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 and offer to become the division director (and afterword 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.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.Dr. Hou is a registered civil and hydraulic engineer, and an active member of American Society of Civil Engineers. Dr. Hou was the President of PACON (2002-2008) International and a Life Member (2006-).

Research Interest

Coastal Processes and Marine Environment