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Professor

Thiam Soon TAN

Institute Professor, Singapore Institute of Technology
PhD (Civil Engineering), California Institute of Technology, United States
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Biography

Professor Tan Thiam Soon was the President of the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) from 2013 to 2021 and is now SIT’s inaugural Institute Professor. He obtained his B.Eng. from the University of Canterbury (NZ) and subsequently his M.S. and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, all in Civil Engineering.

Professor Tan’s main research interests are in land reclamation and deep excavation. Professor Tan received the ASTM’s C.A. Hogentogler Award in 2007, the Best Research Paper Award from the Japanese Geotechnical Society in 2008, the Minister of Transport’s Distinguished Innovation Award in 2008 and Ministry of National Development’s Minister’s Award (Team) in 2015. He was conferred an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education by Wheelock College (US) in 2018 and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering by the University of Glasgow in 2019. In 2022, he was named the Distinguished Professional Engineer by the Professional Engineers Board and Singapore Outstanding Geotechnical Engineer by the Geotechnical Society of Singapore. He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal at the National Day Awards in 2023.

Professor Tan is a registered Specialist Professional Engineer (Geotechnical). Currently, he is the Chairman of the Building Construction Authority, a Board Member of the Land Transport Authority, a Board member of Meranti Power Pte. Ltd., a co-opted member of Changi Airport Group’s Executive Committee on Airport Development and an Advisor to MOE’s Higher Education and Skills Future Council. He also chairs MINDEF’s External Advisory Panel for Environmental Sustainability, the External Review Panel under MOE’s Polytechnics and ITE Quality Assurance Framework and LTA’s International Panel of Advisers.

SIT Appointments

  • Institute Professor, Singapore Institute of Technology
    – Present
  • President, Singapore Institute of Technology
    –

Education

  • PhD (Civil Engineering)
    California Institute of Technology , United States
  • Master of Science (Civil Engineering)
    California Institute of Technology , United States
  • Bachelor of Engineering (First Class) Civil Engineering
    University of Canterbury , New Zealand

Achievements

  • The Meritorious Service Medal, National Day Awards
  • Outstanding Geotechnical Engineer, Singapore Geotechnical Society
  • Distinguished Professional Engineer, Professional Engineers Board
  • Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering, University of Glasgow
  • Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education, Wheelock College, USA
  • Public Administration Medal (Gold), National Day Awards
  • Ministry of National Development, Minister’s Award (Team)
  • Ministry of Transport, Minister's Innovation Award - Distinguished Award
  • Public Administration Medal (Silver), National Day Awards
  • The Japanese Geotechnical Society’s Best Research Paper Award
  • ASTM's Hogentogler Award

Professional Memberships

  • Member, International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering
  • Member, Geotechnical Society of Singapore
  • Professional Engineer (Civil), Singapore
  • Specialist Professional Engineer (Geotechnical Engineering), Singapore
  • Life Member (Fellow), Institution of Engineers, Singapore

Corporate Experience

  • Chairman, Building and Construction Authority, Singapore
  • Board Member, Land Transport Authority, Singapore
  • Board Member, Meranti Power Pte Ltd
  • Co-opted member, Changi Airport Group’s Executive Committee of Airport Development
  • Chairman, Land Transport Authority's International Panel of Advisers
  • Chairman, MINDEF's External Advisory Panel for Environmental Sustainability
  • Advisor, MOE’s Higher Education and Skills Council
  • Chairman, External Review Panel under MOE’s Polytechnics and ITE Quality Assurance Framework
  • Adviser, Surbana Jurong’s Coastal Engineering Group
  • Chairman, Engro Materials Technology Panel
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Research Interests

  • Land Reclamation
  • Deep Excavation
  • Soil Improvement
  • Soil Characterisation
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Journal Papers

  • Zhang, R.J., Lu, Y.T., Tan. T.S., Phoon, K.K. and Santoso, A.M., 2014, “Long-Term Effect of Curing temperature on Strength Behaviour of Cement-Stabilized Clay”, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 140, No. 8, pp. 

  • Falser, S, A C Palmer, T S Tan, B C Khoo, 2013, “Temperature increase during the depressurisation of partially hydrate saturated formations within their stability region”, Energy & Fuels, Vol. 27, No. 2, pp. 796–803. 

  • Falser, S.; Palmer, A.; Tan, T.S.; Khoo, B.C., 2013, “Measuring the in-situ hydrate saturation from gamma ray transmissivity changes during local dissociation"", Energy & Fuels, Vol. 27, pp. 3743–3750

  • Zhang, R., Santoso, A., Tan, T. S. & Phoon, K. K., 2013, “Strength of High Water Content Marine Clay Stabilized by Low Amount of Cement”, Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 139, No. 12, pp. 2170–2181. 

  • Babu, P., Yee, D., Linga, P., Palmer, A., Khoo, B.C. and Tan, T.S., 2013, “Morphology of Methane Hydrate Formation in Porous Media”, Energy Fuels, 2013, 27 (6), pp 3364–3372

  • Santoso, A M, K K Phoon and T S Tan, 2013, “Estimating strength of stabilized dredged fill using multivariate normal model.” Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering , ASCE, Vol. 139, No. 11, pp. 1944–1953. 

  • Falser, S, A C Palmer, T S Tan, and M Loh, 2012, “Testing Methane-Hydrate-Saturated Soil Using a Line Dissociation Apparatus”. Geotechnical Testing Journal, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 1-9.

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