Meeting Dr. Tam Chat Tim After 36 Years

A pose with Dr. Tam Chat Tim (pic at centre)

On Thursday, April 9, 2015, I attended a one-day YTL Cement Annual Seminar entitled “Enhancing the Durability of Coastal & Marine Structures” at JW Marriot Hotel, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.  I was excited to be able to meet one of the speakers, a distinguished concrete material researcher, Dr. Tam Chat Tim who was the tutor of my final year project in University of Singapore back in 1979.  I haven’t met him again after graduation in 1980 and that means a long absence of sight of 36 years!

I remember very well that Dr. Tam joined University of Singapore in 1979 (while I was in the final or 4^th year of the course of Civil Engineering) after unhappily leaving Universiti Malaya as the acting Head of Civil Engineering Department.  He was assigned to supervise my final year project (together with another 2 course-mates) on the subject of “Setting Time of Concrete”.  Sad to say, we didn’t do well in the project (as I recalled we didn’t obtain very conclusive findings) and scored only a “B”.

Just before the seminar began at 9.00am, I managed to greet Dr. Tam at the reception hall of Mayang Sari Grand Ballroom when he was chit-chatting with a certain Dr. Lim and a fellow IEM Committee Member whom I am acquainted with Ir. Tu Yong Eng.  Of course Dr. Tam couldn’t recognize me, as he has countless of students in his forty over years of teaching career. 

I told him he was also the proposor of my application for student membership of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) when I was still studying in University of Singapore back in 1979.  This university merged with Nanyang University to become the National University of Singapore (NUS) from 1980/81 session onwards.  On my question whether he was still with NUS at the present, he answered in the affirmative, but only doing research and no more lecturing. Interestingly, he said he was currently doing research on setting time of concrete, the same subject he wanted me to do as an undergraduate 36 years ago!

Dr. Tam graduated from university with his first degree in 1958. Assuming he was 22 years old then, then he is now 2015-1958+22 = 79 years old.  And yet he is still so healthy and active in doing research and giving talks in seminars everywhere.  How blessed he is!

I really don’t remember at all that Dr. Tam had lectured me in the final year of 1979, although a course-mate Ir. Jeffrey Tan Tiong Ann said so.   I searched back the record of our final year subjects: Environmental Engineering 2, Foundation Engineering, Applied Soil Mechanics, Structural Design 1 & 2, Transportation Engineering 2, Civil Engineering Construction Management, Hydraulics 2, Structural Analysis 3 and Civil Engineering Design.  And there wasn’t any subject on Concrete Materials which Dr. Tam is specialized in. 

Another pose with Dr. Tam 

I wanted to take a photo of Dr. Tam alone for remembrance sake and unexpectedly Ir. Tu volunteered to take the shot of me posing with Dr. Tam and Dr. Lim.  In turn, I also snapped a photo of Ir. Tu with the latter.

Pic from right: Ir. Tu, Dr. Tam & Dr. Lim  

It is really a memorable occasion to me after meeting a former university tutor and a renowned concrete expert after such a long period of time i.e. 36 years.  And hence is my brief account for the record here in this blog to share with my readers.  Also appended below are some photos of mine taken around 1979 ~ 1980 when I was studying in the University of Singapore for the sake of walking down the memory lane.    How time flies…………..   

A glimpse of Seminar hall 

My Minconsult colleagues from front: Ir. Steven Foo, Irene Tan and Ir. Cheng HL

Dr. Tam was the last speaker of the Seminar in the afternoon session

Appendix:  Biography of Dr. Tam Chat Tim

Dr Tam Chat Tim graduated in Civil Engineering with Honours and Master of Engineering in Structures from the University of Adelaide and PhD in Materials Science from University of Calgary. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Malaysia, Institution of Engineers, Singapore, Institution of Structural Engineers, UK, American Concrete Institute and Concrete Society, UK. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Malaysia and Singapore and a Chartered Engineer, UK. He was made a Distinguished Chapter Member of the Singapore Chapter of the American Concrete Institute and the first Life Member of the Singapore Concrete Institute, after having served as President in both organizations.

He worked in the industry for three years in Australia and Malaysia, before taking up his career in teaching and research; beginning in 1963 with the Department of Civil Engineering in the University of Malaya including holding the post of Head of Department. Since 1979, he has been with the Department of Civil Engineering, the National University of Singapore. Retired from full time teaching since 1996; he continues to be active in research as Associate Professorial Fellow under an honorary appointment.

He continues to be actively involved in standardization activities, having joined ASTM International since the 1960s and as member of Committee C1 on Cement and C9 on Concrete and Aggregates and Subcommittee C09.4 on Self Consolidating Concrete. He is also member of ACI Committee 237 on Self Consolidating Concrete. He is currently a member of Standards Council in SPRING Singapore, the first Deputy Chairman of its Standards Committee on Building and Construction Standards Committee and member of Technical Committee on Building and Sub-structures. He is also a Deputy Chairman of the Council Committee on Laboratory Accreditation, (SINGLAS), Singapore.  Dr. Tam has published over 150 papers in international and regions journals and conferences and conducted many seminars and workshop annually over the pass 45 years of his career. His research interest covers many aspects of cement and concrete and in particular, testing and interpretation of test data for practical applications in the concrete construction industry.

He is currently the Chief Editor of Singapore Concrete Institute official publication, “Concretus”.  He was honoured with the Distinguish Chapter Member of the American Concrete Institute, Singapore Chapter in 1999, having served on its Board of Directors as well as its Chapter President.  The Concrete Society of Malaysia also presented him with its Excellence Award for his contribution to the concrete industry in 2008. 

He authored the chapter on Constituents and Properties of Concrete in the Civil Engineering Handbook (2^nd Ed., CRC Press, 2003) and co-authored the chapter on The Durability of Concrete Structures in the Tropics in Durability of Materials and Structures in Building and Civil Engineering (CRC Press, 2006).

Me around 1979 ~ 1980 in the campus of then University of Singapore 

The residential estate in front of Kent Ridge main campus of U of S where I stayed from 2nd year to final year (1977 - 1980)

A pose with my parents on the Convocation Day in July 1980.