Francis S Y Bong Professorship in Engineering

According to the latest available figures from the HKSAR Government’s Transport Department, there were 745,677 licensed vehicles of all types on Hong Kong’s roads last year. Ten years earlier in December 2006, that figure was nearly 200,000 fewer at 552,980.

For many commuters, the reality is that gridlocked traffic is a daily part of their journey to work. And even with new roads such as the Wan Chai bypass currently under construction, Hong Kong’s physical limitations, a rising population and increasing vehicle numbers mean it is unlikely the congestion will ease anytime soon.

Professor Wong Sze-Chun is the Chair Professor and the Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He received his BSc(Eng) and MPhil degrees from HKU in 1986 and 1989 respectively, and a PhD in Transport Studies from University College London in 1994. His research is in traffic and transportation systems, the challenges of increasing congestion, dynamic network modelling, traffic flow theory, land use, and accident risks. His team is at the forefront of research into city traffic and pedestrian flows, smart signal control systems and road safety.

He has developed an innovative method to model macroscopic traffic movement in a high-density urban city environment that also analyses pedestrian crowds to predict their behaviour and characteristics as they move through urban centres. Professor Wong hopes his research will provide useful tools for city planners to design sustainable urban transport systems for overcrowded cities like Hong Kong.

Published extensively in the field of transport, Professor Wong has more than 280 papers in refereed journals, in addition to numerous conference papers and presentations, including 70 keynote and invited talks. His articles have attracted more than 4,000 citations, garnering him an h-index of 34 according to the ISI Web of Science. Currently, Professor Wong is the Editor-in-Chief of two international journals, Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, and the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. Since 1995, he has been awarded more than HK$16 million by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (including funding for 16 projects from its General Research Fund scheme) and other sources in his capacity as principal investigator.

Professor Wong’s research has also been widely recognised over the years. He received the Shanghai Science and Technology Award (Second Class) of China in 2016, the Best Paper Award (Editors’ Choice, Outstanding Paper) from the ASCE Journal of Transportation Engineering in 2011, and the Best Paper Award at the 9th International Conference of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies in 2011.

He has served on four international committees: the Network Modeling Committee; the Committee on Traffic Flow Theory and Characteristics of the Transportation Research Board; the Committee of Application of Advanced Technologies in Transportation of the American Society of Civil Engineers; and the International Scientific Committee of the Eastern Asian Society for Transportation Studies. Locally Professor Wong, a Justice of the Peace, serves on numerous government committees. He is currently Vice-Chairman of the Town Planning Board, a member of the Advisory Council on the Environment, and is on the Development Committee of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, the Road Safety Research Committee, and the Road Safety Campaign Committee. In 2015, Professor Wong was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star from the HKSAR Government.