Dr. Man-Chung Tang of the T.Y. Lin International to Deliver the 2010 Lou Silano Lecture
03/26/2010
This year's Lou Silano Lecture, sponsored by Parsons Brinckerhoff, will be given by Dr. Man Chung Tang.
Dr. Tang is one of the most accomplished bridge designers of our time. He received his undergraduate degree from Chu Hai College in Hong Kong and his diploma and doctorate from the Technical University Darmstadt. While employed by the prestigious consulting engineering firm Dyckerhoff & Widmann of Munich, Germany, he opened a branch office of that firm in New York City. As head of that office he introduced in North America the double cantilever construction method for long-span prestressed concrete bridges, which had been pioneered by Ulrich Finsterwalder, Chief Engineer of Dyckerhoff & Widmann. Also during those years he was among the pioneers of long-span cable-stayed bridges. In 1978, Dr. Tang started his own Flushing-based company, DRC Consultants, and Contech Consultants in 1983. In 1995 both firms merged with T.Y. Lin International of San Francisco where he serves as Chairman of the Board and CEO.
In his long career, Dr. Tang has been involved with the construction of
over one hundred major bridges in many parts of the world, either as
designer, construction consultant, or peer reviewer. His successful
career has been recognized by numerous honors and awards, among them
Member of the National
Academy of Engineering and Honorary Member of ASCE. Most
recently, ASCE has honored him with the prestigious OPAL (Outstanding
Projects and Leaders) award for lifetime achievements.
In 1989, Columbia's Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics was fortunate to have Dr. Tang join it as to teach our graduate course on Advanced Design of Concrete Structures, until 1995, when he relocated from New York to San Francisco.