Ir Prof. K F CHUNG is a renowned academic, researcher and structural engineer with established expertise in steel construction.  He works on a wide range of inter-disciplinary engineering analysis and design, especially on modern steel and composite building structures. His research interests include limit state analysis and performance-based design of structural steel systems, structural fire engineering and fire protection in buildings and tunnels, and design codification.  In the recent years, with strong supports from the construction industry and various government departments and agents, Prof. Chung has extended his applied research interests into construction sustainability and durability of infrastructures. His interests include corrosion protection and galvanization, atmospheric corrosivity to exposed structural steelwork as well as sustainable steel construction in close collaboration with the iron and steel industry in China.  Prof. Chung is dedicated to contribute proactively to the socio-economic development of Hong Kong, in particular, to the construction industry in facilitating the development of Hong Kong into a world class Centre for International Engineering Design of Infrastructures.
 
Prof. Chung is a frequent speaker in international conferences and seminars, and he gave 58 keynote or invited lectures in the last twelve years. Moreover, he had also conducted about 28 professional training courses to practising engineers in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia. Prof. Chung also advises to consultants, contractors as well as government departments and regulatory bodies, and building product suppliers on various design and construction and quality control issues.

Prof. Chung graduated from the Sheffield University in the U.K. in 1984, and he was awarded a First Class Honours degree as well as the Mappin Medal of the Sheffield University as being the ‘Triple First in the Faculty of Engineering’.  At the same year, he was awarded a postgraduate scholarship from the Hong Kong Croucher Foundation for his research study at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. 

Prof. Chung joined the Steel Construction Institute as a Research Engineer in 1989, and he was promoted to a Senior Research Engineer in 1993.  Between 1993 to 1995, Prof. Chung was one of the technical representatives of the SCI to the British Standards Institution, and served on the technical committee contributing to both the British Steel Code BS5950 and the European Steel Code Eurocode 3.  Returning to Hong Kong in 1995, Prof. Chung has worked on a number of steel and composite high-rise buildings in Maunsell Consultant Asia Limited and Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited before joining The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 1996.

2.1       Research Areas

Started as a researcher on structural stability of beams and plates using finite element techniques, Prof. Chung constantly extends his research interests into various structural forms, engineering problems and different constructional materials.  Currently, his multi-disciplinary research interests include:

• Steel structures, effective use of high strength steel as well as fire and weather resistant steel
• Corrosion in exposed steelwork, innovative hot-dip galvanization and atmospheric corrosivity.
• Steel-concrete composite structures, composite beams and columns, composite structures with deformable and non-ductile shear connectors
• Cold-formed steel structures, cold-formed steel building systems, long term performance of built-up metal roofs
• Structural stability, finite element modelling, and integrated analysis and design
• Structural fire engineering, computational thermal analysis, fire protection, and fire tests
• Structural bamboo and bamboo structures
• Code drafting and design development

2.2       Research Fundings

Since 1996, Prof. Chung was awarded a total of about HK$ 6.3 millions of internal research fundings from the Research Committee of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for collaborative research projects as well as MPhil and PhD studies. Refer to Appendix A for details.

Moreover, Prof. Chung had also successfully secured a total of 10 competitive research projects funded by the Research Grants Council of the Government of Hong Kong SAR with a total of the research grants at about HK$ 6.0 millions. Furthermore, a total of about HK$ 8.0 millions of competitive external research fundings from various organizations including the Innovation and Technology Commission had also been secured by Prof. Chung.  Refer to Appendix B for details.

2.3       High-level Consultancy Projects

Being an innovative researcher with extensive practical experiences, Prof. Chung had undertaken various high level consultancy projects with a total of about HK$9.2 millions.  Refer to Appendix C for details.

Moreover, Prof. Chung is one of the Principal Authors of the Hong Kong Steel Code which was published by the Buildings Department of the Government of Hong Kong SAR in August 2005.  The work had been presented as keynote as well as invited lectures in international conferences in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and New Zealand in 2006 and 2007. 

2.4       Publication Records

Prof. Chung has published extensively on steel and composite construction in both academic and professional journals including about 50 international journal papers and about 100 international conference papers.  Refer to Appendix D for details.
Moreover, Prof. Chung has also authored five Professional Design Guides on advanced steel and composite construction technology published by the Steel Construction Institute in the U.K.:

• Building Design Using Cold Formed Steel Sections: Worked Examples of Cold Formed Sections to BS5950 : Part 5 : 1987.  The Steel Construction Institute, SCI-P-125, 1993.

• Composite Beam Design to Eurocode 4.  The Steel Constitute Institute, SCI-P-121, 1994.

• Composite Column Design to Eurocode 4.  The Steel Constitute Institute, SCI-P-142, 1994.

• Section Property and Member Capacity Tables for Cold Formed Stainless Steel.  The Steel Constitution Institute, SCI-P-152, 1995.

• Building Design using Cold-formed Steel Sections.  Structural Design to BS5950-5:1998 - Section properties and load tables.  The Steel Construction Institute, SCI-P276, 2002.

More recently, Prof. Chung has also contributed two Chapters on composite steel concrete structures in the 7th Edition of the classic Steel Designers’ Manual which was published by the Steel Construction Institute in the U.K. in February 2012.

2.5       Keynote and Invited Lectures

Prof. Chung had presented over 50 keynote and invited lectures in international conferences, symposia and seminars.  Refer to Appendix E for details.

3.1       Structural Analysis

Between 1999 and 2002, the candidate developed an integrated set of lecture materials, tutorials, laboratories, and assignments to motivate Year 2 students in the Bachelor Degree of Environmental Engineering to get interested in the subject Structural Analysis.

3.2       Design of Steel Structures

In order to improve the learning outcome of students, an integrated and coherent set of lecture materials, tutorials, assignments and laboratories was developed for the subject Design of Steel Structures for Year 2 students in Higher Diploma in Civil Engineering between 2002 and 2004.  The educational platform WebCT was effectively utilized to improve the learning and teaching activities of the subject.

3.3       Advanced Structural Steel Design

Similar effort was also made to develop a MSc module Advanced Structural Steel Design under the MSc Programme in Civil Engineering which covered the following key areas:

Hot rolled steel structures / composite steel-concrete structures / cold-formed steel structures / connections / fire resistant design.

The module was first introduced in Hong Kong in 1997 as the only one of its kind among all the local universities.  It aimed to deliver the most up-dated steel and composite construction technology to practicing engineers. The MSc module was presented annually from 1997 to 2005, and then in alternate years since 2007 with an average attendance of 50 to 60 students.

The course materials had been updated according to the Code of Practice for the Structural Use of Steel published by the Buildings Department of the Government of Hong Kong SAR in August 2005, of which the candidate was a Code Author and Editor.

3.4       Structural fire engineering in composite structures, Shenzhen Graduate School of Harbin Institute of Technology

The candidate was invited by the Shenzhen Graduate School of Harbin Institute of Technology as an Adjunct Professor to deliver a newly devised postgraduate module ‘Structural fire engineering in composite structures’ from September to December 2004.  The module was the first of its kind in China, covering the state-of-the-art on composite steel concrete structures, fire resistant design and performance based fire engineering.  The 12 hour module was well received among 30 master and research students.

3.5       Fire Engineering and Fire Protection

In order to response positively to the need of the construction industry, Prof. Chung developed another MSc module Fire Engineering and Fire Protection under the MSc Programme in Civil Engineering in 2006.  The module was the only one of its kind in Hong Kong which provided an important platform for dissemination of the latest developments and current practice on structural fire engineering to practicing engineers.  The course materials reflected the prevailing regulations given in the Code of Practice for Fire Resisting Construction (1996) and the Code of Practice for the Structural Use of Steel (2005) published by the Buildings Department of the Government of Hong Kong SAR, of which the candidate was a Code Author and Editor.  The course contents include:

Prescriptive design approach / standard fire tests / performance-based design / heat transfer / structural fire engineering / fire resistant design / advanced numerical analysis / fire protection

The MSc module was presented in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2012 with an average enrollment of 60 to 80 students.  The course materials had been updated according to the Code of Practice for Fire Safety Engineering Design published by the Buildings Department of the Government of Hong Kong SAR in August 2011.

3.6       Design and Construction of Steel-concrete Composite Structures to Eurocodes

A professional training course entitled “Design and Construction of Steel-concrete Composite Structures to Eurocodes” for practicing engineers was formulated to assist their practical design on the following key areas:

Composite beams / shear connection / composite columns / composite slabs / fire resistant design.

The short course was offered in Singapore and Malaysia in 2006, 2007 and 2008 with a total attendance of about 550 engineers.

3.7       Structural Fire Engineering to Structural Fire Design to EN 1993-1-2 and 1994-1-2

In January 2012, Prof. Chung was invited by Architectural Services Department to deliver a two day training seminar on structural fire engineering to Part 1.2 of Eurocodes 3 and 4. The course was well received by about 55 designers and engineers. In September 2012, the lecturing materials were further developed into a two-day professional training course which was presented to 65 practicing engineers in Singapore.  The course was organized by the BCA Academy of the Building and Construction Authority, Singapore.

3.8       PSDAS Techncial Seminar on Effective Design and Construction of Steel and Composite Steel-Concrete Structures to EN 1993-1-1 and 1994-1-1

Under the support of the PSDAS, a total of six 2-day technical seminars on Eurocodes 3 and 4 were jointly organized by the Hong Kong Constructional Metal Structures Association and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.  The seminars were also supported by the Council Industry Council and the Institution of Civil Engineers Hong Kong Association.  The candidate was invited to present on various key design topics on steel and composite steel-concrete structures in three seminars.

4.1       Program Leader of Master & Bachelor Degrees of Civil and Structural Engineering
Full time study from 2000 to 2003

Prof. Chung was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Program including admission, industrial placement, student-staff consultation meetings, examination matters, student scholarship, mock interviews for final year students, annual program review report, selection of MEng students, professional accreditation, and revision of curriculum.

It should be noted that the total number of students in the program was about 200 with the following distribution:

• 160 students in full time mode,
• 25 in sandwich mode, and
• 15 in MEng study.

The admission standard of the program was the highest among the sixteen programs in the Faculty of Construction and Land Use, and was one of the top 10 programs of the University.

In October 2002, the candidate prepared the program documents for the HKIE Accreditation and assisted Professor Y S Li, Chair Professor and Head of Department, to demonstrate the high quality of the Program to the HKIE Accreditation Team.  The Program was approved with full accreditation for another 5 years.

4.2       Program Leader of MSc Programmes in Civil Engineering and of Structural Engineering
Part time study from 2004 to date

Prof. Chung was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the Programs including admission, subject registration, examination and award matters, revision of curriculum as well as program promotion and recruitment of students.

It should be noted that both the programmes of MSc in Civil Engineering and in Structural Engineering were government funded since their establishment in 1996.  In 2004, the total numbers of students in MSc in Civil Engineering and in Structural Engineering were 50 and 15 respectively.

In 2005, the MSc Programme in Structural Engineering was merged into the MSc Programme in Civil Engineering which was then converted into a self-financed programme.  In 2007, the full time mode study was also offered.  The total number of the students enrolled in the programme was 85 in 2008 while the number increased steadily to 120 in 2012.  The programme scheme of the MSc Programme in Civil Engineering was revised in 2008 according to the out-come based learning approach.  In 2012, the programme scheme was further revised to allow popular core subjects to be offered every year.  Moreover, the subject Advanced Structural Steel Design and the subject Fire Protection and Fire Engineering were combined to form a new subject Advanced Structural Design which covers various parts of EN 1993-1 and EN1994-1.

Since 2010, Prof. Chung also served as the MSc Co-ordinator of the Department on the Faculty Scheme Committee which managed the nine MSc programmes administrated by the four Departments of the Faculty.

4.3       Chairman, External Affairs Committee

Since 2006, Prof. Chung was responsible to coordinate the following liaison activities within the Department:

• The Alumni Association
• The Industrial Placement for all degree students
• Awarding of various scholarships

4.4       Member of the Board of the Faculty of Construction and Land Use

From September 2007 to August 2009, Professor Chung was elected to be a Member of the Faculty Board which managed all academic and research matters of the Faculty together with staffing and financial resources.

4.5       Member of the Departmental Management Committee

Since September 2010, Professor Chung was elected to be a Member of the Department Management Committee which managed all academic and research matters of the Department together with staffing and financial resources.

5.1       International Conferences, Symposia and Seminars

Prof. Chung was Chairman of the Organizing Committees of the series of International Symposia on Cold-formed Metal Structures in 2004, 2006 and 2010 as well as the International Symposia on Advances in Steel and Composite Structures in 2005, 2007 and 2009.  He was also Co-Chairman of the International Conference on Advances in Steel Structures in 2002. Moreover, Prof. Chung served as the General Secretary of the Conference Organizing Committee and the International Advisory Committee of the IStructE Centenary Conference held in Hong Kong in 26 to 28 January 2008. He was also Chairman of the Editorial Board and Chief Editor of the Conference Proceedings. Refer to Appendix F for details.

5.2       Editorships and Special Issues

Prof. Chung served as Editor of the International Journal of Advances in Structural Engineering from 2009 to 2011.  Currently, he was also member of the editorial boards of four reputed international journals.  Since 2004, Prof. Chung was Guest Editor of five special issues in international journals on modern steel construction technology. Refer to Appendix G for details.

5.3       Service to Professional Institutions

Prof. Chung served the Joint Structural Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers in various capacities since 2001. He was the Coordinator of the Special Structural Awards from 2002 to 2005, Editor and Reviewer of the proceedings of the Annual Seminars from 2003 to 2006, and Coordinator of the Special Issue of the Hong Kong Division in The Structural Engineers in 2004 to 2007. Currently, Professor Chung is a Council Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers in the U.K., representing over 2,700 members in Hong Kong out of 25,000 members worldwide.

In 2007, Prof. Chung established the Institute of Cold-formed Metal Structures, and served as President to promote cold-formed steel construction technology in Asia. A number of international symposia and training courses had been organized in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia on effective design and construction of cold-formed steel structures.

In July 2010, Professor Chung founded the Hong Kong Constructional Metal Structures Association, and one of the key missions of the Association was to promote and develop sustainable steel construction in China.  With strong supports from various Chinese industrial associations, the Association was dedicated to promote Hong Kong as a world class Centre for Engineering Design of Infrastructures, especially on steel and composite steel concrete structures using Chinese steel materials.

5.4       Professional Training Courses

In the past 15 years, Prof. Chung conducted 28 professional short courses in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia to practising engineers on advanced structural steel and composite design as well as structural fire engineering.  Refer to Appendix H for details.

More recently, Prof. Chung has extended his applied research interests into construction sustainability and durability of infrastructures. His interests include corrosion protection and galvanization, atmospheric corrosivity to exposed structural steelwork as well as sustainable steel construction in close collaboration with the iron and steel industry in China.  Prof. Chung is dedicated to contribute proactively to the socio-economic development of Hong Kong, in particular, to the construction industry in facilitating the development of Hong Kong into a world class Centre for International Engineering Design of Infrastructures.

6.1       Recent Research Projects

With the support of the construction industry, Prof. Chung had successfully secured the following two research projects on corrosion and corrosion protection of structural steelwork using hot-dip galvanization:

Project Objectives:

(1)     To develop an innovative galvanization process to produce zinc-aluminum galvanization coatings with enhanced ductility and mechanical performance. While the Galfan technique is well established for galvanization of steel wires, cables and sheets through a ‘continuous galvanization’ process, the application of the technique to structural steel members requires a comprehensive research and development programme to modify the process into a ‘discrete galvanization.’

(2)     To compile a technical guidance on specification, inspection and quality assurance for the local construction industry in Hong Kong. It should be noted that the technical guidance will be provided to government departments and regulatory authorities to encourage direct adoption of the proposed method in construction projects. 

6.2       Future Research Plan

Sustainable Steel Construction

As President of the Hong Kong Constructional Metal Structures Association, Professor K F Chung has established professional collaboration with the following industrial associations in the Region since the establishment of the Association in July 2010:
 

• The Singapore Structural Steel Society
• The China Iron and Steel Association
• The China Constructional Metal Structures Association
• The China Steel Construction Society
• The International Zinc Association
• The Taiwan Institute of Steel Construction

In order to encourage sustainable steel construction in the Region, high performance constructional steel materials with excellent properties in strength, toughness, and resistances to fire and corrosion should be developed. Moreover, complementary technical guidance on design, construction, testing and quality control on the use of these high performance materials should also be developed under a joint collaborative effort in the Region through the international network of the Association:

1    To develop high performance constructional steel in building structures

• High strength steel materials with good ductility.
• High corrosion and fire resistant strip steel materials
• Structural behavior of high strength steel members

2    To promote the use of high performance steel materials in construction projects

• To promote effective use of high performance steel materials in construction projects which are designed to BS 5950 and Eurocodes 3 and 4 with Eurocodes materials specifications.
• To promote full adoption of Chinese steel materials among design and construction engineers, architects, as well as regulatory agents and other construction professionals in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia as well as countries in Asia and the Middle East.

3          To disseminate knowledge on the use of international codes of practice

• To introduce Eurocodes to designers, fabricators and material suppliers in Hong Kong, Macau, and major cities in China through seminars and training courses.
• To compile a comprehensive set of self-learning materials on Eurocodes for practicing engineers.
• To provide a Chinese version of the Steel Designers’ Manual 7th Edition which was recently updated in compliance with Eurocodes.

It is reckoned that wide adoption of high performance constructional steel S460, S690 and S960 will improve the constructability of infrastructures by 100 to 200%. This will provide huge savings in steel materials as well as labour costs (for fabrication and erection), transportation costs and many other associated costs. The construction professionals in Hong Kong should take advantage of the latest development in sustainable steel construction and position Hong Kong into a world class Centre for International Engineering Design of Infrastructures, through the effective use of high performance constructional steel in compliance with Eurocodes.

Additionally, it should be noted that China is currently the largest steel manufacturer in the world, producing over 40 to 55% of the world steel tonnages in the last five years. The development of a new market of high performance constructional steel in building structures in the Region will definitely have positive impacts to both the iron and steel industry and the steel construction industry in China. With the new markets for Chinese steel materials, steel manufacturers in China will be able to upgrade their production towards technologically advanced methods, which will also be environmental friendly.  This should be taken as an important step for China to develop towards sustainable steel construction in the coming decades.