HKUST ENGINEERING | Fall | Newsletter No. UNDER THE SURFACE Unveiling the Intelligence of Soil to Mitigate Debris Flow Damage
HKUST Big Data Institute are indications of the School’s intention to remain at the forefront of evolving trends. Hiring of new faculty will add to our already considerable strength in these three areas. Connections with industry in both research and provision of a pool of graduate talent will strengthen impact. The year is also special as it marks HKUST’s rst quarter century. Among the University’s celebrations of this milestone, the School is organizing a special seminar, featuring leading academics and key technology industry players, together with an alumni dinner in San Francisco on February . The major event is one of four being held around the world during this anniversary year, each hosted by a di erent School. The United States gathering will be an opportunity to look back with pride and look ahead with anticipation. It has been a bold years for the School of Engineering. From this foundation of excellence, we are shaping up to move even higher in the exhilarating times in front of us. Prof Tongxi Yu Acting Dean of Engineering promises to be a year of fresh horizons and reflection at the School of Engineering as we look forward to welcoming Prof Tim Kwang Ting Cheng as the new Dean in May and celebrating the University’s th anniversary. Dean Cheng, an international expert in VLSI testing and design veri cation, will concurrently serve as Chair Professor in the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering and in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. He gained his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and spent ve years at AT&T Bell Laboratories ahead of joining the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has worked for over years. In my role as Acting Dean since September , I have endeavored to take forward the sterling advances that the School has enjoyed in education, research, and rankings under former Dean Prof Khaled Ben Letaief, now Provost at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar, and to prepare for Dean Cheng’s arrival. Having worked for over years in universities in Mainland China, the UK and Hong Kong, my experience in education, research and in leadership roles has included the three di erent environments – local, national and overseas – in which the School and HKUST needs to consolidate and expand their presence. To address the issues in these equally challenging arenas, I have focused attention on building further strengths and support for the School’s administrative framework to ensure sustainability in the initiatives we have launched and those that are to come. To maintain and advance the School’s remarkable research record, our academics have worked hard and successfully to secure larger-scale collaborative and theme-based funding to tackle major sustainability issues. Mentoring and workshops for younger faculty members have provided assistance in writing grant proposals to set them on their way. In addition, postgraduate research and taught programs are going to be consolidated under one team in the School, streamlining e ciency and providing more focused support for students. In education, experiential learning and e-learning have been a focus in line with today’s learners and a modern engineering mindset that needs to be able to create, innovate, solve problems, work in a team and in di erent cultural settings to most e ectively contribute to society. Hong Kong student applications to universities throughout the city are set to dip in line with demographic trends in coming years and the School will be striving to attract top young minds locally, as well as nationally and internationally, through on-going provision of cutting-edge programs that unleash individual potential and provide holistic preparation for success in current times. The recent initiative in Aerospace Engineering program, the establishment of the HKUST Robotics Institute and Dean’s Message 2 IN FOCUS
In the Global Employability University Ranking , HKUST continued to shine, being ranked at No. , its highest place yet. It also marked the third year straight that the University had been ranked No. in Greater China. The ranking was based on the views of over , recruiters from major companies in countries on the ideal attributes for graduates and universities, and the institutions they thought produced the best performers. The survey was organized by Emerging, a French human resources consulting agency, and executed by Trendence, a German market research rm. proved a notable year for HKUST’s global engineering standing, with highly positive worldwide rankings in a variety of renowned surveys. In the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings of Top Universities for Engineering and Technology , the University was placed at No. , the highest position for any local university since this subject ranking was established in . HKUST has achieved the No. spot in Greater China in this league table for ve consecutive years. The rankings were based on ve criteria: teaching, research, citations, international outlook and industry income. Meanwhile, in the QS World University Rankings by Faculty – Engineering and Technology, HKUST was ranked No. , rising one place from the previous year to reach an all-time high. The University also retained its No. position in Hong Kong in this category for the sixth year in a row. Rankings indicators included academic reputation, student- to-faculty ratio, employer reputation, international faculty ratio, citations per faculty, and international student ratio. Rankings Reinforce Global Recognition IN FOCUS 3 SENG’S Research Excellence Shines of strategic importance to the long-term development of Hong Kong and contribute to advances on grand challenges. They encourage collaboration among di erent institutions in Hong Kong and multidisciplinary research (see P and P for more on SENG’s projects). Under the Research Grants Council’s Earmarked Research Grant, the School saw General Research Fund support rise over % to HK$ . million in , up from HK$ . million the previous year. This was the largest amount for this type of funding among engineering schools in Hong Kong, representing % of the total share for engineering. he School of Engineering (SENG) has seen the excellence of its research further recognized through the results of signi cant assessment and funding exercises carried out recently. The School received outstanding results in the major Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) , conducted by international experts on behalf of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee (UGC). The RAE aims to assess the research quality of the eight UGC-funded institutions in Hong Kong and to delineate their areas of relative strengths and weaknesses. It covered a six-year period from , and involved a criterion-referenced assessment against quality levels de ned by international standards, as stated by the UGC. On average, over % of the School’s research activities were rated world-leading (four stars) or internationally excellent (three stars). With regard to four-star plus three-star results, Civil Engineering, Computer Studies/Science, Electronic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering achieved the best performance among all universities in Hong Kong. In the highly selective and prestigious Theme-based Research Scheme, under the UGC’s Research Grants Council, two of the School’s projects were approved in . This brings the total to four projects in the ve annual rounds announced to date. Overall funding comes to more than HK$ million. Projects approved under this competitive scheme focus on research T Times Higher Education World University Rankings of Top Universities for Engineering and Technology Global Employability University Ranking QS World University Rankings by Faculty – Engineering and Technology No. ^ No. * No. * * No. in Greater China ^ No. in Hong Kong
secondment to a geotechnical engineering team when working at a leading international engineering consultancy rm in the UK in the late s provided the earth-shattering realization for then young graduate structural engineer Charles W W Ng as to his future career path. Delving deep “The team was looking into a technical design involving excavation – four stories deep – and next to the River Thames,” recalled Prof Ng, who joined the School of Engineering in and is now Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. “When I saw that even a major consultancy was nding this challenging, I knew it must be an area worth researching.” It was a surprise move, particularly for Prof Ng, who had previously envisaged doing an advanced structural engineering at his master’s study but switched to reading a PhD focused on geotechnical engineering. As a master’s student, he had rated the geotechnical area among the most di cult subject for anyone to do well in. But do well he certainly has, becoming a world authority on unsaturated soil mechanics, slope stability and sustainability, and winning multiple awards east and west for his research, most recently a State Scienti c and Technological Progress Award, Second Class, one of the State Council’s highest honors. Research goldmine “From day one, I have had a curious mind,” he said. “This accidental assignment sparked my interest and I discovered a goldmine for research there.” Prof Ng undertook his PhD at the University of Bristol, UK, combining his knowledge of structures and his deepening understanding of soil mechanics to undertake novel research on soil-structure interaction and multi-propped excavation. He then became as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge, a world leader in soil mechanics and centrifuge modeling, before being recruited by HKUST to take the eld forward in Asia and beyond. His specialty on his return to Hong Kong became unsaturated soil mechanics, realizing this complex area was still waiting to be explored more widely, locally and globally, and starting one of the rst postgraduate courses on the subject in Asia in the late s. Application-wise, an interest in slopes was a natural corollary of living in Hong Kong, with its hilly terrain and buildings perched at all levels. Prof Ng later moved from studying loose- ll slopes (Hong Kong has over , ) stabilizing with soil nails to green slopes using plants as stabilizers. His respect for the natural materials he works with continues to grow: “I have found soils to be extremely clever. Why? If you really know them, you know they have a memory, known technically as the over consolidation ratio. Soil properties are di erent from man-made materials. Just like humans, they are stress dependent. If you push them lightly, they respond di erently from if you push them hard. They are also path dependent, which means they vary depending on their direction of natural geological or applied loading path, similar to humans.” Unearthing the Cleverness Prof Charles W W Ng has made studying the complexities of soil his life work, creating fresh hope for managing landslides and slope stability through geotechnical, geo-environmental and bio-engineering, and even nding similarities with human behavior A 4 IN FOCUS
While plants and their roots have been used previously for stability, Prof Ng argues they have not been e ectively utilized. “When you also know unsaturated soil mechanics, di erent reasons for why and how to use plants emerge. The roots are actually far more important for creating suction in the ground. There are two side e ects as plants suck water from the soil: the soil will get drier and gain strength; and permeability will be reduced, making it harder for water to get in. Both are bene cial to slope stability,” he said. Such ndings and their geotechnical and environmental implications have been published in major international journals, including Géotechnique and Canadian Geotechnical Journal. Root causes The topicality and impact of Prof Ng’s studies have led to an unprecedented array of multi-million dollar research grants, including three major funding awards from the Research Grants Council in Hong Kong (one Theme-based Research Scheme and two Collaborative Research Fund grants), participation in a Mainland China project, and funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Research projects have ranged from investigating root-soil-water interactions to develop bioengineered live cover systems to preventive methods to deal with environmental hazards from municipal solid waste land lls. In the large-scale theme-based project, which began in January , he heads an international team looking into debris flow mechanisms and sustainable mitigation of risks in Hong Kong. More extreme weather heralds the potential for disastrous numbers of landslides. Landmark geotechnical centrifuge facility Prof Ng served as Director of the University’s pioneering and world-leading Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility from establishment in until early last year. When it came on stream, the HKUST centrifuge was equipped with the rst D shaking table globally and the world’s most advanced four-axis robotic manipulator. It has gone on to assist the University’s researchers, other academics, government departments and industry to undertake tests on soil behavior and properties that could not have been carried out in the region otherwise. of Soil IN FOCUS 5 Potential deep-seated failure Potential shallow failure Soil nail Grass root Grass Live pole Diverse vegetation Debris flows on June , blocked the North Lantau Expressway for Integrated bioengineered (ecologically balanced) live cover for natural slopes nozzles nozzles Centrifuge model test setup for a -degree vegetated slope Tap root Heart-shaped root Plate-shaped root
Landmark geotechnical centrifuge facility Prof Ng served as Director of the University’s pioneering and world-leading Geotechnical Centrifuge Facility from establishment in until early last year. When it came on stream, the HKUST centrifuge was equipped with the rst D shaking table globally and the world’s most advanced four-axis robotic manipulator. It has gone on to assist the University’s researchers, other academics, government departments and industry to undertake tests on soil behavior and properties that could not have been carried out in the region otherwise. One memorable occasion, among many, involved simulating conditions in the eld to show why a newly constructed but unoccupied -story apartment building collapsed in Shanghai in . The test was successfully carried out with live feed from the HKUST centrifuge to the senior manager concerned in Shanghai, watching via the Internet. “Nerve-wracking but important” is how Prof Ng recalled that day. Comparison of model and prototype IN FOCUS 5 Potential deep-seated failure Potential shallow failure Soil nail Grass root Grass Live pole Diverse vegetation Debris flows on June , blocked the North Lantau Expressway for hours Integrated bioengineered (ecologically balanced) live cover for natural slopes Collapsed building in the eld Collapsed building in centrifuge test Photo credit: Head of Geotechnical Engineering O ce and Director of Civil Engineering and Development, HKSAR Government (from plate of GEO report no. )
Married to soil If soil is like a human being in behavior, the reverse can also be true. Prof Ng, who jokingly refers to himself as “married to soil”, keeps a punishing professional schedule that has seen him publish over SCI international journal articles and some conference papers, and author two reference books. He has also been invited to deliver about keynotes, state-of-the-art reports and special lectures over six continents. He is currently associate editor of the Canadian Geotechnical Journal chair of the Awards Committee of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). He also chaired the organizing committee for GeGe international conference covering both geo-energy and geo-environment and held in December at HKUST. In addition to these activities, he is Associate Vice-President (Research and Graduate Studies) for HKUST overall, bringing his own successful experience of research funding and project leadership to strategic planning in University-wide research development and postgraduate education. With his own graduate students, Prof Ng seeks to guide them to achieve what they want to be and to see issues from an all-round perspective. It is an approach that appears to have served his students well. He has graduated PhD and MPhil students, with eight students being admitted to Cambridge for further studies, and others taking up academic positions overseas and in Hong Kong.
6 IN FOCUS numerous opportunities in academia and industry inside and outside campus. Also take part in the activities you are interested in trying. This way you can fruitfully enjoy the all-round student experience available at HKUST. aking my postgraduate degree at HKUST was the best investment I have made. Programs are well-designed and include the latest discoveries as well as practical applications for industry. There are also countless extra-curricular opportunities. In my case, I was nominated by SENG to attend a nine-day winter camp at Peking University. I was then selected to attend the th Annual Womensphere Emerging Leaders Global Summit at Columbia University, which brought together women leaders across industries, disciplines, and generations to share their experiences and stories. The trip was really eye-opening as I was also able to visit the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street and Metropolitan Museum of Art. In June , I joined the “Light on Dreams” service and learning trip, organized by HKUST Connect, a community engagement initiative. I spent a week in Mabian, Sichuan Province, teaching pupils in a rural area and nding out more about the Yi minority group. All of these experiences made my student life colorful and unforgettable. Building strong industry connections was another bene t. From the alumni-sharing sessions and optional career development course (a big thank you to instructor Ms Keiko Shinohara here!), I met alumnus Mr Michael Leung, Sales Director of Hilti (Hong Kong) Ltd. From his sharing, I got to know Hilti, a construction product and solution supplier. I liked the sound of its caring culture and core values so I applied and, a er several rounds of interviews, received an o er ahead of graduation to join its global management development program as an Outperformer Trainee. Since then, I have rotated round di erent areas of the business in various corporate regional markets. I have worked as a sales representative and in the nance department. Currently, I am in Australia in the marketing department on a regional assignment. Later this year, I will start my international project in Europe. My suggestion for anyone joining an MSc program at the School of Engineering is: be proactive. Make the most of the T .......................................... Ms & Mr Young Tracy Jingyan Zhou MSc, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering ( ) Engineers Postgraduate studies at the School of Engineering are designed to widen horizons. Three Master of Science participants explain how they gained fresh perspectives
IN FOCUS 7 project helped me understand my own strengths and weaknesses. It also gave me wider exposure to the industry as I got to meet Ford’s Chief Executive O cer and other senior executives. Following graduation, I accepted an o er from Ford India to become a Stamping Feasibility Engineer. I am currently responsible for developing the Asia Paci c team. In this role, I have had the opportunity to travel to Ford’s corporate headquarters in the US to receive training, meet other colleagues and learn from them. I feel the organization has a wonderful work culture, and I am looking forward to building my career at the company. The Ford-HKUST research grant opening has had a major impact on my life and I hope it can continue to nurture more young engineers at HKUST and help them to spread their wings and pursue their dreams. aving been an automobile enthusiast from a young age and a person fascinated by how machines work and are designed, it wasn’t a di cult choice to pick Mechanical Engineering when I went to Anna University in India for my undergraduate studies. My four years of undergraduate education opened up new technologies and gave me fresh insight into the world of cars. For my nal year project, I also designed and built a robot that could clean up beaches. This interest in machines then became a passion and I joined Chrysler a er graduation as a design and analysis engineer. A er working for two years, I decided to take a break and go back to studying to learn about di erent trends as my eld is one involving the latest knowledge, technologies and applications. I applied to many leading universities around the world, with HKUST one of my top choices because of its world-class research facilities and student diversity. As a participant of the Ford-HKUST Conservation and Environmental Research Grants program, I had to create an alternative air-conditioning system powered by waste exhaust heat from the engine to replace the conventional system in cars and trucks. Being part of this semiconductor composites into traditional cement powder for environmental applications. It was a very special experience to go to Spain. I was based in Oviedo, a small city in the north, and the time I spent at the Institute proved a tremendous learning experience. I not only worked in a world-class research team with eminent scientists at the forefront of their respective elds, but very importantly I was also able to step out of my comfort zone and live and work in a country where English was not the main language. Spain is a diverse place and I thoroughly enjoyed living there and traveling around to di erent areas at weekends and other holidays. The internship also provided good insight into what a research career or PhD program would be like, which was really useful experience to gain as a master’s student. I am sure many more students will bene t from this great opportunity in future years. I am now looking forward to graduating and actively considering applying for a PhD program. rst attended HKUST as a chemical engineering undergraduate in . I then worked for one year and decided to return to the School of Engineering to pursue further studies in environmental engineering and management. Studying engineering is a natural choice for me as I have always been fascinated by science and competent at mathematics. I am particularly drawn to environmental engineering as there is an urgent need to develop strategies and technologies to create sustainable interaction between the natural environment and the technical domain. From a research perspective, I am particularly interested in environmental applications for waste materials, such as wastewater treatment and pollution abatement. During my master’s, I have had the opportunity to join the rst cohort of HKUST students undertaking an internship of up to six months with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), one of the largest public institutions dedicated to research in Europe. The project I worked on at the Instituto Nacional Del Carbon looked at incorporating adsorbents/ I .......................................... .............................. Praveen Balaj Balakrishnan MSc, Mechanical Engineering ( ) Stamping Feasibility Engineer, Ford India Anand Sreeram MSc, Environmental Engineering and Management ( ) Research Intern, Instituto Nacional Del Carbon, Oviedo, Spain H
8 IN FOCUS eld, and facilitating a two-week on-the-job training program at HAECO last summer. I am also a student member of the Royal Aeronautical Society, which holds monthly evening lectures and invites professionals to speak on more technical topics. While some parts of the discussion involve specialist knowledge, these talks have helped me to deepen my understanding of aviation. was really thrilled to nd out I would be one of the rst batch of students to be admitted to HKUST’s Aerospace Engineering major as it has always been my dream to become a professional in this eld. In my rst semester, I enrolled in several fundamental courses with other students from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. These were not speci c to aerospace and aeronautics but have provided a crucial foundation for my higher-level studies. I am looking forward to tackling subjects such as Aircra Structure and Aerodynamics in the future, and working hard to strengthen my basic knowledge in preparation for these harder courses. I have dreamt of being an aircra maintenance engineer since I was young. It amazes me that such huge planes can fly through the air and carry so many passengers. Learning about the care required to design a machine that combines so many small but essential components is also fascinating. Many people dream of sitting in the pilot’s seat, with its extraordinary bird’s eye view of the world. However, I am more interested in the technology and mechanics operating behind the scenes, and ensuring the safety of every aircra and its passengers. To widen my perspective of the aviation industry, I am currently taking part in the Aircra Engineer Development Scheme, a project organized by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and supported by Hong Kong Aircra Engineering Co Ltd (HAECO). The scheme has given me valuable insight and experience in numerous ways. These include site visits to aviation-related organizations, such as the Government Flying Service and Cathay Paci c, networking with professionals in the aircra maintenance The School of Engineering is rolling forward students’ dreams to reach for the skies. Three aerospace enthusiasts reveal how Joanne Yan Yu Lai BEng, Aerospace Engineering ( ) Recipient of Dean of Engineering Scholarship I Michelle Jia Ying Lee BEng, Mechanical Engineering ( ) Graduate Engineer, Cathay Paci c am passionate about aviation and chose to study Mechanical Engineering, as the subject was then the closest to aerospace engineering available in Hong Kong. In my nal year, I was one of a team of ve undergraduates that came second in a nationwide light sports aircra design competition organized by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). Our design, I We Flying .......................................... .......................................... Michelle (fourth from right, back row) and the “Inspiration” team. Photo credit: Airport Authority Hong Kong
IN FOCUS 9 single-engine aircra was designed by Van’s Aircra Inc, and is one of the most popular amateur-built planes. This project began as one pilot’s dream to build a plane locally and fly it around the globe. Along the way, hundreds of secondary students from St Paul’s Convent School (also my alma mater) became involved in its construction. Currently, the project team of dedicated pilots and engineers (including HKUST alumni!) is preparing for a series of test flights and the round-the-world trip that will start and end in Hong Kong. I had never been truly motivated until I started working on planes. There is never a dull moment because there is just so much to learn in this eld – the perfect example of doing what you love, and loving what you do. “Soaring Dragon”, was a two-seater amphibious aircra and we had to compete against over teams of master’s and doctoral students. I also had the opportunity to take part in international competitions such as Airbus Fly Your Ideas and exchange programs to Germany and Beijing, where I attended courses furthering my interest in aerospace. However, it was when I joined a one-year internship at Boeing, Cathay Paci c and Hong Kong Aero Engine Services Limited (HAESL) that I truly con rmed my passion for aviation. As a Graduate Engineer at Cathay Paci c, I am rotating within the Engineering Department to learn what it takes to ensure the safe operation of over aircra . Working for an airline makes you feel at the heart of the industry, where you get to decide on the aircra con guration before manufacturing, plan for the right suppliers, ensure compliance, and much more. My proudest project to date is being part of B-KOO “Inspiration” – the rst homebuilt aircra certi ed to fly under Hong Kong registration – which successfully took o from Hong Kong International Airport on November , . The kit-built RV- Tilting as it went, the aircra did get airborne to huge cheers from all the spectators. With every glide and turn made against the gusty wind, the team’s hard work seemed to be paying o . Although it was the aircra in the air, I felt as if it was my own rst flight as I had contributed to making it fly. A er such a momentous year with the Model Aircra Team, I furthered my interest by spending Summer at Harvard University as part of a design internship during which we built drones to carry local deliveries. I don’t know what I am going to do in the future. But one thing is certain. If I get to spend my life with aircra , I will consider myself successful. ince childhood, the stunning speeds at which aircra traverse the sky and the heights they achieve have appeared a captivating enigma to me. This puzzle became an inseparable part of my life and I began to see my future centering on aeronautics. With the opportunity to study at HKUST’s School of Engineering and the range of elds it opened up, I began to look for the way to achieve my dream. Being part of the Aeronautics Interest Group Model Aircra Team and taking part in the prestigious American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Design/Build/Fly Competition in Kansas in the United States proved the perfect opening. I led the sub-team that was responsible for writing the design report and also served as the team’s strategy manager. The competition brought many memorable experiences, which will remain in the team’s minds and hearts forever. For me, though, the most outstanding moment was seeing our aircra actually fly. A er long days and sleepless nights spent building it, nothing could be as rewarding as this. Given the windy conditions on the day of the competition, it was a nerve-wracking time watching our aircra roll down the runway. While our model had been well tested under normal wind conditions in Hong Kong, we had no idea if it would withstand the Wichita winds. As the power increased, all our hearts skipped a beat. Would it take o ? Mayank Kumar BEng, Mechanical Engineering ( ) Engineering Student Ambassador S High .......................................... Mayank ( rst right) and his teammates in the Harvard-HKUST Summer Research Program.
Two School of Engineering faculty members were honored in the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Outstanding Scienti c Research Output Awards (Science and Technology). These signi cant national awards recognize leading contributions to scienti c discovery and technological innovation carried out in tertiary institutions across China. Prof Huamin Qu, Computer Science and Engineering, received a Scienti c and Technological Progress Award, Second Class, for the project “Modeling, Analysis and Clinical Applications of Medical Image Data” carried out together with academics from Zhejiang University of Technology, Zhejiang University, and so ware industry collaborator BSOFT Ltd. The project developed analytical and visualization techniques for computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and di usion tensor imaging to help doctors provide rapid, accurate diagnosis and treatment. It included novel visualization methods and a user-friendly interface to assist medics in analyzing patients’ lesion sites and organs. The core techniques have been 10 IN FOCUS Science and Innovation Awards I defects and proactive mitigation measures, leading to water conservation and contributing to sustainable living in the city. A total of ve projects out of applications across institutions in Hong Kong were granted funding in this round of the Theme-based Research Scheme. School of Engineering faculty received funding for two. The second project, led by Prof Charles W W Ng, Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, also received HK$ . million to investigate slope stability and debris flow mechanisms (see P ). t is one of the givens of modern urban life to be able to turn on a tap and instantly receive water. Yet the systems that bring running water into our homes and workplaces are far from e cient. Indeed, the World Bank has estimated the cost of lost water from supply systems worldwide to be about US$ billion per year. Building better infrastructure for this critical resource is also a key concern locally, with the Hong Kong government instituting its Total Water Management ( ) and Water Intelligent Network ( ) policies and committing HK$ billion to rehabilitate and replace the city’s water supply infrastructure. Now a HKUST research team led by Prof Mohamed Ghidaoui, Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is set to contribute innovative solutions to this crucial issue a er receiving funding of HK$ . million for his “Smart Urban Water Supply Systems (Smart UWSS)” project proposal in the h round of the Research Grants Council’s Theme-based Research Scheme. The scheme is highly selective and an award indicative of research excellence. Prof Ghidaoui’s research, awarded under the theme of Developing a Sustainable Environment, encompasses a comprehensive program involving theoretical, laboratory and eld studies to develop a new diagnostic paradigm for water supply network monitoring and fault detection. The resulting data will be processed with advanced transient-based inverse methods and algorithms to pinpoint and characterize leaks, blockages and weak pipes. The research team comprises internationally recognized and cross-disciplinary members and will work collaboratively with the Hong Kong government’s Water Supplies Department. The ndings are expected to enable timely detection of urban water supply system ........................................................................ .......... Finding a Smarter Route to Urban Water Supply Systems
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 ................................................................................................................................................
wo School of Engineering senior academics were among the four named professors inaugurated at HKUST in April . The prestigious honor of a named professorship recognizes eminent faculty members and the donor who supports the title. At the ceremony, the second in HKUST’s Named Professorship Program, Prof Qiang Yang, Head and Chair Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, was appointed New Bright Professor of Engineering and Prof Xin Zhang, Chair Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, became Swire Professor of Aerospace Engineering. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR). Prof Zhang specializes in aircra aerodynamics and aeroacoustics and racing car aerodynamics and performance. Reducing aircra noise is a major part of his research. President Prof Tony F Chan said that such appointments ensured the University would maintain excellence in education and research by giving due recognition to exceptional faculty. There are now a total of six named professors at the School of Engineering. The professorships were the result of donations by long-time HKUST supporters Wong Check She Charitable Foundation and The Swire Group Charitable Trust respectively. Prof Yang joined HKUST in . His research focuses on frontier work in big data, data mining and arti cial intelligence. He was the founding director of Huawei’s Noah’s Ark Lab, also specializing in big data and arti cial intelligence, and program chair for the International Joint Conference on Arti cial Intelligence. Prof Yang is the founding editor-in-chief of ACM Transactions on Intelligent Systems and Technology and IEEE Transactions on Big Data and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Association for the Advancement of Arti cial Intelligence (AAAI), SENG Gains Two More Named Professorships wo Electronic and Computer Engineering professors have been elected Fellows of the prestigious Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), bringing the total number of IEEE Fellows at HKUST to *. Such Fellowships celebrate extraordinary contributions to the profession in any of IEEE elds following rigorous review. IEEE members total over , worldwide, encompassing countries. The number of Fellowship recipients each year does not exceed . % of the total voting IEEE membership. Prof Pascale Fung was recognized by IEEE for her contributions to human-machine interactions. Her research has encompassed multilingual language processing, machine translation and spoken language understanding. She is a founding member of the Human Language Technology Center at HKUST, the rst research center of its kind in Greater China. Prof Fung has also been elected Fellow of the International Speech Communication Association and has become Vice President of the Association for Computational Linguistics’ Special Interest Group on Linguistic Data and Corpus-Based Approaches to NLP (ACL SIGDAT). SIGDAT has been a pioneer in data-driven methods of natural language processing since the s. Prof Patrick Yue was recognized by IEEE for his contributions to the advancement of CMOS radio-frequency integrated circuits and device modeling. He is the Founding Director of the Center for Industry Engagement and Internship in the School of Engineering and Director of the HKUST-Qualcomm Joint Innovation and Research Laboratory. He was a co-recipient of the IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference Best Student Paper Award and author of one of the most cited papers yet in the IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits. Currently, he serves as an editor for the IEEE Electron Device Letters and IEEE Solid-State Circuits Magazine. Prof Yue has also chaired and organized a number of IEEE international conferences and is an Elected Administrative Committee Member for the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society. ECE Professors Elected IEEE Fellows T T 12 IN FOCUS *as of Dec
pilot research internship program was inaugurated in early between HKUST School of Engineering and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in Spain. With a desire to promote scienti c, academic and cultural exchanges between the two institutions, over internship positions were o ered from CSIC’s state-of-the-art national laboratories. Eight Master of Science (MSc) students from the MSc Programs in Civil Infrastructural Engineering and Management (CIEM), Environmental Engineering and Management (EVEM), Intelligent Building Technology and Management (IBTM), IC Design Engineering (ICDE), Mechanical Engineering (MECH) and Telecommunications (Telecom) took the opportunity to live and work in Spain for six months under this inaugural program. CSIC is the largest public research institution in Spain and the third largest in Europe, boasting leading research under a wide breadth of elds from the humanities to chemical science. It has eight elds of knowledge and researchers. As national labs with sophisticated equipment, CSIC has deep-seated connections with Spanish universities across the country. The program saw the students travel to Madrid, Seville, and Oviedo to conduct research in mechanical exoskeletons, cooperative indoor personal localization, and autonomous navigation for quadcopters, among others. Experiencing the Spanish culture, language, and lifestyle was another highlight of the internship. Research groups selected to host the MSc students were composed of individuals from diverse backgrounds. The cosmopolitan environment was excellent training for the researchers and students in their research or career development. Students also made a mark on cutting-edge research. Their labs found HKUST’s student interns to be excellent and creative researchers making important and meaningful contributions in advancing the eld of their study. In many cases, their works have provided invaluable experimental evidence and have driven the direction of the research. HKUST’s rst internship link with the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientí cas, CSIC) in Spain was established in , o ering Master of Science students research exposure in the largest research network in Spain A CSIC headquarters in Madrid, Spain Prof King Lun Yeung, Associate Dean of Engineering (Research and Graduate Studies), HKUST, and Prof Antonio Javier Sánchez Herencia, Deputy Vice-President of Scienti c Programming, CSIC Engineering Students Take Internship @CSIC
CSIC First Opens its Door to Non-Spanish University he School of Engineering is very pleased to have established a strong link between the largest public institution dedicated to research in Spain and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology School of Engineering.” Prof King Lun Yeung, Associate Dean of Engineering (Research and Graduate Studies), said. In , he initiated the joint network with Prof Miguel Angel Bañares of CSIC, the former Deputy Vice-President of Scientific Programming. The CSIC network, the third largest in Europe, first opened its door to a non-Spanish academic institution. “We are truly proud of our students being recognized as high quality and welcomed by their research laboratories. The first batch of students were o ered research projects to choose from,” Prof Yeung added. “I saw valuable mutual benefits from training of Hong Kong students and transferring knowledge and techniques of what we are using at CSIC that are relevant to HKUST. HKUST is an attractor to high-level people within and around Asia and is an epicenter of knowledge for neighboring Mainland China, Taiwan, India and Malaysia, attracting the best and brightest from the region.” Prof Bañares recalled why CSIC first connected with HKUST. “Students not only benefit from having interaction with our top-tier scientists on research, cultural learning from people from Spain and research group members from other parts of Europe would create intangible value for them to take away.” Prof Bañares also o ered tips to future students, “We expect students to take more initiative and be more proactive. Never be afraid to ask questions or to propose something, or have co ee with a colleague, discuss the work and come up with new ideas. That’s great for everyone.” he Centre for Automatics and Robotics (CAR) is one of the laboratories in which the MSc students worked. Led by Prof Pascual Campoy, the lab aims to provide unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) with the highest degree of autonomy by exploiting the powerful sensor of vision. Achieving technology transfer on image processing and control techniques to unmanned aerial system (UAS) civil applications is the laboratory’s major mission. Prof Campoy has already developed robust tracking techniques to aid air-to-air refuelling for aircra as well as improved helipad detection and recognition to aid autonomous landings. For his work in pose estimation of aircra and trajectory control, his group has won First Prize in the IMAV international competition, as well as Best Obstacle Avoidance Award and Best Trajectory Controller in IARC . Prof Campoy’s team has two professors, ve senior researchers & PhDs, three PhD students in addition to four master’s students, six graduate students, a backup pilot and a project manager. Our students are exposed to a fully internationalized research environment with people from the US, UK, France, Austria, Sweden, Netherlands, Portugal and China. .............................................................................. Students Work in State-of-the-Art Robotics Lab T T “
Student Perspectives: Hear from MSc students who went on this internship last year! Why did you participate in this internship? “The MSc program has taught me the theory, and the internship o ered me hands-on experience in applying the theory.” -Chunxu Wang What did this learning experience teach you? “I believe the hands-on experience from this internship and exposure to working in a multicultural environment will greatly benefit my future career.” -Yizhi Jiang “This internship o ered a slow transit point from studying as a student to working. It taught me more about living independently, communication with others, and working as part of a group - skills that will be useful in the workplace.” -Weiyan Jiang “It was an opportunity to grow as an individual. I improved my communication and organizational skills through working as a team. I also improved my analytical skills through analyzing my experimental results.” -Run Tian “I discovered that I am very interested in this eld and I would like to nd a job in this area!” -Tongyu Liu Why did you participate in this internship? “It provided an excellent insight into what a research career or a PhD program would be like.” -Anand Sreeram What did this learning experience teach you? “I had the opportunity to use sophisticated equipment during my research project. I believe it was very bene cial to learn these experimental techniques and material characterization methods. This knowledge is invaluable particularly to young scientists. The research aspects of the internship will certainly assist my future assignments or prospects.” -Anand Sreeram What impact did you make to your lab? “The project that I began in Spain will be continued by other members of the research team. They are con dent that they can produce a conference paper or publication soon about this subject.” -Anand Sreeram “For example, I explored a novel algorithm for wireless nodes to self-locate their position in a process called cooperative localization. This was an unfamiliar direction for the laboratory. Based on the results that I collected, they decided to proceed in this direction.” -Xufei Zheng The Academic Route Career-Orientated (From le , front row) Prof Miguel Angel Bañares, former Deputy Vice-President of Scienti c Programming, CSIC; Ms María Colmenares, Coordinator of Postgraduate and Specialization Department, CSIC; Prof King Lun Yeung, Associate Dean of Engineering (Research and Graduate Studies), HKUST; Prof Antonio Javier Sánchez Herencia, Deputy Vice-President of Scienti c Programming, CSIC; Prof Pascual Campoy, Director, Computer Vision Group, Center for Automatics and Robotics, Joint Venture Technical University Madrid-UPM and CSIC; Prof Angel Alvarez, Associate Vice-Rector for International Relations with Asia UPM Madrid; ( rst le , back row) Ms Diana Liu, Head of Communications and External A airs, School of Engineering, HKUST; ( rst right, back row) Ms Mandy Sin, Executive O cer of MSc and Professional Programs, School of Engineering, HKUST; and MSc students in the CSIC internship program
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