Professor Tommy Chan

Biography

• Structural Dynamics, Bridge-Deck Analysis, Bridge-Vehicle Interaction
• Design, Construction and Analysis of Bridges including Long Span Cable-supported Bridges
• Highway Bridge Loadings (Static and Dynamic)
• Weigh-In-Motion Studies, Moving Force Identification
• System Identifications, Non-destructive Damage Detection
• Structural Health Monitoring, Optical Fiber Sensors, Fatigue Analysis.

• 2022-Now: Next Generation Bridge Monitoring using Novel Synergic Identification : Australia Research Council Discovery Project Grants Funding: A$403,000.00. Over 70% of the bridges in Australia are made of prestressed concrete, yet many do not meet the requirements of current Australian Standards. This project aims to provide a cost-effective system for monitoring bridges in real time along with systems that track the prestressing force and rate of damage for ongoing health assessment and necessary repairs. The use of innovative engineering techniques, solving long standing problems of engineers, will enable the safe operation of bridges, which play a primary role in Australia’s national transport system. Improved methodology for turning tired infrastructure into ‘smart bridges’ will be developed and commissioned first in Australia and then applied internationally.
• 2021- Now: ARC Industry Transformation Research Hub for Resilient and Intelligent Infrastructure Systems (RIIS) in Urban, Resources and Energy Sectors:  Australia Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hubs Grants Funding: A$4,980,000. RIIS will deliver transformational technologies to address Australia’s critical infrastructure needs. It will integrate advances in sensor technology, connectivity, data analytics, machine learning, robotics, smart materials, and reliable models to deliver resilient and adaptive infrastructure systems in urban, energy and resources sectors. All three sectors are critical to Australia's prosperity and well-being. It will engage with industry, government, and community to unlock scientific roadblock, deliver foundational skills, and translate research and development to commercial opportunities. Benefits include: improved productivity, competitiveness, resiliency, safety; growth, job creation; technological leadership, and export potential.
• 2020-Now: Mitigating Vehicular Crashes into Masonry Buildings : Australia Research Council Discovery Project Grants Funding: A$415,000.  Around 2000 vehicles crash annually into school, home and shop buildings located at close proximity to heavily trafficked roads in Australia and cause significant distress to occupants of building and vehicle. The impacted walls mostly of masonry, suffer severe damage often with vehicle intrusion into the building. Despite this, the intrusion mechanism is not understood and no effective mitigation strategies exist at present. This project will uncover the mechanics of vehicle intrusions through masonry walls and develop novel mitigation strategies using high energy absorbing auxetic composite render and innovative vibration isolation at wall edges. These innovations will lead to new theories that can save lives in the building and vehicle.
• 2018-Now: Automated monitoring and analytics for settlements of geotechnical structures using Internet of GNSS Things : Funded by the Innovative Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (IMCRC): A$1,000,000. Monitoring the settlements of civil structures, such as roads, bridges, buildings, is a compulsory operation from start of construction. Engineering surveyors use levelling instruments to measure the vertical changes of the settlement plates periodically. This approach is labour-intensive and costly, considering the tens to hundreds of settlement plates needed in a large project. This project aims to develop and demonstrate an effective Internet of Things (IoT) solution to automatically measure the settlement and deformation of civil structures using the state-of-art low-medium-end Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) sensors. The proposed participants include Monitum Pty Ltd, Protonautics Pty Ltd and Queensland University of Technology. The manufacturing outcomes include the automated and analytic system that demonstrate how the settlements of a civil structures are monitored with hundreds of waterproof GNSS sensing units to be installed on settlement posts, the IoT service platform, the advanced GNSS data processing and structure health monitoring analytic applications.
• 2016-2020: Development of Intelligent Structures that can Self-Evaluate Deterioration : Australia Research Council Discovery Project Grants Funding: A$360,000. This project will transform traditional civil structures into intelligent (or smart) structures by installing in them innovative structural evaluation systems that can accurately identify current and future structural deterioration conditions and automatically notify the infrastructure management authority for timely and prudent maintenance schedules. This can be achieved with very few inexpensive vibration sensors operated in either conventional or modern sensing platforms.
• 2013-2016: Next Generation Prestressed Concrete Bridges using Moving Force Identification: Australia Research Council Discovery Project Grants Funding: A$300,000.This project will enhance the safety of prestressed concrete bridges which constitute 70% of Australian bridges and hence provide economic benefits. The procedure developed can evaluate the health status of these bridges and the prestressing force which was hitherto difficult to determine, even though it controls bridge load carrying capacity.
• 2014-2015: SHM of Bridges for Post Disaster  Decision, Research in Business, Funding, A$100,000, supported by Rockfield Technologies Australia Pty Ltd and Department of Industry - Enterprise Connect. This project investigates the application of Structural Health Monitoring technogies to help asset owners to make decision after extreme events.
• 2011-2013: Life Cycle Management of Railway Bridge Sponsors:  CRC for Rail Innovation Funding: A$751,000 This project will develop a long term/strategic Asset Management Plan for the life cycle of bridges adopting an Effective Monitoring System integrating with an Updateable Bridge Rating System.
• 2010: Australian crashworthiness design scenarios for rolling stock Sponsors: CRC for Rail Innovation Funding: A$232,000 This project will survey a number of recent significant Australian rail accidents in detail and on the basis of these, and the scenarios used in overseas crashworthiness standards, consider whether there is a need to develop scenarios for inclusion into the RISSB AS 7520 "Railway rolling stock - Body structural requirements" standards for locomotive and passenger rolling stock.
• 2007-2014: Monitoring and Maintaining the Structural Health of Bridges Using Vibration Characteristics Sponsors: Australia Research Council Grants Funding: A$219,000 This project will develop an innovative structural health monitoring system using sensors, damage detection models and dynamic computer simulation techniques to assess bridge health, predict distress and recommend retrofitting. It is supported by the Queensland Main Roads Department and the Brisbane Council through an ARC Linkage Grant.
• 2006: Vertical Displacement Measurements using Optical Sensors/Devices for Monitoring the Structural Health of Bridges Sponsors: Hong Kong Research Grants Council Competitive Earmarked Research Grants Funding: HK$ 672,000 The main objective of this project is to extend the application of FBG sensors for measuring the vertical displacement of bridges using the FBG strain sensors together with several FBG-based tilt sensors, developed by the investigators. In order to enhance the inspection procedures of bridge maintenance, the proposed study will also develop a method using a digital camera based on sub-pixel identification for displacement measurement.
• 2005: Fibre Optic Sensors/Devices for Vertical Displacement Measurements for Highway Bridges Sponsors: the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Grants Funding: HK$ 140,000 The main objective of this project was to investigate the use of fibre optics as a potential viable option for measuring vertical displacement in highway bridges. The outcome of the project will help improve the accuracy of vertical displacement recordings for the monitoring highway bridges.
• 2004: Effective Improvement on Moving Force Identification System (MFIS) Sponsors: Hong Kong Polytechnic University Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme Funding: HK$ 652,000 The main objectives of the project were to improve the developed moving force identification system (MFIS) to identify moving time-varying axle loads on bridges more effectively and practically.
• 2003: Nonlinear Physical-Based Modeling of Long-Span Steel Bridges for Health Assessment in Structural Health Monitoring Sponsors: Hong Kong Research Grants Council Competitive Earmarked Research Grants Funding: HK$ 402,969 The main objectives of this project were to develop a theoretical framework for the nonlinear physical-based modeling of structural degradation behavior during the service lifetime of long-span steel bridges for the purpose of assessing their health status based on the validated model and structural health monitoring data.
• 2002: Evaluation of Dynamic Loads for Bridge Design in Hong Kong Sponsors: Hong Kong Research Grants Council Competitive Earmarked Research Grants Funding: HK$ 451,404 The main objective of this project was to develop dynamic load expressions for bridge design in Hong Kong.
• 2002-2004: Innovative Optical Fibre Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring of Tsing Ma Bridge Sponsors: Hong Kong Polytechnic University Cross Department Project Grants Funding: HK$ 360,000 The objectives of the proposed project are to explore innovative optical fibre dynamic strain sensors and accelerometers and develop the corresponding techniques for sensor embedment/adhesion in civil structures and sensor signal interrogation for continuous monitoring; and to implement the sensors in the Tsing Ma Bridge and develop experimental procedures to determine the capabilities of optical fibre sensors in detecting structural health and conditions of bridges.
• 2000-2002: Evaluation of Dynamic Loads for Bridge Design in Hong Kong Sponsors: Hong Kong Polytechnic University Grants Funding: HK$ 200,000 The project aims to conduct a preliminary study to explore the dynamic load expressions for bridge design in Hong Kong.
• 2001-2004: Fatigue Evaluation of Existing Bridges Based on Continuum Damage Mechanics and Online Monitoring Sponsors: Hong Kong Research Grants Council Competitive Earmarked Research Grants Funding: HK$ 396,050 This project is aimed at developing an approach for accurately evaluating fatigue damage and the remaining service life of existing bridges at an earlier stage than current approaches for fatigue assessment.
• 2000-2002: Fatigue Damage Analysis of Large Steel Bridges by Finite Element Sponsors: Hong Kong Polytechnic University Grants Funding: HK$ 180,000 The project aims to develop a finite element model for fatigue damage analysis of large steel bridges using the Tsing Ma Bridge as a case study.
• 1999-2000: Identification of Bridge-friendly Vehicle Characteristics Sponsors: Hong Kong Polytechnic University Grants Funding: HK$ 200,000 The main objectives of the present project are to modify a developed bridge-vehicle interaction model from a two axle vehicle model to a maximum four-axle articulated vehicle model and to carry out parametric studies based on this developed model to identify the characteristics of a bridge-friendly vehicle.
• 1997-2001: Accounting for Bridge Dynamic Loads Using Moving Force Identification System (MFIS) Sponsors: Hong Kong Research Grants Council Competitive Earmarked Research Grants Funding: HK$ 360,000 This research project aims to develop a system to identify moving dynamic (time-varying) axle loads based on the four developed moving force identification methods.
• 1995-2000: Accounting for Bridge Dynamic Loads Using Moving Force Identification System (MFIS) Sponsors: Hong Kong Research Grants Council Competitive Earmarked Research Grants Funding: HK$ 538,000 This research project aims to use the weigh-in-motion data to develop static live load models for bridge design in Hong Kong.
• 1993-1997: Assessment of Highway Loadings from Bridge Responses Sponsors: Hong Kong Research Grants Council Competitive Earmarked Research Grants Funding: HK$ 612,000 This research project aims to use the weigh-in-motion data to develop static live load models for bridge design in Hong Kong.

• 2016: Vice Chancellors’ Award for superior performance in Leadership (awarded by QUT)
• 2011: Top Supervisor 2011 Award (awarded by QUT)
• 2011: Vice Chancellor’s Award for superior performance in research area (awarded by QUT)
• 2010:Vice Chancellor’s Award for superior performance in research area (awarded by QUT)
• 2009:Vice Chancellor’s Award for superior performance in research area (awarded by QUT
• 2009: Jiangsu Province Science and Technology Advancement Award (awarded by Jiangsu Province Government, PR China)
• 2008: Dean’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Technology Transfer “Code of Practice for the Structural Use of Steel” (awarded by HK PolyU)
• 1999: Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Civil Engineering Papers of the Year Awards (1998/1999): Research Medal (awarded by the HKIE)
• 1998: Outstanding Consultancy Awards: Winner of the Largest Consultancy Project Category within the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (awarded by HK PolyU)
• 1997: Winner of the Personal Homepage Competition (awarded by HK PolyU)
• 1985-1988: University of Queensland Postgraduate Research Award (1985-1988).

• 2020: Invited Keynote Speaker at 1st National Workshop on Infrastructural Monitoring and Protection, Perth, 2020.
• 2019: Invited Speaker at 5th International Symposium on Inverse Problems, Design and Optimization, Tianjin, China 2019.
• 2019: Invited Speaker of a special seminar organized by Zhejiang University, China.
• 2018: Invited Speaker of a special seminar organized byNational University of Singapore.
• 2017: Invited Keynote Speaker at 5th International Symposium on Sensor Science (I3S 2017), 27-29 September 2017, Barcelona, Spain.
• 2017: Invited Keynote Speaker at Advances in Architecture and Civil Engineering, 8-9 May 2017,  Singapore
• 2017: Invited Speaker of a special seminar jointly organized by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, The Institution of Structural Engineers and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in January 2017.
• 2015: Invited Speaker of Brisbane Winter 2015 Lecture organized by ASCE Australian Section
• 2015: Invited Speaker at the 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Urbanization, 7-9 January, 2015, Hong Kong
• 2014: Invited Key Speaker at Road and Rail Structures Australia, Brisbane, 2014
• 2014: Invited Key Speaker at the Centre for Infrastructure, Engineering and Safety Symposium, Sydney, 2014 organized by UNSW
• 2014: Invited Key Speaker at the Institute of Infrastructure Engineering Annual Conference, Sydney, organized by UWS on SHM
• 2014: Invited Key Speaker at Road and Rail Structures Australia, 31 March to 1 April 2014, Brisbane
• 2012: Invited as a Key Speaker of in 3rd Australia Bridges 2012, 1-2 May 2012, Melbourne.
• 2012: Invited to organise a mini-symposium for First International Conference on Performance-based and Life-cycle Structural Engineering, 5-7 December 2012, Hong Kong.
• 2012: Invited speaker of First International Conference on Performance-based and Life-cycle Structural Engineering, 5-7 December 2012, Hong Kong.
• 2011: Invited to organise a special session for the 14th Asia-Pacific Vibration Conference 5-8 December 2011, Hong Kong.
• 2011: Invited Speaker at the 14th Asia-Pacific Vibration Conference 5-8 December 2011, Hong Kong (as a leading expert in Structural Health Monitoring).
• 2008:Invited to organise a special session for the Third World Congress on Engineering Asset Management and Intelligent Maintenance System Conference 2008
• May 2008: Invited to be a Member of the International Scientific Committee of the 5th International Conference on Weigh-In-Motion (ICWIM5) in Paris, France.
• 2007: Invited to contribute a chapter to a book on "Innovations in Professional Education – Practices and Reflection” – published by Pearson Education Asia Limited under the imprint of Prentice Hall Publishing
• November 2007: Invited to be a Member of the International Scientific Committee of the 3rd International Symposium on Environmental Vibrations: Prediction, Monitoring, Mitigation and Evaluation (ISEV 2007), Taipei.
• October 2007: Invited Speech: “A Multi-scale Finite Element Model of Tsing Ma Bridge for Hot Spot Stress Analysis”, Health Monitoring of Structure Material and Environment, Nanjing, PR China.
• since 2006: Who’s Who in Asia.
• since 2003: Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering.
• July 2005: Invited Speech: “Structural Health Monitoring for Long Span Bridges: Hong Kong Experience”, hosted by the Institution of Engineers Australia, Australia.
• July 2005: Invited Speech: “Cable Supported Bridges and their Structural Health Monitoring”, hosted by University of Queensland, Australia.
• August 2003: Invited Speech: “Structural Health Monitoring: Hong Kong Experience”, hosted by Southeast University, P.R. China.

• 2012 - Present: Professor, School of Civil Engineering & Environmental Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
• 2008 - 2012: Associate Professor, School of Urban Development, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
• 2007 - 2008: Senior Lecturer, School of Urban Development, Queensland University of Technology, Australia
• 1999 - Jun 2007: Associate Professor, Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
• 1995 - 1999: Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, the Hong Kong Polytechnic
• 1992 - 1995: Lecturer (College of Degree Studies), Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic.
• 1991 - 1992: Lecturer, Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic
• 1991: Engineer, Maunsell Consultants Asia Limited (MCAL)
• 1989 - 1991: Assistant Resident Engineer, HK Government Secondment (agreement with MCAL)
• 1989: Engineer, Maunsell Consultants Asia Limited (MCAL).