PROF Hoe Ling received the IGS Award from the International Geosynthetics Society during the 10th International Conference on Geosynthetics held in Berlin, Germany recently.

The IGS Award is given every four years to individuals or groups of individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the development and use of geosynthetics, related products or associated technologies, through their scientific and technological work.

“Sometimes the ground beneath our feet isn’t as solid as we might think. It can be deadly for people living in such areas,” said Prof Ling.

Giving the example of Typhoon Morakot in 2009, he said many people in a village in southern Taiwan were killed by a massive landslide due to rain-weakened hillsides.

“You feel you should do something to help people when you go to an area with a landslide. There are just too many slope failures,” he said.

By combining his work to understand how and under what conditions a particular slope might slip with the application of new materials and techniques, Prof Ling hopes engineers will eventually be able to identify and reinforce high-risk areas.

He collaborates with international institutions and agencies, and has made several reconnaissance trips related to typhoon and earthquake disasters.

Prof Ling who is from Sibu, Sarawak, teaches geotechnical engineering at Columbia University in the United States.

He obtained his undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Kyoto University, Japan, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Tokyo.

He became a visiting/research assistant professor and subsequently assistant professor at the University of Delaware from 1994 to 1998. He joined Columbia University in 1998 and was promoted to full professor in 2007. He was a visiting associate professor at Harvard University in spring 2006.

“I went to study in Japan in 1983 and since then I have been overseas. But I do visit my parents and siblings on a regular basis in Sibu,” he said.