Leading international industrial media outlet Control Global has announced that Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science of Lingnan University, has been inducted into the 2026 Process Automation Hall of Fame in recognition of his long-term outstanding contributions and far-reaching impact in industrial data analytics, process control and automation, the only scholar from the Hong Kong SAR to receive this distinction. Inductees over the years have been key figures driving industrial technological innovation and theoretical breakthroughs, and the accolade is held in very high esteem by both the international academic and industrial communities.
Control Global commended Prof Qin’s academic career for its distinctive interdisciplinary nature, saying that with training spanning electrical engineering, control theory, and chemical engineering, he has demonstrated remarkable versatility across disciplines, and published extensively in process monitoring, system identification, chemometrics, and machine learning.
Prof Qin responded “Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is not the capstone of my academic journey, but rather a prompt for me to share my experiences more openly, including both the right and wrong paths I have taken, so that younger generations may benefit. This spirit of academic inheritance and selfless contribution is a value I hope to carry forward. My best advice to young engineers is to resist the pull of short-term rewards, recognise the full arc you are capable of, and always keep the bigger picture in sight.”
In a feature titled “Engineering a lifetime of reinvention”, Control Global describes Prof Qin’s interdisciplinary academic journey, noting his unusual background. The professor was born in Rizhao, Shandong province, and grew up during a period when formal schooling was limited, yet by the time he was 11 he had already taught himself to make wooden chairs to earn a living. When the higher education system reopened, Prof Qin seized the opportunity to gain admission to Tsinghua University at the age of 16 with the top scores in his cohort to study automatic control, laying the foundation for his engineering career.
Prof Qin recalls in the interview that while he was at Tsinghua University, he met the renowned scholar Prof Harmon Ray, who was visiting the campus and who advised him to pursue a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Maryland - “life changing” advice. During his doctoral studies, he embarked on early research into how machines learn, examining neural networks’ strengths and limitations from a statistical perspective. After graduation, he became a principal engineer at Emerson Process Management, where he developed two commercial products successfully before returning to academia to teach and conduct research at The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California.
Looking ahead, Prof Qin predicts that while industry has accumulated vast amounts of data over the past decades, its full value has yet to be realised due to previous limitations in computational power. Now although computing capabilities have advanced significantly in recent years, technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning remain underutilised in chemical engineering, and Prof Qin believes that applying advanced analytics to process monitoring, control, and optimisation will represent an unprecedented opportunity. He emphasises that the next generation of process engineers will need to be as fluent in data analytics and machine learning as they are in thermodynamics and fluid mechanics.
Prof S. Joe Qin, President of Lingnan University, has been inducted into the Process Automation Hall of Fame
Prof Qin also expresses concern about developments in engineering education, observing that, compared with 30 years ago, mathematical training in engineering programmes is weaker, and it has become more difficult to offer very rigorous courses. This is partly because most people want a programme where even the average student understands most of the concepts and graduates easily, although in the long run this may undermine the cultivation of advanced mathematical talent. Prof Qin suggests that universities create deliberately designed environments for mathematically gifted students to be challenged at an appropriate level, in order to preserve academic depth and international competitiveness.
Established in 2001, the Process Automation Hall of Fame recognises scholars and industry leaders for their outstanding contributions to process automation and control. The other inductees this year are Prof Manfred Morari of the University of Pennsylvania, an eminent international authority in modern systems engineering, and Prof Peter Morgan, longtime process engineer with Syncrude Canada and now an independent consultant.
For the full feature article, please visit: Engineering a lifetime of reinvention: 2026 Process Automation Hall of Fame's S. Joe Qin | Control Global
Lingnan University congratulates Hong Kong SAR astronaut Lai Ka-ying who has been chosen for the nation’s next space mission, where she will probably operate the Multi-Spectral Imaging Carbon Observatory (MUSICO), a space-based research instrument led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Prof Li Jia, Director of the Lingnan University Shenzhen Research Institute (LUSZRI), and Associate Professor (Presidential Early Career Scholar) of the Wu Jieh Yee School of Interdisciplinary Studies (WJYSIS) at Lingnan University, together with her research team, contributed key data from a carbon emissions source database for the project, which will be used to compare greenhouse gas data including carbon dioxide and methane emission sources observed by MUSICO, helping researchers identify emission intensity and distribution patterns of power and industrial facilities across different regions more accurately, thereby providing robust scientific support for China’s carbon-peaking and carbon-neutrality goals.
Prof Li said that currently many satellite monitoring systems worldwide focus mainly on greenhouse gas emissions at the regional level, and identifying carbon emissions from a single large stationary emission source from space remains challenging as relying on the high-sensitivity MUSICO instrument also depends greatly on long-term, ground-based carbon emissions data for comparison.
Prof Li Jia (right), Prof Su Hui (middle), and Dr Wang Fan (left) at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site.
Prof Li said “Our database covers more than half of China’s carbon dioxide emission sources, and records emission volumes from different regions and industrial facilities. It is resolved down to the level of total emissions per square kilometre, with precise geographic coordinates, and functions much like a map and a navigation system, helping MUSICO identify the specific locations, intensities, and operational patterns of emission sources in space. This enables the instrument to observe the large-scale distribution of greenhouse gas concentrations, and also to analyse emissions from individual factories or facilities with greater precision, thereby increasing the accuracy and scientific value of space-based observation data.”
Prof Li continued “As an international financial centre, the Hong Kong SAR is well positioned to use Lingnan’s empirical data to advance the development of the green economy. In future, the database may be applied to carbon emissions verification, emissions reduction assessment, and urban low-carbon management, providing scientific support for low-carbon transformation in the Greater Bay Area and across China.”
For several years now, Prof Li Jia’s team has carried out extensive research on industrial carbon emissions in China, and participated in core national carbon neutrality projects, compiling inventories covering major high-emission industries, such as power generation, cement, steel, chemicals and electrolytic aluminium.
Over the past 20 years, Prof Li’s team has carried out continuous research on carbon emissions from the power and industrial sectors in China and Southeast Asian countries. The team has participated in and led carbon capture and storage planning projects in six Asian countries, and developed emissions inventories covering China’s major high-emission industries, including power generation, cement, steel, chemicals, and electrolytic aluminium. This is consistent with the analysis of individual emission sources such as ground-based power plants and oilfields, and helps verify whether observed measurements reflect normal fluctuations or abnormal emissions.
Between 2022 and 2025, Prof Li’s team collaborated with Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning (CAEP) under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and took part in a first-batch key research project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China on carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, which expanded the database to cover additional major emission sectors.
From left: Hong Kong SAR astronaut Lai Ka-ying, Prof Li Jia.
Prof Li Jia said that the opportunity to participate in space monitoring-related scientific research collaboration on behalf of Lingnan University was made possible by WJYSIS’ continued encouragement of cross-disciplinary integration, fostering collaborative research in environmental science, data analytics, and artificial intelligence; also, while the Chinese Mainland has taken a leading position in large-scale carbon capture and emissions reduction technologies, the Hong Kong SAR has many advantages in international academic networks and well-established research collaboration platforms, which promote scientific exchange, research related to sustainable development, and collaboration between China and the international community.
Council members of Lingnan University visit the Lingnan University Shenzhen Research Institute (LUSZRI).
Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science at Lingnan University, said that in recent years, Lingnan University has actively promoted its Liberal Arts + Technology development strategy, encouraging faculty and students to conduct interdisciplinary research that addresses real-world issues. Lingnan researchers’ involvement in national space and carbon monitoring projects shows the University’s strong foundation in inter-university and interdisciplinary collaboration, and highlights its academic contributions to public development in environmental science, data analytics, and low-carbon research.
The MUSICO research project is co-led by Prof Su Hui, Chair Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Global STEM Professor at HKUST, and Prof Zhang Limin, Chair Professor and Head of the same department. Prof Zhai Chengxing, Associate Professor of the Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas is the mission system engineer, and other team members are Senior Scientific Officer Dr Rong Pingping, Assistant Professor Zhang Jize, and Associate Professor Wang Zhe from HKUST’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering; Professor Ning Zhi, Associate Professors Shi Xiaoming, and Gu Dasa from the Division of Environment and Sustainability; Associate Professor Ma Xiaojuan from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering; Professor Zhu Pengyu from the Division of Public Policy; Professor Gao Meng from Hong Kong Baptist University; and Associate Professor Li Jia from Lingnan University.
