurture the next generation of researchers

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has received a generous donation from the Lee Wan Keung Charity Foundation to support the Undergraduate Research and Innovation Scheme (URIS), which provides the opportunity for full-time undergraduate students to conduct research projects under the supervision of the University’s scholars, and to develop their high-order thinking skills, such as logical, creative and critical thinking. A URIS - Student Sharing Session held on 29 December 2021 was graced by the presence of Ms Rosanna Lee, Director of Lee Wan Keung Charity Foundation. Other participants from PolyU included: Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President; Dr Miranda Lou, Executive Vice President; Prof. Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation); Prof. Jiannong Cao, Dean of Graduate School and Head of College of Undergraduate Researchers and Innovators (CURI); Prof. Christina Wong, Associate Dean of Graduate School; Dr Horace Mui, Residential College Master of CURI; and chief supervisors of research projects. Nine students from the departments of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, Building Environment and Energy Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and School of Optometry shared their research projects and learning experiences with the guests. PolyU President, Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, extended his sincerest gratitude to Lee Wan Keung Charity Foundation for the generous support to the University and this Scheme, and is deeply grateful for joining hands with the Foundation to nurture the next generation of researchers and innovators. PolyU has launched the URIS for the 2021/22 academic year. Close to 200 undergraduate students have been selected to conduct individual or group research that last for up to two years for the first cohort of the Scheme. The University will provide a range of support for students enrolling on the Scheme, which combines knowledge application and innovative ideas, including training, seminars, and exchange with professors and expertise from different disciplines, as well as scholarships and small research grants. In addition, participating students will be automatically admitted to the College of Undergraduate Researchers and Innovators (CURI). They will also have priority admission to the new Residential College of CURI. Through the URIS, the University hopes to nurture a significant number of graduates with the interest and commitment to go on to pursue research, with a view to enhancing technological innovation capabilities for the advancement of Hong Kong and beyond.

Wofoo Foundation supports students’ holistic education and research on youth and elderly

On 15 November, PolyU held an appreciation luncheon to express its gratitude to Wofoo Foundation for the generous donation to support university development, nurturance of students’ leadership training and Service-Learning, and applied research projects on the well-being of young people and elderly initiated by the Department of Applied Social Sciences and the Institute of Active Ageing. Professor Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU, extended his heartfelt appreciation to Dr Joseph Lee, GBS, OStJ, JP, Founder and Chairman of Wofoo Foundation, for his staunch support to the University over the years. The donation has not only enabled PolyU to nurture students to become responsible global citizens and tomorrow’s leaders, but also to make a positive impact on youth and elderly well-being.