The School of Energy and Environment (SEE) at CityUHK is proud to announce the recent promotions of five distinguished faculty members. Their outstanding contributions to research, education, and the broader academic community have been instrumental in advancing the School’s mission and their respective fields. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to each of them on this well-earned recognition and look forward to their continued success.

Prof. Chunhua Liu will be promoted to Chair Professor

Prof. Liu has been promoted to the esteemed position of Chair Professor with the title of Chair Professor of Electrical Energy Engineering. He has made significant contributions to the fields of smart energy conversion, energy electrification, and electric propulsion. His research encompasses electric machines (design, analysis, and control), electrified transportation (electric vehicles, electric aircraft, and electric ships), electric robotics and electric propulsion systems, power electronics (power converters and wireless power transfer), renewable energy integration, and power grids. Prof. Liu has led over 30 major projects and has an extensive publication record, including more than 200 journal papers and 100 conference papers. His work is widely recognized, earning him numerous citations and a place among Stanford's top 2% most highly cited scientists since 2020. He has also received invitations to contribute to prestigious publications such as the Proceedings of the IEEE. Prof. Liu's dedication to advancing research in energy and the environment is evident through his innovative solutions and impactful contributions to the field. Additionally, he was awarded the 3rd Prize of the Invention Geneva Award and the Gold Award at the 4th Asia Exhibition of Innovations and Inventions (AEII) in 2024.

Prof. Lin Zhang will be promoted to Professor

Prof. Zhang’s research focuses on sustainability economics and governance, including climate change, low-carbon transition, and sustainability, covering mainly eight out of the seventeen UN SDGs. In his pursuit of regional sustainable development, his work utilizes economic methods to seek policy solutions for energy and environmental sustainability from interdisciplinary perspectives. Prof. Zhang has been ranked among the world’s top 2% scientists according to metrics compiled by Stanford University and is recognized as a top scholar (top 0.5%) in social sciences by ScholarGPS. In 2024, Prof. Zhang was selected as one of the eighteen SUSI Scholars on economics and sustainable development globally, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. He now serves as the editor for The Energy Journal and is a council member of the International Association for Energy Economics. According to Scopus, over 90% of his publications are mapped to the seventeen UN SDGs. Recently, he published a paper titled "Energy–poverty–inequality SDGs: A large-scale household analysis and forecasting in China" in PNAS. His work has been cited in policy papers by international organizations such as the WTO, EU, and OECD.

Prof. Henry Y. He will be promoted to Associate Professor with Substantiation

Prof. He focuses his research on environmental chemistry and aquatic toxicology. His work involves characterizing the occurrences, distributions, and transformations of emerging contaminants in aquatic environments. Prof. He employs a variety of chemical and toxicological tools to understand the exposure, toxic mechanisms, and health risks of emerging contaminants.

Prof. Jason C. H. Lam will be promoted to Associate Professor with Substantiation

Prof. Lam focuses his research on electrocatalysis to transform renewable feedstock and waste materials into chemicals and fuels. His work includes upgrading biomass, treating wastewater pollutants through electrochemical advanced oxidation processes, and extracting metals from electronic waste. Currently, Prof. Lam is engaged in several ongoing projects, including developing a scalable electrometallurgical treatment strategy to extract and capture valuable metals from waste printed circuit boards. He was recognized in the 2024 Stanford/Elsevier top 2% scientists list and was awarded the Teaching Excellence Award (TEA) in 2023/24 for his exceptional commitment to inspiring students to have a passion for learning through innovative teaching methods.

Prof. Liang Dong will be promoted to Associate Professor with Substantiation

Prof. Dong focuses on interdisciplinary research in urban sustainability, sustainability science and policy, and their application in circular economy, corporate Environmental-Social-Governance (ESG), Net Zero and carbon neutrality policy analysis, sustainable human-techno-environmental system design, and sustainable urban planning, using advanced spatial and data-driven techniques. Additionally, Prof. Dong has provided academic consulting services to various organizations, advancing eco-industrial development and sustainable urban transitions globally. His achievements have been recognized with awards such as Stanford's top 2% most highly cited scientists (2020 to 2024), ranking as the #1 author in “Industrial Symbiosis; Sustainable Development; Circular Economy” from 2013 to 2022 in Scopus, and “Best Scientists in Environmental Sciences” (2023, 2024) by Research.com.

We proudly celebrate the outstanding achievements of our esteemed faculty members at the School of Energy and Environment. Their promotions underscore their dedication, expertise, and relentless pursuit of knowledge in their respective fields. We are confident that their ongoing contributions will drive the School forward in its mission to address critical energy and environmental challenges. We would like to once again extend our warmest congratulations to Prof. Chunhua Liu, Prof. Lin Zhang, Prof. Henry He, Prof. Jason Lam and Prof. Liang Dong on their well-deserved promotions.