A Brief Biography of Ir Dr. Alan K.T. Lau

President: Engineers Australia, Hong Kong Chapter (2008/09)
Vice-Chair: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Hong Kong Section (2007/09).
Chairman: The First International Conference on Multi-functional Materials and Structures
Editor: E-Newsletters for Science and Technology, published by the European Academy of Sciences.
Editor: Advanced Materials Research, Trans Tech Publications, USA.
Reg. Editor: The American Journal of Applied Sciences, published by Science Publication, UK.
Asso. Editor: Structural Health Monitoring, An International Journal published by SAGA Publications.
Asso. Editor: Nanomaterials, published by Hindawi Publishers (2005-present).
Asso. Editor: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) Transactions.

In 1987, Dr. Lau joined The Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company Ltd. (HAECO) as a craft apprentice for 4 years in the aircraft maintenance division. Afterward, he received his Bachelor and Master Degrees of Engineering in Aerospace Engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University, Australia) in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Within this period, he was also working in General Aviation Maintenance Pty. Ltd. Australia and Corporative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures (CRC-ACS) Australia as Engineer Trainee and Research Assistant, respectively for designing a repair scheme for composite performs. He then received his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2001. Thereafter, he was appointed as Assistant Professor and then promoted to Associate Professor in 2002 and 2005, respectively. Currently, he is also an Adjunct Professor of the University of New Orleans, USA, Lanzhou University, Ocean University of China and University of Southern Queensland, Australia.

Based on his outstanding research performance in the fields of advanced composites, FRP for infrastructure applications, smart structures and nano-materials, he has received numerous awards which include The Best Paper Awards on Materials (1998), The Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship Award (2000), Young Scientist Award (2002), Young Engineer of the Year Award (2004), Faculty Outstanding Award for Research and Scholarly Activities (2005), Award for Outstanding Research in Nanocomposites for Space Applications, USA (2006), Chemical Physics Letters, Most Cited Paper 2003- 2007 Award and President Award in Teaching 2008. Due to his significant contribution to the field of science and engineering, he was elected as a Member of European Academy of Sciences with the citation “for profound contributions to materials science and fundamental developments in the field of composite materials” in 2007 (the first scholar in Hong Kong received this honor). 3 articles, published in Composites Part B: Engineering, Composites Science and Technology, and Chemical Physics Letters have been placed in the TOP 1% MOST CITED ARTICLES within its field in 2006 and 2007 by THOMSON according to Essential Science IndicatorsSM. Besides, he has also received President Award and Outstanding Faculty Award in Service (Team) (2007); President’s Award in Teaching and Outstanding Faculty Award in Teaching (2008) and Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology at the 20th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, USA (2009). He is also the Winner of the Ernest L. Boyer International Award for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology, in the same Conference.

Dr. Lau has published over 190 scientific and engineering articles and his publications have been cited over 1000 times (with h-index of 14, over 800 times for non-self-cited articles) since 2002. He has also successfully converted his research findings into real-life practical tools and therefore a total of 4 patents have been granted to him. Since 2002, Dr. Lau has conducted over 40 industrial-based consultancy projects with different governmental agencies and private sectors. Besides, he has also been handling many industrial-based collaborative projects, which assist the transformation of local small and medium sized enterprises (SME) from traditional OEM to high value-added product design manufacturing mode. He has also been actively organizing different local and international activities for the industry. Currently, he has been serving more than 40 local and international professional bodies as Chairman, Committee Member, Editor and Key Officer to promote the engineering profession to the public. In 2007, Dr. Lau was elected as Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust), Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE) and Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), Fellow of The Institution of Engineering Designers (FIED, UK), President of Engineers Australia, Hong Kong Chapter and Vice-Chair of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Hong Kong Section. He is also the Chairman of the 1st International Conference on Multi-functional Materials and Structures, 2008.