State Award for Civil Engineering Concrete Solution adopted into so ware systems developed by the industry partner and e ectively used in more than hospitals. In addition, a team led by Prof Qu received the Best Innovation (Innovative Technology) Silver Award at the Hong Kong ICT Awards in . The accolade recognized the team’s development of the rst visual analytic system to provide in-depth and user-friendly analysis of e-learning behavior for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). The system creates a useful way for instructors to nd out more about how learners use MOOC videos so as to improve teaching quality and tailor design and implementation of course materials in line with participants’ needs. Since its launch in , the system has been well received by instructors and MOOC platforms, including leading companies Coursera and edX. Prof Bing Zeng, Electronic and Computer Engineering, and his collaborators from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China received a Natural Science Award, Second Class. A School of Science faculty member received a similar award for a separate project. concrete dams and retaining walls, as well as waterproo ng. Only ve State Science and Technology Awards in total were presented to Hong Kong researchers, with three going to HKUST. Other HKUST academics receiving top State honors included Prof Charles W W Ng, Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering (see P ) and School of Science faculty members. rof Christopher Leung, Civil and Environmental Engineering, received a State Natural Science Award, Second Class, for his project focusing on control of cracking in concrete. The award is among the most prestigious in science and technology in China. His collaborators included members of Zhejiang University, Dalian University of Technology, and Shantou University. The project, titled “Double-K Fracture Criterion for Crack Propagation in Concrete Structures and Fundamental Research on the Improvement of Crack-Control Performance”, set out to analyze the complex cracking process in concrete and nd an experimental approach to ascertain the key governing parameters. It then sought to develop practical approaches to control cracking to improve safety and the lifespan of reinforced concrete structures. Cracking can lead to much-reduced durability and, in a worse-case scenario, catastrophic failure. It is a particularly severe problem in large concrete dams, where continuous repairs are o en necessary. The team developed and veri ed a double-K fracture criterion, employing two separate parameters to describe the initiation and nal unstable propagation of a crack in a concrete structure. This was successfully applied to assess the stability of cracks and the structural safety of various large mainland dams, including the Wujiang Dongfeng Arch Dam, Wujiang Suofengying Roller-compacted Gravity Dam, and Three Gorges Dam (second phase). The researchers also developed cementitious composites with very high ductility and excellent crack control ability. The concept of such composites was rst presented in a paper co-authored by Prof Leung in . Since then, many researchers around the world have conducted research on the material. It has also been applied in the construction of coupling beams in buildings and link slabs in continuous bridges, repair of P Recognize SENG Excellence 11 IN FOCUS ................................................................................................................................................
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