people

Professor Joseph Hun-wei Lee, a Hong Kong native, obtained his BSc, MSc, and PhD degrees all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA (1969-1977). He taught at the University of Delaware as Assistant Professor for three years before he joined the University of Hong Kong in 1980. He has served as Dean of Engineering from 2000 to 2003 and is currently Pro-Vice Chancellor and Vice-President, and Redmond Chair of Civil Engineering. He is also the Director of the Croucher Laboratory of Environmental Hydraulics.

Professor Lee's research revolves around the use of hydraulics to solve environmental problems, in particular the prediction and control of water quality. He is Chief Editor of the Elsevier Journal of Hydro-environment Research, and an Associate Editor of ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, Korea Journal of Civil Engineering, and China Ocean Engineering. A former Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow (1992) and Croucher Senior Research Fellow (1998), Professor Lee is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK) and the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences. He is Vice-President of the International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR) and past Chairman of the IAHR-APD Division. He is the recipient of the 2009 Hunter Rouse Hydraulic Engineering Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Over the past two decades, he has served as expert advisor to the Hong Kong Government and as international consultant on many hydro-environmental projects including the Sydney Ocean Outfall Post-operation Monitoring Study, Hong Kong Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS), Yuen Long Bypass Floodway, Deep Bay Water Quality Regional Control Strategy Study, Hong Kong Island West Drainage Tunnel Vortex Intake Study, and the Tai Hang Tung Storage Scheme that won the Innovation Award for Construction Industry of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (2002). He serves on the Advisory Council on the Environment of the Hong Kong Government, and is a member of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Representative Research/ Consultancy Projects (Principal Investigators otherwise stated)

UGC Area of Excellence on Marine Environmental Research and Innovative Technology (MERIT), Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) 2004-2009 (Co-PI)
Integrated physical and ecological management of rivers - with particular reference to the East River, Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)/Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) Joint Research Scheme, 2004-2007
Real time hydro-environmental modelling and visualization system for public engagement, Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund, 2006-2007
Dynamics of algal blooms and red tides in sub-tropical coastal waters: monitoring, modelling and prediction, Hong Kong RGC Group Research Project, 1999-2004
Mixing of rosette jet group from ocean outfalls, RGC, 2003-2005
Hydraulic model study of the Hong Kong West Drainage Tunnel Vortex Intake Structure, Black and Veatch, and Hong Kong Drainage Services Department (DSD), 2003-2007
Environmental and engineering feasibility assessment studies for the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme, Camp Dresser and McKee International, 2002-2003
West Kowloon Drainage Improvements Stage 2: Kai Tak Transfer Scheme and Tai Hang Tung Storage Scheme, Black and Veatch and DSD, 1999-2001.
Yuen Long Bypass Floodway model study, Binnie and Partners and DSD, 1997-1998.
Independent Reviewer for Deep Bay Water Quality Regional Control Strategy, Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department, 1995-1997

Choi, D.K.W. and Lee, J.H.W. (2007). “Distributed entrainment sink approach for modelling mixing and transport in the intermediate field.” Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE (accepted for publication).
Lee, J.H.W., Chan, C.H.C., Kuang, C.P., Clark, P., Townsend, N. and Shiu, W.Y. (2006). “Hydraulic model study of the Tai Hang Tung Storage Scheme.”, Journal of Hydraulic Research (in press 2007).
Yu, D.Y., Ali, M.S. and Lee, J.H.W. (2006). “Multiple tandem jets in crossflow”, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, 132(9), 971-982.
Lee, J.H.W., Harrison, P.J., Kuang, C.P. and Yin, K.D. (2006). “Eutrophication dynamics in Hong Kong waters: physical-biological interactions.” in The environment in Asia Pacific Harbours (E.Wolanski, Ed.), Springer, 187-206 (invited chapter).
Lee, J.H.W., Hodgkiss, I.J., Wong, K.T.M. and Lam, I.H.Y. (2005). “Real time observations of coastal algal blooms by an early warning system.” Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 65, 172-190.
Choi, K.W. and Lee, J.H.W. (2004). “Numerical determination of flushing time for stratified waterbodies.” Journal of Marine Systems, 50(3-4), 263-281.
Lee, J.H.W. and Qu, B. (2004). “Hydrodynamic tracking of the massive spring 1998 red tide in Hong Kong.” Journal of Environmental Engineering, ASCE, 130(5), 535-550.
Yu, I.T.S., Li, Y.G., Wong, T.W., Tam, W., Chan, A.T., Lee, J.H.W., Leung, D.Y.C., and Ho, T. (2004). “Evidence of airborne transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus.” New England Journal of Medicine, 350, 1731-1739.
Lee, J.H.W., Huang, Y., Dickman, M.D., and Jayawardena, A.W. (2003). “Neural network modelling of coastal algal blooms.” Ecological Modelling, 159, 179-201.
Lee, J.H.W. and Chu, V.H. (2003). Turbulent jets and plumes - a Lagrangian approach, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 390pp. (ISBN 1-4020-7520-0).
Lee, J.H.W., Townsend, N.R. and Ng, K.C. (2002). “Urban flood control in Hong Kong - challenges and solutions.” Keynote paper, Proceeding of Second International Symposium on Flood Defence, Beijing, Sept.10-13, 2002 (Ed. Wu, B.S. and Wang, Z.Y. et al), Science Press, New York, 1, 107-120.
Lee, J.H.W., Chen, G.Q., and Kuang, C.P. (2002). “Mixing of a turbulent jet in crossflow - the advected line puff.” in Environmental Fluid Mechanics: theories and applications (Ed. Hayley H. Shen et al), ASCE, Chapter 3, 47-83.
Lee, J.H.W., Kuang, C.P., and Yung, K.S. (2000). “Fluid mechanics of triangular sediment oxygen demand (SOD) chamber.” Journal of Environmental Engineering, ASCE, 126(3), 208-216.
Chu, P.C.K., Lee, J.H.W., and Chu, V.H. (1999). “Spreading of a turbulent round jet in coflow.”, Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, 125(2), 193-204.
Chu, V.H. and Lee, J.H.W. (1996). “A general integral formulation of turbulent buoyant jets in crossflow.” Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, 122(1), 27-34.
Lee, J.H.W., Wu, R.S.S., and Cheung, Y.K. (1991). “Forecasting of dissolved oxygen in marine fish culture zone.” Journal of Environmental Engineering, ASCE, 117(6), 816-833.
Lee, J.H.W., and Cheung, V. (1990). “Generalized Lagrangian model for buoyant jets in a current.” Journal of Environmental Engineering, ASCE, 116(6), 1085-1106.
Lee, J.H.W. and Neville-Jones, P. (1987). “Initial dilution of horizontal jet in crossflow.” Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, ASCE, 113, 615-629.
Lee, J.H.W. and M.D. Greenberg (1984). “Line momentum source in shallow inviscid fluid.” Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 145, 287-304.
Lee, J.H.W. and Jirka, G.H. (1981). “Vertical round buoyant jet in shallow water.” Journal of the Hydraulics Division, Proc. ASCE, 107(HY12), 1651-1675.

Hobbies
Professor Lee was a member of the U.S. National Inter-collegiate Runner-Up Table Tennis Team in 1972. Nowadays in his leisure he enjoys playing tennis and studying Ballet.