News

ISE students received the CILTHK Kerry Logistics Scholarship 2017/2018

Miss CHAN Tsz-shan (Kelly), who graduated from BSc (Hons) in Logistics Engineering with Management (LEM) in 2018, obtained the CILTHK Kerry Logistics Scholarship, which is a scholarship programme offered by Kerry Logistics, which aims to provide financial support to competent students undertaking Master/Bachelor programmes in logistics. The shortlisted finalists were invited to visit the Kerry Cargo Centre, and finally, present the topic of “Automation in Logistics”. The selection criteria are not only limited to the academic achievements and outstanding extra-curricular activities, but also the commitment to pursue career development in the logistics industry and the performance in the presentation. Kelly expressed the view that the visit to the Kerry Cargo Centre is precious, and she realised the power of merging the advanced technologies in the logistics field. She described the operating procedures of automation were demonstrated, which could enhance her understanding of the theories learnt from the university, thus widening her horizons. Besides, the preparation of the presentation could facilitate her to summarize the things she learnt, thus it was an invaluable experience for her. Congratulations again to Kelly and we are very honoured to have the student who is excellent in all-round performance and willing to devote in the logistics field.  

Prof. Eric Tsui speaking at the Blackboard Teaching & Learning Conference Asia 2018 in Singapore to share his thoughts on 21st century learning environment

Prof. Eric Tsui from Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering of PolyU was invited to deliver keynote address at the Blackboard Teaching & Learning Conference Asia 2018, taking place in Singapore in October 2018. He will share his thoughts on what the 21st century learning environment can be. Interview with Prof. Tsui can be found at: https://elearnmagazine.com/curriculum-co-creation-student-centric-learning/

PolyU and the China Academy of Space Technology to jointly develop a Mars camera for the nation’s first Mars probe (理大與中國空間技術研究院合作研製火星探測器的「落火狀態監視相機」)

香港理工大學（理大）將與中國空間技術研究院（五院）合作，研發和生產一台可搭載於擬於最早2020年發射的火星探測系統上的「落火狀態監視相機」（「火星相機」）。雙方於今天（2018年8月22日）就火星探測項目的聯合研製協議（「聯合協議」）舉行簽署儀式。 聯合協議的合作項目旨在支持國家的首次火星探測。據了解，火星探測器擬於2020年發射，目標是在一次任務中，對火星同時進行軌道和地面探測，這將成為全球首次相關任務。 火星探測系統由環繞器、著陸器和巡視器組成。根據聯合協議，理大設計和生產的「火星相機」將搭載在著陸器外面頂部，用於監視降落火星後巡視器的操作狀態，包括太陽翼的打開、火星的周遭環境，以及巡視器本身的走動情況。這些資訊對掌握巡視器能否在火星表面成功巡視至關重要。 理大副校長（科研發展）衞炳江教授與五院總經濟師周宏女士今天假理大簽署「聯合協議」，並由嘉賓見證簽署儀式。簽署儀式的見證人為：香港特區政府教育局局長楊潤雄先生、中央人民政府駐香港特別行政區聯絡辦公室教育科技部李魯部長、教育資助委員會主席唐家成先生、理大校董會主席陳子政先生、理大校長唐偉章教授、五院黨委書記兼副院長趙小津先生、五院總體部部長孫京先生，以及五院處長何楠女士。 理大校董會主席陳子政先生致歡迎辭時說：「理大是香港唯一擁有航太任務實戰經驗的高等院校，我們的科研人員自1990年代開始參與國家和國際的太空探索研究。理大很高興與五院再次合作推動太空科技研究，研發火星巡視器的『落火狀態監視相機』，支持國家的火星探索項目。我們期盼進一步發揮理大的專長，為國家的航天事業發展作出更多貢獻。」 理大在研發精密太空儀器方面經驗豐富，這次合作將由其工業及系統工程學系精密工程講座教授及副系主任容啓亮教授率領二十名理大研究人員，與五院的專家緊密合作，共同研發「火星相機」。 該「火星相機」不僅要重量輕巧（約380克），同時須十分堅固，以抵受穿梭地球與火星長期出現的極端溫差（超過九個月），及後須能在火星極低溫下運作，並要承受相等於地球地心吸力6,200倍的沖擊震盪。此外，「火星相機」須具備廣闊測量視野（水平視野範圍和垂直視野範圍分別均達120度），同時將圖像變形保持於低水平。 容教授表示：「這次研發工作面對兩大挑戰：這台相機要十分輕盈，有廣闊的拍攝角度及減少影像變形之餘，要同時能抵受極強大的沖擊力；第二是令相機在長時間的太空旅程中克服極端溫差、輻射、機械振動等挑戰，最後仍保持十分高的穩定性。」 憑藉理大過往參與多項太空探索項目的經驗以及具備的核心研發技術，研究團隊有信心能順利製成「火星相機」，並於明年內通過多項相關的太空驗證，完成交付「火星相機」，為2020年的火星探測項目作好準備。 理大多年來積極參與不同的太空探究項目，研製先進的太空儀器，包括為歐洲太空總署2003年火星快車任務研發「岩芯取樣器」，並為2011年的中俄聯合探索火星任務研發「行星表土準備系統」。 理大是香港唯一擁有國際太空任務實戰經驗的高等院校，自2010年起與五院長期緊密合作，為國家的太空探究項目作出貢獻不遺餘力。理大和五院曾簽約合作建立一所「空間精密機械技術聯合實驗室」，而五院亦向聯合實驗室送出先進設施。為支持國家的探月工程，容教授亦與內地的專家攜手研製出「相機指向機構系統」，應用於嫦娥三號及嫦娥四號；以及應用於嫦娥五號及嫦娥六號的「表取採樣執行裝置原理樣機」。 The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) will collaborate with the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) to develop and produce a camera on the spacecraft to Mars scheduled for launch in 2020 at the earliest. The two parties signed the Collaborative Research and Development Agreement (R&DA) on Mars Exploration Project (“the Collaborative Agreement”) at a ceremony today (22 August 2018). The project is in support of the nation’s first Mars probe tentatively scheduled for 2020, which aims to conduct an orbital and surface exploration of Mars in a single mission, the first-ever attempt in the world. The spacecraft for the Mars probe will compose of an orbiter, a lander and a rover. Under the Collaborative Agreement, PolyU is to design and produce a camera, “Mars Landing Surveillance Camera” (“Mars Camera”), which will be located on the outside top surface of the Mars Lander. The Mars Camera will monitor the deployment status of the Mars Rover with respect to the status of the solar panel, antenna, as well as the rover’s movement. The information is critical for the successful movement of the Mars Rover onto the Mars surface. Professor Alex WAI, Vice President (Research Development) of PolyU, and Ms ZHOU Hong, Senior Vice President of CAST, signed the Collaborative Agreement on PolyU campus. Witnesses of the ceremony were: Mr Kevin YEUNG, Secretary for Education, HKSAR Government; Professor LI Lu, Director General of Education, Science and Technology Department, The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in HKSAR; Mr Carlson TONG, Chairman, University Grants Committee; Mr T C CHAN, Chairman of the Council, PolyU; Professor Timothy W. TONG, President of PolyU; Mr ZHAO Xiaojin, Executive Senior Vice President, CAST; Mr SUN Jing , Director General, Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, CAST; and Ms HE Nan, Director, Institute of Spacecraft System Engineering, CAST. Chairman of the PolyU Council, Mr T C CHAN, said at his welcome remarks, “PolyU is the only tertiary education institution in Hong Kong with experience in space missions. Our researchers have been involved in a number of national and international space exploration projects since the 1990s. It is our pleasure to work with CAST again to advance space technology and research through the joint development of Mars Landing Surveillance Camera, and support the nation's Mars Exploration Programme. We are keen to capitalise PolyU’s expertise to further contribute to the development of the nation’s space industry.” Capitalising on its wealth of experience in developing state-of-the-art space tools, PolyU will mobilise a 20-member-strong research team led by Professor YUNG Kai-leung, Chair Professor of Precision Engineering and Associate Head of its Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, to work closely with CAST experts on the development of the Mars Camera. The Mars Camera will have to be light in weight (around 380 grammes) while strong and durable under extreme temperatures during the extended period of space travelling between Earth and Mars (over nine months), followed by operation under extremely low temperature on the Mars surface. It will also be able to tolerate impact shock of 6,200G (i.e. 6,200 times of the force of earth’s gravity). Despite having a wide angle field of view (a maximum of 120 degrees horizontally and a maximum of 120 degrees vertically), the Mars Camera will have low image distortion. Professor YUNG said, “Among all the difficulties in the research and development (R&D) work, the two biggest challenges are the wide field of view with low distortion optics under high impact force with little available mass, and the high reliability required under a prolong period of extreme temperatures, radiation, mechanical vibration, etc.” The PolyU team, capitalizing on its experiences of previous space projects and synergising core technologies ready for its R&D work, is confident to complete and deliver the Mars Camera with the corresponding space qualification experiments within next year, ready for the launch in 2020. PolyU has been actively participating in space exploration projects through designing and manufacturing sophisticated space tools in the past decade. These include the “Mars Rock Corer” for the European Space Agency’s 2003 Mars Express Mission, the “Soil Preparation System” for the Sino-Russian Space Mission in 2011. Being the only tertiary institution in Hong Kong that possesses international space qualification experiences, PolyU has been contributing unreservedly to the nation’s space projects since the longstanding partnership between PolyU and CAST began in 2010. The two parties signed a pact for the establishment of a Joint Laboratory in Precision Engineering for Space Applications, and CAST donated advanced space research equipment to the Joint Laboratory. In the nation’s lunar exploration programme, Professor YUNG collaborated with the mainland experts to develop a “Camera Pointing System” for Chang’e 3 and Chang’e 4, and then the “Surface Sampling and Packing System” for Chang’e 5 and Chang’e 6.   Source: PolyU website

Congratulations to ISE RFID team on winning the second place of the IEOM Poster Presentation Competition Award in the 2nd IEOM European Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management

Dr. Carman K.M. Lee and her research team have won the second place of the IEOM Poster Presentation Competition Award for their paper entitled “Appointment Scheduling Optimization for Specialist Outpatient Services” in the 2nd IEOM European Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management held from 26 – 27 July 2018 in Paris, France. This paper aims to enhance the efficiency of public health service and alleviate the problem of long waiting time of appointment booking for specialist outpatient services. Appointment scheduling optimization model with LINGO software using the exact algorithm is applied into the appointment scheduling problem for the outpatient clinic. The performance of the appointment scheduling optimization model is examined in different case scenario and performance improvement is realized. The conference is organized by IEOM Society International, from 26-27 July 2018 in Paris, France. It aims at providing a platform for academics, researchers, scientists and practitioners to exchange ideas and to bridge the gap between the Industrial Engineering and Operations Management theory and its application in solving the most current problems and challenges faced by 21st-century organisations.  

Congratulations to ISE RFID team on winning the Outstanding Paper Award in the 12th International Conference on Operations and Supply Chain Management (ICOSCM 2018)

Dr. Carman K.M. Lee and Mr. Chengli Liu, a PhD student supervised by Dr. Lee, have received the Outstanding Paper Award for their paper entitled “Optimal Prices of Centralized Dual-Channel Supply Chain with Overconfident Consumers” in the 12th International Conference on Operations and Supply Chain Management (ICOSCM 2018) held from 12 – 15 July 2018 in Qingdao, China. All submissions went through a rigorous review process and each paper was reviewed by numerous of committee members. The paper analyzed the impact of overconfidence in centralized dual-channel supply chain and modelled consumers who are overprecise in product valuation. The results showed that consumer overconfidence is not necessarily a negative force on customers. The higher the consumers’ overconfidence level, the lower the prices offered to them. However, consumers’ overconfidence leads to losses for the manufacturer. And the dual- channel strategy can be an effective tool for the manufacturer to reduce the negative effect of consumer overconfidence. The work is inspiring that the outcome is awarded at the conference. The conference was hosted by Haier Group and co-organized by the Association of Supply Chain and Operation Management (ASCOM) and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), from 12-15 July 2018 in Qingdao.  

(Event News) Technical Seminar: Case Study of Manufactory Optimization Projects

On 6th July 2018, the Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering Section (MIES), IET Hong Kong organized a technical seminar titled in Case Study of Manufactory Optimization Projects at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The seminar was held from 19:00 to 20:30 in room BC203. 24 participants joined the seminar in which 20 of them are IET members. The event was co-organized by Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering of PolyU. A distinguished guest speaker, Mr. Biu Ng was invited to this seminar to share his professional knowledge and valuable experience on factory optimization projects. Mr. Ng is the General Manager of Star Master International Ltd. Its business involves consulation for setup and sales of factories, maintenance and repairing services of line machineries. The seminar was divided in two sections. Section One was the presentation of Mr. Biu Ng on different cases about factory workflow optimization and efficiency improvement. Section Two was for Q&A in which Mr. Stephen Lam, committee member of MIES, moderated the discussion. The participants were keen on asking questions which simulated further discussion among the speakers and audiences on related topics.   (Reported by Stephen Lam, MIES)

2ISE students won the 2nd Runner-up and Merit Award in the HKIE MI “Student Project Competition Presentation 2017/18”

Two students of Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE), received the 2nd runner-up and merit award in the HKIE MI “Student Project Competition Presentation 2017/18”, organized by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers – Manufacturing & Industrial Division (HKIE-MI). Miss Siu Ka Hei, who graduated from BEng (Hons) in Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) in 2018, won the 2nd runner-up award for her final year project entitled “Design and Development of a baby care product: Flexible Baby Stroller”, which was supervised by Ir Martin Mak. Miss Siu proposed and designed a flexible baby stroller to increase the baby safety when sitting in the stroller. Mr. Yeung Chun Kit, who graduated from BSc (Hons) in Enterprise Engineering with Management (EEM), won the merit award for his final year project entitled “Smart City Application and Analysis: Real-Time Urban Drainage Monitoring by IoT Sensors”, which was supervised by Dr Carman Lee. Frankie designs a drainage sensing system to retrieve the rainwater or drain statues with the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, which can provide a real-time monitoring solution for better inundation management and alleviate the flooding problem in the city. The HKIE Manufacturing & Industrial Division Student Project Competition is an open competition that attracted participating teams from the major Hong Kong universities. This competition is an annual event organized by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) to encourage students to stretch themselves intellectually and practically in the applications of MI Engineering technologies in a real industrial case.  

ISE PhD student won the Champion at the HKIE Control, Automation & Instrumentation Division “CA Paper Award Competition (Postgraduate level) 2017/18”

ISE PhD student Mr. Ng Kam Hung won the Champion in the “Paper Award Competition (Postgraduate level) 2017/18”organized by the HKIE Control, Automation & Instrumentation Division. The awarded paper is titled as “Considering arrival and departure uncertainties in robust aircraft sequencing and scheduling problem with meta-heuristics approach”, which was supervised by Dr Carman Lee. The research paper considers the aircraft sequencing and scheduling problem under the uncertainty of arrival and departure delays for multiple heterogeneous mixed-mode parallel runways. Through the proposed efficient artificial bee colony algorithm, the nearly optimal solution will be obtained with a desirable computational time to further enhance the capacity and resilience level in the mixed-mode parallel runways operation. The CA Paper Award Competition is organized by the Control, Automation & Instrumentation Division (CAD) and co-organized by the Institute of Measurement and Control, Hong Kong Section with the aim to promote the Control, Automation & Instrumentation technologies and to encourage young/ potential engineers and technologists presenting their innovative ideas. Paper of the winners will be published in the Symposium Proceedings.

全港中小學產品設計大賽2017-2018圓滿結束，參賽隊伍發揮無限創意

香港理工大學工業及系統工程學系主辦的「全港中小學產品設計大賽2017－2018」已於5月26日圓滿結束。是次比賽反應十分熱烈，吸引超過100多間中小學校報名參與。在大會初步評審隊伍提交的計劃書後，最後共有84支隊伍能成功入圍，每支隊伍由一位理工大學學生導師從旁指導，給予學科的專業意見。比賽設有「小學組」和「中學組」兩個組別，組內再細分智能家居、穿戴科技、衛生保健或復康產品，讓不同興趣的同學自行決定作品題材。 產品設計大賽的頒獎典禮場面熱鬧，出席嘉賓包括香港電腦教育學會（HKACE）、資訊科技領袖協會（AiTLE）、協辦公司DTSL和各參賽學校的代表。參賽作品以產品報告、匯報介紹、產品功能和外形設計作為評分準則。頒獎典禮當日，所有組別將製成品展示於理工大學校園內，先由同學們現身說法，讓專業評審充分了解作品後即席評分。過程中，同學們亦可與其他隊伍交流，取長補短。統計評分過後，中學組由香港教育工作者聯會黃楚標中學憑「安眠枕」獲得全場總冠軍，同時包攬最佳創意奬和最佳外觀奬。小學組方面，英華小學憑「智能門欄」獲得全場總冠軍、最佳創意奬和最佳外觀奬，連中三元。綜觀多組隊伍的作品，不難發現每組同學都花盡心思，務求讓發明品滿足生活所需，達到活學活用。單單說智能家居組別，同學們製成智能自動摺合式飯枱、自動分類垃圾桶和智能濾水水質監察器，實在令一眾評審嘆為觀止。而在穿戴科技、衛生保健或復康產品，同學們的創作更是輕巧實用，為復康人士和長者帶來不少便利。例如失明人士無障礙穿戴裝置和家用用藥提醒機，都以簡單材料製作，協助有需要人士面對生活難題。是次比賽讓同學一展所長，以科技推動生活，工程中充分體驗STEM教學的實際用途。 香港理工大學工業及系統工程學系系主任陳鏡昌教授表示，今年已是連續兩年舉辦全港中小學產品設計大賽，期望透過活動鼓勵創意設計，提升中小學同學對產品設計的興趣。為了讓同學們學以致用，理工大學更與協辦機構DTSL舉辦一連串工作坊，務求讓參賽同學掌握基本設計和編程技巧，方便在測試產品時因應需要作出改善。而項目主題亦是因應近年灸手可熱的科技議題，期望讓同學從日常生活出發，充分體會不同需要而研發產品。   網址: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/ise/subpages/product-design-makeathon/2017/

(Event News) Technical Seminar: Vocational Qualification Pathway-Dialogue with CEO

On 16th June 2018, ISE, MILESAA and MIES of IET Hong Kong organized a technical seminar as title Vocational Qualification Pathway-Dialogue with CEOs . The event was started from 09:15 to 13:00 at TU107 at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. There were totally 63 participants. 41 of them were IET members. The event was co-organized by ISE of PolyU Hong Kong and MILESAA. Six distinguished guests were invited to be the speakers of this seminar. They are 1) Dr George Lau, Director, RPL Assessment Agency for Testing, Inspection and Certification Industry, Qualifications Framework, 2) Mr Stanley Cheung, Chairman of Manufacturing Technology Training Board of Vocational Training Council, 3) Ir Peter Si, Project Manager, IVE Engineering Discipline In-service Training Office, 4) Ir Dr. YC Chau, Vice President, TDK, 5) Miss May Wong, Chairlady, Public Relations Committee of Institute of Purchasing & Supply of HK, 6) Mr Felix Choi , CEO of Hongrita Holdings Ltd. The seminar was commenced with Welcome Speech and Opening Speech, delivered by Professor K.C.Chan, department head of ISE of PolyU HK, and Ir KW Chen, the chairman of IET Hong Kong respectively. The seminar was divided by two sections. Section one introduced the key features of HKQF, Specification of Competency Standards, Vocational Qualifications Pathway and In-service training service in Hong Kong. Section two was the case sharing time. The speakers shared their valued experience on how they became the successful industrialist and professional engineer by taking the lifelong learning. After the completion of speeches, Mr John Chow, Vice Chairman of MIES, moderated the discussion panel program. The eagerness of questions asking in the forum had simulated some good discussion among the speakers and audiences in related topics.