Professor Alfonso H.W. Ngan is currently Kingboard Professor in Materials Engineering and Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Hong Kong. He obtained his BSc(Eng) degree from the University of Hong Kong in 1989, and PhD from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. in 1992. After a year of postdoctoral training at Oxford University, he joined HKU in 1993, and was promoted through the ranks to Chair Professorship in 2011. He previously held administrative positions including Senior Advisor in the President’s Office, Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research), Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean of Engineering.

Professor Ngan’s interest includes novel stimuli-responsive materials, material defects and their modeling, and nanomechanics including applications to biological systems. His research-related honours include the Rosenhain Medal from the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, U.K., DSc from the University of Birmingham, Croucher Senior Research Fellowship, International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, elected Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences (HKAES), and Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Prize. He is currently a trustee and governor of the Croucher Foundation, and serves in a number of committees and boards in the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers.