News

RIAIoT Director receives funding from Research Grants Council for project on high-performance collaborative edge computing for smart city applications

The project “High-performance Collaborative Edge Computing Enabling Smart City Applications: Framework and Methodologies” led by Prof. CAO Jiannong, Director of the Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things (RIAIoT), Dean of Graduate School, Associate Director of University Research Facility in Big Data Analytics, Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Professor in Data Science, and Chair Professor of Distributed and Mobile Computing in the Department of Computing, was awarded a funding of HK$50.821 million from the Research Grants Council’s Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2023/24.   The project aims to build a new smart city computing infrastructure enabled by collaborative edge computing with edge/cloud collaboration, city-scale edge network deployment and built-in AI services. During development, the research team will propose a Collaborative Edge Computing Framework (CECF), which provides new abstractions and functionalities for geo-distributed edge nodes, hence supporting technical requirements of collaboration and sharing of computing and data resources in performing application tasks.   The project will help address many key challenges in large-scale resource management, performance-guaranteed task scheduling, resource-aware edge AI and secure data sharing, thus enabling advanced smart city applications.   Press release: https://polyu.me/3rrBRsF   Online coverage: Ming Pao Daily News - https://polyu.me/3pNARP2 Hong Kong Economic Times - https://polyu.me/3NUj4Ol Oriental Daily News - https://polyu.me/44rSgMg Sky Post - https://polyu.me/46Kg2EJ Ta Kung Pao - https://polyu.me/44AlHeO HK01 - https://polyu.me/3OcrxNX Line Today - https://polyu.me/3pFswNr

RISUD Member receives funding from Research Grants Council for project on intelligent tropical-storm-resilient system

The project “INTACT: Intelligent Tropical-storm-resilient System for Coastal Cities” led by Prof. NI Yiqing, Member of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), Yim, Mak, Kwok & Chung Professor in Smart Structures, Chair Professor of Smart Structures and Rail Transit in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Director of National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering Technology Research Center (Hong Kong Branch), was awarded a funding of HK$48.293 million from the Research Grants Council’s Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2023/24.   The project aims to mitigate the risk of tropical storms and enhance the resilience of high-rise building clusters in coastal cities by developing a real-time early-warning and management system, which will be made accessible to the public for guiding effective emergency responses. The project will also lead to new methodologies and design codes/standards for high-rise buildings that are more resistant to tropical storms, thus benefitting the construction industries, developers, public and city planners in the medium and long run.   Press release: https://polyu.me/3rrBRsF   Online coverage: Ming Pao Daily News - https://polyu.me/3pNARP2 Hong Kong Economic Times - https://polyu.me/3NUj4Ol Oriental Daily News - https://polyu.me/44rSgMg Sky Post - https://polyu.me/46Kg2EJ Ta Kung Pao - https://polyu.me/44AlHeO HK01 - https://polyu.me/3OcrxNX Line Today - https://polyu.me/3pFswNr

VP(RI) speaks on PolyU’s R&D for interdisciplinary research and technology innovation in an interview with eastmoney.com

Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), in an earlier interview with eastmoney.com, said that Hong Kong’s advantage in basic research is conducive to the development of interdisciplinary, disruptive technological innovations, and the combination of this science and technology advantage with the many application scenarios in the Mainland to boost enterprise productivity can contribute to the Nation’s economic strength, bringing promising socioeconomic benefits in the future. “Whether disruptive technologies can have an impact on society ultimately depends on how the technology changes people’s lives in practical application scenarios, and whether enterprises can apply the technologies in various scenarios to promote explosive economic growth. This is why PolyU attaches great importance to technology application scenarios,” he said. At present, PolyU has set up innovation institutes for technology transfer in various cities in the Mainland. Last year, the University established the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR), with 11 research institutes and 5 research centres dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research and stimulating disruptive technological innovations to address major societal challenges.  As the largest interdisciplinary research platform in the Greater Bay Area, PAIR will continue to make unremitting efforts to promote interdisciplinary research and innovation for the benefit of the Greater Bay Area and the world.  Online coverage:  eastmoney.com - https://polyu.me/3prR8ZY  

PAIR featured on THE Campus

An article titled “A model for maximising the impact of small research units” by Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR), was published on Times Higher Education Campus (THE Campus). In the article, Prof. Chen shared with readers about how a quasi-centralised research management model and collective branding strategy can help stimulate large-scale interdisciplinary research in a university. Read the article:  THE Campus: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/model-maximising-impact-small-research-units  

RILS co-organises HKBIM Future Public Housing Design Competition

The Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) co-organises the “HKBIM Future Public Housing Design Competition” together with China (Hong Kong) Association of Architects and Engineers (CHAAE), Logistics and Supply Chain MultiTech R&D Centre (LSCM), Hong Kong STEM Education Alliance (STEM Alliance), The Hong Kong Project Management Exchange Centre (PMEC) and Hong Kong Academy of Management (HKAOM). The opening ceremony of the Competition was held at Jockey Club Auditorium, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) on 4 July 2023.   Guests of honour included: Mr Michael WONG Wai-lun, Deputy Financial Secretary of the HKSAR Government; Dr WANG Weiming, Director-General of the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR; Ms Winnie HO Wing-yin, Secretary for Housing of the HKSAR Government; Ms Lillian CHEONG Man-lei, Under Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR Government; Dr Miranda LOU, Executive Vice President of PolyU; Mr Tony TSE Wai-chuen, Mr SHANG Hailong and Mr Duncan CHIU, Legislative Council Members of the HKSAR; Mr Simon WONG, Chief Executive Officer of LSCM; and Dr Barry LI Chi-hong, President of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE).   This Competition is classified into Secondary School and Open categories. Contestants can unleash their creativity in developing viable design proposals for future public housings by using the HKBIM software platform developed by PolyU. The winning entries may have the opportunity to be applied to future public housing design projects.   After the Ceremony, Dr JIA Beisi, Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong, delivered a keynote speech on “An Overview of Contemporary Public Housing Design and the History of Public Housing Architecture in Hong Kong”. Subsequently, Ms LI Xiaoying and Ms MA Jie from the Smart Construction Laboratory of PolyU introduced HKBIM, the main design software for this Competition.   Online coverage: Ta Kung Pao - https://polyu.me/44vVb6k Wen Wei Po - https://polyu.me/44sEYyE Dot Dot News - https://polyu.me/46BIkkU Orange News - https://polyu.me/3NBuw1a Xinhua Net - https://polyu.me/3NCeG6j RTHK - https://polyu.me/3rek5ZQ Hong Kong Economic Times - https://polyu.me/3py1LKy Bastille Post - https://polyu.me/44dSJS8

VP(RI) tells Radio The Greater Bay, Hong Kong and Mainland achieve win-win from research collaboration towards national development

Prof. Christopher CHAO, Vice President (Research and Innovation) of PolyU, at the inaugural Qianhai disruptive technology innovation forum held earlier on 30 June 2023 in Qianhai, Shenzhen, shared with China Media Group’s channel, “Radio The Greater Bay”, his views on Hong Kong higher education’s research and development in supporting national developments.   Prof. Chao expressed that with Hong Kong’s very strong research capabilities, as well as the abundant space, large population and rich application scenarios in the Mainland, Hong Kong and the Mainland can collaborate closely to achieve a win-win situation. He shared that PolyU has led some research teams to places in the Mainland to support the industry development based on actual conditions. “The most effective way to enhance a region’s economic strength through scientific research is to get to know the region, understand its development needs, and then bring our relevant research teams there,” he said.   Prof. Chao hoped to see more PolyU’s technology transfer in data science or fields related to digital economy such as financial technology and information technology in the Mainland. He said, “I think digital economy or financial technology should be particularly suitable for Qianhai, and we also have the research strengths to achieve mutual benefit here.”   Online coverage: Radio the Greater Bay - https://polyu.me/3OiuxbB (Chinese only)

Director of RIAIoT shares insights on development of artificial intelligence of things

Prof. CAO Jiannong, Director of Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things (RIAIoT), Dean of Graduate School, Associate Director of University Research Facility in Big Data Analytics, Chair Professor of Distributed and Mobile Computing and Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Professor in Data Science, shared his insights on the development of Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) at the BOE Innovation Partner Conference (BOE IPC) held in Beijing on 29 June 2023. Prof. Cao explained that AIoT has become an important infrastructure in the era of digital economy. Distributed collaborative intelligence has been playing an indispensable role in the paradigm shift from IoT to AIoT. It promotes the development of single-node intelligence towards multi-node intelligence, thus leading the society towards a smart era.   Online coverage: Sina - https://polyu.me/447qt3q (Chinese only)  

Excel x Impact is now available online!

Check out the Excel x Impact article, “Laying the foundation of future Smart Cities with Urban Informatics”, featuring the Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute! https://polyu.hk/GVOLm

RCSV member shares developments on myopia control in children

Prof. HE Mingguang, Member of the Research Centre for SHARP Vision (RCSV), Chair Professor of Experimental Ophthalmology of the School of Optometry, shared his insights on controlling myopia progression with Eastmoney.com of Xinhua Daily. Prof. He’s research has proved that repeated low-level red light therapy can effectively control myopia, and this kind of red light therapy can be achieved by a home-used device.   The best corrected visual acuity is one of the important indicators of treatment safety. Results from clinical trials have shown that the best corrected visual acuity of the intervention group and the control group are comparable, which means that the visual function is unaffected by the red light therapy. At present, many clinical trials are being carried out. In 13 parallel studies including randomised and non-randomised controlled trials, red light therapy has demonstrated a strong effect on controlling myopia.   Online coverage: Eastmoney.com of Xinhua Daily - https://polyu.me/3JyA1MF (Chinese only)

RCSV researchers share myopia control technology on TV programme

Prof. Benny C.F. CHEUNG, Associate Director of the Research Centre for SHARP Vision (RCSV), Chair Professor of Ultra-precision Machining and Metrology of the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, and Director of State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology, as well as Dr Dennis TSE, Member of RCSV and Associate Professor in the School of Optometry, introduced the Nano Multi-rings Defocus Incorporated Lens for myopia control in TVB’s programme “Listen to Your Body”.   Online coverage: TVB - https://polyu.me/44iNjF5 (19:10 - 22:23) (Chinese only - subscription required)