Coastal Zones

Biography

Dr. Hou worked for three years as a hydraulic laboratory director and chief research engineer with the Taichung Harbor Project, a man-made deep-water port construction on the West Coast of Taiwan. In 1976, Dr. Hou received his Ph.D. in civil and coastal engineering at the University of Florida. He then worked as the Director of the Graduate Institute of Harbor and Ocean Engineering at the National Taiwan Ocean University, and as an adjunct professor of the Institute of Naval Architecture at National Taiwan University. Dr. Hou subsequently became the Deputy Director of the Harbor Research Institute in Taichung for the following five years, whilst maintaining his two professorships. Soon after he accepted an offer to become the Division Director (and afterward Deputy Director-General) of the Institute of Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), positions he held for a total of 12 years. In 1995, he was promoted to Director-General of Department of Railways and Highways within the MOTC. During his employment at the MOTC, Dr. Hou was responsible for much reform in the realm of highway policy, and was involved in many major and highly successful infrastructure projects. His great achievements in these two areas brought ground transportation in Taiwan into a new era of efficiency and safety. In light of his outstanding engineering and administration background and achievements Dr. Hou was in December 1998 invited by then Mayor of Kaohsiung to serve as Deputy Mayor. In this high responsibility role he was in charge of all municipal infrastructure development projects, and was also subsequently appointed to the position of Chief Commissioner of the Kaohsiung City Election Commission. After serving with the Kaohsiung City Government for four years, Dr. Hou was appointed by the President of Taiwan as a National Policy Adviser to the President. In this role Dr. Hou was able to discuss various transport development ideas directly with the President, and to further develop Taiwan’s key infrastructure. Dr. Hou was then the Administrative Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In this role Dr. Hou has a broadened area of responsibility. He was a chief policy maker in multiple areas, including water resource management, energy production and industry, mining and natural resource management, geological science and survey, and state-owned enterprise administration and organisation. Dr. Hou is a registered civil and hydraulic engineer, and an active member of American Society of Civil Engineers, the Chinese Civil and Hydraulics Engineers Society, and many others professionally affiliated organizations. Dr. Hou has published more than 300 research and professional articles and received numerous awards from professional and government organizations. He was listed in the World Who’s Who in Science and Technology in 1998 as part of the World Top 2000. Dr. Hou has been recognised in the top 500 scientists of the new millennium for services to civil engineering, and is also one of the 500 Distinguished Professors of the BWW Society/IAPGS. Dr. Hou was also the President of PACON International and a Life Member.

Research Interest

Coastal Processes and Marine Environment