Prof. Hsien-Heng Lee on Civil Engineering Crisis Response, Legislation, and Education Reform

The Taipei Structural Engineers Association published an interview with Prof. Hsien-Heng Lee, former Commissioner of the Public Works Department of Taipei City Government and Vice President of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. Lee shared insights into geotechnical engineering practice, post-disaster forensic assessments, regulatory frameworks, and education reform. Regarding engineering practice, Lee highlighted that geotechnical design reliability hinges on defining field and laboratory soil mechanics parameters well before numerical modeling. Drawing from investigations such as the post-Morakot Xiaolin Village disaster, he emphasized multi-hazard integration across vibrations, landslides, and debris flows. He also detailed his role in proposing Taiwan's emergency post-earthquake building assessment training and the tiered tagging mechanism prior to major seismic events, suggesting high-rise design and disaster leadership adopt mentor-based seniority models. On professional governance, Lee advocated for the Civil Engineering and Construction Act, emphasizing that broader legal integration should unify structural, geotechnical, hydraulic, and electromechanical disciplines to enhance statutory representation in national policy deliberation. Addressing declining civil engineering enrollment, Lee proposed structured quotas for practice-track professors and urged the construction sector to emulate tech-industry fellowship and co-curriculum models to achieve seamless career transitions.

Key takeaways

• Lee noted geotechnical design is largely determined by defining in-situ parameters during soil sampling rather than downstream computer computation, citing forensic work on multi-hazard disasters and the establishment of post-earthquake rapid evaluation systems.
• He advocated enacting the Civil Engineering and Construction Act under a broad civil engineering framework to legally integrate structural, geotechnical, water, and mechanical disciplines into formal policy deliberation.
• To counter declining enrollment, Lee proposed establishing quotas for practice-track professors in universities and urged the civil engineering sector to adopt industry-sponsored coursework and targeted hiring frameworks.