Five faculty members from different engineering departments have recently received prestigious fellowships from various professional organizations.
 

Prof Christopher Leung, Civil and Environmental Engineering, has become a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) for his research in composite materials and their applications in civil engineering. He is a pioneer in the development of pseudo-ductile cementitious composites (PDCC), which exhibit high deformation and energy-absorption capabilities as well as the ability to limit the opening of cracks and hence better resist the penetration of water and chemicals. First studied in the early 1990’s, the material has now been employed in the US, Japan and China for various applications including structural members in buildings to enhance seismic resistance, deck surface and joints of bridges to improve durability, and the surface repair of deteriorated concrete dams. Prof Leung’s major contribution is the establishment of a fundamental theory which provides material selection guidelines to achieve the desirable properties of PDCC. He has also developed several strategic applications of PDCC, with corresponding component designs, to facilitate the use of this new material in construction practice. With around 80,000 and 27,000 members respectively, ICE and IStructE are two of the world’s largest professional bodies in the fields of civil and structural engineering.  For both institutions, fellow is the most senior membership grade, and is awarded in recognition of significant contributions to the engineering profession and/or advancement of engineering practice.

Prof Jianan Qu, Electronic and Computer Engineering, has been elected a Fellow of the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) for his achievements in biomedical optics, including the areas of the optical diagnosis of early cancer and multiphoton spectroscopy. His significant research discoveries have pioneered a variety of highly innovative technologies that pave the road for the translation of advanced optical technologies to molecular bio-imaging and clinical applications. His group discovered that under physiological conditions, hemoglobin emits strong fluorescence of an extremely short lifetime via two-photon excitation, and demonstrated that hemoglobin can be used as an endogenous contrast agent for label-free imaging of microvascular networks and for noninvasive monitoring of microcirculatory functions in living biological systems. His deep understanding of interactions of electromagnetic wave with biological tissue combined with optical design/instrumentation and clinical imaging technology allows for the derivation of an elegant relationship between the diffuse reflection and fluorescence from tissue, and most importantly the development of a novel quantitative fluorescence imaging technology for the detection of diseased tissue.

Prof Ravindra Goonetilleke, Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management, has become the first member from Hong Kong and the Greater China region to be elected as a Fellow of the United States Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES). This honor acknowledges his outstanding professional contributions to the Society and to the field of human factors and ergonomics, and his achievements to advance the discipline and science of human factors and ergonomics. He has over 150 publications in the area of Ergonomics Design and holds many US and China patents. He is a well sought out speaker and consultant who has worked with numerous multinational companies all around the world over the years. His book, “Science of Footwear”, encompassing some of his research related footwear, was published in November 2012 by the CRC press. His work on design related issues is held in high-esteem all over the world. His various projects have won top awards in and out of Hong Kong. Founded in 1957, HFES is a member of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) with a mission to promote the discovery and exchange of knowledge on people characteristics to the design of differing kinds of systems and devices. Prof Goonetilleke is also a representative from Hong Kong to the IEA.

Prof Tongyi Zhang, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been elected a Fellow of the International Congress on Fracture - The World Academy of Structural Integrity (ICF-WASI) for his research in the interdisciplinary area between materials science and solid mechanics. He has made significant contributions to the fracture of piezoelectric materials under electrical and/or mechanical loading. He has established a novel testing technique, called microbridge tests, to characterize the mechanical properties of materials in small scales, which is very difficult to achieve in a conventional way. Recently, he discovered the mechanism behind the size-dependent mechanical properties of nanomaterials such as nanowires and thin films. Prof Zhang is also Vice-President of the ICF Society. Founded in 1965, ICF is one of the leading international societies to foster research in the broad field of structural integrity, fracture, fatigue, creep, corrosion and reliability.

Also from Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Prof Ricky Lee, was elected Fellow of the International Microelectronics Assembly and Packaging Society (IMAPS), which is the largest professional society dedicated to the advancement and growth of microelectronics and electronics packaging. Prof Lee has been focusing his R&D efforts on the packaging and assembly of ICs, optoelectronic devices, and microsystems. His research activities cover chip scale and wafer level packaging, TSVs and 3D IC integration, LED packaging, and solder joint reliability. Based on the outcome of his research, Prof Lee has published more than two hundred technical papers in international journals and conference proceedings. He also co-authored three technical books and eight book chapters. Prof Lee’s technical contributions are not only gauged by the quantity of his publications, but also the quality. He is a two-time recipient of JEP Best Paper Award conferred by ASME. He also won seven other best/excellent paper awards in international conferences. Prof Lee has made vital contributions in the following areas: (1) applications of finite element method and fracture mechanics to the stress analysis of electronic components and systems; (2) investigation of board level solder joint reliability under thermal and mechanical loading; (3) research on TSV technologies for 3D IC integration; and (4) development of LED wafer level packaging technologies. A large number of researchers, engineers and students around the world have been using Prof Lee’s publications as their major sources of references. Prof Lee is also Fellow of IEEE, ASME, Institute of Physics (IoP, UK).