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Researchers at the iLab under the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) won the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering (JME) Best Peer Reviewed Paper Award for 2022.

Founded in 1852, American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) is the oldest engineering society in the US. It now represents more than 150,000 members of the civil engineering profession in 177 countries. It is also the world’s largest publisher of civil engineering content and an authoritative source for codes and standards that protect the public.

The iLab team is led by Professor Wilson Lu and Dr. Frank Xue. Other authors included Mr. Liupengfei Wu, Mr. Rui Zhao, Dr. Jinying Xu and Dr. Xiao Li.

Their award-winning paper titled “Using blockchain to improve information sharing accuracy in the onsite assembly of modular construction” provides an innovative blockchain-based concept model for sharing accurate information among stakeholders. This is crucial for onsite assembly in modular construction and can minimize the issues related to assembly rework, labor, time, and occupational health and safety.

An award presentation ceremony was held during the ASCE Annual Convention, in the US from 23 to 26 October. Mr. Liupengfei Wu and Dr. Jinying Xu attended the ceremony and represented the team to receive the award.   

The JME is one of the flagship journals operated by ASCE that offers an avenue for researchers and practitioners to present contemporary issues associated with management and leadership for civil engineers. It has six issues, publishing only around 120 papers in total for a year. The Best Paper Award was selected by a committee of journal editorial board members.

Other awards presented at the ceremony included Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Civil Engineering, Awards for Cross-Discipline Papers and Awards for Researchers.

About the winning paper
Wu, L., Lu, W.S., Zhao, R., Xu, J., Li, X., and Xue, F. (2021). Using blockchain to improve information sharing accuracy in the onsite assembly of modular construction. ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0001029.

About iLab
iLab was established in 2016 under the Faculty of Architecture as an urban big data lab to take the opportunities and challenges as instigated by the global visions of Smart City and Industry 4.0. (FoA).  It has made significant break-through in modernizing the construction industry in Hong Kong and beyond.  The award-winning project is supported by an Innovation and Technology Fund: “BIM Square: Blockchain and i-Core-enabled Multi-stakeholder Building Information Modelling Platform for Construction Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Hong Kong”.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Communications and Public Affairs Office
Ms Melanie Wan (Email: melwkwan@hku.hk)
Ms Jaymee Ng (Email: ngjaymee@hku.hk)
Mr Kenneth Choi (Email: khkchoi@hku.hk)