THE SYNOPSIS

Construction failures often lead to litigation process which could have serious consequences for developers, consultants, contractor and individuals in terms of structural rehabilitation and loss of business or life. Successful diagnosing of cause of failures, assessing its consequences, and presenting the findings convincingly are important to this process. Investigation of such failure will provide necessary lessons to be learned by construction professionals so that recurrence of such failures could be eliminated or minimised. Forensic engineering is a field which looks into causes of deficiencies and failures in construction projects and other facilities and helps in the process of testifying in judicial proceedings. This course will highlight the importance of forensic engineering in the investigation of construction failures and subsequent litigation process, common deficiencies in building and geotechnical structures. The main highlights are on the investigation processes of past structural and geotechnical failures and lessons learnt from such investigations.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Er. Prof. Leung Chun Fai
Ph D, CEng, MICE, MIES, PEng(S’pore)
Civil Engineering Department, National University of Singapore

Er. Prof. C F Leung is currently a professor with the department of Civil Engineering at the National University of Singapore. He has published widely in international journals and conference in his specialized field of geotechnical engineering. Dr Leung is a Charted Engineer of UK and a Professional Engineers in Singapore. He has served as geotechnical Consultant to many government and private sector construction projects in Singapore and Southeast Asia including a good number of cases involving geotechnical failures.

Ir. Prof. Fred S H Ng
Bsc, CEng, FICE, FIStructE, FHKIE, MCIArb, Sr. MIES, PEng(S’pore)
Senior Advisor to the President, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Consultant, Babtie (ASIA) Consulting Engineers, Singapore

After obtaining his first degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Aston in Birmingham, England, Ir. Prof Ng gained practical experience and qualified in Civil and Structural Engineering in the UK. He has extensive practical experience in Civil, Structural and Geotechnical engineering in the UK, Hong Kong and Singapore. He was the government Structural Engineers with the Hong Kong Government. He has working experience in an engineering consultancy, real estate developers’ and contractors’ offices. He has been a practicing forensic engineer and an expert witness for upwards of twenty years. He is also very active in University Works being an Adjunct Professor in Civil Engineering in the University of Hong Kong and Court Member and Adjunct Professor in Civil and Structural Engineering in the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He was made one of the Outstanding PolyU Alumni in 1997 and awarded a University Fellowship in 2002.

Er. Prof. J Y Richard Liew
PhD, CEng, MistructE, MASCE, Sr.MIES, MSSSS, M.S.I.D, PEng(S’pore)
Civil Engineering Department, National University of Singapore

Er. Prof Liew is currently a professor and the director for hazard and risk mitigation programme in the Department of Civil Engineering at the National University of Singapore. He has published more than 270 papers in international journals and conferences in his specialized field of structural engineering. Prof. Liew is a Chartered Engineer of UK and a Professional Engineer in Singapore. He has served as specialist consultant to many government and private sector construction and offshore projects in Singapore and Southeast Asia. He has investigated a number of structural failures including the Nicoll highway and Fusionpolis collapses. He is an independent director of two public listed companies in Singapore.