News

First PAIR Conference coming in May!

PAIR is organising the first PAIR Conference 2023 – Research Excellence for Societal Impacts, in hybrid mode (online and on PolyU campus), on 8–11 May 2023 (Monday–Thursday).   The four-day PAIR Conference is the first and the largest event in Hong Kong higher education dedicated to professional knowledge exchange on interdisciplinary research and development. It provides a platform for professional exchange and closer collaboration among stakeholders from various fields in industry, academia, and governments around the world to build the capacities in science, technology, innovation and research.   Registration is now open. For Conference details, please visit www.polyu.edu.hk/pairconference2023/.

Turing Award laureate to deliver PAIR Distinguished Lecture on 3 March online

PAIR cordially invites you to our Distinguished Lecture on 3 March 2023 (Friday) at 4:00pm-5:30pm (HKT) via Zoom. The lecture “Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems” will be delivered by Professor Joseph SIFAKIS, Emeritus Senior Researcher CNRS at Verimag, France. Prof. Sifakis’s current research interests cover fundamental and applied aspects of embedded systems design. The main focus of his work is on the formalisation of system design as a process leading from given requirements to trustworthy, optimised and correct-by-construction implementations.  In this lecture, Prof. Sifakis will discuss the relevance of existing criteria for comparing human and machine intelligence and show some notable analogies and differences between scientific knowledge and that produced by neural networks. Emphasising that autonomy is an important step towards Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), he will present a characterisation of autonomous systems, and showing key differences with mental systems equipped with common sense knowledge and reasoning, and advocate challenging work directions, including the development of a new foundation for systems engineering and scientific knowledge, and the joint exploration of physical and mental phenomena that embody human intelligence. Don’t miss the chance to learn from distinguished scholar! Find out more and register at: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/pair/news-and-events/events/2023/3/20230303-pair-distinguished-lecture---prof-joseph-sifakis/?sc_lang=en

PAIR research projects receive over HK$37 million from RGC

The Research Grant Council (RGC) announced the funding results of the Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) 2022/23 Exercise. Six research projects led by members of PAIR’s constituent research units received a total grant of over HK$37 million. Four projects received 25 million under the Collaborative Research Project Grant, one project received HK$8 million under the Collaboration Research Equipment Grant, and one project received over HK$4 million under the Young Collaborative Research Grant. Project Title Coordinating University / Collaborating University(ies) Amount Granted (HK$) PAIR’s Constituent Research Unit(s) / Project Leader Collaborative Research Project Grant Smart self-adaptive shearing interferometry for wavefront optical characterisation PolyU / CityU, CUHK 4,267,120 RCRE & RCSV / Prof. Benny CHEUNG Sonogenetics for specific deep neural circuit modulation and mitigation of Parkinsonian mice PolyU / CityU, HKUST 7,152,840 RISA / Prof. SUN Lei Subambient Daytime Radiative Cooling Coating for Energy-Efficient Building Envelope PolyU / CityU, HKU 5,384,413 RIAM, RILS, RISE & RISUD / Prof. DAI Jianguo Transmission of antimicrobial resistance from hotspot sources to occupational populations and urban communities PolyU / CityU, HKU 8,709,120 RISUD / Prof. LI Xiangdong Collaborative Research Equipment Grant Hong Kong Coastal HF-Radar Network PolyU / CityU, HKUST 8,000,000 RILS / Dr Alessandro STOCCHINO Young Collaborative Research Grant Coastal Urban Flooding under Climate Change: Evolution Mechanisms and Intelligent Analysis PolyU / HKUST, HKU 4,133,507 RILS & RISUD / Dr DUAN Huan-feng *In alphabetical order of project title Full list of projects funded by the RGC Collaborate Research Fund: https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/crf/funded%20research/22-23.html

DoPAIR and RI Directors recognised as Fellows of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences

Congratulations to Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of the PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR), Prof. CAO Jiannong, Director of the Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things (RIAIoT), and Prof. LI Xiangdong, Director of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), for being elected as 2022 Fellows of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences (HKAES). An induction ceremony cum dinner was held on 6 February 2023 at Hotel ICON. HKAES is a professional engineering organisation in Hong Kong dedicated to serving Hong Kong, Mainland China and the region with top-quality engineering expertise. Fellows come from various engineering disciplines and are recognised leaders of the profession with distinguished achievements in engineering sciences or applications. Only up to eight Fellows may be elected annually by their peers for their personal achievements of exceptional merit and distinction.  Full list of Fellow of 2022: http://www.hkaes.org/?page_id=4105  

Nobel Laureate Prof. Reinhard GENZEL delivers PAIR Distinguished Lecture

The PAIR Distinguished Lecture delivered by Nobel Laureate Prof. Reinhard GENZEL, Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany, was successfully held on 8 February 2023. The webinar attracted over 500 participants from more than 60 countries and regions. It was also broadcasted live on multiple social media platforms, including Bilibili and Weibo, and viewed by over 18,000 online audience in total. Online review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-nNZ_h16JE

RILS Management Committee Member featured on Now TV

Prof. Eddie C.M. HUI, Management Committee Member of the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) and Associate Head (Partnership) and Professor of the Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE), shared his insights on land supply-demand imbalance on Now TV programme “News Magazine” on 7 February. Online coverage: https://news.now.com/home/local/player?newsId=506529&catCode=124&topicId=566 (Chinese only)

First PAIR Salon successfully held

The PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR) has launched a new series of “PAIR SALON” in 2023, with the aim to encouraging industrial collaboration and facilitating knowledge transfer. The first PAIR Salon themed “Beyond Cutting Edge Research: The Marking of Meaningful Work” was successfully held on 1 February 2023 at the Hong Kong Science Park. PAIR members were warmly received by the senior management of the China Resources Group, including Mr CHEN Lei, Deputy General Manager, Science & Technology Innovation Department, China Resources Group and Ms Elaine LAM, General Manager, Hong Kong Business Division, China Resources Cement Holdings Limited. At the Salon, Prof. CHEN Qingyan, Director of PAIR, Prof. LI Li, Associate Director of PAIR and other eight scholars and researchers briefed the audience about PAIR’s latest development, projects and achievements in cutting-edge research and knowledge transfer, and had a fruitful exchange and discussion.

RIAIoT member receives IEEE Communications Society Young Author Best Paper Award

Congratulations to Dr Zhang Shuowen, Member of the Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things (RIAIoT), for receiving the 2022 IEEE Communications Society Young Author Best Paper Award for the paper titled “Cellular-Enabled UAV Communication: A Connectivity-Constrained Trajectory Optimization Perspective”! Further reading: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8531711

PolyU research project named among top ten innovation and technology news 2022

The research titled “Advanced Vision Sensor with Human Eye Adaptability” led by Prof. CHAI Yang, Associate Dean of Faculty of Science, Professor of Department of Applied Physics, Core Member of the Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems (RI-IWEAR) and Member of the Research Institute for Artificial Intelligence of Things (RIAIoT) and Photonics Research Institute (PRI), was selected as one of the “Top Ten Hong Kong Innovation and Technology News 2022”. Organised by the Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre, the annual selection invites universities in Hong Kong to submit news on Hong Kong developments in innovation and technology and scientific research. Thirty most influential news are shortlisted by an advisory group comprising academics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering in Hong Kong. The final top ten are determined by over 3,360 online votes from members of the public. Learn more about the research project: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/en/media/media-releases/2022/0531_polyu-develops-advanced-vision-sensors-that-emulate-human-visual-adaptability/ Further reading: https://www.bhkaec.org.hk/a/129827-cht (Chinese only)

RILS MC member appointed as Non-official Member of Urban Forestry Advisory Panel of Development Bureau

Sr Prof. Charles WONG Man-sing, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment, Management Committee Member of the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) and Member of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), has been appointed as the Member of Urban Forestry Advisory Panel of the Development Bureau by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for a term of two years from 1 January 2023. Further reading: https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202212/30/P2022123000252.htm