Phan Thien Nhan - An Exceptional Vietnamese Professor in Singapore

Phan Thien Nhan (born in 1952, from An Giang) graduated from the University of Sydney (Australia) in 1975, then completed his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sydney in 1979. At the beginning of his academic career, he worked as a lecturer at the University of Newcastle (New South Whales, Australia), then joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sydney since 1991.

Prof., Dr. Phan Thien Nhan - Mechanical Engineering Department at National University of Singapore (NUS) (right) in the lab with his colleague (Photo courtesy by Phan Thien Nhan).

The Vietnamese professor was still in his thirties when he came to Singapore for work. The first time was in 1987 when he was invited to teach at the National University of Singapore ( NUS) during a period of leave from the University of Sydney.

From 2001 to 2024, he worked as a Professor at NUS and founded the Department of Biological Engineering (now renamed the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering) at the university. Earning the title "Founding Professor", he devoted hard work to buid the Biological Engineering department until he left Singapore to move to the US.

Nhan's Singapore has a charm he couldn't resist. That's why after many years living in California (USA), in 2011, he decided to return to Singapore in 2011 to lead a three-year research project at NUS. The Asian country has been his home ever since.

Having witnessed the development of Singapore for over 10 years, the Vietnamese professor realized the lifestyle went through significant changes.

He share that while other cities in the world usually have a change cycle of about 50 years, the change cycle of Singapore is only about five years or less. Fundamental changes are visible in Singapore almost every year, from new buildings to the widening of roads…

Raising the living standards is also very crucial in Singapore. The country has an excellent infrastructure that makes everyone feel comfortable when coming here. They can experience the high-quality services from going through customs to catching a taxi...

Another advantage one can enjoy while in Singapore is the special support for universities and research institutes from the Government. Nhan stressed that Singaporean research funds have very clear guidelines and are ready to support good innovative ideas.

In NUS, Nhan leads a number of research projects on ocean sediment transport from mining operations. He also works on projects for water purification technology using thin ceramic membranes, projects on 3D printing technology, and projects on super-hollow airgel materials.

One of the proudest achievements in his career r is the Phan-Thien-Tanner modeling. It is a rheological model, which makes great breakthroughs by considering a new functional form of the nonlinear expression characterizing the destruction of physical network junctions and entanglements. The Phan-Thien-Tanner modeling has many variations that are also fluid mechanics inventions with valuable applications.

To him, hard work and passion are the keys to success in any job. Nhan also thinks he is very lucky in his career.

Besides continuous self-study, he is fortunate to have a good teacher, Prof. Roger Ian Tanner - a member of the Royal Society of England - who gave useful advice when he was almost lost in his own curiosity and did not have a clear goal.

Sharing more key factors to success, Nhan quoted Anothy Tan, one of the founders of GRAB Group.

The first is sincerity: be honest with everyone, especially yourself, about your abilities. The second is humility: no one can do everything alone, we all need an effective team. The third is enthusiasm: you show enthusiasm by spending all your time pursuing your passion. Fourth is the heart: support and help others succeed, and don't let them fall behind.

Nhan is passionate about gathering Vietnamese researchers in Singapore to work with him on research projects. Along with some young intellectuals working in Singapore, he also runs a scholarship fund for high school students in Vietnam.

In his opinion, it is great to see young Vietnamese students integrate well into Singaporean society and most of them succeed. He hopes that in the future, Vietnam's policies will be even more transparent and open to effectively promote overseas intellectual resources in the development of the country.

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