ME Graduates win Champion at Hong Kong Techathon 2023

This year, PolyU has achieved outstanding results at Hong Kong Techathon 2023. PolyU teams took away seven of the 16 prizes in this competition, including three Champions, one First Runner-up, two Second Runner–ups and one Best Presentation Award. Almost 200 PolyU students entered the competition. PolyU teams were champions in three of the four categories in the competition. The champion teams were 417 Tech in the ArtTech & EdTech category, Fleming MedLab in the Healthcare & GeronTech category and BoostRider in the Smart Cities & Sustainability category. The team “BoostRider” was formed by two graduates from the Department, Lam Yuen Yik (Graduate 2021, BEng (Hons) in Product Analysis and Engineering Design) and Kevin Yau Pang Yeung (Graduate 2021, BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering), together with 2 student/graduate from PolyU Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. The BoostRider, named Champion in the Smart Cities and Sustainability area, is a start-up that developed a tool with a good cause. Kevin Yau explained: “Powered by machine and app, our AI wheelchair helps physically impaired people to move around without having to strain their arms – these machines are like good friends lending them a hand just when they need it. Hong Kong Techathon 2023 is a competition jointly organized by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and nine local universities. It aims to promote the development of Hong Kong's innovation and technology start-up ecosystem, providing young people with diversified learning opportunities and entrepreneurial support.   Learn more https://www.hkstp.org/news-room/hong-kong-techathon-2023-jointly-presented-by-hkstp-and-nine-universities/

ME Final Year Project wins Championship of HKIE Best Final-Year Environmental Project

Congratulations to our team of three 2022 graduates of BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering for receiving the Group Project Winner (Champion) of 2021/2022 Best Final Year Environmental Project Award hosted by the Environmental Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) for their final year project entitled “Design and Development of a Passive e-Fuel Cell”. The team, consisting of CHANG Yu Hao, DAI Yichen, and RASHID Sameer, was supervised by Dr AN Liang and Dr SHI Xingyi. This award aims to recognize the efforts of final-year students in completing good quality final year projects and to encourage them to continue the effort in improving the environmental engineering practice in their future careers.

Dr David Navarro-Alarcon appointed Associate Editor of prestigious IEEE Journal

Dr David Navarro-Alarcon, Assistant Professor at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been appointed as a new Associate Editor by the Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO). The editorial board of this journal is composed of world-renowned scholars in the robotics research community. Published by IEEE, T-RO is a leading international journal dedicated to publishing research papers that represent major advances in the state-of-the-art on all aspects of robotics, featuring interdisciplinary approaches from computer science, control systems, electrical engineering, mathematics, mechanical engineering, and other fields. In 2021, T-RO was by far the most cited journal in robotics and the impact factor reached an all-time high. Dr Navarro-Alarcon has been working in the area of robotics and controls over the years. He is the Principal Investigator of the Robotics and Machine Intelligence Laboratory (ROMI-Lab). His current research interests include perceptual robotics, adaptive behaviour, and control theory. The main goal of his scientific work is to establish new paradigms that explain the development of advanced sensorimotor capabilities in robots and intelligent machines. David follows a multidisciplinary approach to research. His investigations combine knowledge from various fields such as analytical mechanics and physics, control theory, computing, perception and neurosciences.

Prof. Wang Zuankai awarded inaugural BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize

Prof. WANG Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Chair Professor of Nature-Inspired Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded the inaugural BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize (STIP), for his outstanding contributions in the field of “Advanced Manufacturing”. He will receive a HK$2 million cash prize. Prof. WANG is recognized in the “Advanced Manufacturing” field for his multidisciplinary research and breakthrough achievements at the interface of advanced manufacturing, surface science, fluid mechanism, thermal energy, materials science and physics. He has published over 200 papers in Nature, Science, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences and other journals. Prof. Wang’s research has answered three century-old scientific questions—what the shortest contact time between solid and liquid is, how to steer directional liquid flow and how to overcome the Leidenfrost effect first discovered in 1756. He has also made an important contribution to exploring nature-inspired surfaces for a wide range of applications such as water energy harvesting, thermal cooling, fluid transport and flexible electronics. The BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize, established by the Hong Kong Alliance of Technology and Innovation and sponsored by the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, is a non-governmental merit-based award. The Award aims at facilitating the development of science and technology innovation in Hong Kong by rewarding outstanding individuals and groups who have made significant contributions to science and technology innovation in Hong Kong. The award ceremony was held on 22 December 2022. 

Prof. Wang Zuankai receives Croucher Senior Research Fellowship

Prof. Wang Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Chair Professor of Nature-Inspired Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, received a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship 2023 in recognition of his outstanding achievements in nature-inspired engineering and breakthrough research on inhibiting the Leidenfrost effect.  Nature-inspired innovation is an interdisciplinary science drawing inspiration from living creatures and nature for innovative solutions. Specifically, Prof. Wang’s research explores the surface properties of natural creatures with the aim of developing novel nature-inspired materials for a wide range of applications such as water energy harvesting, thermal cooling, fluid transport and flexible electronics.  Prof. Wang achieved his scientific breakthrough by identifying an innovative solution to addressing the liquid cooling of high-temperature surfaces by suppressing the classical physical phenomenon - the Leidenfrost effect, a challenge that scientists have been unable to overcome for centuries.   “I hope this recognition will motivate more scholars to seek inspiration from nature and draw innovation in related research,” said Prof. Wang.  Upon receiving the Fellowship, he is awarded funding of HK$2 million over one year for research expenses. Prof. Wang is a founding member of the Hong Kong Young Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the International Society of Bionic Engineering (ISBE), Croucher Senior Research Fellow (2023), RGC Senior Research Fellow (2022), Highly Cited Researcher (Cross-field) as recognized by Clarivate Analytics (2022), and Changjiang Chair Professor as conferred by the Ministry of Education of China (2016).

ME Postdoc Fellow received 2022 Young Scientist Award

Dr XU Wanghuai, currently an RGC Postdoc Fellow working with Professor Wang Zuankai in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, has been awarded the 2022 Young Scientist Award in the Engineering Science category by the Hong Kong Institution of Science (HKIS) for his outstanding accomplishments in the fields of energy harvesting. This prestigious award was established to reward young scientists in Hong Kong who exhibit great promise in their field of study. The award is open to all postgraduate research students who are pursuing an MPhil or PhD degree in any of the tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, as well as those who have graduated recently (within 2 years of graduation). Each year, HKIS will confer three winners, which are in the fields of Physical/Mathematical Science, Life Science and Engineering Science, respectively. Dr Xu is the winner in the field of Engineering Science this year. Each award winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000 and a certificate of recognition. Dr Xu’s research interests involve developing new architecture and mechanism for high-efficiency water energy harvesting and liquid manipulation. His related research results have been recognized by a series of awards, including the Hiwin Doctoral Dissertation Outstanding Award (2021), and the Materials Research Society Graduate Student Silver Award (2021).

Dr Jiao Zengbao appointed Associate Editor of Materialia

Dr Jiao Zengbao, Associate Professor of PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been appointed as an Associate Editor of Materialia. Materialia is an international journal published on behalf of Acta Materialia Inc., which is a world-famous nonprofit organization publishing four of the most significant materials science journals (Acta Materialia, Scripta Materialia, Acta Biomaterialia, and Materialia). Materialia is a materials-focused, multidisciplinary journal publishing original, peer-reviewed research articles that advance the understanding of the relationship between processing, structure, property and function of materials. The journal complements the other Acta titles to further the mission of Acta Materialia Inc. to support the dissemination of new knowledge within the materials science community. The scope of Materialia includes both inorganic and organic materials. Articles of any length and format will find a home in Materialia, including Letters, Full-Length articles, research reports, review papers and communications. For more information, please refer to https://actamaterialia.org/journals/materialia.

ME students clinch 1st Runner-up and Best AI Implementation Award at AI x HK OPENCUP 2022

PolyU Mechanical Engineering (ME) research postgraduates and undergraduates together with students from another department have formed 2 teams to join the AI x HK OPENCUP 2022 held on 25 November 2022. The competition brought together over 100 teams from local universities participating in the tertiary student category. We are thrilled that ME students won 2 awards in the competition. The team “NikoIAI” formed by 2 undergraduate students, KHAN Hamad from the Department of Mechanical Engineering and HASAN Fuad from the Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, with their project entitled “Artificially Intelligent Collision Avoidance System” won the 1st Runner-up along with a cash prize of HK$20,000 and a trophy. The team “ROMI” formed by 3 PhD students, Samantha LEE Hoi Yin, Jeffery ZHOU Peng, and Luiza LABAZANOVA from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with their project “A Multi-Sensor Interface to Improve the Education Quality in Arc Welding Training Tasks” won the Best AI Implementation Award and received a cash prize of HK$5000 and a trophy. Samantha, Jeffery, and Luiza are under the supervision of Dr David Navarro-Alarcon in PolyU ME. They conduct multi-robot research in the Robotics and Machine Intelligence Laboratory. The AI x HK OpenCup 2022 is an AI-related competition organized by Hong Kong Baptist University and the Hong Kong Society of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. The competition brings teams together to develop and pitch their creative technological solutions for the betterment of the community and sustainable living. The aim of the event is to encourage talents to ideate AI solutions for addressing real-world problems with the objective to make a positive social impact and promote sustainability.

ME Student Team wins Best Innovation Award at Cathay Hackathon 2022

Luiza LABAZANOVA, Samantha LEE Hoi Yin, Valen QIU Liuming and Aamir MEHMOOD formed a PolyU student team to participate in the Cathay Hackathon held on 19 to 20 November 2022. Their project “Metaverse In-Flight Entertainment” won the Best Innovation Award. The Cathay Hackathon 2022 is an aviation-related hackathon organized by Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific. The event brings teams together to design, develop and pitch technology solutions, which can improve the passengers' flight experience or make operations involved in in-flight management sustainable and eco-friendly. The aim of the Hackathon is to inspire and nurture emerging talents by providing behind-the-scenes insight into the industry and comprehensive support during the corresponding ideation process.  Luiza and Samantha are PhD students under the supervision of Dr David Navarro-Alarcon in PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME). Valen is an undergraduate student of PolyU ME. Aamir is a PhD student in PolyU Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Luiza, Samantha, and Valen conduct research in the Robotics and Machine Intelligence Laboratory. Their research interests focus on Metaverse and multi-robot systems. 

Dr Zhang Xiao recognised amongst World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers 2022

Congratulations to Dr Zhang Xiao being one of the 12 PolyU academics (including two former PolyU members) who have been recognised in the "Highly Cited Researchers 2022" list by Clarivate Analytics for their significant research impact, reflected in their publication of multiple papers that have been frequently cited by fellow academics. A total of 6,938 researchers from 69 countries and regions with a diverse range of research fields are named as Highly Cited Researchers in 2022. The list identifies the most influential scholars 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 decade. The inclusion of 12 PolyU academics in the list is a testament to the University’s pursuit of research excellence and commitment to positive societal impact on various fronts.  This is the second consecutive year Dr Zhang has been recognized. The department is proud of Dr Zhang’s outstanding achievement in particular at such an early career stage.   Read more at Clarivate