May 2025 Entry
The Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering (AAE), formerly the Interdisciplinary Division of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering, was established under the Faculty of Engineering in 2016 to lead the development of the field of aeronautical and aviation engineering by amalgamating the experts in the Faculty and the industry.
AAE strives to play a leading role in bridging innovative research and development in the field of aeronautical and aviation engineering that accommodates the needs and demands of the aeronautical and aviation industry. AAE currently leads/hosts three research centres/consortiums: the Aviation Research Consortium, the Joint Research Centre of Advanced Aerospace Propulsion Technology, and the Research Centre for Unmanned Autonomous Systems. The close collaboration with the industry, dedicated research centres, excellent facilities and staff expertise enable our various stakeholders' sustainable growth and competitiveness, including students, staff and industrial partners.
There are 6 main research areas in AAE:
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Aerodynamics
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Aerospace Propulsion and Combustion
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Aerospace Structures and Materials
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Aviation Engineering
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Flight Mechanics and Control
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Satellite Communication and Navigation
Aerodynamics
| Supervisor | Specialisation |
|---|---|
| Prof. C.Y. Wen cywen@polyu.edu.hk | Aerothermodynamics and boundary layer transition of hypersonic/supersonic vehicles; Shock/droplet and shock/bubble interactions; Applications of DBD actuators on flow control; Experimental fluid mechanics and CFD; Numerical simulations and assessment of urban wind field and air pollution |
| Prof. Simon Yu simon.c.yu@polyu.edu.hk | Vortex ring dynamics and starting jet phenomena |
| Dr Jiaao Hao jiaao.hao@polyu.edu.hk | High-Speed Aerodynamics; Hypersonic Nonequilibrium Flows; Shock-Wave/Boundary-Layer Interactions; Computational Fluid Dynamics |
| Dr Siyang Zhong siyang.zhong@polyu.edu.hk | Acoustics & Aeroacoustics (aircraft noise); Urban air mobility aerodynamics & noise; Rotor noise prediction and low-noise design; Environment noise assessment and low-noise path planning; Performance sports aerodynamics |
| Dr Zhengtong Li zheng-tong.li@polyu.edu.hk | Numerical simulations and assessment of urban wind field and air pollution; Sports Aerodynamics; Smart Cities and Urban sustainability; Real-time Computational Fluid Dynamics; AI-accelerated Computational Fluid Dynamics; AI-based aerodynamic shape optimization |
Aerospace Propulsion and Combustion
| Supervisor | Specialisation |
|---|---|
| Prof. C.Y. Wen cywen@polyu.edu.hk | Scramjet and Oblique Detonation Engines; Detonation |
| Prof. Simon Yu simon.c.yu@polyu.edu.hk | Turbulent mixing; Applied fluid dynamics; Multi-phase flows; Starting jet phenomenon; Gas turbine design |
| Dr Yu Guan yu.guan@polyu.edu.hk | Combustion dynamics in gas turbines and rockets; Combustion instability; Clean combustion; Nonlinear dynamics; Data-driven methods |
| Dr Sangdi Gu sangdi.gu@polyu.edu.hk | Thermochemical nonequilibrium; Hypersonic impulse facilities; Optical diagnostics; Experimental hypersonics |
| Dr Zijian Zhang zijian92.zhang@polyu.edu.hk | Hypersonic air-breathing propulsion; Detonation phenomenon and Detonation-based engine; Supersonic combustion; Shock dynamics; Supersonic/hypersonic wind tunnel experiment; Computational fluid dynamics |
Aerospace Structures and Materials
| Supervisor | Specialisation |
|---|---|
| Dr Xi Shen xi.shen@polyu.edu.hk | Nanoengineered composites; Nanostructured fillers for composites; Functional composites for thermal management; Multimodal sensors; and EMI shielding; Fracture of nanocomposites |
| Dr Frank Zou frank.zou@polyu.edu.hk | Quantum tunneling; Quantum tunneling-enabled strain sensing |
| Dr Kit Ying Chan kit-y.chan@polyu.edu.hk | Structural energy storage composites; Nanocomposite dielectrics; Nanostructured composites for thermal management |
Aviation Engineering
| Supervisor | Specialisation |
|---|---|
| Dr Wei Liu wei.w.liu@polyu.edu.hk | Air transportation modeling; Air-rail system modeling; Airport ground transportation; Data-driven decision analytics; Transportation network modeling; Transportation and aviation economics; UAV applications in smart transportation and logistics |
| Dr Ang Li ang-joy.li@polyu.edu.hk | Air Traffic Management (ATM); Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management (UTM); Mechanism design and resource allocation; Multi-modal urban mobility; Air transportation economics; Urban last-mile parcel delivery; Congestion optimization; Path planning and conflict resolution; Large-scale optimization; Deterministic and stochastic optimization; Machine learning; Network science; Data Analytics |
| Dr Fan Li fan-5.li@polyu.edu.hk | Human factors; Fatigue risk management; Accident analysis; Human-machine co-driving; Psychophysiological data analytics; Mutual understanding between human and machine |
| Dr Kam Hung Ng kam.kh.ng@polyu.edu.hk | Air traffic control (ATC); Air traffic flow management (ATFM); Air transport modelling; Human factors in ATC and flight operations; and Future urban air mobility |
| Dr Lingxiao Wu lingxiao-leo.wu@polyu.edu.hk | Data-driven Optimization; Aviation Operations Modelling and Optimization; UAV Service Network Design; Shipping and Port Operations Modelling and Optimization |
| Dr Gangyan Xu gangyan.xu@polyu.edu.hk | Data-Driven Optimization; Multi-Agent Systems; Networked System Control and Optimization; Airport Operations; Air Transport Network; UAV Applications |
Flight Mechanics and Control
| Supervisor | Specialisation |
|---|---|
| Prof. C.Y. Wen cywen@polyu.edu.hk | UAV/MAV technology research and development |
| Dr Hailong Huang hailong.huang@polyu.edu.hk | Coordination, perception, motion planning and control; Unmanned vehicles (UAVs, UGVs, UUVs, etc); Autonomous and interactive systems: Multi-agent systems; Control applications |
| Dr Bing Wang bing-w.wang@polyu.edu.hk | 3D Computer Vision; Machine Learning; Multimodal Spatial Perception; Embodied AI; Robotics and Autonomous Systems; Underwater Perception |
| Dr Weisong Wen welson.wen@polyu.edu.hk | Multi-sensory Integrated Positioning, GNSS, LiDAR-aided GNSS positioning, LiDAR/Visual SLAM, Safety-assured Control and Path Planning, Reinforcement Learning, Safety-assured Autonomous Systems, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Connected Autonomous Driving Vehicles |
| Dr Tianqi Wang tianqi-aae.wang@polyu.edu.hk | Satellite control system design; Satellite attitude control; Multi-agent systems; Nonlinear control theory; Optimization-based control theory and applications |
| Dr Jingjie Xie jingjie.xie@polyu.edu.hk | Intelligent control; reinforcement learning; model predictive control; UAV control; wind energy; spacecraft control; trajectory planning |
Satellite Communication and Navigation
| Supervisor | Specialisation |
|---|---|
| Dr L.T. Hsu lt.hsu@polyu.edu.hk | Global navigation satellite system; Beidou; Integrated navigation system; Autonomous driving; Simultaneous localisation and mapping |
| Dr Wei Liu wei.w.liu@polyu.edu.hk | Applications of satellite communication and navigation in smart transportation systems; GIS-integrated smart transportation |
| Dr Y.P. Jiang yiping.jiang@polyu.edu.hk | Satellite Navigation; Precise Positioning; High Integrity Navigation for Civil Aviation and Intelligent Transportation Systems; Receiver Autonomous Integrity Monitoring; Ground Based Augmentation System; Satellite Based Augmentation System |
| Dr Weisong Wen welson.wen@polyu.edu.hk | Multi-sensory Integrated Positioning, GNSS, LiDAR-aided GNSS positioning, LiDAR/Visual SLAM, Safety-assured control and path planning, Reinforcement learning, Safety-assured Autonomous Systems, Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), Connected Autonomous Driving Vehicles |
| Dr Bing Xu pbing.xu@polyu.edu.hk | Satellite positioning and navigation; GNSS receiver design and signal processing; GNSS security reinforcement; Low Earth orbit positioning, navigation, and timing (LEO PNT); Wireless communications |
| Dr Guohao Zhang gh.zhang@polyu.edu.hk | GNSS Positioning in Challenging Environments; 3D Mapping aided GNSS; Collaborative positioning; Signal propagation modelling; Multipath and NLOS reception mitigation; Multi-sensor integration; Machine learning; GNSS-based remote sensing; and Indoor positioning |
Please visit our website for more information about our research facilities.
For full-time PhD admission, preference will be given to applicants who apply for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme, for which the application period starts in early September each year. All research postgraduate applicants are recommended to approach potential supervisors and, preferably, put their names on the applications. For details, please refer to
AAE Research Overview page: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/aae/research/overview/.
AAE staff website: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/aae/people/academic-staff/.
Compulsory - Two Academic Referee's Reports are required.
Identify and invite two academics who are familiar with your academic performance and achievements. Proposed supervisor(s) from the PolyU, proposed supervisor(s) from the partner institution (if any), and persons from non-academic backgrounds are not considered appropriate academic referees.
Provide complete and accurate information on your referees, including their email addresses under a university or an organisation, in your online application.
Compulsory
Compulsory - submit the research proposal using the standard form: Form GSB/1A.
Compulsory
Graduation Certificate(s)
Provide graduation certificates for undergraduate and/or postgraduate studies.
Applicants with academic qualifications from the Chinese Mainland must submit:
Degree Certificate (學位證書) and the Online Verification Code (線上驗證碼) issued by the China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (教育部學位與研究生教育發展中心); and
Graduation Certificate (畢業證書) and the Online Verification Code (線上驗證碼) issued by the CHESICC (學信網).
Dual-degree applicants must hold a graduation certificate/testimonial with the name of the collaborating institutions.
Official Transcript(s)
Provide all pages of transcript(s) that show:
all the courses and grades taken during the whole study period;
the explanatory notes of the marking scheme/ grading system, and
official stamps.
Graduation transcripts should be the latest version with the graduation date (or the issue date matching the graduation date).
Students who have not graduated should provide the latest transcript or testimonial issued by the institution. Unofficial copies are not accepted.
Optional - Publication records, scholarships, awards/prizes and class rankings (with supporting documents).
