In my almost three decades of hands-on experience in structural design ranging from large scale construction projects in Hong Kong to high-rise residential buildings along the Florida coastline and in New York Metropolitan Area, as well as several academic facilities around the United States, I have demonstrated my commitment to inventive and cost-effective solutions to complicated structural challenges. My wide-ranging experience reaches over all project phases – from conceptualization through construction documents and construction field administration. I recognize the importance to a collaborative approach to design and as a value-added member to a team that effectively respond to clients’ goals in terms of aesthetics, performance and functionality, cost, and schedule. My wholehearted commitment to the team concept in responding to the complex requirements of the clients has earned me long-standing relationships with my colleagues and clients alike.
Earlier in my career, I worked for almost a decade as a Structural Engineer in Hong Kong between Maunsell Consultants Asia – Building Engineering Group (now AECOM) and Stephen Cheng Consulting Engineers, a subsidiary of Henderson Land Development Co. Ltd where I was responsible for the analysis, design, detailing and conceptualization of multi-function (mixed use) high-rise building structures. My large scale projects design experience in Hong Kong includes some of the prominent early application of structural design concepts and techniques using advance computer modeling technologies. These includes the overall building analyses of multiple 40+ stories towers connected by a single common concrete transfer plate for Tung Chung Crescent the 33-stories Sky Garden apartment building - the first high-rise building design concept approved by Hong Kong Building Authority that utilizes concrete flat slabs as part of the overall lateral structural system the 66-stories towers at The Grand Promenade high-rise development – one of earliest buildings in Hong Kong with sky gardens at multiple levels whose buildings’ floor slabs also form as parts of the overall lateral structural system. For over ten years while working here in the United States, I continued to demonstrate my effectiveness in responding to different levels of structural design challenges. A working example was the reduction of piled mat foundation from 12-ft to 9-ft thick for the 40-stories, The Peninsula apartment tower in Jacksonville, FL to resolve constructability issues and responding to the project’s cost-cutting measures. My resolute determinations of coming up with structural solutions on even the most daunting challenges in a project was evidenced in the Loyola Science Center laboratory facilities at The University of Scranton with structural complexities ranging from ground-borne train vibrations, potential sinkholes due to abandoned coal mines, and fast track project delivery. My article detailing my design approaches to these structural challenges entitled “Structural Design Ingenuity – A Critical Component for a Sophisticated Science Building” was published in March 2012 issue of STRUCTURE magazine, the official publication of Structural Engineering Institute (SEI).
