Coastal Engineering and Technology

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Research Focus

This research direction primarily focuses on designing and implementing structures and systems to protect coastal cities. The aim is to mitigate risks posed by sea-level rise and marine hazards, thereby providing technological support for building a world-class port cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. This work also focuses on developing and utilizing marine resources, as well as assessing the environmental and ecological impacts of coastal engineering structures, serving the national scientific strategy for marine resource development.

Key Issues and Challenges Addressed

  1. Offshore wind and wave energy represent highly promising renewable energy sources in China. The development and design of hybrid offshore wind-wave energy conversion devices have emerged as a growing trend. However, there is still a lack of reliable assessment methods to ensure the safe operation of such devices under extreme sea conditions, as well as methods for structural monitoring and performance degradation evaluation that incorporate artificial intelligence technologies.
  2. Coastal cities and communities, increasingly affected by climate change, face a rising frequency of marine disasters. The design and construction of nearshore floating breakwaters with green energy have become emerging development trends. Nevertheless, the fluid-structure interaction and energy conversion processes involved in such designs are highly complex, and their underlying physical mechanisms remain poorly understood.
  3. Land reclamation is prone to inducing land subsidence, resulting in damage to infrastructure such as buildings, roads, bridges, and pipelines, which can disrupt normal urban operations. It also alters groundwater flow patterns and directions, affecting groundwater resource utilization and damaging ecological environments. Moreover, sea-level rise presents even greater challenges for land reclamation and island construction projects.
Coastal Engineering and Technology-Detail Page

DIRECTION LEAD

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Prof. SU Quanke
Adjunct Professor

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering