The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Professor Limin Zhang, Head and Chair Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, was awarded the inaugural National Engineer Award in January 2024. He was the only scholar from higher education institutions in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to receive such a prestigious accolade.

In a special conversation, Prof. Zhang shared that he shifted his research focus from bridge foundations and dams to multi-hazard analysis and risk management because of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan as his turning point. While helping the Hong Kong government oversee a road construction project in the region, Prof. Zhang came up with ways to mitigate hazards and future risks that could affect the road.

Over the years, Prof. Zhang has worked on a wide range of research areas, including foundations, slope safety, landslide risk management, and climate change adaptation. He has also involved in several engineering projects, including the reconstruction after the Wenchuan earthquake. He also led his team to participate in engineering studies for a strategic railway project on the Tibetan Plateau. Most recently, Prof. Zhang and his team went to Southern Gansu to investigate landslides caused by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in December 2023.

Prof. Zhang is currently leading a project titled “Digital Twin-empowered Landslide Emergency Risk Management” under the Research Grants Council’s Theme-based Research Scheme 2023/24. With an approved budget of about HK$74 million, the project aims to develop a slope digital twin of Hong Kong for sensing, simulating, and visualising landslide hazard processes, which can be applied to landslide-prone regions worldwide and be extended to manage other natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and typhoons. The digital twin will enhance the current slope safety systems in Hong Kong and other regions, forming a new digital paradigm for managing hazard emergency risks. This will also promote smart, sustainable, and resilient urban development, driving urban governance transformation. Prof. Zhang is also co-leading research projects stemming from the successful launch of the high-resolution optical satellite “HKUST-FYBB#1” in August 2023, which acts as a “space sensor” of the Digital Twin project.

Prof. Zhang believes that civil engineers should foresee problems and mitigate their impacts. Having emergency plans in advance can save lives and protect properties. The society is facing ever increasing risks in the changing climate, which urges Prof. Zhang to keep working hard on his research which has already been applied to national infrastructure constructions as well as landslide risk management in Hong Kong.