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Staff Profile

Dr Hao Chen

Assistant Professor in Marine Technology, Degree Program Director of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering

Background

Dr Chen is an assistant professor in marine technology at Newcastle University in Singapore. His research interests are in coastal and marine hydrodynamics, emphasising numerical modelling of free-surface waves, including wave breaking, wave overtopping, wave-wave and wave-structure interactions. He develops computational fluid dynamics (CFD)- based numerical solvers to describe the physical processes and phenomena that define and influence atmospheric, oceanographic, and seafloor interactions with engineered or natural offshore systems, support sustainable extractive activities related to energy generation and food, and enhance the resilience of coastal communities, economies, and ecosystems.

Academic Employment

  • Degree program director of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NAME).
  • Assistant Professor in Marine Technology, Newcastle University in Singapore (NUiS).
  • Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering, University of Glasgow Singapore (UGS).
  • Research Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore (NUS).
  • Research Fellow in Centre for Mathematical Modelling and Flow Analysis (CMMFA), Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU).

Education

  • PhD in Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark.
  • MSc in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology.
  • BSc in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Tianjin University.

Professional Commitment

  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
  • Member of the Society of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineers Singapore (SNAMES)
  • Member of the Society of Floating Solutions Singapore (SFSS)
  • Member of the Institution of Engineering Singapore (IES)
  • Member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA)
  • Member of the International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE)
  • External Reviewer for Journal of Fluids and Structures; Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal and Ocean Engineering; Applied Ocean Research; Ocean Engineering; Energy; Journal of Marine Science and Application; Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering; Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy; Journal of Ships and Offshore Structures; China Ocean Engineering etc.
  • External Reviewer for MSc and PhD theses and grants.

Awards

  • ICE Baker Medal for paper "Focused wave interactions with floating structures: A blind comparative study" published in Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Engineering and Computational Mechanics. Volume 174, Issue 1, March 2021, pp 46-61.
  • Travel grant from the MDPI Journal Processes. 2024.
Research

Research Interests

  • Marine Renewable Energy
  • Maritime Decarbonisation
  • Coastal Protection


Research Projects

  1. SG: Economic Development Board Industrial Postgraduate Program (EDB-IPP). A novel design for an autonomous submersible surveyor. 2024/09 – 2026/09.
  2. SG: Economic Development Board Industrial Postgraduate Program (EDB-IPP). Analysis of Ammonia dispersion behaviour under the influence of operational and weather conditions during ship bunkering. 2024/09 – 2028/09.
  3. UK: Royal Academy of Engineering, Transforming Systems through Partnership 23/25 (India) Program. Vortex energy drive for eco-friendly and sustainable energy harvesting (TSP-2325-5-IN/196). 2023/11 – 2025/01.
  4. SG: Economic Development Board Industrial Postgraduate Program (EDB-IPP). Computational modelling and digitalisation development for cathodic protection. 2024/04 – 2028/04.
  5. UK: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), High-End Computing Consortium for Wave Structure Interaction (HEC-WSI), UK. Exploring the power of waves: enhancing wave energy converter arrays through advanced CFD simulations. 2023/09 – 2024/09.
  6. UK: Newcastle University. Development of Augmented Reality (AR) models to increase enthusiasm and enhance student learning in higher education: A case study for the marine propulsion course. 2024/01 – 2024/12.
  7. UK: Newcastle University. Data-driven prediction of fully nonlinear wave loads on offshore wind turbines. 2023/08 – 2023/10.


Industrial Postgraduate Program (IPP)

Singaporeans and Singapore PRs are welcome to join the Industrial Postgraduate Program (IPP), supported by the EDB and ESG, which offers fully funded 2-year Master's (MbR) and 4-year PhD programs. The application is open year-round. If you are interested in the IPP, please email me to discuss further. Candidates with external funding are also welcome to email me to discuss the potential postgraduate research topics.

Teaching

He has taught various courses for undergraduate degree programmes in naval architecture, civil engineering and aerospace engineering with a typical class size of 50 – 100 students.

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (MNO/NME):

  • NME3110 Offshore Renewables (Module Lead, Co-Instructor)
  • MNO2112/NME2112 Marine Dynamics (Co-Instructor)
  • MNO2108/NME2104 Marine Propulsion (Module Lead, Co-Instructor)
  • MNO2107/NME2107 Ship Resistance (Module Lead, Instructor)
  • NME1108 Naval Architecture 1B (Module Lead, Instructor)
  • NME1107 Naval Architecture 1A (Module Lead, Instructor)

Other Subjects:

  • Fluid Mechanics
  • Hydraulics and Hydrology
  • Civil Engineering Practice
  • Project Planning and Management
Publications