Excellence in Research - Faculty of Construction and Environment

Selected Current PhD Students
Department of of Land Civil Surveying and Structural and Geo-Informatics
Engineering
BORANA Lalit
TONG Fei
Supervisor
Prof. YIN Jianhua
Project title
Study of the Interface Behavior between Unsaturated
Soil and Steel Surface
“I got my B.Eng. in Civil Engineering from Visveswaraiah Technological
University in India in May 2006 and my M.Tech in Geotechnical
Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in July
2008. After that I worked as an Assistant Engineer from Aug. 2008 to
Dec. 2009 at Consulting Engineering Services Pvt Ltd. In New Delhi. The
objective of my present research is to investigate the shear strength
behavior of unsaturated soil and soil-steel interface. To achieve this,
systematic laboratory experiments are performed on completely
decomposed granitic soil and steel surfaces. Based on the results
obtained, a new mathematical model for estimating the unsaturated
shear strength shall be formulated and validated using a pipe pile.”
FONG Man
Supervisor
Prof. YIN Jianhua
Project title
Study on the Time-dependent Stress-Strain
Behaviour of Clayey Soils
“I was enrolled in the PhD programme in Nov last year, to study Timedependent
Stress-Strain Behaviour of Clayey Soils. It is really an
interesting and completely new field. At the very beginning, I found it
hard to adapt to the living tempo here, and the fact that the people
here speak a different language, and even to the wet weather. Gradually
I learn to work independently, and cherish all the great facilities which
the campus offers, and respect whatever that deserves attention. I
think life is actually not easy. The key to success is to do the common
things uncommonly well. Once a person has a dream, he will confront
difficulties. I do enjoy the study, the campus. I would make everyeffort to
realize my dream.”
ZHANG Shi Shun
Supervisor
Prof. CHAN Siu Lai
Project title
Second-order Analysis of Imperfect Light-weight and
Composite Structures
“I graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University with a BEng (Hons)
degree in 2007. I am currently a PhD research student in the Department
of Civil and Structural Engineering. My research aims to replace the
traditional and incontinent first-order analysis and design method with a
new and accurate second-order analysis and design method. Owing to the
rapid development and application of steel-concrete composite structures,
a reliable and efficient analysis and design method is required for industrial
uses. My research is also applicable to daily design as it satisfies the code
requirements. In order to put my research findings into practice, I was
involved in the development of software for the advanced analysis of
composite structures. During my studies, I participated in an attachment
programme and stayed at the University of Western Sydney for four
months. This programme provided a variable opportunity for me to gain a
global dimension to my knowledge and enriched my life.”
Taormina Riccardo
Supervisor
Prof. TENG Jin-Guang
Project title
Behaviour and Modelling of Concrete Structures
Strengthened with Near-surface Mounted (NSM) FRP
Reinforcement
“To a research student, the most interesting aspect of a university is its
library collections and electronic resources. The Hong Kong Polytechnic
University is very well-equipped in these aspects, and I can get almost any
information I want here. If a book or other kinds of resources cannot be
collected directly in the library, the staff will transfer it over from other
libraries or organizations. This facilitates our research study very much.
In addition, conferences and seminars by famous people are frequently
held, which help expand our horizons and enrich our research ideas.
My supervisor always asks us to think independently, study rigorously
and accept new things after understanding them. He also tells us that a
reasonable research style will enhance better future results. The research
group members communicate with and learn from each other, especially
in the weekly group meetings in which we are asked to give individual
presentations to report our progress and receive suggestions from the
supervisor and other group members. In this way, we are not only obtaining
knowledge but also learning important skills.”
48
Supervisor
Prof. CHAU Kwok Wing
Project title
Parallelization of Evolutionary Algorithms and
Artificial Neural Networks for Modeling Hydrological
Time Series on CUDA-enabled GPUs
“I obtained my Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Environmental
Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, Italy. After a brief work experience
as a consultant, I returned to academia as a Research Assistant for two
different departments of Politecnico di Torino, doing research in the
field of groundwater modeling, artificial intelligence and meteorological
nowcasting. In 2010 I was awarded the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship by
the Research Grant Council, to pursue a PhD in Coastal and Hydraulic
Engineering at the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering. My
research deals with the application of artificial intelligence and GPU
parallel computing for the prediction of hydrological variables and the
development of watershed models. I am currently focusing my energies on
the implementation of machine learning techniques on the CUDA parallel
programming framework devised by NVIDIA.”