Nelson Lam is Professor and leader of the Structures and Buildings Discipline in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at The University of Melbourne. He has 38 years of experience in structural engineering, and has been working in the specialized field of earthquake engineering, impact dynamics and structural dynamics.
He is member of the standing committee for future revisions to the Australian standard for seismic actions, member of the Seismic and Dynamic Events Panel commissioned by the London Headquarter of The Institution of Structural Engineers, and international expert advising the geotechnical engineering office of the government of Hong Kong SAR over the design of barriers for protection against landslides and rockfalls. His achievement in research in this field was recognized by the award of the Chapman Medal (1999) and Warren Medal (2006) by Engineers Australia; the Best Paper Award (2004-2007) by the ISET Journal of Earthquake Technology; and Chapman Medal for the second time in 2010. He is also recipient of Award for Teaching Excellence given out by Engineers Australia in 2012 and Academic Staff Teaching Award by Melbourne School of Engineering in 2013. His early career as structural engineer was with Scott Wilson International throughout the 1980’s and attained British chartered engineer status during that period. He was awarded the degree of BSc in civil engineering with first class honours at the University of Leeds, England in 1981, MSc degree in concrete structures at Imperial College of Science & Technology, London in 1982 and PhD in earthquake engineering at the University of Melbourne in 1993.