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Vol. 9, No. 1, Jan 2013Newsletter of IES-IStructE Singapore Group
1
MICA (P) 014/12/2012
Conference on Structural WondersThe bi-annual Conference on Structural Wonders of the Singapore Regional Group held on 23 November
2012 was the culmination of more than a year’s planning. Speakers included Prof David Nethercot (UK),
Matthew Esther (UAE), Dr Luong Vanhai (Vietnam), Robin Sham (Hong Kong) and local speakers from
established companies such as Arup, TYLin and Woh Hup. Almost 180 registered participants attended
the Conference on Structural Wonders at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. Prof Nethercot gave the
historical background of the IStructE Structural Awards which was launched in 1967. The Structural
Awards event has since evolved into the present glitzy one and it is now regarded as the equivalent Oscar
awards for structural engineers.
To be continued on page 3
(a)(b)
(c) (d)
Conference speakers: (a) Allan Teo (b) Dr
Luong Van Hai (c) Mike King (d) Russell Cole
Matthew Esther spoke on the structural wonders in UAE,
in particular on the DIFC Lighthouse in Dubai. For this
unique structure, he revealed the process behind the
design and how the use of technology combined with an
engineered approach from first principles resolved a
complex structural arrangement into a relatively simple
and buildable solution. Dr Luong described the iconic
Bitexco Financial Tower and the Crescent Residence 2 of
Ho Chi Minh city.
Robin Sham passionately shared his experiences in the design and construction of the world’s longest
cable stayed bridges – the Stonecutter Bridge in Hong Kong and the Sutong Bridge in China. Clive Lewis
and Mike King gave a wonderful lecture on the National Stadium Roof of the Singapore Sports Hub which is
the world’s largest free standing dome that spans 310m. Allan Teo explained how the arch-shell grid
system for the cooled conservatories of the Gardens by the Bay works while Gunasekaran shared the
construction techniques employed for the conservatories. Serena Yap and Iwan Susanto gave an
interesting talk on the one-of-kind design of the Interlace for residential apartments. As some of the box-like
structures need to span over a considerable distance, the engineers borrowed the ideas used in bridge
engineering to make the structural system cost effective. Russell Cole introduced the South Beach Tower
development to the audience. The shapes of the towers appear like dancing and pregnant ladies. As the
participants listen attentively to structural engineers outlining their experience, many were in awe of the
structural splendour and the creative ability of structural engineers. Students who attended the conference
(at a special student rate) were swept away by the amazing technical details presented in simple language
by eminent engineers
Prof Wang presenting a plaque to Robin Sham & Serena Yap
(a)
The Structuralist Editorial Committee
Editors: Dr Kong Kian Hau & Er Kang JianhanAdvisors: Prof Wang Chien Ming
A/Prof Lok Tat Seng
Dear readers, thanks for taking time to readthis newsletter. We appreciate your continuedsupport and would also like to hear from youfor whatever reasons. Please direct all yourcorrespondence and inquiries to:
Disclaimer:
All views and opinions expressed therein are solely
those of the writers and its publication does not
necessarily imply that such views and opinions are
endorsed by the IES, IES/IStructE Joint Committee
and the editorial committee of The Structuralist.
Copyright:
The reproduction in whole or in part of any material in
this publication must obtain written permission from
the editorial committee of this publication and/or from
the respective author(s).
IES-IStructE Joint Committee
Prof Wang Chien Ming (Chairman):[email protected]
Er. Dr. Ho Kwong Meng (Vice Chairman): [email protected]
A/Prof Lok Tat Seng (Hon. Secretary):[email protected]
Dr Boh Jaw Woei (Hon. Treasurer):[email protected]
Er Reve Chin (Asst. Hon. Secretary):[email protected]
Er Ms Jeslin Quek ( Asst . Hon. Treasurer):[email protected]
Er Wijaya [email protected]
Er Mak Yew [email protected]
Er Mah Guan Pangadmin@mabaengineering
Er Ang Chee [email protected]
Er Seow Hong [email protected]
Er Steve [email protected]
Er Ms Cong Zheng [email protected]
Er Kang [email protected]
Er Sam Tan Gak Peng:[email protected]
Dr Kong Kian [email protected]
Contents & Contributors
1. Conference on Structural Wonders 23 Nov 2012
(CM Wang)
2. Congratulations to our Fellow for receiving 2012
National Day Awards (TS Lok)
3. Happy New Year Greetings from IES-IStructE
Joint Committee
4. Announcement: - One Day Course on Structural
Fire Engineering Design
5. Announcement: - IStructE CME Preparatory
Course
6. NUS Engineering Science Programme (ESP)
Competition: Construction and Testing of
Earthquake-Resistant Towers (SJ Koh)
7. International Interest Group (TS Lok)
8. IStructE Subscription for Joint IES-IStructE
Membership – wef 1st January 2013
.
Congratulations to our Fellow for receiving 2012 National Day Award
The Chairman and members of the Singapore Regional Group
congratulate A/Prof Francis Lok on the conferment of the Pingat
Pentadbiran Awam (Gangsa) [i.e. Public Administration Medal
(Bronze)] by His Excellency the President of the Republic of
Singapore, Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam, at a National Day Award
Investiture Ceremony held on 11th November 2012.
2
Upcoming Talks (2013)
Symposium on Structural & Architectural Textiles (SAT), April 2013
by Muiltimedia Engineering. Venue: Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
Speakers amongst others: Ingo Thalhammer & Chetan Doshi (SEFAR),
Dr Phang (MEPL) Singapore and Dr Greiner (ART ENG.) Germany
Design and Construction of Civil and Infrastructural Engineering
Projects , 27 March 2013 by IES Overseas Chapters &
IES/IStructE Joint Committee. Venue: Furama City Centre Hotel.
Speakers amongst others: Prof CM Wang (NUS), Prof David Chua (NUS),
Er Tan Gak Peng (Ryobi Kiso), Er Mok Chin Kit and Er Gan Chin Hwi
The IES-IStructE Joint Committee wishes all members a “Happy and Prosperous
Lunar New Year 2013”
Continued from Page 1 Singapore Structural Awards 2012
The IStructE Singapore Structural Awards 2012 were given out during the conference banquet which was
attended by some 190 guests. Owing to numerous submissions, the judging panel has decided to dish out
five awards for 2012. They are:
Audience at the Conference of Structural Wonders
• Commendation Awards for Special Structures
that went to the ArtScience Museum by Arup
Singapore and the Super Trees at the Gardens-
by-the Bay by Atelier One and Meinhardt
• Award for Special Structures went to the
Cooled Conservatories at the Gardens-by-the
Bay by Atelier One, Meinhardt and Woh Hup
• Award for Buildings went to 137 Market Street
by Web Structures
• Award for Infrastructure went to My Waterway
@Punggol by the Housing Development Board
Introduction to the Singapore Structural Awards by A/Prof. Lok T.S
The IES/IStructE Joint Committee congratulates all the aforementioned winners on their wonderful
achievements and encourages them to submit their structures for consideration for the IStructE Structural
Awards 2013.
Vol. 9 No. 1 Jan 2013 Page 3
A few of the icons of Singapore
Structural Awards 2012
(a) ArtScience Museum @ Marina Bay
Sands
(b) Super Trees @ Gardens by the
Bay
(c) Cooled Conservatories @ Gardens
by the Bay
(a) (b)
(c)
Vol. 9 No. 1 Jan 2013 Page 4
Vol. 9 No. 1 Jan 2013 Page 5
Venue: The Institution of Engineers, Singapore, 70 Bukit Tinggi Road Singapore 289758Fee: $95 (inclusive of GST and light refreshments)Organiser: IES/IStructE Joint Committee Co-ordinator: Er. Steve Yeung
This course is aimed to help the IStructE Chartered Membership Examination candidates prepare for the
forthcoming examination in April 2012. The course will be conducted over two sessions:
Session 1: Saturday 23rd Feb 2013Time: 1:30 pm – 5:30 pmTutors who successfully passed the CM Exam in recent years will collectively conduct this session on:
• Preparation for the exam
• Exam techniques and time management
• Marking scheme and failure points – Explanation on what the Examiners look for when marking the exam
scripts and what the common pitfalls are
• Discussion on past exam questions – The tutors will talk through the questions they attempted in the
actual exams, e.g. structural concepts development, details, drawings, such that candidates can appreciate
how to present the solution with an appropriate level of details during the exam
Session 2: Saturday 16th Mar 2013Time: 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm• Discussion on past exam questions – The tutors will talk through a number of other past exam questions
and solutions
• Mock exam – Candidates will be asked to attempt parts of some past exam questions, followed by
discussion on the solutions.
Tutor Details:
Kong Kian Hau – Civil & Structural Design Manager, DP Engineers Pte Ltd (Singapore)Kian Hau has 13 years of experience in civil & structural engineering. He graduated from NUS with a 1st
Class Honours Degree in Civil Engineering in 1999 and a PhD in Structural Engineering in 2004. He was
awarded the NUS President’s Graduate Fellowship in 2002 and obtained his Chartered Member of IStructE
in 2012. He has extensive practical experience as a site/resident engineer, and worked as design and
project engineer in residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and master planning projects in
Singapore as well as overseas.
Reve Chin Jen Yee – Lead Civil & Structural Engineer, WorleyParsons Pte Ltd (Singapore)Reve graduated from Nanyang Technological University with Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Hons) in 2002
and obtained Master of Science (Civil Engineering) in 2006. He is a registered Professional Engineer in
Singapore and Member of IStructE. Some of his notable projects include Marina Bay Sands Hotel Towers,
Circle Line Stage 3, Sentosa Cove residential buildings and KLCC Hotel. Currently, Reve is the Lead
Engineer for two power plant projects on Jurong Island.
Steve Yeung – Manager of Projects, WorleyParsons Pte Ltd (Singapore)Steve graduated from the University of Sydney, Australia with Bachelor (Hons) and Master of Engineering
Degrees, and has over 20 years’ experience in the offshore oil-&-gas, mining and power generation
industries. He has worked as structural design engineer, project engineer, lead engineer and engineering
manager. He commenced his career in Australia before relocating to Singapore in 1999. Steve is a
registered Professional Engineer in Singapore and became a Chartered Member of IStructE in 2006, and
is currently a Marking Examiner for the IStructE to mark CM Exam scripts.
IES/IStructE Joint Committee
The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) Chartered Membership
Examination Preparatory Course
Please register online at IES website by Wed 20th Feb 2013. The registration form may beobtained from Raymond Khoo (Email: [email protected] Tel: 6461 1222)
Vol. 9 No. 1 Jan 2013 Page 6
NUS Engineering Science Programme (ESP) Competition: Construction and Testing of Earthquake-Resistant Towers
by Dr Koh Soo Jin Adrian (ESP Lecturer and Supervisor)
This was the first of many design projects that ESP students have to undertake as part of the curriculum.
The students are required to fulfil two objectives:
• to determine the Young’s Modulus of two types of wooden sticks with different stiffnesses using a beam-
bending experiment, and
• to construct a tower with a restricted number of wooden sticks to resist horizontal base acceleration.
Prof. Wang Chien Ming delivered a lecture on beam theory, which spurred the students to think deeply into
designing their beam experiments and collection of data to determine the Young’s modulus. The
competitors displayed great resourcefulness, including sourcing for product information of the wooden
sticks. Ultimately, they found the properties of Balsa and Bass wood. Armed with the properties of both
types of wood, the students proceeded to design, analyse and construct the model tower. Lectures on the
fundamentals of structural dynamics and the Finite Element Method were presented to the students. All the
teams were aware that their structure should have a fundamental frequency in excess of the maximum
prescribed base excitation frequency of 5.0 Hertz. They are also aware that their towers should be
designed for good shear resistance near the base, and minimize deflection at the upper floors. Most teams
are conscious of imperfect workmanship, which may result in a less-than-perfect structure compared to the
one analyzed by the software. Some teams identified the possibility of columns buckling under
compressive load and dynamic excitation. The eventual winner was a tower designed by the team
consisting of Siah Kien Wei, Ang Zhen Yang, Ho Shuyuan, Tan Si Jie Elain and Loh Chee Liang, which
sustained a peak horizontal acceleration of 1250 gals (equivalent to a scale of 10 on the Richter scale). On
behalf of my students, I wish to thank IStructE Singapore Regional Group for sponsoring the prizes for the
top three winning teams.
Wooden towers constructed by the students, before commencement of the shake-table test.
The designs for the eventual top three are labeled.
1st
2nd
3rd
Vol. 9 No. 1 Jan 2013 Page 7
International Interest Group (IIG)by Dr Francis Lok, Hon-Secretary, Singapore Regional Group and
Chairman, IStructE International Interest Group
The IStructE International Interest Group (IIG) comprises representatives (Chairman, elected Council and appointed
members) from Local and International Regional Groups. IIG members usually meet for about two hours prior to the
Council meeting to deliberate on various international issues, new initiatives and for the respective representatives of
countries/regional groups to report on the developments pertaining to membership and other relevant international
matters. The important points and new initiatives discussed at the IIG meeting are then summarised and reported by
the Chairman of the IIG to Council. As Singapore members may be aware, I am an elected Council member (2012-
2014) and an appointed Chairman of the International Interest Group (wef January 2013). In all IIG meetings, it is
expected that representatives from various countries [e.g. Singapore, Malaysia, PR China, Hong Kong, Australia
(Victoria, New South Wales), Canada (British Columbia and Ontario), United States, South Africa, Caribbean, United
Arab Emirates, India and Council members from Northern Ireland, Scotland and UK Regional Groups] would be
available to report accordingly. Prof CM Wang, as Chairman of the Singapore Regional Group, is Singapore’s
representative in the IIG.
Discussions in the IIG are wide ranging but one of the topics of discussion is the International Comparability Exercise.
Other areas of interest within the IIG are the Global Earthquake Model, Chartered Membership Exam Paper, Disaster
Mitigation/Management and International Employment Opportunities.
I am focusing on the International Comparability Exercise because this topic appears to stir up most interest and
emotion of members of the Institution. The exercise was suggested at an earlier meeting in November 2012 where a
number of representatives were requested to brief HQ on the demands of registration and licensing of Practising
Engineers in their respective countries. The catalyst for the exercise stemmed from the successful Supplementary
Paper taken by PRC Class 1 Structural Engineers in March 2012. This was the first supplementary examination under
a new arrangement between IStructE and the Practice Qualification Registration Centre of the Ministry of Housing
and Urban-Rural Development of PR China (PQRC). The International Comparability Exercise is intended to
determine whether Supplementary Papers could be developed for countries where there is “comparability” with PR
China or another country’s system. PRC will be conducting their second Supplementary Paper in March 2013.
I suggest that Singapore-registered PEs should not be left behind. In November 2012, I briefly outlined the current
Singapore PE registration system but this needed broader exposure of different PR-registration systems (if they exist
at all) around the globe. Connected to this exercise is the case for mandatory CPD. Singapore is held occasionally as
an exemplar since CPD is compulsory for Registered PEs needing a Practising Certificate to conduct their daily work
of providing professional engineering services to the community. As an example, let’s compare the PR China and
Singapore registration system. I suggest that our two PE examination systems are very similar, including the CPD
requirement. An exception is that PRC Class 1 Structural Engineers cannot practice independently – Structural
Engineers must practice within a registered Design Institute. Another contrasting difference is that the PRC CPD
system is initiated by PQRC, whereas the Singapore CPD system is based on approval of an application to PEB
(seeking approval based on a scheduled programme relevant to the field of engineering).
I have charted a timetable for representatives to make a presentation on “Registration and Licensing of Professional
Engineers” in their respective countries at each meeting of the IIG in January, July and November. Each presentation
should also include details of continuing education by practising professional engineers. For example, some countries
require the number of CPD points to be acquired per year and others are over a three-year period. The number of
points varies from country to country but may not have the same system (in Singapore, the minimum points are 15
“structured” and 25 “non-structured” per year).
In January 2013, S. Africa, Australia and Singapore presented their requirements on “Registration and Licensing of
Professional Engineers”. Soon, these details (powerpoint files, documents, legislation materials, etc.) will be up-
loaded into a special IStructE website for each country, and these will be available to all IStructE members. Indeed,
the suggestion is that such information should be made public. I have tasked the representatives of the next three
countries to make their presentation in July 2013. They are Malaysia, Canada and USA. In time, PR China, HK,
Taiwan, Korea, UAE, Caribbean, India, Sri Lanka, etc., would be added to the long list of countries. Readers may also
be aware that Scotland has a registration and compulsory-CPD system. This and other details will be available in due
time and the trend on registration and compulsory continuing education will be clearer.
Readers will appreciate that each country has its own system of registration – some resulting from historical
perspective while others are progressive. However we view the systems, some will say that it is fundamentally
protectionism. As a professional engineer, I take the view that public safety, professionalism in our daily work and
continuing education as essential pillars to sustain the profession of structural engineers. I hope this brief note would
stir debate on registration and licensing of professional engineers within the Institution as much as we had in our
respective Regions.
Vol. 9 No. 1 Jan 2013 Page 8
IStructE Subscription for Joint IES-IStructE Membership with effect from 1st January 2013
