Professor Ngan obtained his PhD on electron microscopy of intermetallics in 1992 at the University
of Birmingham, under the supervision of Professor Ray Smallman and Professor Ian Jones. He then
carried out postdoctoral research at Oxford University on materials simulations under the supervision
of Professor David Pettifor. In 1993, he returned to the University of Hong Kong as a Lecturer in
Materials Science and Solid Mechanics, at the Department of Mechanical Engineering. In 2003,
he became Senior Lecturer and in 2006 Professor. His research interests include dislocation theory,
electron microscopy of materials and, more recently, nanomechanics. He has published over 120
refereed papers, mostly in international journals. He received a number of awards, including the
Williamson Prize (for being the top Engineering student in his undergraduate studies at the University
of Hong Kong), Thomas Turner Research Prize (for the quality of his PhD thesis at the University of
Birmingham), Outstanding Young Researcher Award at the University of Hong Kong, and in 2007
was awarded the Rosenhain Medal of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He also held
visiting professorship appointments at Nanjing University and the Central Iron and Steel Research
Institute in Beijing, and in 2003, he was also awarded the Universitas 21 Fellowship to visit the
University of Auckland. He is active in conference organization and journal editorial work.
