ME received accolade at 50th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) won a total of 36 accolades at the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva (Geneva Inventions Expo), a widely recognised annual event devoted exclusively to invention.  The Department is pleased that Prof. Randolph Leung, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mr RAI Sanjaya, a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Leung, have been awarded a Silver Medal for their innovative work. This achievement underscores the commitment of the ME community—faculty and alumni alike—to embracing research breakthroughs. Co-developed with MTR Corporation, their awarded project entitled "NoiseRadar: AI-enhanced multidirectional noise detection system for the well-being of communities living near railway lines". It is a user-friendly portable device that maps noise by incoming noise directional dominance and offers maintenance insights to ensure tranquility for near track communities.   

ME Academic Advising Meetup Tea Reception 2025

The PolyU ME Academic Advising Meetup Tea Reception was successfully held on April 3, 2025. The event had an impressive turnout, with nearly 120 participants, including around 30 ME academic, teaching, and supporting staff, as well as about 90 undergraduates. It was truly a joyful and meaningful occasion. The purpose of the Academic Advising Meetup Tea Reception was to foster strong connections between students and their academic advisors. More importantly, it provided a valuable platform for students to receive guidance on various academic matters. In his welcoming remarks, Prof. SU Zhongqing, Head of the Department, expressed enthusiasm for the gathering and highlighted the importance of academic advising in students' educational journeys. He emphasized that this event was a great opportunity for students to connect with their advisors in a relaxed atmosphere, promoting open communication and collaboration. During the tea reception, students participated in a fun game called "Find Your AA," where they searched for cartoonish flashcards of their academic advisors. This interactive activity encouraged engagement and allowed students to break the ice and initiate conversations in a lighthearted setting. The event concluded with a lucky draw, where many lucky students won exciting prizes. This added an element of thrill and anticipation, enhancing the festive atmosphere. The lucky draw not only provided a fun ending but also encouraged further interactions among students and advisors as they celebrated together. We eagerly look forward to more meetup events in the future! For more photos of the event, please click HERE.

Beihang University Delegation Visits PolyU AAE and ME

A delegation led by Prof. PAN Chong, Dean of the School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering (ASE), Beihang University (BUAA) visited PolyU AAE and ME on 31 March 2025. Both parties engaged in in-depth discussions on research collaboration and talent cultivation. During the meeting, Prof. SU Zhongqing (Head of PolyU ME) and Prof. LIU Wei (Associate Head of PolyU AAE), provided an overview of the Departments’ latest developments and research advancements, while Prof. Pan presented a comprehensive history of BUAA ASE, highlighting its outstanding achievements and research outcomes. This sharing fostered a deeper understanding among PolyU AAE, PolyU ME and BUAA ASE. During the meeting, both parties expressed a strong commitment to strengthening their partnership through enhanced collaboration in talent exchange and joint research to mutually benefit and achieve a win-win outcome. Following a networking lunch, the delegation toured PolyU ME's state-of-the-art research facilities, including Aeronautical Laboratory, Laser-Diagnosing Advanced Propulsion Research Laboratory, Acoustics Laboratory, Water Tunnel Laboratory and Nature-Inspired Engineering Laboratory, where the innovative research activities and sophisticated facilities were showcased. PolyU ME is committed to fostering international collaboration and sharing knowledge with esteemed institutions. We believe this fruitful trip has laid a solid foundation for future research partnerships between PolyU AAE, ME and BUAA ASE.

Unveiling Ceremony of the PolyU-SCUT Joint Research Centre for Advanced and Green Composite Materials

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and the South China University of Technology (SCUT) held an unveiling ceremony on 15 March in the Council Chamber of the Li Ka Shing Tower on the PolyU campus to officially establish the PolyU-SCUT Joint Research Centre for Advanced and Green Composite Materials. This centre aims to leverage the research capabilities of both institutions to drive innovations in composite materials and promote sustainable practices. The ceremony marked the official launch of the PolyU-SCUT Joint Research Centre, officiated by distinguished leaders, including: Prof. TENG Jin-Guang – President of PolyU Prof. MAI Yiu Wing – Distinguished Chair Professor of Composites Science and Engineering, PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering Prof. SU Zhongqing – Head and Chair Professor of Intelligent Structures and Systems, PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering Prof. ZHAO Xiao Lin – Chair Professor of Civil Infrastructure, PolyU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Prof. HUANG Haitao – Professor, PolyU Department of Applied Physics Prof. SHEN Xi – Assistant Professor, PolyU Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering Prof. CHEN Zi-Bin – Assistant Professor, PolyU Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering Prof. TANG Hongwu – President of SCUT Prof. YAO Xiaohu – Dean of the SCUT School of Civil Engineering and Transportation Prof. GUO Baochun – Dean of the SCUT School of Materials Science and Engineering Prof. ZHU Nengwu – Executive Vice Dean of the SCUT School of Environment and Energy Prof. CHU Yanhui – Professor, SCUT School of Materials Science and Engineering Prof. CHEN Guangming – Professor, SCUT School of Civil Engineering and Transportation Looking ahead, the Joint Research Centre aims to establish a new model of cooperation between PolyU and SCUT. By leveraging their combined expertise in advanced materials science and engineering, the centre will foster innovation in sustainable composite materials, enhancing both institutions' capabilities to tackle global challenges in manufacturing and environmental sustainability.

ME Staff Honoured for 2024 Long Service Award

Colleagues of the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME) have always been devoting themselves to the development of ME. The Department Head Prof. Su Zhongqing, on behalf of the University, paid tribute to long-serving staff members for their loyal and committed service over the years. Congratulations to the awardees and heartfelt thanks for their years of dedication and devotion which have marked the achievements of the Department.   Long Service Award 2024 Award Recipients Length of Service Name  Post Title  30 years Ms Lily Tam 譚敏儀 Senior Executive Officer 15 years Dr Stephen Ng  伍俊雄 Technical Officer 10 years  Prof. Tang Hui 唐輝 Associate Head (Research) and Associate Professor 10 years  Prof. Ruan Haihui 阮海輝 Associate Professor  

110th Departmental Advisory Committee Meeting

The 110th Departmental Advisory Committee (DAC) meeting was successfully held face-to-face on 14 February 2025, chaired by Ir Dr Angus Cheung, Chief Executive Officer of Aerovision Technology Limited. We were delighted to welcome new committee members joining the DAC this year, each bringing valuable expertise and fresh perspectives. They were: Ir Dr Lee Chi-Hong, Barry, Chief Executive Officer, Associated Engineers Limited Ir Prof. Lawrence Chi-kin Poon, Head of Emerging Technology – Global Innovation, MTR Corporation Limited Ir Tam Chun-Kit, Senior Director, The Jardine Engineering Corp., Ltd. and Director, Krueger Engineering Ltd. Prof. Wei Hong, Professor, Associate Department Chair, Southern University of Science and Technology Mr Li Junqi, Executive Director, Foxconn Industrial Internet Co. Ltd. Prof. Tribikram Kundu, Professor, Civil and Architectural Engineering and Mechanics Department, University of Arizona Prof. Dan Zhang, Chair Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PolyU Prof. X Yu, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PolyU Prof. HM Yao, Associate Head & Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PolyU Mr Kirill Bredikhin, Full-time BEng Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PolyU Mr Liuming Qiu, Full-time MPhil Student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, PolyU The DAC is comprised of 2 ex-officio members (i.e., the Faculty Dean and Department Head), 15 local and overseas members from the academia, industry and professionals as well as 3 internal members and 2 student representatives from the Department. The meeting kicked off with the Head Prof. Zhongqing Su’s report, highlighting the Department’s key developments, achievements, and future plans. A summary of responses to the last DAC recommendations was also presented. Since the last meeting, the Department has organized several key events, achieved remarkable research milestones, and risen in global rankings in the Mechanical Engineering discipline. The growth and development in various aspects were shared in the meeting. On the other hand, we reviewed the programmes, student intake, graduate employment, budget and staffing. The meeting was productive and insightful, with committee members providing valuable advice and constructive suggestions for the Department’s continuous growth in teaching, research, industry collaboration and strategic plans. We sincerely appreciate their contributions and look forward to their ongoing engagement.

ME Alumni Mentorship Dinner 2025

The PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering Alumni Mentorship Dinner for the 2024/25 academic year was successfully held on January 23, 2025. The event saw an impressive turnout, with over 180 participants including approximately 80 alumni, distinguished guests, ME academic and teaching staff, and around 100 students from the graduating classes of BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and BEng (Hons) in Product Analysis and Engineering Design. The evening was truly memorable and meaningful. The Alumni Mentorship Dinner is a cherished tradition within the ME community, aimed at fostering strong connections between alumni and the Department. More importantly, it provides a valuable platform for our final-year students to gain practical experience and receive professional advice from alumni mentors. During the welcoming remarks, Prof. Su Zhongqing, the Head of the Department, provided an overview of recent developments in PolyU ME and expressed deep gratitude to all the alumni and industrial friends for their unwavering support throughout the years. Following the opening remarks, we had the outstanding ME alumni awards ceremony. The Department of Mechanical Engineering is pleased to honor the Outstanding Alumni Award in Professional Achievement to Ir Dr LEE Chi Hong, Barry, presented by Prof. YAO Haimin, Associate Head (Teaching & Learning) of the Department, and the Outstanding Young Alumni Award in Professional Achievement to Mr KWOK Siu Lun, Alan, presented by Prof. TANG Hui, Associate Head (Research) of the Department. Two recipients shared their inspiring story about the road to success, offering students invaluable insights into overcoming obstacles, seizing opportunities, and applying practical strategies to achieve their own dreams. Their experiences served as a source of inspiration and guidance, motivating students to pursue their goals with confidence and determination. This year's dinner was particularly special, as seven students were recognized with appreciation awards for their achievements. We celebrated their hard work, dedication, and outstanding contributions to both academics and extracurricular activities. Their success stories served as an inspiration to their peers, showcasing the rewards of perseverance and excellence. Additionally, our talented alumni, Leslie Lee and Eric Ng, performed a saxophone and guitar duet, filling the evening with beautiful harmony. Lastly, Dr Yau Wing Kwong, JP, the President of the Mechanical and Marine Engineering Alumni Association, delivered words of wisdom and encouragement to all the final-year students, imparting valuable insights and guidance to prospective graduates on planning for their future. Throughout the dinner, alumni from various industries generously shared their valuable experiences and provided guidance to our final-year students, helping them prepare for their future careers upon graduation. The evening concluded with a toast and a lucky draw, led by the Head, Associate Heads, Scheme and Programme Leaders, to express our gratitude to the guests. The dinner ended on a joyful note, and we eagerly look forward to the next year's event. For more photos of the event, please click HERE.  

Prof. Su Zhongqing Secures Highly Competitive Innovation and Technology Fund for Aerospace Technology

Prof. SU Zhongqing, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Chair Professor of Intelligent Structures and Systems, has been awarded the Innovation and Technology Fund - Innovation and Technology Support Programme (ITF-ITSP) Special Call (Aerospace Technology) research grant of 4.5 million Hong Kong dollars for a large applied research and development (R&D) project. The project is titled "A “Totally-Additive-Manufacturing”-driven New Sensing Technique for Rapid Health Evaluation of Space Systems Under Hypervelocity Impact of Orbital Junks". As the project investigator, Prof. SU will lead a 3-year project, in partnership with co-investigators from Beijing Institute of Spacecraft Environment Engineering (BISEE) 北京衛星環境工程研究所 of China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) and Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen). The past decade has witnessed unprecedented prosperity in human’s exploration to outer space. As a result, the near-Earth space, where numerous satellites and space stations orbit, is now cluttered with man-made orbital debris and micrometeoroids (i.e., space junk). Though small, they travel at such high speeds and potentially cause “hypervelocity impact” (HVI) (4 km/s). It is highly imperative to develop effective sensing approaches to perceive HVI and evaluate system degradation after HVI attacks, whereby to enhance the survivability of damaged spacecraft. This ITSP project will be an innovative structural health monitoring (SHM) framework, a compact, all-in-one system and a new sensing network coating that all are readily available for immediate applications to orbital spacecraft (e.g., satellites and space stations). Successful installation of the system and implementation of the technique on spacecraft will remarkably minimize the risk of “hypervelocity impact” (HVI) from space junks to the communication satellites and space stations, retrofit existing safety design philosophy, enhance serviceability and extend lifespan of long-service space systems. ITSP aims to encourage universities funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) to collaborate with leading research institutes worldwide to conduct more theme-based inter-disciplinary and translational research and development (R&D) work in focused technology areas.

Prof. Wang Zuankai and Prof. Yao Haimin develop breakthrough method for self-stimulated ejection of freezing droplets

Water droplets under freezing conditions do not spontaneously detach from surfaces as they do at room temperature due to stronger droplet-surface interaction and lack of an energy transformation pathway. Since accumulated droplets or ice have to be removed manually or with mechanical equipment, which is costly and inefficient, preventing droplet accretion on surfaces is both scientifically intriguing and practically important. Researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have invented a ground-breaking self-powered mechanism of freezing droplet ejection that allows droplets to shoot themselves away, paving the way for cost-efficient and promising technological applications. Published in Nature Chemical Engineering as the cover feature for its last December issue, the research project “Freezing droplet ejection by spring-like elastic pillars” is led by Prof. WANG Zuankai, Associate Vice President (Research and Innovation), Kuok Group Professor in Nature-Inspired Engineering and Chair Professor of the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Prof. YAO Haimin, Associate Head (Teaching & Learning) of the PolyU Department of Mechanical Engineering. First co-authors include Postdoctoral Fellow Dr ZHANG Huanhuan, PhD student Mr ZHANG Wei, Research Assistant Professor Dr JIN Yuankai, and PhD student Mr WU Chenyang. The discovery of the self-ejection phenomenon in freezing droplets was inspired by a fungus capable of shooting its spores away through osmosis-induced volume expansion. Noting that a similar volume expansion occurs when water droplet is freezing, the research team has replicated the self-shooting mechanism found in the fungi and developed a structured elastic surface (SES) with spring-like pillars and wetting contrast that allows for the spontaneous ejection of freezing water droplets. The SES structure is designed to accelerate the ejection velocity and enlarge the kinetic energy transformation of freezing droplets. When the freezing droplet undergoes volume expansion, it compresses the pillar of SES. The volume expansion work is first converted to and stored as elastic energy in the pillar within tens of seconds, and then to be transformed into the droplet’s kinetic energy rapidly within milliseconds. This thousandfold reduction in timescales leads to sufficient kinetic energy to drive freezing droplet ejection. The simple SES structure, after parameter design, is effective in ejecting freezing droplets without external energy input and even against the forces of wind and gravity. It can be applied to aircraft, wind blades or cable lines to prevent hazards caused by ice accretion. Dr ZHANG Huanhuan said, “It is exciting that we, for the first time, introduce a self-powered ice removal concept that will offer a wide range of innovative solutions. We will continuously improve the design of SES, allowing it to be manufactured at various scales and at a low cost to meet societal needs.” Furthermore, the theoretical model developed in the research elucidates the factors determining the successful onset of the freezing droplet ejection phenomenon, with scalable design exhibiting potential practicability in various fields. Prof. WANG envisions, “This nature-inspired research paved the way for numerous impactful applications. We believe that the freezing droplet ejection, as a prototype, could stimulate the development of self-powered concepts and methods for a wide range of purposes such as de-icing, energy harvesting and soft robotic applications.” Specifically, droplet ejection induced by volume expansion enhances understanding of multi-phase freezing dynamics for anti-icing applications. Prof. YAO remarked, “Our research demonstrates a strategy to efficiently harness and utilise the volume expansion work of freezing droplets to generate ballistic motion. This could subsequently expand the application of energy conversion phenomena, and inspire the development of droplet-based energy generators and soft robotic catapults.”

Prof. Jiao Zengbao Secures Highly Competitive RGC Collaborative Research Fund

The Research Grants Council (RGC) has recently announced the results of the Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) in 2024/25 exercise. Out of 402 eligible applications, 42 research projects were granted funding, totaling HK$239.8 million. In this highly competitive round, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) secured support for 14 projects from the CRF, comprising eight funded by the Collaborative Research Project Grant (CRPG), three by the Collaborative Research Equipment Grant (CREG), and three by the Young Collaborative Research Grant (YCRG). PolyU ranked first among UGC-funded universities in both the total number of funded projects and the total awarded funding for CRF projects (including CRPG, CREG, and YCRG). The Department is particularly proud that Prof. Jiao Zengbao, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, was awarded the CRF Young Collaborative Research Grant (YCRG) for 2024/25. Prof. Jiao received HK$4.5 million to conduct a collaborative project entitled “Design of Ultrastrong, Ductile, and Thermally Stable Nanocrystalline Dual-Phase Alloys via Coherent Nano-Honeycomb Architectures.” By successfully securing funding through this highly competitive scheme, we reaffirm our commitment to fostering innovation and collaboration within our research community. It is encouraging to see our ME scholar recognized by the UGC for contributions to advancing scientific research in cutting-edge technologies.