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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 Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) from 2013 to 2021 and now is SIT’s inaugural Institute Professor. He obtained his B.Eng. from the University of Canterbury and subsequently his M.S. and Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, all in Civil Engineering. Prior to joining SIT, he was with the National University of Singapore for more than 26 years.

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 and the Best Research Paper Award in 2008 from the Japanese Geotechnical Society. He was awarded the Minister of Transport’s Distinguished Innovation Award in 2008 and the Ministry of National Development’s 2015 Minister’s Award (Team).  In 2018, he was conferred an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education by Wheelock College (US) and in 2019, an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering by the University of Glasgow. In 2022, he was named the Outstanding Geotechnical Engineer by the Geotechnical Society of Singapore and the Distinguished Professional Engineer by the Professional Engineers Board, Singapore.  For the National Day Awards 2023, he was awarded The Meritorious Service Medal.

Professor Tan is a registered Specialist Professional Engineer (Geotechnical). Currently, he is the Deputy Chairman of the Building Construction Authority, a Board Member of the Land Transport Authority, and a member of the 44th Council of Singapore Hokkien Huay Kuan and chairs MINDEF’s External Advisory Panel for Environmental Sustainability.

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
  • Distinguished Professional Engineer, Professional Engineers Board
  • Outstanding Geotechnical Engineer, Singapore Geotechnical Society
  • 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)
  • The Japanese Geotechnical Society’s Best Research Paper Award
  • Public Administration Medal (Silver), National Day Awards
  • Ministry of Transport, Minister's Innovation Award - Distinguished Award
  • ASTM's Hogentogler Award

Professional Memberships

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

Corporate Experience

  • Deputy Chairman, Building and Construction Authority, Singapore
  • Board Member, Land Transport Authority, Singapore
  • Board Member, GreenSG Collab
  • 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

Research Interests

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

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. 

  • 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, 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

  • 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.