Brief Dr Huang is a Combustion Scientist and a Fire Protection Engineer. He received the PhD from Imperial College London in 2016, MSc from University of California, San Diego, and BEng from Southeast University. Prior to joining PolyU, Dr. Huang was a Postdoc and Lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley and worked with NASA on the Microgravity Combustion and Fire Safety of the International Space Station. Dr Huang’s research interests include combustion, fire dynamics, energy safety and smart firefighting. He has co-authored more than 60 journal papers and reviewed for 40 journals. Dr Huang also serves as an Associate Editor of Fire Technology, the Technical Committee of Fire Safety in HK Buildings Department, and a Fire Expert for High Court. He is a winner of Bernard Lewis Fellowship and Sugden Award from the Combustion Institute, Proulx Early Career Award from Intl. Assoc. Fire Safety Sci., and Fire Engineering Grand Award from HK Institution of Engineers. Google Scholar ResearchGate

Group Website of PolyU Fire Dynamics Lab 实验室网站

黄鑫炎博士是香港理工大学屋宇设备工程系助理教授、博导、消防工程研究中心 副主任, 英国帝国理工博士 (2016), 美国加州大学圣地亚哥分校硕士 (2012), 东南大学学士 (2010)。加入港理工之前，黄博士在美国加州大学伯克利分校担任博士后研究员和讲师，并与美国宇航局合作研究微重力燃烧和国际空间站的消防安全。主要研究领域涉及基础燃烧科学和火灾安全应用，发表了60多篇SCI论文，担任40多本国际期刊的审稿人。黄博士是SCI期刊 Fire Technology的副主编、香港屋宇署的消防技术顾问、高等法院的火灾调查专家。主持香港青年学者计划，国家自然科学基金面上项目，共同主持香港主题研究计划等。曾获得国际燃烧学会伯纳德-刘易斯学者、英国燃烧学会最佳论文奖、国际火灾学会杰出青年科学家奖、英国皇家学会Kan Tong Po访问学者、香港工程师协会消防工程卓越大奖、Publons卓越青年审稿专家奖等。

Academic and Professional Qualifications

· Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London (2016)

· M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, University of California, San Diego (2012)

· B.Eng. in Thermal Energy and Power Engineering, Southeast University, China (2010)

Research Interests

· Fire Dynamics, Modelling, and Investigation

· Thermal Safety of Energy Storage Materials

· Microgravity Combustion and Fire Safety in Spacecraft

· Wildland Fires and Fire Ecology

· Emission and Pollution Control from Combustion Processes

· Heat Transfer and Phase Change

Research Positions Open for Application:

I am looking for Research Assistant (RA), Master, PhD students and Postdoc Fellows who have passion to do cutting edge research with me in the areas of Mechanical, Energy, Combustion, Civil, Material, Environmental etc. For those who are interested in this position, please send your CV to me

· Previous research experience is preferred, and there is a requirement of IELTS or TOEFL score for non-native English speakers

· PhD Scholarships are available for good candidates, and top candidates can also apply for the (1) Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (annual stipend of US$ 38K); and (2) PolyU PhD Research Studentship

· Postdoc Fellowship from PolyU (2 year) and RGC (3 years) are available for top candidates (annual stipend of US$ 50K)

· Exchange students from other institutions who are interested in my research are very welcome, and partial financial support can be provided to exchange PhD student.

Professional Services

· Associate Editor	Fire Technology – Springer Nature (2020 - ) Official Journal of Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)
· Guest Editor	Façade Flammability and Fire Engineering (2020), Spacecraft Fire Safety (2018) – Fire Technology; Wildland Fire – Frontiers in Mechanical Engineering
· Conference committee	Asia-Pacific Conference on Combustion, Fukuoka, Japan (2019); China National Symposium on Combustion (2018-19); Chinese National Young Scholar Meeting on Combustion (2018-20); 7^th Association for Fire Ecology (AFE) International Congress, Orlando, USA (2017)
· Member	Large Outdoor Fires & Built Environment (LOF&BE) working group, and New Technologies Subcommittee, Intl. Assoc. Fire Safety Sci (IAFSS); Technical Committee of Fire Safety, HK Buildings Department and EMSD; Fire Expert of HK Legal Aid Department and High Court
· Journal Reviewer	42 Journals + 12 Reviewer Awards: Combust Flame, Proc. Combust Inst., Fire Tech., Applied Thermal Eng., Fuel, Applied Energy, Building & Environment, J. Hazardous Materials, Sci. Total Environ. Fire Safety J., etc.
· Funding Reviewer	NASA (Combustion Science)

Honours and Awards

2020	Proulx Early Career Award	International Association of Fire Safety Science (IAFSS)
2020	KTP Visiting Fellowship	University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
2019	Kan Tong Po International Fellowship	The Royal Society
2019	Fire Engineering Grand Award	Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE)
2018	Bernard Lewis Fellowship	Combustion Institute
2018	Publons ECR Reviewers’ Choice Award	Clarivate Analytics
2017	Keynote in 3^rd National Young Scholar Meeting on Combustion	National Science Foundation of China
2017	Sugden Award for the Most Significant UK Contribution to Combustion	Combustion Institute (British Section)
2016	Katopodis Prize for Best PhD Thesis in Thermofluids	Imperial College London
2015	Watts Award for Outstanding Reviewer	Fire Technology – Springer Nature
2014	Medal for PhD Research Excellence in Clean Fossil Fuels	Qatar Petroleum
2014	Award for Outstanding Student Abroad	China Scholarship Council
2012	Exceptional Overseas Scholarship	Imperial College London

· Best Poster Awards (x6): 10^th, 11^th, 12^th IAFSS International Symposium; 2^nd European Fire Symposium; 10^th AOAFST Fire Symposium, 2019 China National Symposium on Combustion

· Combustion/Fire Art Competition Winner (x6): 2011 US National Combustion Meeting; 10^th, 11^th IAFSS International Symposium; 33rd ASGSR Annual Meeting, 2018-19 China National Symposium on Combustion

Selected Research Grant (PI or co-PI)

• RGC Theme-based Research Scheme, “SureFire: Smart Urban Resilience and Firefighting”, HK$ 33M, 2020-2024, co-PI.

• RGC Early Career Scheme (ECS), “Self-heating ignition and fire hazards of high-energy lithium-ion batteries”, HK$ 550K, 2020 – 2022, PI

• PolyU RISUD Emerging Frontier Area (EFA) Fund, “Smart Firefighting System for the Sustainable Development of the Greater Bay Area”, HK$ 1.2M, 2020 – 2022, PI

• PolyU Central Research Grant, “Fire Dynamics and Extinction Mechanism of the Li-ion Battery Fire”, HK$ 200K, 2019-2020, PI

• Cooperation Fund of Sichuan Province, “Research and development of organic waste removal technology via smoldering and emission control strategy”, RMB 200K, 2019-2020, co-PI

• NSFC General Fund, “Smouldering Ignition and Quenching Criteria: Interactions between Heat-and-Mass Transfer and Heterogeneous Reactions under Limiting Conditions”, RMB 600K, 2019-2022, PI

• NSFC Youth Fund, “Fire spread and dynamic mechanism of underground coal fires ventilated by air infiltration through cracks driven by thermal buoyancy force”, RMB 260K, 2019-2021, co-PI

• PolyU Start-up Fund, “Fundamental Study on the Firebrand Ignition of Building Insulation Materials”, HK$ 500K, 2017-2020, PI

• PolyU Postdoctoral Fellowship, “Fundamental Study on the Hot-Particle Ignition Phenomena in the Wildland-Urban Interface”, HK$ 756K, 2019-2021, co-PI

• USTC SKLFS Open Fund, “Extinction Limit of Ancient Timber Building”, RMB 80K, 2019-2021, PI

Publications (Full list, Google Scholar Citation > 1400, h-index = 23)

10 Representative Papers

1. Y. Liu, P. Sun, S. Lin, H. Niu, X. Huang (2020) Self-heating ignition of open-circuit cylindrical Li-ion battery pile: Towards fire-safe storage and transport. Journal of Energy Storage, 32, 101842.

2. S. Lin, Y.K. Cheung, Y. Xiao, X. Huang (2020) Can rain suppress smoldering peat fire? Science of the Total Environment, 572: 1440–1446.

3. Z. Song, X. Huang, C. Kuenzer, H. Zhu, J. Jiang, X. Pan, X. Zhong (2020) Chimney effect induced by smoldering fire in a U-shaped porous channel: A governing mechanism of the persistent underground coal fires, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 136, 136–147.

4. X. Huang, S.Link, A. Rodriguez, M. Thomsen, S. Olson, P. Ferkul, C. Fernandez-Pello (2019) Transition from Opposed Flame Spread to Fuel Regression: Effect of Airflow, Pressure, and Microgravity, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 37: 4117–4126.

5. X. Huang (2018) Critical Drip Size and Blue Flame Shedding of Dripping Ignition in Fire, Scientific Reports, 8: 16528.

6. X. Huang, G. Rein (2016) Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass in Smouldering Combustion across Scales: the Roles of Heterogeneous Kinetics, Oxygen and Transport Phenomena, Bioresource Technology 207: 409-421. [Featured on the Journal Cover]

7. X. Huang, F. Restuccia, M. Gramola, G. Rein (2016) Experimental Study of the Formation and Collapse of an Overhang in the Lateral Spread of Smouldering Peat Fires, Combustion and Flame 168 (6): 393–402. [Sugden Best Paper Award]

8. K. Li, X. Huang, C.M. Fleischmann, G. Rein, J. Ji (2014) Pyrolysis of Medium-Density Fiberboard: Optimized Search for Kinetic Scheme and Parameters via a Genetic Algorithm Driven by Kissinger’s Method, Energy Fuels, 28: 6130-6139.

9. X. Huang, G. Rein (2014) Smouldering Combustion of Peat: Inverse Modelling of the Thermal and Oxidative Degradation Kinetics, Combustion and Flame, 161 (6): 1633-1644. [Most Downloaded Article for 90 days]

10. X. Huang, Y. Nakamura, F. A. Williams (2013) Ignition-to-Spread Transition of Externally Heated Electrical Wire, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, 34 (2): 2505-2512.

Invited Review Papers

1. X. Huang, J. Gao (2020) A Review of Near-Limit Opposed Fire Spread, Fire Safety Journal, 103141.

2. P. Sun, R. Bisschop, H. Niu, X. Huang (2020) A Review of Battery Fires in Electric Vehicles, Fire Technology, 56, 1361–1410.

3. X. Huang, Y. Nakamura (2020) A Review of Fundamental Combustion Phenomena in Wire Fires, Fire Technology, 56, 315–360.