Dr An Liang secures highly competitive national funding in NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme 2021/22

The RGC has recently announced the application results for the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) Joint Research Scheme in 2021/22 Exercise. A total of 30 research projects out of 256 eligible applications for a total sum of HK$34.75 million in this round of exercise were granted. In this highly competitive research grant, 2 full proposals submitted by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) were funded. We are particularly proud that Dr An Liang, Associate Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at PolyU, was one of the two awardees. He will receive HK$1.176 million to conduct a joint project entitled “Construction of Bismuth-based Hierarchical Nano/microstructured Electrodes and their Applications in Photoelectrochemical Cells for Solar-driven Ambient Ammonia Production” with Professor Chen Rong at Chongqing University. The NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme aims to promote collaboration between researchers/research teams in Hong Kong and the Mainland on the basis of complementing the existing strengths of both sides. The grant encourages young researchers of similar fields from Hong Kong and the Mainland to foster collaboration through the dissemination of their recent and unpublished research works. In 2020, Dr An was also awarded funding from China's Excellent Young Scientists Fund. He was one of the four young researchers at PolyU who secured this promising award. Under the National Natural Science Foundation of China, China’s Excellent Young Scientists Fund has been extended to young scientists in Hong Kong and Macau for applications from eight designated universities since 2019. It aims to support young scientists (under 38 for male and under 40 for female) who have attained outstanding achievements in fundamental research to pursue innovative research in areas of their choice, fostering them to be internationally leading scholars in their respective fields. It is very encouraging to see that young scientist from the Department is acclaimed by the Nation to further develop scientific research in cutting-edge technologies.

ME surges in US News Best Global Universities and THE subject rankings

In the latest 2022 Best Global Universities Rankings released by US News on 26 October, PolyU jumped from 170th last year to 124th among the top institutions around the world. According to the rankings, the University is also the fourth best university in Hong Kong and 15th in Asia. We are very pleased to see that PolyU’s Mechanical Engineering subject rose by three places to 12th which was ranked number one in Hong Kong. The US News Best Global Universities Rankings is considered one of the four most prestigious rankings in the world. The universities were ranked based on 13 indicators that measured their academic research performance and their global and regional reputations. Furthermore, in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2022 by Subject published in October 2021, the Department surged from 75th last year to 51st in Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering. The rankings of THE are based upon five key criteria, including teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook. The Department will refer to the rankings and other assessments to strive for improvement and lead ME to a new horizon. Our Performance in Key Rank League Tables

ME Scholars ranked among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Citation

According to a recent index compiled by Stanford University, 20 academics of PolyU’s Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) have been ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists in their main disciplines for career-long citation impact. 12 of them are current ME members. Among them, Prof. Chen Guohua has been ranked number 13 most-cited scientist in the world in his respective field. The scholars were named in the “Updated science-wide author databases of standardized citation indicators” compiled by Stanford University. A research team, led by Professor John Ioannidis, created the database of more than 100,000 top scientists across the world on the basis of standardized citation indicators. They were grouped into 22 subject fields and 176 sub-fields using the indicators. The indicators included information on citations, an individual’s scientific research output, co-authorship and a composite indicator for career-long citation impact up to the end of 2020. The latest dataset is based on the 1 August 2021 snapshot from Scopus. The recognition reflects the significant influence and research excellence of the Department’s scientists, who are committed to furthering their knowledge for the benefit of the world. Congratulations to the following ME scholars who have been ranked among the top 2% of scientists in the world in their respective fields: Dr An Liang Prof. Christopher Chao Yu Hang Prof. Chen Guohua Prof. Cheng Li Prof. Cheung Chun Shun Prof. Fu Mingwang Dr Jing Xingjian Prof. Wallace Leung Woon Fong Dr Liu Yang Prof. Su Zhongqing Dr Yao Haimin Dr Zheng Guangping Prof. Ronald So Ming Cho (Emeritus Professor) Prof. Woo Chung Ho (Emeritus Professor) Prof. Alan Lau Kin Tak (former staff) Prof. Leung Chun Wah (former staff) Prof. Shi Sanqiang (former staff) Prof. Wen Chih-Yung (former staff) Prof. Zhou Limin (former staff) Prof. Zhou Yu (former staff) Data available at Elsevier Published: 20 October 2021 | Version 3 | DOI:10.17632/btchxktzyw.3  

ME MPhil student received Young Researcher Award in CNERC Annual Technical Symposium 2021

Samantha LEE Hoi Yin, a MPhil student of PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering, won the Young Researcher Award in the Chinese National Engineering Research Centre for Steel Construction (CNERC) Annual Technical Symposium 2021 held on 30 September 2021 at PolyU. Samantha presented the research on “Automatic vision-based seam detection and tracking system for robotic welding/sealing planning” at the symposium. The CNERC Annual Technical Symposium 2021 is a technical symposium organized by the CNERC aiming at promoting technological development, sharing and exhibiting the findings and accomplishments among researchers of CNERC projects. Through applied engineering research on steel construction, the CNERC aims to capitalize on huge potentials offered by construction professionals in Hong Kong to further enhance socio-economic development through technological advancement in sustainable infrastructure development. The CNERC receives strong support from the Development Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong SAR and the Construction Industry Council. Samantha is under the supervision of Dr David Navarro-Alarcon in the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering. She teamed up with Peng Zhou, Maggie Xu and Victor Wu conducting research in the Robotics and Machine Intelligence Laboratory. Her research interest focuses on computer vision and collaboration in multi-perceptual robots.

Warmest welcome to our Fresh Research Students!

In the new academic semester, we are delighted to welcome 28 newly admitted research students to the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME). Led by the Department Head Prof. SU Zhongqing, fresh research students attended an online orientation in the morning on 27 Aug 2021. Training our students not just professionals of its field but leaders of the global mindset and forward vision has been the agenda of the department. Dr Tang Hui, Director of Research Committee (DRC) Chairman and Associate Head (Research), introduced the department’s 6 research areas – Advanced Materials and Processing, Aerospace Engineering, Clean Energy and Energy Storage, Robotics and Control, Sound and Vibration, Thermofluids and Combustion. They all focus on challenges faced by our society and globe in the decades to come. Dr David Navarro-Alarcon, Research Student Liaison Officer, is taking care of coordination among all research students in the department. Dr Ma Yuan and Dr Sun Yuxiang, Seminar Coordinators, are inviting guest speakers to broaden students’ exposure to the latest research and technologies. Students were thrilled to learn about the dynamic learning activities – ME Webinar Series, Research Sharing Talks, ME Research Presentation Competition. Finally, Ms Lily Tam, DRC Secretary and Administrative Support Group Leader, delivered a comprehensive introduction of the study programme and pattern, examination and grading, studentships and fellowships, funding and support, etc. The students’ responses were positive and enthusiastic. We can assure them they will have a supportive, knowledge-oriented, interactive approach experience in their studies. 

International Conference on Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, Vibration, & Control

The International Conference on Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, Vibration and Control (ICANDVC-2021) was initiated by the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering last year and successfully held in Zhuhai Charming Holiday Hotel during 23-25 Aug 2021.  The conference name abbreviation ICANDVC implies “I See AND We See” which is in line with its objective. Through exchange and collaboration, we advanced the interdisciplinary R&D in applied nonlinear dynamics, applied vibration analysis and design, and applied control theory and methods across the globe. This is also the very core R&D activity of the research group – Nonlinear Dynamics, Vibration and Control led by Dr Jing Xingjian. Amid the pandemic period, we however received some 200 paper submissions and over 150 registrations for the conference. Among the submissions, 88 papers were selected to publish in a Springer proceedings book “Advances in Applied Nonlinear Dynamics, Vibration and Control-2021” which was edited by Dr Jing and the other Co-chairs from Shanghai University and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. We had 10 invited sessions and 12 in-parallel sessions at the conference. There were 3 online and 3 onsite plenary speeches and 9 session keynotes covering all three main themes in nonlinear dynamics, vibration and control. Besides the on-site participants, we had more than 150 attendees from the Chinese mainland, Australia, the United Kingdom, Hongkong and other places via our synchronized online platform. As a conclusion of the conference, we had 12 best presentation paper awards based on onsite marking by Session Chairs from 12 parallel sessions, 7 best paper awards and several outstanding paper awards for recognizing the great efforts and engagements of the conference attendees.

ME MPhil students win 2nd Runner-up at IET Young Professionals Exhibition & Competition 2021

A team of 2 MPhil students from the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) won the 2nd Runner-up (Postgraduate Section) for their outstanding performance at the Young Professionals Exhibition and Competition held on 1 Aug 2021. The team members, Daniel Kwong Tak Chun and Tommy Tsoi Man Ho, supervised by Dr Tracy Choy Yat Sze, competed with other local universities by a project “A Method for Online Auditory Assessment and Therapy on Pattern Recognition under COVID-19 Pandemic”. The project was concerned with designing a remote acoustic control method for health services through online conferencing software. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our society in various ways. Healthcare services with a face-to-face setting are urged to search for a new delivery mode in order to ensure the safety of clients and providers. When using various video conferencing software, we often encounter different sound responses and limitations. Users' computers also have various sound performances. These restrictions greatly affect the accuracy and reliability of the health assessment or therapy. In this project, a low-cost processor was used to design the platform such that service providers could remotely play the desired audio files on the client's side without suffering from the loss of sound in terms of frequency range and loudness due to the video-conferencing software. Experimental results showed that this remote control of audio playback could be realized with a low-cost processor called microcontroller unit (MCU) based on pattern recognition on client incoming audio frequency and it was able to deliver the audio files accurately in terms of frequency and amplitude. The Young Professionals Exhibition & Competition (YPEC) is an annual event organized by the Younger Members Section of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Hong Kong (IET Hong Kong). The YPEC acts as a dynamic platform for prospective or young engineers to exhibit their engineering projects with presentations and exhibitions. The YPEC 2021 themed “Transformer” aimed for bringing in new ideas to foster the transformation into a brand-new era.

ME Staff Appointed New Associate Editor of Prestigious IEEE Journal

Dr Yuxiang Sun, Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been appointed as a new Associate Editor by the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L). The first appointment term is three years and can be renewed on July 31, 2024. The editorial board of this journal is composed of world-renowned scholars in the robotics research community. Published by IEEE, RA-L is a leading international journal dedicated to reporting significant theoretical findings and application case studies in areas of robotics and automation. It provides a timely and concise account of innovative research ideas and application results. RA-L publishes papers on all aspects of robotics, featuring interdisciplinary research from electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, control systems, artificial intelligence, computer science, and other fields. Since the establishment of this illustrious journal in 2015, RA-L has quickly secured its prestige, recognition, and reputation in the robotics community, playing an indispensable and vital role in the development and dissemination of original research work in the allied fields of robotics and automation. RA-L is also the only internationally established letter type of journal which covers the entire research field of robotics. Dr Sun has been working in the area of robotics and artificial intelligence over the years. His research group in PolyU has been dedicated to autonomous driving, which is an emerging direction that has attracted increasing attention from both academia and industry.

Appointment of Head and Associate Heads of Department of Mechanical Engineering

Prof. SU Zhongqing assumes the position of Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering with effect from 1 July 2021. At the same time, Dr ZHANG Peng is appointed as the Associate Head overseeing teaching and learning development of the Department. Dr TANG Hui is the Associate Head in charge of all research matters and serves as Chairman of the Departmental Research Committee (DRC). Message from Head Welcome to the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME), at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)! As one of the founding departments of PolyU since her establishment in the inception of 1937, ME has been substantially shaped into today’s all-round excellence in teaching, research and community service, thanks to the selfless devotion from generations of students, academics, technical and administrative staff, alumni, friends and partners. Driven by our steadfast mission to train future leaders with creativity, broad vision, global outlook, and professional ethics for industry, academia, government and communities, ME has built a solid foundation for nurturing young engineers and scholars to better the community with their knowledge, dedication and passion. In retrospect … Learn more

ME Student Team won Outstanding Award in ASM Technology Award 2021

The PolyU ME student team won the Outstanding Award in the ASM Technology Award 2021. The team members, KHALID Farhan, SAFIULLAH Saad Bin and TAHIR Abdullah, supervised by Dr An Liang, competed with other local universities by a project “Design and Development of an Electrochemical Flow Cell for Green Ammonia Production from Renewable Energy”. Throughout the implementation of this project, our postdoc fellow Dr Pan Zhefei gave inspiring guidance and zealous support. The project is concerned with the development of an emerging ammonia production technology – electrochemical cells, which can utilize renewable power (from solar or wind energy) to drive the conversion from nitrogen to ammonia under ambient condition, achieving energy, environmental and economic sustainability. By utilizing the flow cell design concept, the results have shown that the flow cell structure dramatically upgraded the ammonia production rate. Hence, this significant advance opens a window of opportunity for breakthroughs in the development of ammonia production technology, making the technology to be closer to reality. The ASM Technology Award is launched by ASM Pacific Technology Limited (ASMPT) in 2015 for final year students in Hong Kong. It promotes technological innovation, and honours the best and brightest students with their outstanding final year projects on technology and innovation.