CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

CEENEWSCONNECT

NOV 2014

If you would like to contribute your views or articles to our newsletter,

please email to

Ms Peggy Leong at ceelp@nus.edu.sg

Professorship (Practice) Dr Allan R. Magee has been appointment as Professor (Practice) in CEE on 18 Aug 2014.

Dr Allan R. Magee obtained his MSE and PhD from University of Michigan in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in 1991. He moved to

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to start a new R&D team in Technip Malaysia and was promoted to Head the Innovation and Technology Department, Technip Geoproduction Malaysia in 2014. He was also Technip Chaired Professor in Deepwater and Subsea Technology, Dept of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP).

Dr Arthur Cheng has been appointment as Professor (Practice) in CEE on 15 Sep 2014.

Dr. Arthur Cheng is a geophysicist specializing in acoustic logging, borehole geophysics, and rock physics. Before joining NUS, he was the Senior

Manager for Acoustics and Borehole Seismics at Halliburton. He was one of the co-founders of the Earth Resources Laboratory at MIT in 1982, and was Project Leader of the MIT Borehole Acoustics and Logging Consortium until 1996, when he joined Western Atlas as Manager of Acoustic Science. He has also worked for Baker Atlas, Baker Hughes Inteq, and OHM RockSolidImages in various managerial capacities, as well as consulting for a number of different companies.

Adjunct Professors Mr Aziz Amirali Hasham Merchant, Adjunct Professor holds key senior management positions in Keppel Offshore & Marine, and has been instrumental in the setting up and running of the Keppel-NUS Corporate Laboratory which is funded by National Research Foundation. He is member of Steering Committee for the Keppel-NUS Corporate Laboratory. He is Executive Director (Engineering) in Keppel FELS, Executive Director (Deepwater Technology) in Keppel O&M Technology Centre and Executive Director for Deepwater Technology Group.

Mr. Merchant obtained his B.Eng. (1st Class Honours) in Naval Architecture & Ocean Engineering from University of Glasgow (in 1992) and M.Sc. in Naval Architecture from University of London (in 1993). He received four awards for his academic studies: Hitachi Zosen Scholarship, Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce Foundation Scholarship, Aga Khan Foundation (Geneva) International Scholarship and Society for Underwater Technology (UK) Scholarship. He has received many academic prizes and professional awards. These include Reid Birrell Prize and Archibald Denny Prize, from University of Glasgow; IES Prestigious Engineering Award & ASEAN Outstanding Achievement Award in 2009; MPA Outstanding Maritime R&D and Technology Award in 2013; Ngee Ann Polytechnic Alumni Award 2013 and Keppel Innovation Gold & Silver Award 2013.

DEPARTMENT UPDATES

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

2 | P a g e

Dr. Foo Kok Seng, Adjunct Professor holds two senior management positions in the Keppel Offshore & Marine group. He is Executive Director of Offshore Technology Development Pte Ltd, the world leader in the supply of jack up rig design and jack up equipment such as jacking system, fixation system, skidding system. He is concurrently Executive Director (Shallow Water Technology) of Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre. He holds directorships in a number of Keppel subsidiaries and joint venture companies.

Dr. Foo is internationally recognized for the development of a series of proven KFELS jackup rig designs which have gained strong market acceptance: the KFELS A Class Series; B Class Series; C Class; G Class; N Class and MPSEP (multipurpose platform). His in-depth knowledge on shallow water systems, as demonstrated by the world leading jackup rigs and the number of patents granted/filed which he led, will be vital for our Keppel-NUS Corporate Laboratory. Dr Foo Kok Seng obtained his Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honours) and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University of Strathclyde.

Dr Basil Lui, Adjunct Associate Professor is Assistant General Manager in charge of Corporate & Technology Development at Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre (KOMtech). His role is to identify strategic technologies and partners to further develop and commercialize the company's existing technology/product portfolio. He is involved in technology facilitation and technology scanning and licensing, covering markets in deep water technologies such as semi-submersibles, TLPs, drillships, subsea technologies and deepsea nodule collection. Dr Lui graduated from University of Cambridge, UK, with a 1st class honours in Engineering in 1993. After serving his military service, he returned to Cambridge in 1995 to pursue a PhD in Microelectronics. He subsequently received his Masters in 1997 and PhD in 1999.

Dr Anis Hussain, Adjunct Associate Professor is General Manager of Deepwater Technology Group (DTG), Keppel Offshore & Marine (KOM) and Project Director, Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre (KOMtech). In these roles, he oversees the design and development of floating offshore structures in Keppel and supervises the design engineers in DTG and researchers in KOMtech. Mr Hussain has been with Keppel for 25 years. He is a trained naval architect who received his Bachelor of Technology (Honours) in Naval Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in 1985 and MSc in Computer Integrated Manufacturing from the Nanyang Technological University in 1999.

Management Assistant Officers Mr Jason Chong and Ms Juliana binte Miswan have joined the department in Sep 2014.

Jason is handling academic Matters, in particular the Undergraduates Industry Engagement Program and MSc programs while Juliana is handling Administrative matters related to Finance, Non-Academic Staff and Research Staff Leave.

Student cum Alumni Affairs Committee (SAAC) for AY2014/15 Dr Chew Soon Hoe (Chair) – also CE Student Club Advisor A/Prof Karina Gin (Co-Chair) – also ESE Student Club Advisor Dr Yeoh Ker-Wei (replaced Dr Poh Leong Hien) Dr Lefebvre Olivier Patrick (replaced Dr George Zhou)

Visiting Committee The Visiting Committee for the department comprising: Prof Chelsea (Chip) C. White III (Chair), Georgia Institute of Technology; Prof Edward J. Bouwer, The Johns Hopkins University; Prof Nemkumar (Nemy) Banthia, University of British Columbia, Prof Chou Siaw Kiang, Mechanical Engineering, NUS and Prof Goh Thong Ngee, Industrial & Systems Engineering, NUS was held from 30 Sep Tues to 3 Oct Fri 2014.

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

3 | P a g e

PROMOTION & APPOINTMENT

Promotion

Dr Pang Sze Dai has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with effect from 1 January 2015

Appointment Dr Raymond Ong, Programme Manager for MSc (Transportation Sys & Mgt)

Dr Poh Leong Hien, Co- Manager for PhD Program

Dr Vivien Chua – Co- Programme Manager for MSc (Hydraulic Engrg & Water Res Mgt) and Double Degree Program with Delft University of Technology (TUD)

Centre for Advanced Materials and Structures (CAMS) Director - Prof Tan Kiang Hwee, 1 Oct 2014 - 30 Sep 2016.

Deputy Director - A/Prof Qian Xudong, 1 Oct 2014 - 30 Sep 2016.

Transportation Laboratory Co-Supervisor, Dr Raymond Ong

Hydraulics Laboratory Co-Supervisor, Dr Jing Yuan

A/Prof Chin Hoong Chor has been appointed by the Ministry of Health as member of the National Trauma Committee (NTC) for three years (FY 2014/5-2017) starting 1 Nov 2014.

Prof Phoon Kok Kwang was awarded the John Booker Medal (International Association for Computer Methods and

Advances in Geomechanics) from Professor John Carter during the banquet of the 14IACMAG conference in Kyoto on 24 Sep 2014. The citation for this medal is: “For excellent contributions to statistical characterization of soil properties and geotechnical reliability methods that have influenced design codes and practice”.

A/Prof Paul Chen and his team comprising his PhD student, Ms Jinsong He (recipient of NUS President Scholarship) and one FYP student received the Sustainable Technology Award (Singapore) sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline at the IChemE Singapore Awards 2014 on 16 Oct 2014. Summary of winning entry “Membrane for selective metal sequestration”: Heavy and precious metals are an important industrial resource but can also present a high risk to human health. Current separation techniques are indiscriminate, typically removing both heavy metals and unwanted lighter metals, which adds unnecessary costs. The team developed an innovative membrane that selectively sequesters target heavy/precious metals with extremely high efficiencies and low cost. The membrane can be used for numerous cycles and is suitable for industrial applications. Successful application will lead to cost-savings in resources and greener industrial production.

Prof Fwa Tien Fang has been appointed an inaugural member of the "International Advisory Committee" of the School of Highways, Chang An University of China. Chang An University, formerly known as Xi’an Highway University, is among the best 3 schools in Highway Engineering in China.

An article in “Advances in Colloid and Interface Science (Impact Factor: 9. 419)” published by A/Prof Bala together with his PhD student Shamik Chowdhury has been ranked number 4 among the most downloaded articles and featured in the SCIENCE DIRECT Top 25. They have received a commendation certificate from Elsevier, the publisher, in recognition of the impact of this article.

ACHIEVEMENT AND RECOGNITION

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

4 | P a g e

NUS News Release 14 Sep 2014 – A/Prof He Jianzhong together with a team of Faculty of Engineering, NUS researchers,

the team has developed a novel approach that could greatly enhance the effectiveness of destroying polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the environment. They discovered three powerful bacteria from a genus called Dehalococcoides which can degrade PCBs. In addition, the researchers also developed an effective method of culturing these PCB dechlorinators in large quantities to enhance their degradation efficiency.

Dr Guo Huiling, Research Fellow, under the supervisor A/Prof Hu Jiangyong won a Young Scholar Paper Award at the 9th International conference on “Urban Watershed Management” in Sep 2014 at Tianjin, China. The paper is entitled: “Performance Evaluation of a Soak Away Rain Garden in Tropical Climate”.

Prof Choo Yoo Sang has been appointed as Singapore’s covering focal point for Sub-committee on Marine Science and Technology (SCMSAT) from 31 Aug 2014 to 31 Jul 2017. He was invited as the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE)’s Distinguished Visiting Fellow at University of Oxford, United Kingdom, from 22 Apr to 2 May 2014.

Dr Chew Soon Hoe and Shen Ruifu won the SAC Assessor Award (Distinguished) at the Quality and Standards Conference in Aug 2014.

Prof Wang Chien Ming has received the Keith Eaton Award 2014 from the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE), United Kingdom, in London in July for his much valued support to the Institution, particularly in his role as Chairman of the Singapore Regional Group, his involvement in Institution Asia Pacific activities and his leadership of outreach into Vietnam. He was appointed Chairman of the Engineering Science Advisory Committee by the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Council. His term of office is from 1 May 2014 to 30 Apr 2018.

Dr Raymond Ong has been awarded the inaugural OCDI (Overseas Coastal Area Development Institute, Japan) Takeuchi Yoshio Award for Logistic Research5th International Conference on Transportation and Logistics (T-LOG) in Bangkok (28 - 30 Jul 2014) for the paper entitled “An Exploratory Study on Ship Dwell Time in International Ports” ” by Dr. Raymond Ong and his M.Eng. student Yin Lu. He was won the SAC Assessor Award (Bronze) from Singapore Accreditation Council in Aug 2014.

A/Prof Gary Ong was conferred the SPRING Singapore Merit Award at the Quality and Standards Conference 2014 on I Jul 2014.

A/Prof Meng Qiang was awarded the Certificate of Excellence in Reviewing for Transportation Research Part B 2013 by Elsevier Inc, USA.

NUS News Release 25 May 2014 Press Release - Led by A/Prof Jeffrey Obbard, the team at NUS invented a filtration system that is designed for use with a domestic ventilation fan to remove particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) from indoor air. The NUS system is also able to reduce levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are typically associated with the odour from haze pollution.

Centre for Water Research/NUS and PUB Singapore under the directorship of A/Prof Ng How Yong received one of the two Honour Awards under the Applied Research Category for the project: “Development of Microbial Electrochemical Sensor for Heavy Metals and Cyanide Detection in Used Water” at IWA 2014 Project Innovation Awards on 11 Mar 2014.

ACHIEVEMENT AND RECOGNITION

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

5 | P a g e

As part of the Inaugural Productivity Challenge 2014 organised by BCA, students were expected to use BIM to model a 10 storey institution, covering architectural and structural elements. They were to also propose innovative construction methods, and demonstrate its impact on the design of the building via the Buildability and Constructability scores.

Three teams led by A/Prof David Chua and Dr Justin Yeoh bagged the 1st, 1st runner up and 4th runner up prizes.

BCA commented that our students’ work was exceptional, in particular the amount of detail and realism that was injected into the project, especially in the consideration of site planning constraints.

A total of 15 teams from SDE, NTU, BCAA, SP and other tertiary institutions took part in this competition. A total of 5 teams were shortlisted in the first round, and the top three teams were invited to present at the Singapore Construction Productivity Week 2015 held at Singapore Expo.

Shortlisted students: Champion: ($3000 vouchers) 1. Mohammad Nazri B Rahman (Leader) 2. Teo Shi Hui 3. Wong Jun Huat 4. Tian Yikai 5. Luong Ngoc Tuan

1st Runner Up: ($2500 vouchers) 1. Wong Rong Bin (Leader) 2. Hans Triar Sutanto 3. Meng Jiao 4. Roger Soon 5. Karthik Thirugnana Sambandham 4th Place: ($1500 vouchers) 1. Cheow Yeok Ting (Leader) 2. Tew Kah Jui 3. Xiang Cihan 4. Ung Ngoc Anh

Nishtha Manocha, Ph.D. student under the supervision of A/Prof Vladan Babovic has received President's Award at the “3rd Asia Pacific Youth Parliament for Water” KNA Forum and Korea Water Forum held in Jul in South Korea.

EVE FYP student Teo Minghui supervised by A/P Hu JY and Dr Lim FY has won the “Present Around The World Competition” by IET Singapore’s Young Professionals Section (YPS) in May 2014.

ACHIEVEMENT AND RECOGNITION

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

6 | P a g e

Three Hwa Chong Institution students supervised by NUS team have won the first prize in IEEE-NTU symposium by IEEE-Singapore Rel/CPMT/ED Chapter “BOOT CAMP” in May 2014 under the supervisors: A/Prof Hu Jiangyong, Professor Ong Say Leong, Dr Lim Fang Yee, Dr Guo Hui Ling. The title submitted for the IEEE-NTU competition was “Assessing performance of bioretention system for pollutant removal”.

Behdad Chehrenegar, Ph.D. student under the supervision of A/Prof Hu Jiangyong and Prof Ong Say Leong won a student paper award at the 9th International conference on “Urban Watershed Management” in Sep 2014 at Tianjin, China. The paper is entitled: “Enhancing active removal of Ibuprofen by plants using iron ion”.

Melvin Tang, Ph.D. student under A/Prof Ng How Yong led a team of undergraduate students to win the Humanitarian Water Filtration Design Challenge (HWFDC) organized and supported by Ceraflo, a Singapore ceramic membrane company (award ceremony during SIWW in Jun 2014. Melvin co-designed a mobile ceramic filtration system that can be fitted into 2 check-in luggage with his team.

From left to right:

Miss Grace Fu (GOH), Mr. Melvin Tang, Mr. Pooi Ching Kwek and Mr. Han Hee Juan.

ACHIEVEMENT AND RECOGNITION

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

7 | P a g e

Melvin Tang developed a prototype to participate in a 9-weeks entrepreneurial competition called the HydroPreneur Programme that was co-organized by the Public Utilities Board (PUB) Singapore and the Founder Institute (FI).

The team consisted of NUS students: David Pong, Jonathan Chow, Lim Chong Tee, Pooi Ching Kwek and Vincent Loka.

Under the guidance of the weekly guest lecturers, Ceraflo and A/Prof Ng How Yong, Melvin led the startup called wateROAM representing NUS to win the Rising HydroPreneur Star award during the HydroPitch Day at the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2014.

Group photo of wateROAM, the NUS team that won the Rising HydroPreneur award from the HydroPitch Day at SIWW 2014.

From left to right: Jonathan Chow, Lim Chong Tee, Pooi Ching Kwek, David Pong, Vincent Loka and Melvin Tang.

The Engineering Colours Awards are primarily intended for the recognition of significant achievements/contributions by Faculty of Engineering Undergraduates. Awardees from CEE are:

Name Course Silver Award

Elaine Yeo Yan Ying CVE He Rongqin Ronald CVE

Bronze Award Valerie Seh Yi Ling EVE

Valerie Seh receiving award from Vice Dean (Undergraduate Programs), Prof Ashraf.

ACHIEVEMENT AND RECOGNITION

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

8 | P a g e

COMMENCEMENT 2014 Mr Chew Men Leong, Chief Executive, PUB was our invited commencement speaker for the ceremony on 14 Jul 2014.

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

9 | P a g e

CVE Graduation Night: CVE Graduation night was held on 19 May 2014 (Mon) at Shaw Foundation Alumni House (NUS) – Waterway.

EVE Graduation Night The final year students of B. Eng. (Environmental) had their graduation night on 12 Jul (Sat) at the Stewords Riverboat at Marina South Pier. The event was organized by the ESE Student Club (ESESC).

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

10 | P a g e

Laser Tag & CEE Safety & Health Day This year’s event was organized by CE Club for Department staff and students on 19 Sep 2014 (Friday) at LT7A.

Camp ESPEC '14 - Mystique2014

EvE orientation Camp 2014

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

CE Student Club 17th Management Committee (AY2014/2015)

Chairperson Lim Yue Ying Photographer Koh Jiyao

Vice-Chairpersons Alexandra Larissa, Cuthbert Yeo

IT Director Tran Nguyen Thien Trang

Secretary & FC Ng Wei Long Logistics Director/ Vice-Director

Warren Wee

CE Club Advisor Wong Jian Wen CEE Day Vice Director

Bui Xuan Khoa, Leow Chun Beng, How Kwang Yi

External Liason Officer

Alvin Ting, Chan Tak Kin, Chen Yuandong, Chen Zhuhe, Clayton Wong, Cynthia Tantono, Dong zheng, Koh Tong Jun, Li Si Wan, Sia Song Yu, Toh Yi Shan, Wang Mengyuan, Wang Yi Qing, Xue Guangji, Zhao Xinyue, Zou Wenchao

Welfare Director/ Vice-Director

Kenly Muliana Pamadi, NurulHuda Bte Mustafar

Safety & Health Day Vice-Director

Gao Guang Hao Welfare Director/ Vice-Director

Shen Yuzhou

Orientation Camp Director

Han Zhengguang, Tan Teng Fong Rebecca

External Liason Officer

Goh Zexun

Publicity Director/ Vice-Director

Emily Tan, See Wenhan

Orientation Camp Director

Natalie Chai Xiu Xian

Publication Team - Layout Designer

Teng Shi Ru, Zhou Qi External Liason Officer

Xu Nuo

Social Media Director Fan Tingting

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

12 | P a g e

ESE Student Club 7th Management Committee (AY2014/2015)

President Oh Guo Liang

Vice Presidents Kua ZhengJie (Adam), Sherin Koh Hsin Yi

Treasurer Toh Chern Yi

Secretary Ng Song Kai Benjamin

Business Director Lim Yang Jun

ER Directors Rena Tang, Valerie Khoo Pei Yi (Dy), Choo Mee Ling (Dy)

Marketing Directors

Tan Sin Kuan, Cui Yuxi (Dy)

Publicity Directors Simone Wang, Zhang Yuxi (Dy)

OCIP Director Wong Xin Huei, Phoon Ying Xin (Dy), Neo Teck Heng (Dy)

Events Directors Jonathan Tay Chee-Wei, Teng Yong Chen (Dy), Ngoh Jie Rui (Dy), Lloyd Teo (Dy), Ng Sir Sing (Dy)

Logistics Directors Goh Kai Ren, Andrew Chiang (Dy)

Welfare Directors Lim Seng Leong, Teo Ler Xi Jassy (Dy), Ng Jia Ren (Dy)

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

13 | P a g e

EVENTS Prof Richard Liew will be giving a public seminar on “Design and Construction of Unusual Steel Structures” at LT7A on 7 Nov 2014, Friday. The event will be sponsored by Yongnam Engineering and Construction Pte Ltd.

Engineering Alumni Gala Dinner organized by External Relations Office was held on 10 Oct 2014 at the NUSS The Graduate Club. The department has invited our new faculty members, young alumni representatives and industry partners to the event.

“What’s next after graduation?” A sharing from young CEE alumni organized by CEE was held on 27 Aug 2014 at LT7A with about 80 undergraduate students in attendance.

Alumni in the panel Employer Chen Wei Kean (CE 2012) Project Engineer, Sembawang

Shipyard Wong Siyong (CE 2008) Assistant Project Manager, , JTC Tong Yiu Yan (EVE 2011) Engineer, PUB Yeo Wen Wei (EVE 2011) Environmental Consultant.

Environmental Resources Management

Wang Wei Yang (CE 2009) Senior Engineer, Surbana International Consultants

Algernon Hong (EVE 2014) Engineer, HDB

CEE NEWSCONNECT Issue3

14 | P a g e

Outreach Event- MOE- NUS Amazing Lab Race was held on 23 Jul 2014. CEE hosted two laboratory activities for 90 students from 12 (top) IP schools at the Hydraulics Laboratory (EW1-02-03) and TLab (EW2-03-14).

The laboratory activities were entitled 1) Surface Water Quality and Filtration and 2) Flow measurement respectively.

Events by Industry JTC Industry Sharing Session on how JTC built Jurong Rock Caverns – Southeast Asia’s first commercial underground storage facility for liquid hydrocarbons under the seabed cum Career Talk was held on 10 Oct 2014 Fri, 3.30pm at LT2.

LTA organized a Networking session on 12 Sep 2014 Fri at Swissotel Merchant Court Hotel for students from CEE, ECE, MPE & SDE.