Poh Leong Hien

Biography 

Dr Poh Leong Hien is a Dean’s Chair Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He also serves as Deputy Head (Graduate and CET Programmes) and Director of the Centre for Protective Technology.

His research advances the understanding of how materials and structures behave across multiple scales, from the initiation of microscale damage to the overall response of structural systems. A key contribution of his work is the development of the localizing gradient enhancement, a method widely referenced in literature for its effective regularization of numerical simulations involving strain‑softening materials.

A major focus of Dr Poh’s research examines how materials perform under extreme loading conditions. In this area, he has developed an innovative non‑destructive testing (NDT) technique for estimating the ballistic resistance of cementitious materials. This method enables efficient evaluation and comparison of protective materials without the need for full‑scale destructive tests, and has been adopted by DSTA for in‑house analyses and material benchmarking.

Dr Poh is committed to bridging fundamental mechanics with practical engineering applications. His work informs strategies to enhance structural robustness and contributes to the development of design methodologies for infrastructure protection. He is currently collaborating with HTX on a design guide for assessing precast reinforced concrete structures against progressive collapse — supporting national efforts to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure.

As an educator, Dr Poh has received multiple NUS Teaching Excellence Awards and College Educator Awards. He is currently on the NUS University Teaching Awards Honor Roll. His dedication to mentorship is likewise reflected in the achievements of his graduate students, several of whom have won top student awards at major international conferences.

Beyond NUS, Dr Poh contributes to the engineering community through service on the editorial boards of several leading journals, including International Journal of Damage Mechanics, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, and Finite Elements in Analysis and Design. He is also the Subject Editor (Civil Engineering) for Engineering Failure Analysis and an elected council member of The Institution of Engineers Singapore.

Qualifications

• 2011, Joint Ph.D., National University of Singapore & Eindhoven University of Technology
• 2005, M.Eng. (Accelerated Master’s Programme), National University of Singapore.
• 2003, B.Eng. (First Class Honours), National University of Singapore.

Position Held

• 2018 – present: Associate Professor, National University of Singapore
• 2011 – 2018: Assistant Professor, National University of Singapore
• 2005 – 2006: Senior Development Officer, Building and Construction Authority

Administrative Positions in NUS

• 2024 – present: Deputy Head (Graduate & CET Programmes), NUS Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2023 – present: Director, NUS CDE Centre for Protective Technology
• 2020 – 2024: Associate Head (Academic Matters), NUS Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2016 – 2023: Program Director, NUS M.Sc. (CE) Programme
• 2023: Committee Chair, NUS B.Eng. (CE) programme accreditation by IES (Washington Accord)

Honours & Awards

Research

• 2023: Inaugural Young Investigator Award, Fourth International Conference on Damage Mechanics
• 2022: Lloyd H. Donnell Applied Mechanics Reviews Paper Award (co-author)
• 2019: Asian-Pacific Association for Computational Mechanics Young Investigator Award
• 2006 – 2010: Lee Kong Chian Graduate Scholarship
• 2004: The Institution of Engineers Singapore Gold Medal

Teaching

• 2025 – 2029: University Teaching Awards Honor Roll
• 2024: University Annual Teaching Excellence Award (Team) – Team leader
• 2024: College of Design and Engineering College Educator Award
• 2023: University Annual Digital Education Award
• 2023: College of Design and Engineering College Educator Award
• 2015: University Annual Teaching Excellence Award

 Awards received by group members

• 2024: PhD student Guangyuan Yang, 1^st Place, MIMB Student Paper Competition, ASCE EMI Conference, Chicago, USA.
• 2022: Dr Zhang Fengling, Lee Seng Lip Medal and Prize. The top award in NUS Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering to a graduating or recently graduated student for his/her excellent PhD research.
• 2020: PhD student Deepak Kumar, 1^st Place, MIMB Student Paper Competition, ASCE EMI Conference (online due to COVID).
• 2019: PhD student Zhang Yi, Best Presenter Award, 32^nd KKHTCNN Symposium on Civil Engineering, Korea.
• 2019: PhD student Raja Biswas, 1^st Place, MIMB Student Paper Competition, ASCE EMI Conference, San Diego, USA.

Professional Activities

• 2024 – present: Council Member, The Institution of Engineers Singapore
• 2023 – 2025: Chair, ASCE EMI Modeling Inelasticity and Multiscale Behavior Committee

Editorial

• Subject Editor (Civil Engineering), Engineering Failure Analysis
• Associate Editor, Journal of Vibration Engineering & Technologies
• Guest Editor, International Journal of Damage Mechanics
• Co-Guest Editor, Multiscale and Multidisciplinary Modeling, Experiments and Design
• Co-Guest Editor, Computational Materials Science
• Editorial Board, Finite Elements in Analysis and Design
• Editorial Board, International Journal of Damage Mechanics
• Editorial Board, Advances in Bridge Engineering
• Early Career Editorial Advisory Board, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering

Conferences/Workshops

• Co-Chair, Fifth International Conference on Impact Loading of Structures and Materials, 29 Jun – 3 Jul 2026, Singapore.
• Co-Chair, International Workshop on Multiscale, Multiphysics, and Multidisciplinary Research on Materials and Structures, 24-26 Sept 2025, Singapore.
• Chair, Fifth International Conference for Damage Mechanics, 16-18 Jul 2025, Singapore.
• Co-Chair, 30^th International Conference on Computational & Experimental Engineering and Sciences, 3 – 6 Aug 2024, Singapore.