Ngai Weng Chan

Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

 

Prof. Ngai Weng Chan is a Professor at the School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in Penang, where he has been a faculty member since 1986 . He holds a PhD in Environmental Hazards Management from Middlesex University (UK) and a Master’s degree in Climatology from the University of Malaya. An expert in hydrology, climatology, water resources management, and flood hazard mitigation, his research primarily addresses integrated water resource management, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction. He has contributed significantly to the field, authoring over 29 books and 98 book chapters, alongside more than 100 journal papers . Beyond academia, Prof. Chan is an active consultant and a prominent voice in civil society. He currently serves as the President of Water Watch Penang (WWP) and has held leadership roles in international bodies, including Vice-President of the International Water Resources Association (2013–2015) . His work bridges scientific research and practical community engagement in sustainable environmental management.

Speech title "Employing Nature-Based Drainage Systems as a Three-Pronged Strategy for Enhancing Climate Change Resilience in Terms of Addressing Flood, Drought and Heat"

Climate change is a highly pervasive global phenomenon, largely caused by anthropogenic activities, that has brought about catastrophic environmental disasters in terms of devastating floods, deadly heat waves, and crippling droughts, among others. These disasters cause significant loss of life, injury, property damage and crop loss. To address these disasters effectively, humans need to comprehensively mitigate them, adopt better coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies, towards enhancing resilience. This paper examines how drainage systems using nature-based sustainable methods can be employed to address the three main climate-change induced disasters of flood, drought and heat, especially in cities that are most vulnerable. The concept of nature-based sustainable drainage employs a combination of green spaces, underground drainage, rainfall harvesting and at source water storage systems to reduce floods, alleviate droughts and suppress heat waves. Addressing these climate change effects will lead to achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 6, 11 and 13. The research methodology involves obtaining primary data in the form of remotes sensing images, measured temperatures from infrared thermometer, flood and temperature records, and questionnaire survey of affected respondents. Secondary data from past research, historical events, literature review, and case studies are also used. Results show that drainage systems using nature-based sustainable methods can effectively reduce flood occurrences and flood magnitudes, thereby reducing the incidence of flash floods. The system is also capable of purifying rain and stormwater, as surface runoff is significantly reduced leaving bulk of the water flowing as groundwater and resurfacing as streams and ponds, which can be used as alternative water sources to address drought problems. Rainfall is also harvested in rooftops and ponds and stored as alternative water sources to alleviate droughts. Finally, the system incorporates plants and green spaces that accelerate the upward transfer of heat via evapotranspiration for cooling and the suppression of heat. Overall, this study shows that the three-pronged strategy is capable of addressing three climate-change related problems all at once. This better understanding on the role of nature-based systems in adapting to climate change can be effectively applied by city planners in addressing multiple climate-change hazards, rendering the system highly useful. Undoubtedly, drainage systems using nature-based sustainable methods is a viable method of flood, drought and heat control, leading to a better living environment in cities. The green landscape offered by the system is also found to be aesthetically pleasing, socially acceptable as safe for the public-use and cost-effective. In conclusion, a holistic strategy combining technical application of nature-based solutions and non-technical human coping and resilience is the key towards more effective resilience in facing climate change.

 

 

Xiao-Dong Zhou

University of Connecticut, USA

 

Professor Xiao-Dong Zhou is the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund professor in Sustainable Energy, The Nicholas E. Madonna Chair in Sustainability, Director of the, Center for Clean Energy Engineering, and a Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at University of Connecticut. He is a special advisor to UConn President Radenka Maric in Sustainability. Dr. Zhou received J. B. Wagner Jr. Young Investigator Award in 2007 from the Electrochemistry Society - High Temperature Materials Division. He is the recipient of 2011 US DOD – DARPA Young Faculty Award. He is a Fellow of the Electrochemical Society. His research interests span theoretical and experimental studies of materials and interfaces for energy systems, including batteries, fuel cells, and electrolyzers.

 

 

Woongchul Choi

Kookmin University, South Korea

Woongchul Choi is a Professor of Automotive Engineering at Kookmin University. He received his Bachelor of Science (Mechanical Engineering) from Seoul National University in 1987 and earned his Master of Science and Ph.D. degree both from the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio in 1989 and 1995 respectively. He started his professional career as a founding member of a small high tech venture company specializing in the development of stereoscopic image based flow field measurement system and successfully carried out many research projects with major automotive OEMs. His research interest includes vision based 3-D velocimetry, modeling of advanced vehicles for energy analysis, system integration of advanced vehicles for proof-of-concept, thermal management of energy storage systems, bidirectional interaction between vehicles and electric power grid, strategic placement and operation of charging infra-structure and eco-friendly smart city energy analysis. He has been heavily involved in the development of undergraduate and graduate curricula (BK21+, CK II) through government projects as a department chair. Also, he has carried out various government sponsored and private sector (Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Hyundai Motors, SK) sponsored projects including the development of battery swappable electric bus as a public transportation system, battery pack thermal management system, strategy development of charging infrastructure and more. Recently, he is actively monitoring the charging behavior of electric vehicle owners in Jeju island, Korea to establish the strategy for smart placement of heavily loaded charging infrastructure called EV Charging Theme Park. Lastly, but not the least, his recent research interest includes characterization of battery cells, diagnostics and performance evaluation of battery cells and modules, development of super-fast charging algorithm with little damage to battery cells, and more on the development of early detection algorithm for faulty cells inside battery modules and packs for safer EV battery pack management.  He writes articles to promote the better understanding of EV, charging infrastructures, battery technologies and future mobilities for energy independent smart cities.