To further deepen international exchange and broaden students' international perspectives, our college sent 126 undergraduate and postgraduate students to Hong Kong for a two-day study visit from November to December 2024.

During the program, through face-to-face exchanges with professional scholars from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), City University of Hong Kong (CityU), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), students jointly studied and discussed the frontier development trends and challenges of intelligent construction and smart transportation, learned about the hotspots and research achievements of current interdisciplinary research, and were helped to open up new ideas in career planning and academic development.

1. HKU Special Lecture on Intelligent Construction

During the study visit, Professor DENG Xiaowei of HKU shared his team's research directions on the theme of intelligent construction, including the use of data-driven artificial intelligence technology for numerical modeling of complex renewable energy systems and its application to lightweight smart materials and structural design in the fields of civil engineering, mechanics and aviation, which greatly stimulated the students' strong interest in the field of intelligent construction and their desire to explore interdisciplinary applications.

In addition, Professor DENG shared "The Historical Opportunities of Hong Kong Civil Engineering and an Introduction to the HKU Department of Civil Engineering Master's Programs," introducing the advantages and opportunities of the Hong Kong civil engineering industry compared with the mainland, sharing the choice of career paths, and, in combination with the research directions, curriculum and application requirements of the HKU Department of Civil Engineering, sharing HKU's efforts in cultivating innovative talents and promoting industry progress. He particularly mentioned that HKU's international environment and rich academic resources provide students with a broad development platform, and encouraged SZU students who aspire to further their studies in the field of civil engineering to apply actively.

2. HKU Laboratory Visit

In addition to the lecture, the students also visited on site the IMSE CAVE laboratory of the HKU Faculty of Engineering and HKU's newest InnoWing (Tech Innovation Wing) laboratory.

IMSE CAVE is a high-tech virtual system developed by the HKU Faculty of Engineering by combining top-tier engineering design and innovative virtual technology. The system combines sensors, distributed computing, big data processing and management to provide a highly realistic virtual environment as if one were on site. IMSE CAVE provides a high-performance virtual environment at low cost and can be flexibly applied to industrial, commercial and non-commercial purposes; with only a small room of a few square meters, one can explore an unlimited virtual space at any time, using motion capture and VR technology to provide cost-effective design, analysis and evaluation of complex engineering systems and operations. On site, the students experienced it first-hand by connecting data gloves, trackers, joysticks and a motion platform.

The HKU InnoWing is one of the newest cutting-edge technology maker spaces in Hong Kong and across Asia, equipped with comprehensive prototyping facilities. With the sharing of student volunteers from the Faculty of Engineering, the students learned about the achievements in interdisciplinary engineering technology fields such as intelligent construction and sustainable development.

The visit to these two laboratories not only allowed the students to witness the charm of cutting-edge technology, but also inspired their enthusiasm for technological innovation.

3. HKU Campus Tour

In addition to their studies, the students toured the HKU campus, visiting the Centennial Campus, the HKU Red Wall, the Stephen Hui Geological Museum and other sites, walking up the steps along Sun Yat-sen Street, enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Lotus Pond and the Moon Spring, viewing exhibitions at the HKU University Museum and Art Gallery, and listening to the stories of graduates in front of the HKU Main Building. With the interweaving of a sense of historical depth and a modern spirit of innovation, the visit gave the students a deep appreciation of HKU's academic atmosphere and cultural heritage.

4. PolyU Visit

Subsequently, the students visited The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and held an in-depth exchange and discussion with Dr. WU of the Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering. At the meeting, Dr. WU not only gave a detailed introduction to the basic situation and advantages of PolyU as well as the further-study pathways, application procedures and scholarship information in the civil engineering direction, but also shared their research achievements and experience in industry-university-research transformation in the field of building environment and energy engineering, answering the students' questions about further study and scientific research, and helping students who intend to pursue further studies to plan their future academic path.

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5. HKUST Visit

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is located on the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the Sai Kung District of the New Territories, Hong Kong, nestled against the mountains and facing the sea, with pleasant scenery. Guided by doctoral students from the Department of Civil Engineering and the Department of Engineering, the students enjoyed the scenery along the way and familiarized themselves with the campus environment of HKUST. Through exchanges with doctoral students, they learned about the academic atmosphere of the HKUST Department of Civil Engineering, as well as the doctoral application procedures at HKUST and information on university and Hong Kong government scholarships.

6. City University of Hong Kong

During the visit to City University of Hong Kong, the students focused on visiting the building services and construction engineering laboratories, the heavy structural testing laboratory and the materials laboratory, which are closely related to the Department of Civil Engineering, and exchanged views with current doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers on their academic experiences, research progress and their feelings about studying and living at City University of Hong Kong.

7. Summary

The year 2024 is the start of the inaugural year of our college's internationalization. The college takes the cultivation of high-level talents with an international perspective as its core. This cohort-based study visit to Hong Kong is an attempt by our college in cultivating internationalized talents. Looking to the future, we will continue to uphold the spirit of the college motto "Tamping the earth to build integrity, honing the timber to attain excellence," constantly explore new academic fields and practical opportunities, and strive to cultivate more outstanding talents with an international perspective and innovative ability.