Koh Chan Ghee

Dr. Koh is a Professor of Civil Engineering and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation (LRF) Professor at NUS. He graduated with First Class Honours in 1979 from the then University of Singapore. Upon completion of his national service, he joined the NUS as a senior tutor in 1981. Subsequently, he went on a NUS overseas scholarship to further his graduate study at the University of California, Berkeley, where he obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. in 1983 and 1986, respectively. His Ph.D. thesis was entitled “Modelling of Dynamic Response of Elastomeric Isolation Bearings”.

Prof. Koh’s research interests have primarily been in structural dynamics, with emphasis on vibration mitigation, earthquake and blast engineering, structural monitoring and system identification, and nonlinear dynamics. He has published about 250 international journal papers and conference papers, six invited book chapters and a book. He has more than 200 international journal papers and conference papers, one book and six invited book chapters. He has delivered more than 20 keynotes and many invited presentations in countries such as USA, Canada, UK, EU, Australia, Japan, China, Greece, Portugal, Korea and India. He was a recipient of the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship awarded by the Commission of the European Communities, as well as the IES Best Paper Award. He has been active in securing competitive university and external grants for research projects – more than S$13M including S$7M as the principal investigator. The research projects include structural health monitoring, vibration mitigation, blast and seismic analysis, and offshore/marine engineering.

Prof. Koh has been active in the professional community. He is currently serving in four journal editorial boards, including as an associate editor of a US-based journal on Structural Health Monitoring. His expertise in structural engineering (structural dynamics in particular) has been well sought after by the industry. He has conducted more than 40 short courses for the industry on finite element analysis, advanced analysis, structural dynamics and seismic analysis. He has served as advisor/specialist in more than 120 buildings and infrastructure projects, including vibration analysis and measurement of many major developments including train track systems, bridges, tall buildings and high-tech buildings in Singapore and the region.

Prof. Koh is currently the Director of LRF Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk (IPUR) and also the Director of Centre for Hazards Research at NUS.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley, USA 1986
• M.S. University of California, Berkeley, USA 1983
• M.Eng. National University of Singapore 1983
• B.Eng. (Hons 1) University of Singapore 1979
• P.Eng. Professional Engineers Board, Singapore 1995

Honours & Awards

• Top-3 Project Award by Singapore Maritime Institute (2015)
• Marie Curie Fellowship by the Commission of European Communities, 1993/94
• IES Prestigious Publication (Theory) Award, 1997
• Seven invited book chapters
• Invited to serve in journal editorial board – “Structural Health Monitoring”, “Smart Structures and Systems”, “Measurement”, “Frontiers in Built Environment: Structural Sensing” and “International Journal of Lifecycle Performance Engineering”.
• More than 20 invited keynotes in Canada, China, Japan, UK, Australia, India, Greece, Portugal, etc.
• Faculty’s Teaching Commendation List: Academic years 2000/01, 01/02, 03/04, 09/10, 12/13, 13/14, 14/15, 15/16.

Professional Activities

• Council member, International Society for Structural Health Monitoring of Intelligent Infrastructure
• Structural Health Monitoring Committee, American Society of Civil Engineers
• Advisor/specialist in structural engineering for more than 100 industrial projects

Teaching Areas

• Engineering Dynamics (Level 1)
• Structural Mechanics (Level 2)
• Structural Analysis (Level 3)
• Structural Stability and Dynamics (Level 4)
• Finite Element Methods (Level 4 and Graduate)
• Experimental Methods in Civil Engineering (Graduate)
• Numerical Methods for Engineering Mechanics (Graduate)
• Integrated Design Project (Level 4)

Research Interests

• Structural dynamics
• System identification and health monitoring of structural systems
• Train-track dynamics (e.g. wheel flat detection, Moving Element Method)
• Consistent Particle Method (wave hydrodynamics, geomechanics and coastal erosion)
• Offshore riser systems (stochastic dynamics and reliability)