Media Releases

PolyU contributes to the Nation’s first Mars mission with multidisciplinary research

Two research teams at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) contributed to the Nation’s first Mars exploration project Tianwen-1. By harnessing their extensive experience in the field of aerospace science and technology, as well as their commitment to research excellence, PolyU researchers played a vital role in the Tianwen-1 mission, in collaboration with the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). Professor WU Bo helped identify possible landing regions with advanced topographic mapping and geomorphological analysis technologies. Professor YUNG Kai-leung developed a sophisticated space instrument, the “Mars Landing Surveillance Camera (Mars Camera)”, for capturing images of the surroundings of the Red Planet and monitoring the status of the Zhurong Mars rover.

PolyU to hold online "PolyU JUPAS Consultation Day 2021: Admissions Strategies" and to adopt flexibility towards the minimum score requirement for admission via JUPAS

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) will hold the "PolyU JUPAS Consultation Day 2021: Admissions Strategies" online in the afternoon of 22 May 2021 (2-5pm, Saturday). During the Consultation Day, Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) applicants will obtain the latest updates on PolyU’s programmes. This will be useful for them when re-evaluating programme choices they have made and amending any choices by 31 May, before the release of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) results. Registration for the Consultation Day is required by noon 20 May via https://www.polyu.edu.hk/conday. Places are available on a first-come, first-served basis. In view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Consultation Day is being held online. The PolyU Academic Registry will arrange an online seminar during the Consultation Day on “admissions strategies and interview skills”, which will focus on the latest admissions arrangements, key considerations in programme selection and essential interview skills. Academic units will also organise a series of online programme information seminars and Q&A sessions during the Consultation Day. JUPAS applicants will have ample opportunity to understand the entrance requirements, curricula and programme features, and student life of their preferred disciplines/programmes. In addition, the flexibility towards the minimum score requirement or JUPAS admission adopted by PolyU since 2019-20 will be continued in 2021-22 with a slight adjustment in the total score requirement. Applicants who fall slightly short of the general entrance requirements for degree programmes (i.e. with one HKDSE subject result falling one level below the required level - “3-3-2-2-3-3” - level 3 in both languages and level 2 in Mathematics and Liberal Studies together with level 3 in two additional electives) but meet the following conditions will be given special consideration for admission: have attained a total score of 26 points# or above in the best five subjects; and have selected PolyU’s degree programmes as their Band A choices, i.e. first 3 priorities, in JUPAS; and have passed an admission interview. Moreover, the flexibility for special consideration for admission will also be extended to sports talents under the Outstanding Sportsmen Recommendation Schemes (OSRS). Conditional offer letters with more favourable conditions have been issued to the applicants concerned. To learn more about the flexible approach towards the minimum score requirement, please visit https://www.polyu.edu.hk/conday and register for the Consultation Day seminars. JUPAS programme details are available at the Study@PolyU website: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/study. Enquiries about the event should be directed to (tel) 2333-0600 or (email) arevents.enquiry@polyu.edu.hk. #HKDSE level attainments will be converted to score points where Level 5**=8.5, 5*=7, 5=5.5, 4=4, 3=3, 2=2, 1=1 ***** End *****

PolyU congratulates the Nation on the successful landing of Tianwen-1 on Mars

The Nation’s first Mars Exploration mission Tianwen-1 successfully landed on Mars this morning, which marks a milestone development in China's space exploration endeavours. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) offered its warmest congratulations to the Nation on this exemplary and remarkable accomplishment.

PolyU appoints Professor Christopher Chao as Vice President (Research and Innovation)

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today announced the appointment of Professor Christopher Yu-Hang CHAO to the post of Vice President (Research and Innovation) [VP(RI)] effective 1 September 2021.

PolyU and Huawei collaborate to nurture ICT talent with leading digital technologies

Deep learning has become a popular emerging technology in recent years. Many university students are eager to equip themselves with such knowledge and skills in order to capture the opportunities brought about by the development of innovation and technology in various industries.

PolyU presents “Dr Liza Wang, Legendary Diva Cantonese Opera: Beyond Tradition” Exhibition as the Finale event of the "Artist-in-Residence Programme 2020-2021"

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) established the "Artist-in-Residence Programme" in 1999. Renowned artists from various genres are invited to be the University’s Artist-in-Residence (AIR) every academic year. The AIR participates in the design of various art and cultural programmes on campus, and has fruitful exchanges with students regarding his or her artistic attainments and experiences. PolyU is honoured to have the famous artist Dr Liza Wang Ming-chun as the AIR this year. Dr Wang has been devoted to her performing career from 1967. In the past few decades, she has starred in many classic TV series, and the characters she has played are beloved by the audience. Dr Wang is not only a well-known actress but an award-winning singer who has presented many TV drama theme songs. In 1983, she started her journey in Cantonese opera by organising a Cantonese opera troupe. She soon became well-acquainted with Cantonese opera, and in addition to performing on stage, she also devoted herself to promoting Cantonese opera culture. Dr Wang has been elected as the chairman of the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong many times, leading the Association to promote the inheritance and education of Cantonese opera. Her remarkable contributions to performing arts and Cantonese opera are highly recognised and praised. Dr Wang was also awarded a PolyU University Fellowship in 2018.

PolyU develops a range of advanced patented technologies to expedite smart city development in Hong Kong

In the “Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0” released in 2020, the Hong Kong government put forward a number of measures to capitalise on innovation and technology (I&T) to build a world-famous Smart Hong Kong characterised by a strong economy and high quality of living. Under this backdrop, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) established the Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI) in 2020. As Director of SCRI, Professor Wenzhong SHI led his team to develop a number of cutting-edge patented technologies that help address various societal issues, including the revitalisation of old buildings, slope safety, prevention and control of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the construction of spatial data infrastructure, hoping to provide comprehensive solutions for smart city development in Hong Kong and the Nation. The project received a Gold Medal at this year’s Special Edition 2021 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days – Virtual Event. The following three PolyU-developed smart city technologies by Professor Shi’s team are vital in promoting smart city development: Three-dimensional (3D) Mobile Mapping System: Providing accurate 3D maps to support wide smart city applications According to the statistics in 2019, more than 10,000 old residential buildings are at least 50 years old in Hong Kong. Most of these old buildings do not have 3D indoor Building Information Models (BIM), which creates many challenges when it comes to reconstruction or maintenance. In view of this, the PolyU team has developed a lightweight and reliable 3D mobile mapping system (mobile mapping backpack), which can easily measure cities and obtain 3D maps with centimeter-level accuracy. It can be used to build spatial data infrastructure and can thus support smart city applications in many fields. The system adopts advanced technologies such as Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM), which is not restricted by the signal receiving area of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). It can carry out continuous data collection in different complex indoor and outdoor environments and is particularly suitable for high-density and complex urban environments, such as those in Hong Kong. Modular Integrated Construction (MiC) is a primary development direction of today’s construction industry. However, due to the large size of the modular components, the vehicles carrying these components have difficulties passing through some road sections in the urban areas of Hong Kong. To address the issue, the PolyU team worked in collaboration with the Hong Kong Construction Industry Council by making use of the mobile mapping backpack to conduct accurate 3D measurement of critical narrow road sections for identifying the location of obstacles, which could optimise the route for transporting oversized components without passing through narrow road sections. In addition, mobile mapping backpacks can be used to help obtain detailed indoor 3D models to support firefighting and provide evacuation routes for personnel at the fire scene. AI-based Landslide Recognition: Reporting landslide and facilitating disaster control Accurate and timely acquisition and update of spatial data infrastructure from remotely sensed big data is a long-standing challenge for smart city construction. Despite the increasingly widespread use of cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology in remote sensing object recognition, the accuracy and reliability of AI-based remote sensing object recognition still needs to be improved. The PolyU team has developed a series of AI-based algorithms to recognise various ground objects from remotely sensed data with higher accuracy and reliability, which supports the work of smart government in many areas such as urban planning and disaster mitigation. The PolyU team developed a software system that integrates these AI algorithms to assist the Hong Kong Civil Engineering and Development Department to recognise landslides, a major natural disaster in Hong Kong. The software system can automatically and quickly recognise and locate landslides with an accuracy up to over 90%. It can also extract rich information such as the shape, area, height, and trail of the landslides. This provides important technical support for landslide control in Hong Kong. Spatiotemporal Prediction of COVID-19 Onset Risk: To help public health agencies formulate more precise prevention and control strategies The use of I&T in combating COVID-19 is a key Smart Living initiative in the Hong Kong Smart City Blueprint 2.0. Based on its long-term advantage in the field of spatiotemporal big data analytics, the team led by Professor Shi developed the extended Weighted Kernel Density Model for predicting the COVID-19 symptom onset risk. The model can be used to predict the spatiotemporal onset risk continuously. The prediction accuracy in the next three days can reach more than 85%. Focusing on predicting the risk of the symptom onset of cases, this model can predict the development trend of the epidemic in a timelier manner and support the public health department to formulate more precise prevention and control strategies. Based on the self-developed Spatiotemporal Big Data Platform, Professor Shi and his team have developed a visualization platform for COVID-19 onset risk to showcase the latest developments and short-term forecasts of the epidemic. Professor John Shi said, “Smart cities is one of the key research focuses of the University. PolyU’s multidisciplinary research capabilities in the fields of urban informatics, artificial intelligence, robotics and data science will help us further enhance the research of smart city technology. Looking ahead, the PolyU Smart City Research Institute will concentrate its research on a range of smart cities applications such as transportation, the environment, and ageing issues, so as to expedite the development of smart cities in Hong Kong and the Nation.”   ***End***

PolyU honours ten outstanding alumni

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is pleased to announce that it has bestowed the "Outstanding Alumni Award 2021" to ten alumni in recognition of their distinguished professional accomplishments and significant contributions to the community and their alma mater. The award recipients, in alphabetical order of last name, are: Mr Jack CHAN Hoi, EY China Chairman, Greater China Regional Managing Partner and Global Executive Member, Ernst & Young Ms Janet CHEN Lijuan, Chairman, Shenzhen Ebeca Beauty Technology Investment Company Limited Mr Tino KWAN Wing-kuen, Founder and Principal Consultant, Tino Kwan Lighting Consultants Limited Ir Dr Kelvin LEUNG Kai-yuen, CEO, Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding (Hong Kong) Limited Mr Michael ROSS, Vice Chairman, Charoen Pokphand Group and Co-chairman, CP Commercial Real Estate The Hon. Alfred SIT Wing-hang, JP, Secretary for Innovation and Technology, Innovation and Technology Bureau, HKSAR Government The Hon. Tony TSE Wai-chuen, BBS, JP, Member, Legislative Council (Architectural, Surveying, Planning & Landscape), HKSAR Government Sr Augustine WONG Ho-ming, JP, Executive Director and General Manager of the Property Development Department, Henderson Land Development Company Limited Dr Alex WONG Siu-wah, Chairman and CEO, King’s Flair International (Holdings) Limited Ms Mary YU Wah, Founder, Mary Yu Design (Please refer to the Appendix for the biodata of the recipients.) Jointly organised by PolyU and the Federation of PolyU Alumni Associations, the biennial Outstanding PolyU Alumni Award aims at honouring outstanding graduates of PolyU and its forerunner institutions – the Government Trade School, the Hong Kong Technical College and the Hong Kong Polytechnic – for their remarkable professional achievements and contributions to the community and their alma mater. The Outstanding PolyU Alumni Award was first launched in 1996 and this year marks the 13th award presentation. So far, more than 80 distinguished alumni in various professions have been honoured and they are a great testament to PolyU's accomplishments in nurturing professional talents for the community. The eight-member Panel of Judges is chaired by Dr Katherine NGAN Ng Yu-ying, MH, JP, Chairman, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Court. Members, in alphabetical order of last name, include: Ms Dee Dee CHAN, Director, Seal of Love Charitable Foundation Limited; Dr Christopher CHENG Wai-chee, GBS, OBE, JP, Chairman, Wing Tai Properties Limited; Ms Doris LIAN Shaodong, Chairman, Chinese Asset Management Associate of Hong Kong; Ir Eric MA Siu-cheung, GBS, JP, President, Outstanding PolyU Alumni Association; Dr David NG Kin-ching, President, Federation of PolyU Alumni Associations; Professor Jin-Guang TENG, President, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and Dr Daniel YIP, Chairman, Federation of Hong Kong Industries.   *****

Statement by the Heads of Universities Committee (HUCOM)

In response to the new grading system for the revised Liberal Studies subject of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) with only two grades: “Attained (A)” and “Not Attained (NA)”, HUCOM has decided that the General Entrance Requirements of the four core subjects for HKDSE applicants will be revised from “3322” to “332A”, i.e. “332” and “Attained (A)”, beginning from the admission of the 2024/25 intake.   ***** END *****

PolyU and You Online Lecture Series 2021

Chinese version only