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Biography

Professor Er Meng Hwa currently holds the positions of Vice-President (International Affairs) and Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

 

After completing a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) degree with first class honours from National University of Singapore in 1981, he went on to pursue PhD studies in Electrical and Computer Engineering under a University of Newcastle's postgraduate research scholarship in 1982.  His research thesis was entitled Optimum Antenna Array Processors with Linear and Quadratic Constraints and he graduated in 1986. One of his key results was patented by the University of Newcastle and the Commonwealth Government of Australia.  

 

He joined the Nanyang Technological Institute, the predecessor of NTU, in 1985 as a lecturer and has risen to hold several key management and leadership positions at the University. He was founding Director of the Centre for Signal Processing from 1995 to 1997, Dean of the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from 1996 to 2005, Dean of College of Engineering from 2001 to 2004, Deputy President 2 from 1998 to 2006, Acting Provost from 2006 to 2007, Associate Provost and Acting Dean (Graduate Studies) from 2007 to 2008 and Senior Associate Provost from 2008 to 2011.

Professor Er’s career has been underpinned by a very strong research track record.  His research interests include array signal processing, satellite communications, computer vision and optimization techniques. He has secured and completed a total of 24 research projects with a cumulative grant of about $21 million. He has published over 260 papers in international journals and conference proceedings and holds five patents.

In addition, he has been involved in editing technical journals and had been Chairs of several international conferences including the 15th World Conference on Cooperative Education (WACE) which was held in Singapore in June 2007.  He is a Fellow of the Academy of Engineering, Singapore, Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore, a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, USA, a registered Professional Engineer in Singapore and a ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer.  He serves as: a Member of the Board of Governor of  S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and a Council Member of National Institute of Education; a Member of the Board of Directors on several Singaporean companies including ST Electronics Ltd, ST Electronics (Satellite Systems) Pte Ltd and Singapore Sports School and Chairman of NIE Internationals Pte Ltd.

Professor Er Meng Hwa’s achievements have been recognised by the award of several major prizes and honours – the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) Prestigious Engineering Award in 2001; a Public Administration Medal (Silver) and Public Administration Medal (Gold) by the President of the Republic of Singapore in 1998 and 2006 respectively; and National Serviceman of the Year Award by 1PDF COMD in 1999.  He is the first Singaporean and the first academic in Asia to be conferred an Honorary Fellowship by the London-based Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) in 2005 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to engineering research, education and public service. More recently, he has been conferred an Honorary Fellowship by the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisation (AFEO) in December 2006 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to engineering profession in Singapore and the region, and elected as a Fellow by the ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology in 2009.

 


  PERSONAL DATA

Work Address :

Nanyang Technological University

President's Office

50 Nanyang Avenue

Administration Building, Level 5

Singapore 639798

 

 

 

Phone : +65 6790 5926

 

Fax :     +65 6795 1567

 

Email :   emher@ntu.edu.sg

 

 

Date & Place of Birth :

1 February 1956, Singapore

Family :

Married with 2 children

Academic Qualification

 

BEng(Hons) Cl 1 - National University of Singapore - 1981

PhD - University of Newcastle (N.S.W.) – 1986

Professional qualifications / Memberships

 

Fellow of Academy of Engineering, Singapore (2012 – present)

Fellow of ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology (2009 - Present)

Honorary Fellow of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations (2006 - Present)

Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) (2005 – Present)

Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (1993 – Present)

Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) (2002 – Present)

Professional Engineer (1995 – Present)

ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer (ACPE) (2008 - Present)

Member, IEEE Signal Processing Society

Member, IEEE Communication Society

Member, IEEE Computer Society


POSITION HELD

1 Apr 1981 - 31 Mar 1982

Production Engineer, Hewlett Packard S’pore

15 Jun 1985 - 31 Dec 1988

Lecturer, NTI

1 Jan 1989 - 31 Dec 1992

Senior Lecturer, NTU

11 Mar 1989 - 10 Mar 1991

Assistant to the President, NTI

1 Apr 1991 - 31 May 1996

Vice-Dean, School of EEE, NTI/NTU

(concurrent appointment)

23 Apr 1991 - 7 May 1991

Acting Dean, School of EEE, NTI

1 Jan 1993 - 30 Apr 1997

Associate Professor, NTU

15 Nov 1995 - 30 Jun 1997

Director, Centre for Signal Processing, NTU

(concurrent appointment)

1 Jun 1996 - 31 May 2005

Dean, EEE, NTU (concurrent appointment)

1 May 1997 - present

Professor, NTU

16 May 1998 - 31 Mar 2006

Deputy President, NTU (concurrent appointment)

1 Jul 2001 - 31 July 2004

Dean, College of Engineering, NTU  (concurrent appointment)

1 Apr 2006 - 31 Mar 2007

Acting Provost, NTU

1 Apr 2007 - 31 Mar 2008

Associate Provost, NTU

1 Sep 2007 - 31 Mar 2008

Acting Dean, Graduate Studies Office, NTU

1 Apr 2008 - 30 Jun 2011

Senior Associate Provost, NTU

1 Jul 2011 - present

Vice President (International Affairs), NTU

   

JOURNAL ASSOCIATE EDITORSHIP

  • Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing (1997 - 1998)
  • Editorial Board Member, IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (2005 – 2008)
  • Chairman, Editorial Committee, IES Journal (1988 - 1995)
  • Chairman, Editorial Committee, EEE Journal (1989 - 1992)

 

INVITED PRESENTATIONS AT SCIENTIFIC MEETINGS / WORKSHOPS

  • Tutorial on Advances in Array Signal Processing, ISSPA’87, Brisbane, Australia
  • Guest Speaker, Third International Space Symposium, Nov 1996, Singapore
  • Invited talk on “Engineering Education in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities”, IEE Distinguished Lecture, IEE Singapore Branch, Jan 2006, Singapore

 

CONFERENCES / WORKSHOPS ACTIVITIES

  • Conference Co-Chair, International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference 2009, Singapore
  • Chairman, World Association for Cooperative Education Conference 2007 (in partnership with IEEE Singapore Section), Singapore
  • General Conference Co-Chair, IEEE International Conference on Image Processing 2004 (ICIP’04), Singapore
  • Publicity Chairman, IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems 1991, Singapore
  • National Advisory Committee Member, 3rd International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies 2005 (ICMAT 2005), Singapore
  • National Advisory Committee Member, International Union of Materials Research Societies – 9th International Conference on Advanced Materials (IUMRS-ICAM 2005), Singapore
  • International Advisory Board Member, International Conference on Neural Information Processing (ICONIP’02), Singapore
  • International Advisory Board Member, International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and knowledge Discovery 2002 (FSKD’02), Singapore
  • International Advisory Board Member, Asia-Pacific Conference on Simulated Evolution and Learning 2002 (SEAL’02), Singapore
  • International Technical Committee Member, 2nd International Workshop on Intellignet Systems Design and Applications, 2002, Atlanta, USA
  • International Advisory Committee Member, The First International Conference on Information, Communications and Signal Processing 1997 (ICICS’97), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, The Fifth International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision 1998 (ICARCV’98), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, The Second International Conference on Information, Communications and Signal Processing 1999 (ICICS’99), Singapore
  • Advisory, 8th International Symposium on Integrated Circuits, Devices & Systems 1999 (ISIC’99), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, International Power Engineering Conference 1999 (IPEC’99), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, The Sixth International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision 2000 (ICARCV’00), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, The Third International Conference on Information, Communications and Signal Processing 2001 (ICICS’01), Singapore
  • Advisory, 9th International Symposium on Integrated Circuits, Devices & Systems 2001 (ISIC’01), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, International Power Engineering Conference 2001 (IPEC’01), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, The Seventh International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision 2002 (ICARCV’02), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, The Forth International Conference on Information, Communications and Signal Processing 2003 (ICICS’03), Singapore
  • Advisory, 10th International Symposium on Integrated Circuits, Devices & Systems 2004 (ISIC’04), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, International Power Engineering Conference 2003 (IPEC’03), Singapore
  • International Advisory Committee Member, The Eighth International Conference on Control, Automation, Robotics and Vision 2004 (ICARCV’04), Kunming, China
  • International Advisory Committee Member, International Power Engineering Conference 2005 (IPEC’05), Singapore
  • Honorary Chairman, The Fifth International Conference on Information, Communications and Signal Processing 2005 (ICICS’05), Bangkok, Thailand

HONOURS AND AWARDS

1973 - 1974

Ban See Soon Kongsi Pre-University Scholarship

1977 - 1979

Ban See Soon Kongsi University Scholarship

1980 - 1981

Tan Kah Kee University Scholarship

1982 - 1985

University of Newcastle Postgraduate Research Scholarship

1984

Fellowship to attend NATO Advanced Study Institute

1990

Best Paper Award, Institution of Engineers, Singapore

1990

SAF Good Service Award

1990

Texas Instruments TMS320 Design Championship, Champion

1991

Texas Instruments Design Championship, Champion

1994

SAF Reserve Service Medal

1994

Outstanding Contributions to the MINDEF-NTU Joint

R&D Co-Operation Programme

1995

Texas Instruments Design Championship, 1st Runner Up

1996

NTU 10-year Long Service Award

1997

National Servicemen of the Year - Letter of Commendation

1998

The Public Administration Medal (Silver)

1998

NTU 15-year Long Service Award

1999

1 PDF COMD National Servicemen of the Year Award

2001

IES Prestigious Engineering Achievement Award

2003

NTU 20-year Long Service Award

2005

Honorary Fellow of Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE)

(in recognition of outstanding contributions to engineering research, education, public and social service)

2006

The Public Administration Medal (Gold)

(in recognition of his significant contribution to the growth and international standing of the Nanyang Technological University)

2006

Honorary Fellow, ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations 

(in recognition of outstanding contributions to engineering profession in Singapore and the region)

2008

NTU 25-year Long Service Award

2009

Fellow, ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology

2012

Fellow, Academy of Engineering, Singapore

   

PUBLIC SERVICE

  • Member, IES Electronics and Computer Engineering Technical Committee (1988 - 1995)
  • Chairman, Planning and Project Committee, Jurong Town Council (1989 - 1996)
  • Counsellor, Jurong Town Council (1989 - 1996)
  • Member, Temasek Polytechnic's Advisory Committee for the School of Engineering (1993 - 1997)
  • Member, Juying Secondary School Advisory Committee (1995 - 1997)
  • Chairman, Joint University-Polytechnic Study Team on Merit of Polytechnic Route to Universities (1997 - 1999)
  • Member, National Science Talent Search Committee (1996 - 1999)
  • Chairman of Professional Examination Committee, Professional Engineers Board (1997 - 2001)
  • Member, Board of Governors, National IT Skills Certification Programme (1998 - 2001)
  • Member, Singapore National Digital TV Committee, TCS (1999 - 2000)
  • Chairman, National Technology Award Selection Committee (1999 - 2000)
  • Member, The Working Committee for the Review of University Governance and Funding [UGF](1998)
  • Member, Medical Education Review Working Committee (2001 – 2002)
  • Member, National Science Award Selection Committee (2002)
  • Council Member, Institution of Engineers, Singapore (2002 – 2003)
  • Member, Local Advisory Committee, Data Storage Institute (2002 - 2003)
  • Member, IES-IEEE Joint Medal of Excellence Award Selection Committee (2002 - 2003)
  • Member, Youth Expedition Project Advisory and Resource Panel (2002 - 2004)
  • Member, National Grid Committee (2002 - 2005) 
  • Member, Engineering Accreditation Board (2002 – 2006)
  • Member, University Admission Committee, Ministry of Education (2003)
  • Member, National Technology Award Selection Committee (2003-2006)
  • Member, IT Leader Awards Selection Committee, Singapore Computer Society (2004 – 2006)
  • Member, MOE Steering Committee to Study on the Operational Aspect of NIE’s Autonomy (2005 - 2006)
  • Member, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies Board of Governors (2006)
  • Member, Singapore-MIT Alliance Board of Governors (2006 - 2007)
  • Member, Academic Research Council (2006 - 2007)
  • Deputy Chairman, Singapore Youth Awards Advisory Committee (1999 - 2011)
  • Member, Singapore Polytechnic Board of Governors (2000 - 2012)
  • Chairman, School of EEE Advisory Committee, Singapore Polytechnic (2000 – 2012)
  • Member, Professional Engineers Board (2003 – 2012)
  • Member, The Enterprise Challenge [TEC] (2004 – 2010)
  • Member, National Institute of Education Council (2005 - present)
  • Member, Committee on Foreign Talent and Relations, Ministry of Education (2005 - 2011)
  • Member, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Board of Governors (2007 - present)
  • Member, GO EAST Committee, Business China (2009 - present)
  • Member, Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board (2010 - 2012)
  • Member, Singapore Institute of Management International Academic Panel (2010 - present)
  • Member, SIM University External Academic Audit Panel (2010)
  • Member, SIM Academic Quality Panel (2010 - present)

 


SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY

  • Counsellor, Hall of Residence 2 (1986-1993)
  • Member, NTU Council (1989-1991, 1997 - 1999)
  • Chairman, Healthy Lifestyle Committee (1991 - 1999)
  • Member, Academic Committee (1989 - 1991, 1996 – 2003, 2005 - 2008)
  • Head Counsellor, Hall of Residence 11 (1994 - 2002)
  • Member, Board of Selection (1996 - 2003)
  • Member, Library Committee (1996 - 2004)
  • Member, Selection Committee on Admission to Innovation Centre (1996 - 2004)
  • Member, Board of Discipline (1997 - 2005)
  • Member, NTU PS21 Committee (1999 - 2001)
  • Member, Vision21 Committee (1999 - 2001)
  • Chairman, School Advisory Committee, EEE (1996 - 2005)
  • Chairman, School Management Committee, EEE (1996 - 2005)
  • Chairman, Curriculum Committee, EEE (1996 - 2005)
  • Chairman, Teaching Committee, EEE (1996 - 2005)
  • Chairman, Research Committee, EEE (1996 - 2005)
  • Chairman, SCEMP Committee, EEE (1996 - 2005)
  • Chairman, Centre for Graphics & Imaging Technology (CGIT) Advisory Committee (1996 - 2005)
  • Member, Network Technology Research Centre (NTRC) Advisory Committee (1996 - 2005)
  • Member, Information Communication Institute of Singapore (ICIS) Advisory Committee (1996- 2005)
  • Member, SingTel/NTU Joint Applied R&D Management Committee (1996 - 2004)
  • Chairman, People Sector Subcommittee, Vision 21 Working Committee (1999 – 2001)
  • Chairman, University Intellectual Capital Committee (1999 - 2004)
  • Member, Robotics Research Centre Advisory Committee (1999 – 2005)
  • Chairman, ASP Centre Management Board (2000 - 2003)
  • Chairman, NTU Millennium Celebration Working Committee (1999 - 2000)
  • Member, NTU Millennium Celebrations Steering Committee & Co-Chairman, Main Event Sub-Committee (2000)
  • Chairman, NTU 20th Anniversary Celebration Working Committee (2000)
  •  Member, Management Board of Temasek Laboratories at NTU (2003 – 2005)
  • Chairman, 50th Anniversary Anchor Event Steering Committee (2005)
  • Chairman, “Experience Nanyang” Admission Carnival Committee (2005)
  • Chairman, Admission Tea Parties Committee (2005)
  • Member, Nanyang Awards Selection Committee (2005)
  • Member, NTU Steering Committee on UAGF (2005 – 2006)
  • Chairman, Freshmen Welcome Ceremony Committee (2005 - 2007)
  • Chairman, NTU International Academic Advisory Panel (IAAP) 2007 Committee (2006)

  • Member, MINDEF/NTU Joint R&D Management Committee (1996 - 2008)

  • Member, Alumni Relation Council (1996 - 2011)
  • Member, Academic Board (1996 - 2011)
  • Member, Board of Graduate Studies (1996 - 2008)
  • Chairman, Hall Delegacy (2005 – 2011)
  • Chairman, Board of Discipline (2005 – 2011)
  • Chairman, Convocation Committee (2005 - 2011)
  • Advisor, Funding Working Group Working Committee (2005 – 2011)
  • Member, Administrative Committee (2005 – present)
  • Chairman, Nanyang Awards Selection Committee (2006 - 2011)
  • Chairman, University Scholars Award Selection Panel (2007-2009)
  • Member, University Cabinet (2008 - present)
  • Co-Chairman, Nanyang Alumni Awards Selection Committee (2008 - 2011)
  • Chairman, Koh Boon Hwee Scholars Award Selection Panel (2010 - 2011)
  • Member, University Cabinet (2008 – present)     

  • Chairman, Whistle Blowing Committee (2011 – present)

  • Member, President Coordinating Group (2011 - present)

     


CONSULTANCY

  • Creative Technology Ltd
  • Philips Singapore Pte Ltd
  • Chartered Electronics Industries
  • Mass Rapid Transit Corporation
  • Thomson Consumer Electronics
  • Sytek Technical Associates
  • Ministry of Defence
  • Singapore Telecoms
  • Ngee Ann Polytechnic
  • Republic Polytechnic
  • Centre for Continuing Education, NTU

SERVICE AS REVIEWER

  • National Science Foundation
  • Australian Research Grants Scheme
  • IEEE Transactions on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing
  • IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing
  • IEEE Transactions on Circuits & Systems
  • IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering
  • IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
  • IEE Proceedings-H, Microwaves, Antennas and Propagation
  • IEE Proceedings-F, Radar and Signal Processing
  • IEE Proceedings-G, Circuits, Devices and Systems
  • IEE Proceedings, Vision, Image and Signal Processing
  • Signal Processing
  • IET Signal Processing
  • Journal of Electromagnetic Waves and Applications

SERVICE AS AN EXTERNAL EXAMINER FOR PhD THESIS

  • External examiner for PhD thesis, University of Newcastle, Australia, 1990
  • External examiner for PhD thesis, Curtin University of Technology, 1995
  • External examiner for PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2005
  • External examiner for PhD thesis, Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales, 2005
  • External examiner for PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2005
  • External examiner for PhD thesis, University of Melbourne, 2007

SUMMARY OF PUBLICATIONS

  • Chapters in Books : 7
  • Journal Papers : 105
  • Conference Papers : 154
  • Patents : 5
  • TOTAL : 271

 

 

 

 

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