Selected Projects

Development of an energy efficient-rapid microalgae cells harvesting and disruption method to facilitate the downstream processing of biofuel production by using a novel synthesized cationic polymer coated magnetic nanocomposites
Principal Investigator: Dr CHAN Cho Yin Joe (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 806,250
Keywords: Microalgae biomass harvesting, Renewable energy production, Microalgae biofuel production, Microalgae biomass desorption, Cationic magnetic nanocomposites

The Design and Development of a Multi-lane Facing-down Remote Sensing of Emissions (MFRSE) System
Principal Investigator: Dr CHAN Fuk Cheung Edward (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - IDS Collaborative Research Grant
Grant total: HK$ 4,015,000
Keywords: Diesel vehicle emission, Facing-down remote sensing, Multi-lane interference, Inspection and maintenance, Computation fluid dynamics

A mechanistic study on the combination uses of doxorubicin with Salvia Miltiorriza Bunge (Danshen) in treating drug-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma in vitro and in vivo
Principal Investigator: Dr CHAN Shun Wan (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 809,010
Keywords: Herb-drug interaction, P-glycoprotein, synergistic effect, metabolomics

Imagination of Cityscape: A Study on Post-1997 Hong Kong Young Writers
Principal Investigator: Dr CHAU Man Lut (School of General Education and Languages)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 384,200
Keywords: Sense of place, Hong Kong Literature, Post-1997 Hong Kong Young Writers, Space, Structure of Feelings

Optimization of antioxidant activities of polysaccharides or polysaccharide-protein complexes from medicinal mushrooms by modulation of ultrasound-assisted extraction effect on the molecular structures and physicochemical properties
Principal Investigator: Dr CHEUNG Yi Ching Anna (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 565,279
Keywords: Ultrasound, Polysaccharide, Antioxidant activities, Modulation, Medicinal mushrooms

Study of potential synergistic effect of probiotic formulas in reducing acrylamide and ethyl carbamate in selected foods
Principal Investigator: Dr CHOI Siu Mei Emily (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 739,083
Keywords: Acrylamide, Ethyl carbamate, Synergistic effect, Probiotic formulas, In vitro digestion

Mechanistic studies of ferrate(VI) oxidation of pollutants and biological molecules in aqueous solutions
Principal Investigator: Dr LAM Wai Yan William (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 823,500
Keywords: Mechanism, Ferrate, Iron, Amino acids, Antioxidants
Molecular Characterisation of Lipid-associated Protein Trafficking Pathway in Plant Cells
Principal Investigator: Dr LAW Ho Yin Angus (School of General Education and Languages)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 746,304
Keywords: Endocytosis, Plasma membrane recycling, Protein trafficking, GPI-anchor proteins, Lipid Raft

Seminar Series on "Finding our way out for our urban forest - the lessons learned from the aftermath after super typhoon"
Principal Investigator: Dr LAW Man Yee Caroline (Faculty of Design and Environment)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Inter-institutional Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 357,290
Keywords: Ecology, Urban Studies and Planning

Synthesis of PHAs using carbon source from ferrous activated persulfate oxidation combined with alkaline fermentation of excessive activated sludge
Principal Investigator: Dr LIU Yaohui Keane (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 812,000
Keywords: Carbon source, alkaline fermentation, advanced oxidation

Development of composite separators with superior thermal characteristics for safety enhancement of next generation lithium-ion batteries
Principal Investigator: Dr LU Xiao-ying (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 943,440
Keywords: Composite separators, Plastic waste, Thermal conductivity, Battery safety, Electrospinning

Study on the use of high percentage reclaimed asphalt pavement materials in road construction in Hong Kong
Principal Investigator: Dr LUK Sung Hei Henry (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 847,420
Keywords: Perpetual pavement design, mechanistic analysis, fatigue resistance

The rise of youth activism
Principal Investigator: Dr NG Vitrierat Sophia (School of General Education and Languages)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 675,168
Keywords: Youth, protest, activism, politics

Development of a high-efficiency and low-cost UV-LED/chlorine process for removal of antibiotic resistant bacteria and their resistance genes in municipal wastewater disinfection
Principal Investigator: Dr NGAI King Wah Edith (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 911,475
Keywords: Antibiotic resistant bacteria, antibiotic resistance genes, chlorine photolysis, UV-LEDs, disinfection

Effects of sewage sludge-Chinese medicinal herbal residue-biochar amendment on antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes in agricultural soil and plants
Principal Investigator: Dr PAN Min (Faculty of Design and Environment)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 782,942
Keywords: Sewage sludge, Chinese medicinal herbal residues, Biochar amendment, Antibiotics and ARGs, Agricultural soil and plant

Treatment and catalytic upgrading of mixed oil wastes and wood/paper wastes to transportation fuels in Hong Kong
Principal Investigator: Dr TSANG Chi Wing Alex (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 1,040,982
Keywords: Heterogeneous catalytic system, wood wastes, cooking oil wastes, wastes conversion and management, bio-renewable fuels

Investigation on effects of biodiesel blends on gas- and particulate-phase light duty diesel vehicle exhaust emissions
Principal Investigator: Dr WANG Bei Helen (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 780,174
Keywords: Particulate matter, Vehicle exhaust emission, VOCs, PAHs, Biodiesel

A study of shear strength and seismic performance of non-seismically designed reinforced concrete eccentric beam-column joint
Principal Investigator: Ir Dr WONG Ho Fai Simon (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 697,000
Keywords: Ductility, seismic performance, eccentric beam-column joint, reversed cyclic load

Modelling Relevance using Document-Context and Deep Neural Networks in Ad-hoc Information Retrieval
Principal Investigator: Dr WU Ho Chung Jack (Faculty of Design and Environment)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 565,836
Keywords: Information Retrieval, Learning-to-Rank, Deep Learning, Document-Context, Relevance Feedback

Development of a novel photocatalytic membrane system for bacteria-resistant organics oxidation in wastewater
Principal Investigator: Dr YAN Yuk Shing Dickson (Faculty of Science and Technology)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 920,100
Keywords: Wastewater treatment, advanced oxidation process, filtration, pharmaceutical, fields

Soil Properties and Microbial Communities in Relation to Tree Performance across Urban Green Space (UGS) Types in Hong Kong
Principal Investigator: Dr ZHANG Hao Allen (Faculty of Design and Environment)
Funder: Research Grants Council - Faculty Development Scheme
Grant total: HK$ 881,426
Keywords: Urban forests, air quality, ecosystem services