Undergraduate Courses 2023-24

Fundamentals of environmental impact assessment will be discussed. Life cycle analysis of carbon and energy will be introduced using case studies. Principles of environmental engineering for control of air, water, solid and noise pollution will be discussed, including global pollution, pollution prevention and minimization. Cost of available technologies will be analyzed.

This common core course takes students on a chemical journey, through which they will learn what is chemistry and how chemistry connects with every part of our daily life. Students will engage in an experiential learning study project and a mini-research task; they will also learn chemical concepts through many real-life case studies. The basic ideas and principles of chemistry, as well as many chemical topics of everyday relevance will be discussed in this course: such as air, water, metals, minerals, air pollution, global warming, ozone depletion, batteries, fire and fuels, food and drinks, household chemical products and plastics. Students taking this course are not required to have studied Chemistry before.

Topics covered include fundamentals of sampling issues, sample pretreatment techniques, water Analysis of major and trace constituents; determination of inorganic and organic gas pollutants, Atmospheric analysis of particulate matter, determination of soil pollutants, environmental control standards, chemometrics in environmental analysis. For students with major or minor in Chemistry and in Environmental Science only.

Introduction to up-to-date environmental issues in both local and global scales; providing essential physical, chemical, biological and societal concepts required to understand the nature of pollution and environmental problems; applying science, engineering, management and social science approaches to solutions to environmental issues that affect our water, air, land, eco-systems, living environment, and sustainable development. The objective of this course is to equip our next generation leaders in different disciplines with enhanced environmental awareness and knowledge of tools and solutions to environmental issues. They will therefore be able to make responsible decisions and actions, with due consideration of the environment and sustainability. Each lesson is divided into two parts. The first part is the introduction and discussion of essential concepts and environmental issues and debates of these issues and will be delivered and guided by the instructor. The second part involves presentations of projects, focus studies, or service learning activities of new, emerging environmental issues selected by student groups, with emphases on solutions to the issues.

An introduction to civil engineering practice and infrastructure development, with an emphasis on Hong Kong projects. The basic principles, materials and technology used in typical civil engineering works such as foundations, buildings, bridges, slopes and water supply systems, etc. Infrastructure management and maintenance issues; social-economic aspects of large-scale civil engineering projects such as environmental protection, urban planning and development, etc.

Present current environmental issues and management concepts; apply essential chemical and physical principles required to understand pollution problems; integrate knowledge from science and engineering to solve and assess environmental problems affecting water, air, noise and waste; cover concepts, ordinances and case studies of environmental impact assessment of civil infrastructure projects.

Introduction to basic concepts of water quality, fundamentals of water and wastewater treatment processes, analysis of treatment process flowsheets, analysis of water quality management alternatives.

This course introduces basic and fundamental knowledge essential to the design and analysis of hydrosystems engineering problems (e,g., water supply, flood control, stormwater drainage, etc.). The course consists of two interrelated parts: hydrology and hydraulics. Hydrology covers various processes of water cycle (including precipitation, infiltration, rainfall-runoff modeling, and flow routings) that produce loads on hydrosystems. Hydraulics, on the other hand, applies fluid mechanics principles to the design and analysis the capacity of hydrosystems infrastructures such as pipe networks and channel networks as well as hydraulic machinery.

Basic principles in the process design of environmental engineering facilities, such as water and wastewater treatment systems, pump station, as well as sanitary landfill disposal.

The course integrates the knowledge of hydrology, hydraulics, statistics, economics, and optimization in the dealing with municipal hydrosystems engineering and management. In particular, focuses will be given to quantity aspect of water supplies and water excesses. The hydrosystems to be covered include water distribution, urban sewage and stormwater drainage, reservoirs/detention facilities, pumps, etc.

This course is a mixture of lecture, reading, and group project focused on urban hydroclimate and the built environment, particularly their interactions through the energy-water-climate nexus. Lectures will cover mathematical laws and physical concepts of heat, moisture and mass transport in the built environment, as well as implications of urban hydroclimate on smart city development in the 21st century. Through hands-on tutorials, students will learn a numerical model and use it to explore the impact of neighborhood design on urban thermal environment, including the usage of novel engineering materials, urban landscape and building technology.

Throughout human history, engineering has driven the advance of civilization. In the past century engineering has recorded its greatest accomplishments, but for all these accomplishments the century ahead poses formidable problems sustaining civilization advancement. This course will broaden and raise student's awareness of challenges faced by coming generations such as climate change, clean water and healthcare. Students will work in small groups in a collaborative learning environment to explore in details and in multiple dimensions the key issues around selected major challenges with experts in the areas. Suggested and proposed engineering solutions based on advances in science and technology will be explored and discussed. Students will be encouraged to develop and present their own innovative engineering approaches to address these major challenges.

This course is intended for UG students of all backgrounds. The course will cover concepts in environmental health including topics on outdoor and indoor environments, workplace, water and sewage, food, genetically modified organism, solid waste, communicable diseases, vectors and control, injury prevention, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, nanomaterials, environmental health standards, monitoring methods, energy related health issues, natural and manmade disasters, etc. The discussions on each of these topics will include nature of the issue, known and potential health effects, control and regulatory approaches. Local and regional examples will be used where applicable.

Understanding our environment, including the ecology, biodiversity and cycles of environmental ecosystems, human environmental impacts such as climate change, energy use, chemical toxicology, waste disposal, water and air pollution; conservation; exploration of new green technologies to reduce impacts, environmental law and changes in policies to ensure sustainability. Case studies through group projects.

Material and energy balance provides a quantitative account for materials and/or energy redistribution when changes happen. It is a tool which can be used to predict or solve practical problems like pollution control and management, product life-cycle analysis and management of resources (e.g. energy, food and water) for sustainable development. This course will introduce students to the fundamental principles of material and energy balance as applicable to environmental management. Covered topics include pollution control and treatment and industrial/building energy management. For EVMT students only.

The course aims to integrate the environmental technologies with management protocols in (1) assessing the environmental qualities like air, water, noise and waste, (2) formulating abatement strategies, and (3) mitigating measures in the project cycle framework to achieve the sustainable development. Projects with low environmental impact and/or low carbon footprint will also be discussed.

This special topics course will help students to gain a more in-depth knowledge and to have a better understanding on the current research topics concerned in environmental sciences. Typical topics include marine virology, freshwater/terrestrial ecology, energy and sustainability, environmental law, atmospheric modeling, air quality in Hong Kong and Geographic Information System (GIS) and its application. Key concepts are illustrated with real-life examples during field trips and case studies. May be repeated for credits if different topics are taken. For ENVS students in their third and fourth year of study only.

Structure and life processes in plants; cellular structures; molecular and cellar mechanism; transport of water and nutrients; nutrition and soil; reproduction; photosynthesis; growth and development; biotechnology.

Lagrangian and Eulerian methods for the flow description; derivation of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations; sound wave and Mach number; 2D irrotational flow; elements of aerofoil theory; water wave dispersion relation; shallow water waves; ship wave pattern; dynamics of real fluid, stokes flow and boundary layer theory.

This course introduces the applications of modern mechanical engineering technologies to buildings systems and how they relate to our livings. A wise design of building systems offers high convenience to the occupants. Building systems, such as structural design, water supply, safety and air conditioning are of high importance to maintain a satisfying temperature, humidity, lighting and indoor air quality for comfortable living and efficient working. The course introduces the latest trend of building design, such as intelligent, and green buildings, micro sensors, Internet of Things (IoTs), VR/AR and metaverse and AI and how to maintain the sustainability and efficiency of the whole building in terms of building duration, energy and operation. The aim of the course is to provide students fundamental understanding and latest case studies on the current technologies for attaining contemporary living, and the difficulties we are facing that we may be ready for future challenges.

This course introduces principles and technologies for sustainable and traditional cooling technologies for buildings, sustainable energy conversion, water desalination and purification. The first part discusses cooling techniques for building including the traditional air conditioner and sustainable solar driven cooling technologies for buildings. The second part discusses solar to thermal and chemical energy conversion technologies including solar collecting and concentrating technologies including solar collecting and concentrating technology, photovoltaic cells and solar thermophotovoltaics. The last part will focus on the water harvesting technologies which include water desalination and purification.

This course aims to provide students with a science background to learn and address the environmental issues caused by humans. Key topics include emerging global, regional and local environmental issues; renewable and non-renewable energy; life-supporting systems of our planet and its biodiversity; atmosphere, air pollution and global climate change; water resources and water pollution; ocean plastics and solid waste management; environmental health and toxicology. Through the course, students will be able to understand fundamental knowledge of the inter-relationship between life and our environment, the characteristics of the environmental sustainability, pollution and monitoring measures, and technologies used in pollution control and remediation.

The course introduces students without a science background to the general concepts of environment, natural resources, and sustainable development. Topics include pressing global, regional and local environmental issues; renewable and non-renewable energy; life-supporting systems of our planet and its biodiversity; atmosphere, air pollution and global climate change; water resources and pollution; ocean plastics and solid waste management; environmental health and toxicology. Throughout the course, students will gain a sufficient background and a better understanding of the root causes of key environmental issues. They will also become more aware of their role, as individuals, in environmental protection and sustainable development.

This course is an introduction to physical oceanography that includes topics such as physical description of the sea, physical properties of seawater, methods and measurements, wind-driven ocean circulation, abyssal ocean circulation, boundary processes, and wave motions. Large-scale distributions and processes that are central to the ocean’s role in Earth’s climate and biosphere will also be addressed and discussed.

Students will gain hands-on experience in field survey and sampling, laboratory studies including physical, chemical and biological analyses, experimental design, as well as data analyses and presentations. Course topics include coastal survey, water quality monitoring, marine sediment quality monitoring, etc.

This course adopts mathematical tools and laws of physics to unlock various oceanic motions with different temporal and spatial scales. Students will learn thermodynamic properties of seawater, equations of motion of stratified and rotating fluid, boundary current and Ekman transport, planetary waves, and eddy-mean flow interactions.

This course gives an overview on the relationships between human health, environment, and sustainable development. Topics include the development and objectives of environmental impact and risk assessment; impacts of environmental quality (including air, water, wastes, ecology) and health risks; assessment and mitigation, public participation; sustainable development. Case studies and guest lectures will be included. For ENVS, LIFS and CHEM students in their third and fourth year of study only.

This course focuses on the major biogeochemical processes in the coastal, benthic, and upper ocean pelagic ecosystems that control the abundances, distribution and transformation of chemical substances. The impacts of human activities and climate change on these processes will be discussed. The use of isotope tracers as a tool to investigate the age and sources of water masses will be illustrated.

Lagrangian and Eulerian methods for the flow description; derivation of the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations; sound wave and Mach number; 2D irrotational flow; elements of aerofoil theory; water wave dispersion relation; shallow water waves; ship wave pattern; dynamics of real fluid, stokes flow and boundary layer theory.

This course is offered under the program of the HKUST Summer Institute for Secondary School Students by the School of Engineering. The objective of this course is to provide an opportunity for secondary school students to have a taste of tertiary environmental education and to raise interest in the environmental profession. The course will introduce technologies that provide tools and solutions to environmental issues that affect our water, air, land, eco-systems, living environment, and sustainable development.

This course is offered under the program of the HKUST Summer Institute for Secondary School Students by the School of Engineering. The course uses lectures, labs and videos to introduce the basic fluid flow process (waves, turbulence and mixing) and the fundamental principles that govern them. The processes of waves, turbulence and mixing will be taught mainly through experiments and flow visualization. Then the lectures will focus on illustrating how these processes are the essential ingredients for natural and engineered phenomena systems by selecting two to three examples from the following list: tsunami, tides, floods, surges, costal processes, typhoons, pulses in conduits and arterial systems, clean energy from wind and water, hydraulic structures such as dams, water supply and drainage, water and air pollution, aerodynamics, weather and climate, etc. The experiments and visualization will be conducted in the hydraulics lab, and wind tunnel facility. Students will also be taken to the water front to look at waves and surges with the "new lenses" given to them in the course.

This course is offered under the program of the HKUST Summer Institute for Secondary School Students by the School of Engineering. The objective of this course is to arose students' interest in protecting the environment through the understanding of the relationship among water, you and the environment. It intends to give our students some basic concepts of water cycle & resource, water and you, water and the environment, and sustainable development via environmental impact assessment for mitigation of impacts on water and ecological system.

The Greater Bay Area (GBA) has become the world’s largest urban area. In less than forty years the region transformed from a backwater to an engine of advanced manufacturing and services. It has lifted millions of people out of poverty, provided homes and communities, and become a node in a global network of megacity regions responsible for much of the world’s economic dynamism. Yet, aspirations are higher. Government, businesses, and others want to harness the region’s synergies to compete with other highly developed bay areas. Becoming an innovative high quality living region is the goal. To understand the region’s successes and challenges, the course examines the GBA’s evolution through the agglomeration processes of external economies, governance and urbanization. These processes led the GBA’s development and will determine its future - in terms of continued economic development and more importantly in terms of the wellbeing of the GBA’s people.

There is a great necessity and responsibility for China to shift to a more sustainable development path. This course is designed to provide students with an understanding of the concepts, principles, and evaluation methodologies of sustainable development. The course will introduce students to multidisciplinary approaches to apply these principles and methods to analyse sustainable development issues in China, such as energy resources and water pollution, transportation and urbanization, and climate change; and to explore solutions for China's future development. Governance and policy, technology, organizational and individual behavior are important elements affecting sustainable development and will be examined at international, national, and local levels.