News

11th CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies and Systems (CIRP CATS 2026) Successfully Held at PolyU

The 11th CIRP Conference on Assembly Technologies and Systems (CIRP CATS 2026) was successfully hosted by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) from April 27 to 30, 2026. Jointly organized with the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the event marked the conference’s prestigious return to Hong Kong after 14 years. Co-chaired by Ir Prof. Pai ZHENG (Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, PolyU) and Prof. Lihui WANG (KTH), the conference was themed “Human-Machine Symbiotic Assembly and Disassembly.” It attracted nearly 200 participants from 67 institutions across 15 countries and regions. The rigorous program featured 128 peer-reviewed papers, five keynote speeches, and 138 oral presentations delivered across 24 technical sessions. The academic program centered on the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI), digitalization, and robotics. Keynote speakers—including distinguished fellows from Academia Europaea and the Canadian Academy of Engineering—addressed the future of human-centric AI and robot learning. Technical sessions explored frontier topics such as digital twins, augmented reality, and foundation models in manufacturing. Recognition of excellence was a highlight of the event. The Best Paper Award was presented to a joint team from Technische Universität Berlin and Carl Zeiss, while student awards recognized innovative research in generative AI and large language models from PolyU, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and other leading institutions. Beyond the lecture halls, participants visited PolyU’s cutting-edge facilities, including the Human-Machine Symbiotic Design and Manufacturing Centre (HMS-DMC) , the State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology (SKL-UPMT), and the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Laboratory (AIR Lab). The event concluded with a cultural tour of Hong Kong’s landmarks, showcasing the city’s vibrant character. Supported by sponsors including Siemens and NOKOV, the conference proceedings will be published in Procedia CIRP in August 2026. The global community now looks forward to the 12th CIRP CATS, scheduled for May 2028 in Athens, Greece.

PIE & PISM Career Sharing & Academic Advising Dinner 2026

On 15 April 2026, the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) hosted the PIE & PISM Career Sharing & Academic Advising Dinner at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The event brought together academic staff, industry professionals, and around 40–50 students for an evening of career sharing, academic advising, and networking. The dinner featured guest speakers from sectors including e-commerce, artificial intelligence, supply quality management, healthcare, logistics, and business development. The Department extends its sincere appreciation to the following speakers: Mr. Wilson Ho, Honorary Chairman, Hong Kong Ecommerce Association Dr. Jacky Ting, Head of AI Innovation, AS Watson Group Mr. Tony Chan, Senior Supplier Quality Manager, Mattel Ms. Joyce Keung, Occupational therapist II, Yan Chai Hospital Ms. Linda Choi, Senior Manager, OOCL Logistics Mr. Linus Au, Sales Director, L&Y Asia Pacific Ltd. Students engaged actively in discussions, gaining first-hand insights into career pathways, workplace expectations, and industry trends, while receiving advice on academic planning and career preparation.

PolyU and Linkerbot collaborate to advance embodied AI research, pioneering innovation in smart manufacturing and robotics technologies

On 29 April, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Linkerbot Beijing Technology Co., Ltd. (Linkerbot) signed a framework cooperation agreement to advance embodied artificial intelligence (AI). The partnership will focus on frontier technologies including AI-driven dexterous robotic hands, vision language action (VLA) models, and integrated flexible sensing and actuation systems, aiming to accelerate innovation in smart manufacturing and robotics. The agreement was signed at PolyU by Prof. Zheng Zijian, Vice President (Knowledge Transfer), and Ms. Zuo Jiaping, Co founder and Vice President of Linkerbot. Prof. Xiaowen Fu, Chair Professor of Logistics Engineering and Head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, joined other faculty members and company representatives in witnessing the ceremony. Embodied AI has been highlighted in China’s “15th Five Year Plan” as a new growth driver. PolyU will leverage its strengths in AI, materials science, and sensing technologies, while Linkerbot contributes expertise in robotic hardware and deployment. The first phase of projects will cover human robot collaboration, synergy of skill primitive learning and vision-language-tactile models, VLA foundation models, and integrated flexible sensing and actuation systems for intelligent assistive exoskeletons. Together, the two parties aim to build an innovation ecosystem integrating research, industry, and application. This partnership supports national strategies to empower industries with AI, driving breakthroughs in dexterous manipulation and human robot collaboration, and contributing to technological innovation and smart manufacturing.   [Original source: PolyU Media Release]

ISE Graduate Received HKIE-LTD Best Student Papers Award 2025

We are delighted to announce that Mr. Zhonghuan HUANG (Alex), a 2025 graduate of our BSc (Hons) in Logistics Engineering and Management (LEM) programme, has been honoured with the Best Student Papers Award 2025 (Merit) by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers – Logistics and Transport Division (HKIE-LTD). His award-winning final-year project, titled "Evolutionary Fuzzy System for Supply Chain and Operations Management", was supervised by Dr Paul Y.P. Tsang. In this project, Alex explored how an evolutionary fuzzy system can be applied to address time-series demand forecasting challenges in supply chain management, striking a balance between model interpretability and performance to support high-stakes decision-making by industrial practitioners. Using Walmart sales data, he conducted computational experiments comparing his proposed type-2 evolutionary fuzzy system with several well-established approaches, including ARIMA and LSTM. His work offers a fresh perspective on enhancing decision-making transparency while maintaining strong forecasting accuracy. This accolade celebrates not only Alex's individual excellence but also the high standards of innovation and problem-solving that our LEM programme instils in its students. We extend our warmest congratulations to Alex on this outstanding achievement and look forward to his future contributions to the logistics and supply chain sector.

Congratulations to the Winners of the Faculty Awards

We are delighted to share that three of our professors have been honoured with the Faculty of Engineering Research Grant Achievement Award 2024 at the PolyU Faculty of Engineering Spring Reception cum Faculty Awards Presentation Ceremony, held on 6 March 2026 at the PolyU Alumni Atrium. This award recognizes the outstanding performance of Faculty of Engineering academic staff in securing external competitive research grants. Prof. George HUANG – Chair Professor of Smart Manufacturing, Director of Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing Ir Prof. Ming LI – Assistant Professor, Assistant Director of PolyU Academy for Artificial Intelligence Prof. Sandy TO – Professor, Associate Director of State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology (Names are listed in alphabetical order by surname.) In addition, Prof. Sandy TO has also received the Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2025 – Merit Award (Category: Research Student Supervision – Individual). The Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement are selected by a Faculty Assessment Panel, comprising the Heads (or their delegates) of departments under the Faculty of Engineering, and chaired by the Dean of Faculty. Nominees are put forward by individual departments, with selection based on the University’s indicative criteria for assessment. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Prof. George HUANG, Ir Prof. Ming LI, and Prof. Sandy TO on their remarkable achievements!

Career Talk for LEM and EEM Students 2026

The Department successfully hosted the Career Talk for LEM and EEM students on 26 February 2026, attracting 42 enthusiastic participants. We invited alumni from leading companies to share invaluable insights into job opportunities and career prospects. Our esteemed alumni speakers included: Mr. Victor Chu, Project Engineer, KONE Corporation Ms. Renee Ip, Senior Business Analyst, Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) Mr. Huang Zhonghuan, Manager of Procurement, XCMG Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. Mr. Hugo Hon, Application Consultant, ACW Solutions In addition, two special alumni guests — Mr. Ryan Li, Manager, Data Strategy, Hong Kong Jockey Club, and Mr. Kelvin Sin, Global AI Product Manager, HSBC Global Payment Solutions — joined the event to network with fellow alumni and students. The evening concluded with a dinner, providing attendees with further opportunities to exchange ideas, build connections, and strengthen professional ties.

ISE co-organised Annual Conference and AGM 2025 of the Hong Kong Principals’ Institute

On 15 December 2025, ISE was honoured to co-organise the 2025 Annual Conference cum AGM of the Hong Kong Principals’ Institute. The event fostered a dynamic and engaging atmosphere, uniting education experts and school leaders to exchange fresh perspectives on navigating change with resilience and cultivating a culture of lifelong learning in schools, alongside broader issues of educational leadership and school development in a rapidly evolving landscape.  Dr Sze Chun Fai, Jeff, JP, Under Secretary for Education gave the opening address at the conference. Two distinguished guests were also invited to share valuable insights and experiences. Mr Tong Kai Hang, Anthony, BBS, Chairman of the Board of the Li Po Chun College of Hong Kong Mr Chow Yat Ming, Joe, PMSM, Commissioner of Police After the event, some participating principals were invited to learn about the department’s work, it’s latest initiatives and the JUPAS programmes. They also engaged in conversations with ISE students and joined guided tours to our laboratories, gaining first-hand exposure to our teaching and research facilities.  

PolyU immersive VR gamification advancing digital health education received honour at the IEEE ISMAR 2025

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has gained international recognition for its impactful contributions to immersive digital health education. Prof Lik-Hang LEE, Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and his research team have received the “Honourable Mention - Best Paper Award” at the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) 2025 for their pioneering work in integrating virtual reality into biomedical learning.   The research titled “MetaRoundWorm: A Virtual Reality Escape Room Game for Learning the Lifecycle and Immune Response to Parasitic Infections”, led by Prof LEE, conducted with Ms Xuanru CHENG, and Ms Xian WANG, PhD students at Prof LEE’s Research Group in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and coordinated with Dr TAI Chi-lok, Associate Division Head of the Division of Business and Hospitality Management at the College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE) of PolyU, has been recognised for its innovative application of Virtual Reality (VR) in complex biomedical education.   MetaRoundWorm is an immersive VR escape room that makes abstract public health topics more approachable by simulating the lifecycle of Ascaris lumbricoides and immune responses within anatomically accurate virtual environments. In a controlled study, it outperformed a strong baseline of interactive slides in immediate learning outcomes, engagement, and emotional response, while maintaining knowledge retention. The research findings indicate that VR gamification holds promise as an effective pedagogical tool for communicating complex biomedical concepts and advancing digital health education.   Prof LEE said, “We are deeply honoured by this recognition. It is a meaningful affirmation of the PolyU research team’s dedication and passion to advance immersive learning. With MetaRoundWorm, we used a controlled study to test a simple idea: gamified immersive tasks should lead to visible, measurable gains in learning and better emotional experience. We will continue to explore the impact and the broader impact and potential of immersive, game-based learning across diverse fields.”   Building on the results, which show that VR can make complex public health knowledge more accessible and classroom-ready, the research team has developed a multi-user, room-scale version of MetaRoundWorm for deployment in the HIVE (Highly Immersive Visualization Environment) at the Industrial Centre of PolyU. This enhanced version is also integrated into metaverse-based courses, aiming to boost students’ motivation and interest in biomedical learning.   The IEEE ISMAR is the premier conference that gathers the world’s leading researchers from both academia and industry to explore advances in commercial and research activities related to Augmented Reality (AR), MR, and VR. This year, it was held at Daejeon, South Korea.   [Source: RIO Website News]

ISE Graduates Won Best Paper at IROS 2025 for Breakthrough in Human-Robot Collaboration

ISE graduates Benhua Gao, Tian Wang, Zeyuan Ren won the Best Paper Award at the Workshop on Generative AI for Robotics and Smart Manufacturing, held during the 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025). The awarded paper is titled “InstructTODG: A Multimodal LLMs-driven Approach for Task-oriented Dexterous Grasping in Unstructured Human-Robot Collaborative Manufacturing,” supervised by Professor Zheng Pai. As one of the most influential international conferences in the field of robotics, IROS 2025 was held under the theme of "Human-Robotics Frontier," focusing on how artificial intelligence systems and intelligent machines can transform industries, enhance productivity, and address global challenges. The conference featured multiple workshops, including one organized by researchers from EPFL, which focused on the challenges of deploying robots supported by generative AI and foundational models at an industrial scale to drive the development of manufacturing. The workshop encouraged cutting-edge and forward-looking research on generative AI in the fields of robotics and manufacturing. The awarded paper centers on human-robot collaborative manufacturing, highlighting the critical need for robots to achieve not only stable and precise grasps but also seamless alignment with task-specific human instructions during dexterous manipulation. To tackle this challenge, the awarded paper introduces InstructTODG, an innovative framework powered by multimodal large language model (MLLM) aimed at achieving task-oriented dexterous grasping in unstructured HRC environments, significantly enhancing robot manipulation capabilities and advancing human-robot collaboration in complex manufacturing tasks. ISE graduates Benhua Gao, Tian Wang, Zeyuan Ren won the Best Paper Award at the Workshop on Generative AI for Robotics and Smart Manufacturing, held during the 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2025). The awarded paper is titled “InstructTODG: A Multimodal LLMs-driven Approach for Task-oriented Dexterous Grasping in Unstructured Human-Robot Collaborative Manufacturing,” supervised by Professor Zheng Pai. As one of the most influential international conferences in the field of robotics, IROS 2025 was held under the theme of "Human-Robotics Frontier," focusing on how artificial intelligence systems and intelligent machines can transform industries, enhance productivity, and address global challenges. The conference featured multiple workshops, including one organized by researchers from EPFL, which focused on the challenges of deploying robots supported by generative AI and foundational models at an industrial scale to drive the development of manufacturing. The workshop encouraged cutting-edge and forward-looking research on generative AI in the fields of robotics and manufacturing. The awarded paper centers on human-robot collaborative manufacturing, highlighting the critical need for robots to achieve not only stable and precise grasps but also seamless alignment with task-specific human instructions during dexterous manipulation. To tackle this challenge, the awarded paper introduces InstructTODG, an innovative framework powered by multimodal large language model (MLLM) aimed at achieving task-oriented dexterous grasping in unstructured HRC environments, significantly enhancing robot manipulation capabilities and advancing human-robot collaboration in complex manufacturing tasks.

Site Visit to U-Freight Logistics: Exploring Advanced Warehouse and Logistics Systems

On 10 November 2025, Professor Carman Lee, together with Dennis Mak, an ISE Outstanding Alumni, organized an enriching site visit to U-Freight Logistics (HK) Limited in Kwai Chung. The visit provided an excellent opportunity for around 30 Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) students to gain first-hand insights into advanced logistics and warehouse management systems. During the visit, students observed U-Freight's state-of-the-art robotic mobile fulfillment system, which streamlines processes such as order picking, goods retrieval, product batching, packaging, and shipping. They also learned about the seamless integration of the order management system into warehouse operations, which highlighted how technology can optimize efficiency and accuracy in logistics. This hands-on experience brought industrial and systems engineering concepts to life, providing students with a deeper understanding of their real-world applications. It not only bridged the gap between theoretical learning and practical application but also inspired students to think critically about how engineering principles can address challenges and drive innovation in logistics and supply chain management.