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Delegation from Faculty of Civil Engineering & Geosciences,

Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands

THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY (POLYU)

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING (CEE)

News & Upcoming Events (SEP 2016)

On 18 and 19 July 2016, the Delegation visited three

major infrastructural projects in Hong Kong as

facilitated by Ir Prof. P.K. Chan, with the support of

the Development Bureau and the concerned Works

Departments. The projects were Central-Wanchai

Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link Road, the

Harbour Area Treatment Scheme Stage 2A, as well

as the Kai Tak Development.

The Students Association of the Faculty of Civil Engineering

& Geosciences (CEG) of the Delft University of

Technology, The Netherlands (TU Delft) has organised a

Delegation, comprising 30 civil engineering students

accompanied by two assistant professors, on an

Intercontinental Study Trip in July 2016, stopping over the

major cities of Dubai, Hong Kong and Jakarta. Dr. Henry

Lee, Assistant Professor and Ir Prof. P.K. Chan, Professor of

Practice (Infrastructure), both of the Department of Civil &

Environmental Engineering (CEE), have assisted the

Delegation in organising their visits in Hong Kong from 14

to 20 July 2016.

In the morning of 15 July 2016, FCE and CEE received

the Delegation. First, Ir Prof. Y.L. Xu, Dean of FCE and

Ir Prof. William H.K. Lam, Head of CEE gave

introductory briefings on FCE and CEE respectively.

Then, the Student Representatives of Delegation shared

their experience in organising the 3-week intercontinental

study trip with the CEE Student Representatives. This was

followed by an introduction of the CEG and its study

programmes by Ir Paul Wiggenraad, Assistant Professor

of TU Delft. The delegates then visited the CEE

laboratories before they were treated a lunch hosted by

CEE. Prof. Cees de Bont, Dean of School of Design,

PolyU also joined the lunch as a special guest. He used to

be the Dean of the Faculty of Industrial Design

Engineering, TU Delft.

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CEE Excels at Structural Engineering

Congratulations to Ir Prof. Siu-lai Chan, Chair Professor of CEE,

who has won the Structural Excellence Award 2016 (Research and

Development) for his research paper entitled “Direct analysis for

high-strength steel frames with explicit-model of residual

stresses”.

This prestigious award is given by the Joint Structural Division

(JSD) of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) – the

Structural Division and the Institution of Structural Engineers.

Ir Prof. Chan’s winning project proposes a new and practical direct

analysis method (DAM) for design of high-strength steel members

allowing a more rigorous consideration and buckling design of

steel members with independent considerations of the

imperfections which are due to geometric crookedness and residual

stresses.

The award will be presented at the annual dinner of the Structural Division of HKIE which will be held in

October 2016.

Research Spotlight by EOS of the American Geophysical Union

Prof. Tao Wang, Chair Professor of CEE, has been

chosen by the Journal of Geophysical Research:

Atmospheres to highlight his paper entitled

“Observations of nitryl chloride and modeling its

source and effect on ozone in the planetary boundary

layer of southern China”. Only the research and

findings of the best accepted articles are summarized

and featured on Research Spotlights.

https://eos.org/research-spotlights/chemical-boosts-ozone-

production-over-southern-china

Paper Award

Ms. Ming Li, PhD student of CEE, has recently won a Paper Award

at the 7th Cross-Strait Summer School Workshop on Structural

Monitoring and Vibration Control in Civil Engineering for her

research paper entitled “Bayesian blind source separation and

structure change detection using monitoring strain data.”

Ms. Li is supervised by Prof. Yiqing Ni, Professor of CEE.

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Dean’s Awards 2016

Eight CEE staff members are selected by the Faculty of Construction and Environment for the Dean’s

Award for Outstanding Achievement in Research Funding. They are:

CEE Awardees Project Title

Funding

Allocation

Date

Prof. Kwok-Fai Chung

1 Experimental and Numerical Investigation into Structural Behaviour of Composite

Beams Using High Strength Steel Fabricated I-sections (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-13

2 Experimental and Numerical Investigation into Fabricated Steel Sections Using High

Strength Steel Materials (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-15

3 Hong Kong Branch of National Engineering Research Center for Steel Construction

(Innovation and Technology Commission - CNERC) 12-Oct-15

Prof. Shuncheng Lee

1 Sources and Distribution of Oxygenated Volatile Organic Compounds (OVOCs) in

Hong Kong and their Impacts on Ozone Formation (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-14

2 Exposure and Source Apportionment of Indoor PM2.5 at Residential Homes in Hong

Kong/ Xi’an/ Shanghai/ Guangzhou (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-15

3

Heterogeneous Chemistry of Atmospheric Reactive Nitrogen Oxides: An Integrative

Programme for Cutting-edge Science (Sub-project) (RGC Collaborative Research Fund

- GP)

12-Aug-15

Prof. Xiangdong Li

1 Physico-chemical Characterization and Inhalation Toxicity of Urban Ambient Airborne

Particulate Matters (PMs) in Subtropical Regions (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-14

2

Fe-enhanced Primary Sedimentation and Sludge Acidogenesis for Resources (P and

PHA) Recovery During Wastewater Treatment - the Chemical Forms of P in the Process

(Sub-project) (RGC Collaborative Research Fund - GP)

27-Jul-15

3

Identifying the mixture effects and major toxicity drivers of ambient fine particulate

matter: A comparative study of the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions

(Natural Science Foundation of China - Major Research Plan)

19-Nov-15

Prof. Yiqing Ni

1 Analysis of 15-year Structural Health Monitoring Data of Cable-supported Bridges ―

Leading to a Benchmark Study (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-13

2 Structural Condition Prognosis of Bridges Using Long-Term Structural Health

Monitoring Data and Bayesian Updating (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-15

3 Hong Kong Branch of National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering

Technology Research Center (Innovation and Technology Commission - CNERC) 12-Oct-15

Prof. Tao Wang

1 Tropospheric Ozone Trend in 1994-2017 in Hong Kong, Southern China: Quantifying

the Driving force of Emission and Climate(RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-15

2 Heterogeneous Chemistry of Atmospheric Reactive Nitrogen Oxides: An Integrative

Programme for Cutting-edge Science (RGC Collaborative Research Fund - GP) 4-Feb-15

Dr. Jianguo Dai

1 A PopTube Technology-Enabled New Fiber Reinforced Inorganic Polymer (FRiP)

System for Strengthening of Concrete Structures (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-13

2

Interfacial Debonding in FRP-strengthened Steel/Concrete Structures Subjected to

Combined Thermal and Mechanical Loading (Natural Science Foundation of China –

General Programme)

25-Aug-14

3 Development of Precast BFRP Grid-reinforced Geopolymer Sandwich Wall Panels for

Green Building Construction (Construction Industry Council) 28-Jan-15

4

Large Rupture Strain FRP Composite-Confined Rectangular Reinforced Concrete

Columns Subjected To Seismic Loading: Behavior and Modeling (RGC General

Research Fund)

1-Jul-15

Prof. Hai Guo

1

Heterogeneous Chemistry of Atmospheric Reactive Nitrogen Oxides: An Integrative

Programme for Cutting-edge Science (Sub-project) (RGC Collaborative Research Fund

- GP)

12-Aug-15

2

Thermal Desorption Aerosol Gas Chromatograph and Time of Flight Aerosol Mass

Spectrometer for research on airborne particles and their impact on health and the

environment (RGC Collaborative Research Fund - EQ)

31-Dec-15

Dr. Yuhong Wang

1 Development of an Automatic Image Collection and Analysis System for Improving

Onsite Construction Productivity (Construction Industry Council) 10-Jun-13

2 Development of a Policy for Optimizing the Use of Inert Solid Wastes in Road

Pavement Construction (CPU Public Policy Research) 24-Jan-14

3 The Use of Rubberized Asphalt Mixture Incorporated with Warm Asphalt Additives on

Urban Road Pavements in Hong Kong (Environment and Conservation Fund) 13-May-14

4 The Oxidative Aging of Asphalt Binder in Long-Life Hot-Mix Asphalt (HMA)

Pavements in Hong Kong (RGC General Research Fund) 1-Jul-15

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In addition, three CEE colleagues are selected for the Dean’s Award for Highly-cited Papers. They are

Prof. Kwok-Wing Chau, Prof. Chi-Sun Poon, and Prof. Jin-Guang Teng. Details of their papers are listed

below:

Title Authors Journal

Fulbright U.S. Scholar to CEE

Prof. Sheng-Guo Wang from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA has been awarded Fulbright

Fellowship to conduct research at CEE of PolyU for a full academic year (10 months) as Fulbright-PolyU Senior

Scholar in 2016-2017 by US J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FFSB). He will teach and participate

in the research project “Dynamic System Data Analysis and Its System Modeling and Robust Control for

Infrastructure and High-Speed Railway System Safety”. His collaboration partner is Prof. Yiqing Ni at CEE, who

is also the Director of Hong Kong Branch of National Rail Transit Electrification and Automation Engineering

Technology Research Center.

He received the B.S. and M.S. in EE from University of Science and Technology of China in Beijing 1967 and in

Hefei 1981, respectively, and the Ph.D. in ECE from University of Houston in 1994.

Prof. Wang is a distinguished scholar and innovative researcher. He has published more than 100 papers, been

awarded 9 patents, and led as PI for over 30 research projects. His research work has been supported by NSF,

NCDOT, Tellabs, HP, Agilent, NASA, ARO, British Council, and China Railway. Prof. Wang is an established

pioneer in his field. He was an award recipient of China National Science Conference Prize in 1978, which is one of

the highest academic awards in China, and many other academic awards. Recently, his NCDOT research project

“Improvements to NCDOT’s Wetland Prediction Model” (2012-2014) has won the 2015 national “Sweet 16 High

Value Research” award, given by AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials)

and RAC (Research Advisory Committee), for which his award-winning project was also recognized at the TRB

(Transportation Research Board) 95th Annual Meeting, National Academies of Sciences-Engineering-Medicine in

2016.

Upcoming Seminars

Date Speaker Topic Venue Time

14 Sep 2016 (Wed) Ir Prof. Chai-Kwong Mak Fixed Track for an Evolving City Z414, PolyU 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

7 Oct 2016 (Fri) Ir Ken Wing-Nim Ko, Project

Director of Happy Valley Flood

Storage Scheme, Chun Wo

Happy Valley Flood Storage

Scheme

FJ301, PolyU 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

4 Nov 2016 (Fri) Ir Prof. Kin-Kuen Choy, Director

of Meinhardt

Green Building Development and

Certification in Hong Kong

FJ301, PolyU 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Contact Details: General Hotline: (852) 2766-6068 Email: enquiry.cee@polyu.edu.hk

Website: http://www.polyu.edu.hk/cee

“I am honored and delighted to be selected as a Fulbright-PolyU Senior Scholar,” Prof. Wang

said. “I thank FFSB for this incredible opportunity. I thank The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

for their strong support to my application for the Fulbright Scholar Program. I am looking

forward to a successful collaboration with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.” – Prof. Sheng-

Guo Wang