Joseph Hun-wei LEE 李行偉

Prof J.H.W. Lee is a native of Hong Kong and received his university and postgraduate education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1969-1977). After three years of teaching as Assistant Professor at the University of Delaware he joined the University of Hong Kong (HKU) as a Lecturer in 1980, where he rose through the ranks to Redmond Chair Professor of Civil Engineering in 1996. At HKU, he was Dean of Engineering from 2000 to 2003, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Staffing) from 2004-2010. He then served as Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies and Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at HKUST (2010-2016), followed by appointments as Elman Family Professor of Engineering and Public Policy (2017-18), and Senior Advisor to the President (2018-2020). He is currently Vice-Chancellor and President of Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST). 

Prof Lee's research revolves around the use of hydraulics to solve environmental problems, in particular the theory of buoyant jets and its environmental applications, and the prediction and control of water quality. He was elected into the Royal Academy of Engineering, United Kingdom in 2008, and was bestowed Honorary Membership by the International Association for Hydro-environment Engineering and Research (IAHR) in 2015. He is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences and Honorary Professor of Nankai University and Hohai University.  

Prof Lee is the President of IAHR and inaugural Chief Editor of the Journal of Hydro-environment Research (JHER). He is also Associate Editor of ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering (1997-), Environmental Fluid Mechanics (2011-2020), and China Ocean engineering (2007-). He has served on numerous national and international committees that include the International Advisory Board of the Glasgow Research Partnership in Engineering, Scottish Funding Council (2007-2012), the Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Singapore (2011-2014), and the Tokyo Institute of Technology (2016-2018). He was a member of the Selection Committee of the International Climate Protection Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2009-2018) and the Science and Technology Committee of the Ministry of Education of the Peoples Republic of China (2016-2020). Prof Lee is the Chairman of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and the Assessment Panel of the Hong Kong Public Policy Research Scheme. 

As the Principal Investigator (PI) of a collaborative group project on the Dynamics of Algal Blooms and Red Tides (2000-2004), and Co-PI of the Hong Kong Area of Excellence (AoE) in Marine Environment Research and Innovative Technology (MERIT; 2006-2011), he has pioneered inter-disciplinary research that led to a new understanding of the role of physical-biological interactions in the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HAB) in sub-tropical coastal waters. He is the mastermind behind the development of the WATERMAN coastal water quality forecasting and management system funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust (2009-2013), and an AI-based real time Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) early warning system supported by the Hong Kong Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), and the Innovation and Technology Fund (2018-2023). He has served as expert consultant on numerous hydro-environmental projects and contributed to several major environmental management and flood control infrastructure in Hong Kong – including the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS), Tai Hang Tung Storage Scheme, Yuen Long Bypass Floodway, the Hong Kong Island West Storm Water Drainage Tunnel, and new practices of sustainable fisheries management. He has notably been appointed independent expert in several high profile investigations that include the Environmental Impact Assessment Appeal for the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) Sheung Shui – Lok Ma Chau Spur Line (“Long Valley”) project (2000-2001), the Tai Po Sha Po Tsai Village Debris Flood (2010), and the Commission of Inquiry into Excess Lead Found in Drinking Water (2015).

Prof Lee’s work on environmental hydraulics can be viewed in a 2017 Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) production: Travelling with Water - Joseph LEE (I), and Travelling with Water - Joseph LEE (II).