Weng Chan

Biography

Professor CHAN WENG TAT graduated from the University of Singapore with BEng (1st class) in 1980 and MEng in 1981. He completed his graduate studies under a NUS scholarship at Stanford University where he obtained his MSc in Construction Management in 1982 and his PhD in 1986 with a dissertation on the application of constraint logic programming for managing design consistency.

Professor Chan, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, teaches construction management and infrastructure systems subjects. His research focus is on the use of artificial intelligence and information technology for project management. He pioneered and promoted the use of evolutionary search, artificial neural networks and constraint-based problem solving techniques for traditional civil engineering applications like project scheduling and resource allocation, catchment model calibration and prediction, pavement maintenance, pile driving prediction and calibration. Professor Chan was the Shimizu Visiting Professor in Stanford University where he further developed research in this area. His research centers on the application of Internet technologies, distributed computing and artificial intelligence in the civil engineering profession.

Professor Chan heads the Marine IT Laboratory (MITL) in the Tropical Marine Science Institute. MITL conducts research in the application of marine information decision support systems using 3D web technology, GIS, GPS and data from satellite remote sensing. Its flagship MDIS project has resulted in an operational 3D marine database for Singapore with interactive map content creation, 3D content and application web services.

Professor Chan holds a joint appointment with the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering Management, and is a key member of the Engineering Systems Initiative (ESI), an inter-department task force of the Faculty of Engineering set up to formalize research and educational efforts in the understanding, designing and managing large-scale complex technological systems. A key outcome of ESI was the launch of the MSc program in Systems Design & Management (SDM) in 2006. Professor Chan serves as the Program Manager of the SDM Program.

Professor Chan was the first engineering co-Director of the NUS-JTC Industrial Infrastructure Innovation Centre. The centre, launched in 2011, is a collaborative effort between JTC and NUS (School of Design & Environment and Faculty of Engineering) to promote the development of innovative and sustainable industrial infrastructure solutions in Singapore.

Qualifications

• PhD (1986), Stanford University, California
• MSc (1982), Construction Management, Stanford University, California
• MEng (1981), National University of Singapore
• BEng (1980), University of Singapore

Honours & Awards

• Public Service Commission Merit Scholarship, 1976.
• NUS-Overseas Graduate Scholarship, 1981.
• Visiting Scientist, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), 1991.
• Katahara Award for Best Technical Paper: 7th Road Engineering Association for Asia and Australasia, 1992.
• Shimizu Visiting Professor, Stanford University, 1994.
• Most outstanding paper: Ninth Congress of the Asian and Pacific Division of the International Association for Hydraulic Research, 1994.
• The Enterprise Challenge (TEC) Award from the Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore, 2002.
• Minister’s Innovation Award from the Ministry of Transport, Singapore, 2003.
• Best Paper Award, 2nd Annual Asian Conference and Exhibition in GIS, GPS, Aerial Photography and Remote Sensing (Map Asia 2003), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2003.

Professional Activities

Member, Institution of Engineers Singapore Invited speaker, National Construction Safety Promotion Campaign, representing Institution of Engineers Singapore, since 1997. Code of Practice Subcommittee, Graphics Interchange Working Group, 1993 – 1996. Integrated structural plan checking system (ISP) Task Force, 1997. Resource person, Construction 2000 Taskforce, 1998. National representative, IGBP-START Data and Information Systems (DIS) group. IT consultant, coastal management and environmental impact studies. Editorial Board Member, AI-CIVILCOMP conference, since 1991. Member, (evolutionary optimization track), 4th Asian-Pacific Conference on Computational Mechanics (APCOM ’99), Singapore, 14-17 Dec 1999. Editorial Board Member, Genetic & Evolutionary Computing Conference (GECCO) since 1999. Editorial Board Member, GIS@Development, 2003-2005. Teaching Areas

• Construction management
• Engineering economics
• Infrastructure & the environment
• Systems engineering

Research Interests

• Construction management and site safety
• Resource allocation, planning and scheduling
• Soft sytems computing: evolutionary search & artificial neural networks
• Constraint logic programming
• Spatial decision support systems
• Engineering systems

Selected Publications

• Chan, W T and B C Jr Paulson, Constraint-based exploratory design. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design Analysis and Manufacturing, 1, no.1 (1987): 59-71.
• Chan, W T and L C C Koe, A knowledge-based framework for diagnosis of the activated sludge process. Water Science and Technology, Part 2, 23, no.4-6 (1991): 847-856. (Special Issue on Water Pollution Research and Control).
• Chan, W T, T F Fwa and C Y Tan, Road maintenance planning using genetic algorithms: Formulation. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 120, no.5 (1994): 693-709. (United States).
• Chan, W T, Y K Chow and L F Liu, Neural network: An alternative to pile driving formulas. Computers and Geotechnics, 17, no.2 (1995): 135-156. (United Kingdom).
• Chan, W T, D K H Chua and K Govindan, Construction resource scheduling with genetic algorithm. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 122, no. 2 (June 1996): 125-132. (United States).
• Chan, W T, D K H Chua and L Xiong, Collaborative scheduling over the internet. Computer-Aided Civil and Infrastructure Engineering, 14 (1998): 15-24. ( United States). (An invited paper).
• Fwa, T F, W T Chan and K H Hogue, Multi-Objective Optimisation for Pavement Management Programming. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 126, 5 (2000): 367-374. (United States).
• Chan, W T, T F Fwa and K Z Hoque, Constraint handling methods in pavement maintenance programming. Transportation Research Part C – Emerging Technologies, 9, No 3 (June 2001): 21-36. (United States).
• Chan, W T and Hu Hao, An application of genetic algorithms to precast production scheduling. Computers & Structures, 79, No.17 (2001): 1605-1616. (United Kingdom).
• Chan, W T and H Hu, Constraint programming approach to-precast production scheduling. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 128, 6 (2002): 513-521.
• Chan, W T and H Hu, Production scheduling for precast plants using a flow shop sequencing model. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 16, 3 (2002): 165-174.
• Fwa, T F, W T Chan and YP Sim, Optimal vertical alignment analysis for highway design. Journal of Transportation Engineering, 128, 5 (2002): 395-402.
• Chan, W T and H Hu, Production scheduling for precast plants using a flow shop sequencing model. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 16, 3 (Nov/Dec 2002): 513-521. (United States).
• Chan, W T, T F Fwa and J. Y. Tan, Optimal Fund-Allocation Analysis for Multi-District Highway Agencies. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, 9, 4 (December 2003): 167-175. (United States).
• Chan, W T, C Chuan, J I Messner and D K H Chua, Interface Management for China’s BOT Projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. Volume 131, Issue 6, pp. 645-655, May/June 2005.
• Chan, W T, T F Fwa and J. Y. Tan, Benefits of Information Integration in Budget Planning for Pavement Management. Transportation Research Record, 1889 (2005): 3-12. (United States).
• Huang, B, T F Fwa and W T Chan, Pavement Distress Data Collection System based on Mobile Geographic Information System. Transportation Research Record, 1889 (2005): 54-62. (United States).
• Chan, W T, “Rescheduling Precast Production with Multiobjective Optimization” .Proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering, ed. L Soibelman & Feniosky Pena-Mora (2005). Washington: ASCE. (2005 International Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering, 12 – 15 Jul 2005, JW Mariott Hotel, Cancun, Mexico)
• Ma, N, W T Chan, K R Durairaju, N Suresh and K P Yeo, “GIS for man-made object contacts from side-scan sonar images”. Proceedings of Oceans 06 IEEE Asia Pacific (CD) (2006). Singapore: IEEE. (Oceans 06 IEEE Asia Pacific, 19 – 23 May 2006, Suntec City, Singapore)
• Chan, W T, L Garot and K Raguraman, “Transport mode choice in electronic goods trade between Singapore & Malaysia”. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Transportation Logistics, ed. Lixin Miao (2007): 212-221. Shenzhen: Research Center for Modern Logistics, Tsinghua University. (2nd International Conference on Transportation Logistics (T-LOG2007), 4 – 6 Jul 2007, University Town, Shenzhen, China)
• Chan, W T, Systems engineering of sociotechnical systems. Proceedings – 2008 National Symposium on System Science & Engineering, ed. YS Peng, comp. IEEE SMC Taipei (2008): P0198. I-lan: IEEE SMC Taipei. (Keynote paper) (2008 National Symposium on System Science & Engineering, 6 – 7 Jun 2008, National I-Lan University, Ilan, Taiwan,
• Chan, W T and M K Kamaruzzaman, Systemic Qualities of Infrastructure Maintenance Programs. Proceedings of GCOE AIT-KU Symposium on Human Security Engineering, ed. Ohtsu, K. and Phienwej, N. (2009): 53-67. Kyoto: Kyoto University. (Invited paper) (GCOE AIT-KU Symposium on Human Security Engineering, 19 – 20Nov 2009, Chao Phya Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand)
• Chan, W T, K Mohammad and JY Tan, A systems perspective of pavement management in Singapore. Proceedings of International Seminar on Asset Management Implementation in Asian Countries, ed. Kiyoshi Kobayashi (2009): 99-111. Kuala Lumpur: International Islamic University Malaysia. (Invited paper) (International Seminar on Asset Management Implementation in Asian Countries, 23 – 24 Feb 2009, Seri Pacific Hotel, Kuala Lupur, Malaysia)
• Chan, W T and F Ying, Trust from Quality Attributes in Financial Services Information Systems. 4th Asia-Pacific Conference on Systems Engineering (APCOSE 2010) ( 4 – 6 Oct 2010), Keelung, Taiwan
• Chan, W T, The role of systems thinking in systems engineering, design and management; Keynote address; Proceedings of 5th European Asian Civil Engineering Forum (EACEF-5), 15-18 September, 2015, Surabaya, Indonesia.
• Chan, W T and H Qin, A multi-agent approach for the cargo transportation planning problem. 4th International Conference on Transportation and Logistics (T-LOG 2012), 23-25 Aug 2012, National Korea Maritime University, Pusan, South Korea).
• Qin, H, and Chan, W T, A Game-theoretic Approach for Freight Forwarders’ Pricing Strategy Design. Transportation Research Board 94th Annual Meeting, 11-15 Jan 2015, Washington, D.C., United States.
• M R Afshar, Y Alipouri, M H Sebt, W T Chan, A type-2 fuzzy set model for contractor prequalification, Automation in Construction, Volume 84, December 2017, pp. 356-366.
• Y Alipouri, M H Sebt, A Ardeshir, W T Chan, Solving the FS-RCPSP with hyper-heuristics: a policy driven approach, Journal of the Operational Research Society (TJOR) [in press].