Recently, the official website of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) announced the appointment of Professor Ng Wang Wai as Vice-President (University Development), effective from August 1, 2025.

    According to the HKUST official website, Ng Wang Wai is an internationally renowned expert in soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, with research areas covering unsaturated soil mechanics, eco-geotechnics, and debris flow and landslide prevention and control.

    According to the 2024 Stanford University ranking of the world's top 2% scientists, Ng Wang Wai is the only Chinese professor to rank in the top five of the career-long impact ranking in the subfields of "Geological & Geomatics Engineering; Civil Engineering", and is also the youngest of the five.

    Ng Wang Wai's major awards include: the 2025 Telford Gold Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers (the Institution's highest honor), the 2022 Varnes Medal of the International Consortium on Landslides under UNESCO, the 2022Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation Prize for Scientific and Technological Progressand the 2020 State Natural Science Award (Second Class) and the 2015 State Science and Technology Progress Award (Second Class) conferred by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, among others. In addition, he was elected a Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences in 2008 and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2020.

    Since joining HKUST in 1995, Ng Wang Wai has held multiple leadership positions. Currently, he also serves as Dean of the Fok Ying Tung Graduate School and Vice Chairman of the HKUST Foundation, and previously held key roles including Associate Vice-President (Research and Development), Associate Vice-President (Research and Development and Graduate Education), and Associate Dean of the School of Engineering.

    During Ng Wang Wai's tenure as Dean of the Fok Ying Tung Graduate School, HKUST performed outstandingly in the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme, remaining the institution with the largest number of awardees since the scheme was established in 2009, successfully attracting top research talent from more than 50 countries worldwide. He is committed to nurturing international talent and has personally supervised the graduation of more than 80 doctoral students and 60 master's students from over 20 countries and regions.