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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 has received numerous international and local awards for his works including ASTM’s C.A. Hogentogler Award, Best Research Paper from the Japanese Geotechnical Society, Singapore’s Minister of Transport’s Distinguished Innovation Award and Ministry of National Development’s Minister’s Award (Team).  He has also received an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Education from Wheelock College (US) and 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 Singapore’s Professional Engineers Board.  He was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal in the National Day Awards 2023.  

Professor Tan is a registered Specialist Professional Engineer (Geotechnical). Currently, he sits on numerous boards including the Deputy Chairmanship of the Building Construction Authority and Board Member of the Land Transport Authority.  Other notable appointments include chairmanship of Ministry of Defence’s External Advisory Panel for Environmental Sustainability, Ministry of Education (MOE)’s Polytechnics and ITE Quality Assurance Framework’s External Review Panel and an advisor to MOE’s Higher Education and Skills Council.

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
  • Specialist Professional Engineer (Geotechnical Engineering), Singapore
  • Professional Engineer (Civil), Singapore
  • Member, Geotechnical Society of Singapore
  • Life Member (Fellow), Institution of Engineers, 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
  • Chairman, Ministry of Education (MOE)’s Polytechnics and ITE Quality Assurance Framework’s External Review Panel
  • 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. 

  • 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.