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Earth Sciences & Engineering

This category covers:

Atmospheric Chemistry
Atmospheric Physics
Climate Change Modelling
Earthquake Engineering
Geochemistry, Geochronology
Geological Hazard and Risk Management
Isotope Geochemistry

Mineralogy and Petrology
Palaeo-climatology
Palaeontology
Seismology
Tectonics
Tropical Soils Engineering
Volcanology

Name	Research Interests
Asst Prof Adam Douglas Switzer	Adam Switzers main research interest lies in using coastal stratigraphy to define the recurrence interval of catastrophic marine inundation events (tsunami or large storms). His most significant contributions to the field include: * the first study of modern storm deposits from the Australian southeast coast; * the recognition that immature heavy mineral suites in coastal sandsheets may indicate tsunami deposition rather than storm deposition in coastal settings; * the recognition of an erosional signature of large scale washover of coastal dunes using Ground Penetrating Radar; * initial evaluation of the sedimentary processes associated with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the southeast coast of India a definitive review and re-analysis of large boulder accumulations in coastal settings on the southeast Australian coast.
Asst Prof Benoit Taisne	Benoit Taisne’s current research focuses on the early anticipation of the style and size of volcanic eruptions. He uses new tomographic methods (muon telescopes) to shed light on two crucial parts of the volcanic system that have so far remained elusive for volcanologists and hazard managers, and which are key inputs for ash dispersal models: - The structure (i.e. density distribution) and geometry of the volcanic conduit, - The characteristics of ash columns. Results from the muon tomography experiments will be complemented by more traditional data and methods from different disciplines like geophysics (seismologic studies), geodesy (GPS studies), and geochemistry (petrology and gas chemistry). All these data will be jointly inverted in near real-time with physics-based models of magma migration to get quantitative values for key physical parameters controlling the eruption style, and hence anticipate the style and size of eruptions to come. His main research interests are: - Magma migration - Eruption dynamic - Development of realtime monitoring technics - Numerical simulation - Laboratory experiments in fluids dynamics
Assoc Prof Cheng Niansheng	Prof Cheng Nian-Sheng's areas of expertise are hydraulics, sediment transport and turbulence. His current research works focus on open channel flows with vegetation, turbulent flows over dune-covered bed, and simultaneous measurements of two-phase flows.
Asst Prof Cheung Sai Hung	-Catastrophe risk modeling, analysis, mitigation and management due to natural disasters and man-made hazards -Reliability, Risk engineering and science -Stochastic dynamics -Complexity science -Earthquake engineering, Performance-based engineering -Sustainable urban planning and development -Climate Change Impact Studies -Optimal decision making, design and control under uncertainty -Uncertainty quantification, System identification -Structural health monitoring
Prof Chiew Yee Meng	He has had more than 25 years of research experience in many aspects of fluvial, hydraulic, coastal and offshore engineering. His particular research interest is in the area of erosion, sediment transport and turbulence. In addition to his research activities, Dr Chiew provides extensive consulting services to the engineering industries, both internationally and in Singapore. He was the Chairman of the 2nd International Conference on Scour and Erosion (ICSE-2) that was held in Singapore in November 2004. SELECTED PUBLICATION LIST 1. Chiew, Y. M. "Mechanics of Local Scour Around Submarine Pipelines" Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 116, no. 4, 515-529, 1990. 2. Chiew, Y. M. "Scour Protection at Bridge Piers" Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 118, no. 9, 1260-1269, 1992. 3. Chiew, Y. M. and Parker, G. "Incipient Sediment Transport on Non-Horizontal Slopes" Journal of Hydraulic Research, IAHR, vol. 32, no. 5, 649-660, 1994. 4. Chiew, Y. M. "Mechanics of Riprap Failure at Bridge Piers" Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 121, no. 9, 635-643, 1995. 5. Song, T. and Chiew, Y. M. and Chin, C. O. "Effect of Bedload Movement on Flow Friction Factor" Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 124, no. 2, 165-175, 1998. 6. Cheng, N. S. and Chiew, Y. M. "Turbulent Open-Channel Flow with Upward Seepage" Journal of Hydraulic Research, IAHR, vol. 36, no. 3, 415-431, 1998. 7. Melville, B. W. and Chiew, Y. M. "Time Scale for Local Scour at Bridge Piers" Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 125, no. 1, 59-65, 1999. 8. Cheng, N. S. and Chiew, Y. M. "Incipient Sediment Motion with Upward Seepage" Journal of Hydraulic Research, IAHR, vol. 37, no. 5, 665-681, 1999. 9. Ming, D. H. and Chiew, Y. M. "Experimental study for shoreline changes behind a detached breakwater" Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering, ASCE, vol. 126, no. 2, 63-70, 2000. 10. Chiew, Y. M. and Lim F. H. "Failure behavior of riprap layer at bridge piers under live-bed conditions" Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 126, no. 1, 43-55, 2000. 11. Song, T. and Chiew, Y. M. "Turbulence Measurement in Non-Uniform Open Channel Flow Using an Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV)". Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE, vol. 127, no. 3, 219-232, 2001. 12. Chiew, Y.M. "Failure Mechanisms of Riprap Layer around Bridge Piers". Invited Paper (Plenary Section) in Proc. of First Int. Conf. on Scour of Foundations (ICSF-1), Vol. 1, 70-91, 2002. 13. Chen, X. W. and Chiew, Y. M. "Response of Velocity and Reynolds Stress Profiles to Sudden Change of Bed Roughness in Open-Channel Flow". Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 129, no. 1, 35-43, 2003. 14. Chen, X. W. and Chiew, Y. M. "Velocity Distribution of Turbulent Open Channel Flow with Bed Suction". Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 130, no. 2, 140-148, 2004. 15. Chiew, Y. M. "Local Scour and Riprap Stability at Bridge Piers in a Degrading Channel". Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, vol. 130, no. 3, 218-226, 2004. 16. Lu, Y., Chiew, Y.M. and Cheng, N. S. "Review of seepage effects on turbulent open-channel flow and sediment entrainment". Journal of Hydraulic Research, IAHR, 46(4), 476-488, 2008.
Prof Christopher George Newhall	I'll be helping to build the volcanology research group here at NTU, with close links to researchers and practitioners in neighboring volcanic countries. Our main focus will be eruption forecasting, and understanding magmatic plumbing and processes toward that goal. We'll be developing new tools for forecasting -- new research insights, new equipment, and WOVOdat, a new database of worldwide volcanic unrest among them. Since volcano research needs to start on real volcanoes, and Singapore doesn't have any, we plan "laboratory volcano" projects in the Philippines and Indonesia that will decipher eruptive history and current/future unrest, and also serve as a test ground for new tools. My own research will emphasize the ways by which magma degasses ("loses its fizz"), ways in which magma interacts with groundwater, and "epidemiological" mining of WOVOdat. Our work needs small, low-power, inexpensive, and unobtrusive (hard for passerbys to see) power and radio telemetry for remote stations on volcanoes. We need innovative new ways to "see" stress conditions, magmatic gas pressures, and groundwater pore pressures inside volcanoes, and more robust, cheaper ways for continuous, multi-species volcanic gas monitoring. And we need to improve real-time detection and characterization of ash clouds that threaten aviation, and fragility curves of damage to aircraft from various concentrations and exposure to ash. The closeness to nature, camaraderie, and both intellectual and physical challenges of working on volcanoes are infectious! Join us! I welcome students and collaborators from various disciplines who are interested to apply their insights to problems of volcano monitoring, volcanic behavior, and risk mitigation. Please contact me with your volcano questions and interests!
Assoc Prof Chu Jian	Dr Chu's area of expertise includes labotrory and in-situ testing, soil properties, ground improvement, land reclamation, and waste utilisation. My research focus areas at the present are: (1) Instability behaviour of granular soil; (2) Innovative ground improvement methods including the use of microbial technologies; (2) Waste utilisation; and (4) Disaster mitigations.
Asst Prof Emma Mary Hill	Research interests involve the application of space geodesy to understanding climate change and natural hazards, including measuring sea-level rise, tectonic deformation and melting glaciers using the Global Positioning System (GPS), GRACE gravity satellites and the global tide-gauge network. Future research will particularly focus on the regions of South and Southeast Asia. A particular focus is the development of techniques to combine different geodetic data sets for the purpose of separating the effects of the many different geophysical processes occurring in the Earth system.
Asst Prof Fidel Costa Rodriguez	I'm interested in understanding the formation, transport, and eruption of magmas (silicate melt, gas and crystals) on the Earth's surface. Main focus are the conditions (pressure, temperature, volatile contents) at which magmas are stored prior to eruption, the processes that lead to the erupted magma compositions (magma mixing, crystallization), the rates and time scales at which these processes occur, and, finally how all this information relate to volcanic monitoring data and unrest phenomena. I have expertise and use a large variety of geochemical (SEM, electron microprobe, SIMS, FTIR, LA-ICP-MS, XRF, INAA), experimental (high pressure and temperature apparatus for phase equilibria), and modeling (finite differences for kinetics in solid state) approaches.
Asst Prof Fu Chi Wing	Computer graphics, visualization, user interaction, and multimedia
Asst Prof Ho Shen-Shyang	Mobility, Spatiotemporal and Stream Data Minining Artificial Intelligence, Pattern Recognition, and Machine Learning Satellite Data, Climate, and Earth Science Informatics Privacy Issues in Data Mining and Analytics
Asst Prof Huang Zhenhua	Professor Huang's areas of expertise are Hydrodynamics, Environmental fluid mechanics, Coastal and Ocean engineering. His current research works focus on Nonlinear wave-structure interactions; Large scale circulations and transport phenomena in coastal waters; Nonlinear wave dynamycs over coral reef; Shoreline erosion; Wave energy converters; Tsunami hazard mitigation; Flows in porous media.
Prof Isaac V Kerlow	Animation Theory and Research, Computer-Aided Printmaking, Computer Animation, Digital Art, Digital Interfaces, History of Computer Animation, Interdisciplinary Studies, New Media Theory and Practice, Popular Art, Storytelling, Visual Arts, Typography, Visualization, Visual Literacy
Prof Kerry Edward Sieh	My principal research interest is earthquake geology, which uses geological layers and landforms to understand the geometries of active faults, the earthquakes they generate, and the crustal structure their movements produce. My early work on the San Andreas fault led to the discovery of how often and how regularly it produces large earthquakes in southern California. More recently, my students and colleagues and I investigated Taiwan's multitude of active faults and figured out how their earthquakes are creating that mountainous island. We are currently exploring the earthquake geology of Myanmar (Burma). Our principal current research interest is the subductionmegathrust that produced the devastating giant Sumatran earthquakes and Indian Ocean tsunamis of 2004 and 2005. That research suggests that the megathrust is poised to produce yet another giant earthquake in western Sumatra. I am also now involved in creation of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, which aims to conduct basic and applied research related to earthquake, tsunami, volcanic, and climate hazards.
Asst Prof Koh Tieh Yong	Tieh Yong's main research activity in the last few years involves research in numerical weather prediction and regional climate downscaling in the equatorial tropics (by way of the application of science to the betterment of society) and to use computational models (e.g. COAMPS, WRF, NHM) as research tools to investigate tropical weather and climate, moist convection, boundary-layer turbulence and pollutant dispersion. Tieh Yong's research interests cover the following topics: Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Tropical Meteorology, General Circulation, Mixing and Transport in the stratosphere and troposphere at global and regional scales. Please see the homepage above for up-to-date information.
Assoc Prof Law Wing-Keung, Adrian	Research in environmental fluid mechanics with special emphasis on wastewater disposal and impact, environmental hydraulics in wastewater treatment processes, pollutant transport in coastal environment, and advanced laser imaging techniques for measurements.
Assoc Prof Low Bak Kong	Reliability analysis in geotechnical engineering, soil and rock slope stability, ground improvement, rock engineering, and engineering analysis accounting for uncertainty. Current research works focus on deterministic analysis and probabilistic approach in connection with stability and displacement issues in underground construction in rocks.
Prof Lu Ming	Numerical analysis for rock mechanics and rock engineering Measurement and evaluation of in-situ rock stress Underground storage of oil and gas Use of underground space
Asst Prof Lucy Davis	KEYWORDS: Art & Ecology; Art & Society; Nature in Art & Visual Cultures; "indigenous"/Southeast Asian Conceptions of Nature; Migrations of Nature & Culture; Cultures of Science; DNA--its possibilities, ideology and poetics; The Posthuman Turn; Animal Studies; Wildlife Trafficking; Cultural & Natural Heritage; Material Cultures; Nature as Agent; Material-Led Research. Trees. Wood. Birds. Lucy's current art practice and writing revolves around the may ways in which nature intervenes in human cultural life in Southeast Asia. Lucy is founder of the Migrant Ecologies Project www.migrantecologies.org. Work with the Migrant Ecologies Project involves a three year art practice and writing research into of stories of, and relationships between, humans, wood and trees and humans in our region, where trees and wood are explored as material, magic, metaphor, ecological resource and historical agent. Part of the research for the Migrant Ecologies Project is carried out while Lucy is Artist in Residence with Double Helix Timber Tracking Technologies--a company dedicated to combatting illegal logging through DNA profiling of timber. The conceptual part of this research engages theoretical intersections of contemporary art practice, posthumanist theory and material culture. The aesthetic explorations in this research involve a reflexive recasting of the material, form and content of the Singapore modern woodcut movement through myriad histories of art, nature and life in Singapore/Malaya. The first two productions coming out of the Wood:Cut; research were exhibited at Post Museum gallery in May 2009 and The Substation art centre, Singapore November 2009 respectively. Both received considerable local and international press attention. These exhibitions comprise outputs from an RGB startup grant. Outputs were nominated for the Asia Pacific Signature Art Prize organized by the Singapore Art Museum in July of 2011 Stage three of research process involves the awarding of a Tier 1 Grant (March 2010) for "The Secret Lives of Forest Products -- Tracing “memories” of Southeast Asian forest products in time & space". This is an interdisciplinary investigation combining contemporary art, biology and DNA timber tracking technology in collaboration with Double Helix Tracking Technologies, where Lucy is currently Artist in Residence. [doublehelixtracking.net] Lucy is PI on this project. Co-PI's and collaborators are Shannon Castleman (ADM), Shankar Iyerh (Double Helix Tracking Technologies), Shawn Lum (NSSE NIE, President of Nature Society of Singapore) and Dr Andrew Lowe. Chair Plant Biology, University of Adelaide. * Outputs from this Tier 1 grant were Finalists for the French Prix COAL Art & Ecology Prize 2011--the very first year of the grant. * An animated film from this grant Jalan Jati (Teak Road) won Promotion Award for the International Competition, Oberhausen Short Film Festival, Germany 2012. * The film will also be screened at Explora Museum New Mexico as part of ISEA International Symposium of Electonic Arts MACHINE WILDERNESS September 2012 USA. in 2012 Lucy was awarded a second Tier 1 Grant for research into relations between humans and birds in Tanglin Halt--along the former KTM railway line in Singapore. The project comprises an interdisciplinary science, sociology, new media, cinema. visual art and theatre approach to the nurturing of urban heritage and ecology. Co-PI's are Shawn Lum (NSSE NIE, President of Nature Society of Singapore) Marijke Van Kets (Film ADM) Alvin Tan, (Artisitic Director The Necessary Stage), Daniel Goh (Sociology NUS). Alongside the above, Lucy has also an ongoing interest and engagement in the role of public intellectuals and the position of academics and artists in civil society in Singapore/Southeast Asia.
Asst Prof Martin Skote	Prof Skote's areas of expertise are Direct Numerical Simulation, Turbulent Boundary Layer Flow, Separation, Atmospheric Flow, Urban Air Quality, Turbulence Modeling, Plasma Actuator Modeling. His current research works focus on fundamental studies of turbulence aiming at the control of turbulent boundary layers.
Asst Prof Pang Zhen	He is interested in developing methods for the multivariate, dependent and non-linear data. His current research emphasises on the correlated multivariate binary data analysis from developmental toxicity studies, bootstrapping data with multi-levels of variations, robust methods, survey methodology and generalized linear mixed models.
Prof Paul Tapponnier	1. Continental Dynamics and Tectonics, with particular emphasis on collision zones, plateaux and mountain belts, particularly in Asian-Mediterranean regions. 2. Active faulting and seismotectonics, earthquake hazard assessment. 3.Quantitative Geomorphology, state-of-the-art determination of current rates of active deformation processes. 4.Rock mechanics and rock deformation physics.
Dr Shuy Eng Ban	Research Interests: 1. Urban hydrology, integrated urban storm water and water resource management, including quantity and quality modelling of urban storm runoff and reservoir waters 2. Open channel and closed conduit hydraulics 3. Analysis and control of water hammer in pipelines 4. Groundwater : Aquifer storage and recovery 5. Air pollutant dispersion modelling 6. Density stratified flow 7. Enhanced engineered wetland systems for stormwater management 8. Sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS)
Asst Prof Sylvain Barbot	The goal of my research is to develop a physics-based model of the earthquake cycle to assess the full range of seismic behavior that can be expected across a plate boundary. I use remote sensing (synthetic aperture radar, GPS, optical photographs, gravity) and seismological data to investigate the mechanics the lithosphere and fault slip. These measurements can be used to constrain models of rupture and lithosphere dynamics, which include faulting, but also more distributed deformation, such as poroelastic and viscoelastic flow. An important goal of my research is to reconcile long-term (regional tectonics) and short-term (earthquake dynamics) observations and improve our capacity to predict some aspect of the earthquake cycle.
Assoc Prof Tan Soon Keat	Dr Tan's research interests include application of geographical information system (GIS) in water resources, numerical simulation of flow for hydraulics and coastal engineering applications. His current research projects include hydrodynamic consideration of mega underwater structures and application of wetland technologies in the removal of pharmaceutical products from wastewater streams. Dr Tan specilaises in urban water management and has developed the catchment – drainage GIS map of NTU campus. The GIS map is designed to facilitate rainfall-runoff modeling as well as water quality modeling. While rainfall-runoff modelling is generally well-established, water quality modeling is not, especially in the estimate of the source concentration of the pollutants. Current research focus in the community is in the establishment of the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorous (TP) in rainwater runoff. The difficulty lies in the fact that TN and TP varies with time, space as well as the intensity of rainfall. Dr Tan has a PhD project on TN and TP as contaminant in rainwater runoff. Removal of water-borne contaminant, particularly trace quantity of drugs and pharmaceutical products from waste-water streams is a challenge in the management of water resources, and in particular, raw water for water supply. A viable and feasible solution is to employ wetland technology as a means to remove these contaminants. Under the supervision of Dr Tan, a research team is carrying out a series of constructed wetlands experiments with raw water spiked with selected contaminants. The research work has produced meaningful results since its inception in 2009. Currently Dr Tan is leading a research team to conduct research on the various hydrodynamics considerations for a mega underwater structure, looking at the effects of flow, wave and environmental loads on a single or group of surface protruding structures. The research team comprises 10 research fellows. The challenge of the project is that the structure is to be founded on the seabed, with living space on the seabed, or supported on legs or semi-submersible, and the columns also support a deck space above the water, making full use of the 3-dimensional space. The structure has to be of mega-size to make it economically viable. As such, the environmental loads, impact of flow and waves takes on a different dimension compared to a land-based structure or oil platforms. Of particular significance is the possibility of vortex-induced-vibrations, as well as trapping or building up of waves within the group of structures. Later research work includes selection of potential site for the construction of a pilot structure as well as the effects of such structure on seabed sedimentation, ecology as well as its impact on the environment.
Assoc Prof Tan Soon Yim	Prof Soon Yim TAN's areas of expertise are electromagnetic scattering and diffraction theory, localization methodology and propagation models for wireless communication systems and sensor networks, and non-invasive cancer detection. His current research works focus on non line-of sight localization methodology for mobile communications and sensor networks, Microwave breast cancer detection and magnetic therapeutic.
Assoc Prof Teh Cee Ing	Application of numerical and computational methods to geotechnical engineering. In-situ testings and interpretations. Ground improvement.
Assoc Prof Timothy John White	White's research is broadly in the areas of Solid-state chemistry and mineralogy (catalysis, ion conductors, porous materials; toxic and nuclear waste); crystal chemistry and crystallography; State-of-the-art analytical techniques in materials chemistry and environmental science. Major project over the past 25 years includes: (1) Team member, Griffith University Synroc Research Group (1982-1985) with special responsibility for structural and chemical characterisation of the nuclear waste form. (2) Team leader (1991-1992) responsible for conceptualising a novel process for the continuous production of high temperature superconducting wires which attracted $2.2 million of syndicated venture capital. (3) Group leader, ANSTO (1985-1988) obtained funding for proving synroc as a medium for the incorporation of real high level nuclear waste. Negotiated access to Euratom Facility at Karlsruhe (Germany) for investigation of active synroc. Responsible for first in-depth characterisation of Japanese synroc that enabled high Cm-244 levels to be incorporated for accelerated radiation damage studies at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute. (4) Consultant (1989 to 1997)) to Nuclear Waste Management Pty. Ltd. and Costain Engineering (England) to facilitate technology transfer of synroc to Russia and develop viable scale-up procedures. (5) Team leader (1990) at University of Queensland in a program to develop novel ceramic formulations to incorporate high-sodium, breeder reactor and TRU wastes. (6) Team leader (1991) at the University of Queensland for the development of new and improved waste forms of Portland cement and pozzolanics containing heavy metal wastes. (7) Research Director (1993-1996) as Multiplex Professor of Environmental Technology developing ceramic methods for the treatment of toxic metal wastes at industrial and mineral processing sites in Australia. (8) Team leader (1997 - 1999) at ETI responsible for evaluating low level radioactive waste contamination at an industrial site. Work included site assessment, development of remediation strategy in the laboratory and full site remediation including solidification of sludge and preparation of material for repatriation to Europe. (9) Team leader (1999 - 2001) at ETI responsible for validating the performance of membrane technology for the recovery and recycling of used automotive oil. Duties include the design and supervision of laboratory test work, and the collection of data from industrial pilot plants. (10) Director (2001-2004) at IESE responsible for developing a program of advanced research for the development of new ecomaterials for environmental protection. Major materials under investigation include catalysts (including decorated nanocatalysts and nanocomposites), modified and intercalated clays for sorption and fixation of waste, microporous tectosilicates and tectotitanates as selective ion exchangers, macroporous materials derived from opaline templates as chemical reactors, development of synchrotron XAFS for environmental studies (in collaboration with SSLS). (11) Co-PI (2003-2007) leading collaborative project with the National Research Council of Canada designing cermic materials for the stabilisation of incinertor ash. (12) PI (2003-2007) of collaborative project with Frauhofer UMSICHT to develop composite photoacatlytic materials. (13) PI (2003-2007) to optimise performance of photocatalysts through adjustment of compostion and morphogy.
Asst Prof Wang Xianfeng	Climate Science Isotope Geochemistry Ocean Chemistry
Prof Wen Changyun	Prof Wen's areas of expertise are Adaptive Control,Switching and Impulsive Systems,Modeling and Design of Steam Ejector Based Air-Conditioning Systems,Modeling, Monitoring, Control and Optimization of Water Distribution Networks, Iterative Learning Control,Control of Nano-Systems, Control of Biomedical Systems,Optical signal Processing,Active Vision and Its Applications,Chaos-Based Secure Communication Systems,Robust Control,2-D Systems and Image Processing. Currently his current research works focus on Adaptive Control,Modeling and Design of Steam Ejector Based Air-Conditioning Systems,Modeling, Monitoring, Control and Optimization of Water Distribution Networks, Control of Nano-Systems, Control of Biomedical Systems,Chaos-Based Secure Communication Systems.
Asst Prof Wong Ngai Yuen	- Rock mechanics - Engineering geology - Underground engineering
Assoc Prof (Adj) Zhou Yingxin	Rock mechanics and rock engineering Rock dynamics - explosion loading, ground shock, tunnel response, and dynamic rock support Tunnelling and underground technology Use of underground space

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