Professor Liang graduated from Dalian University of Technology, China in 1997 with a BEng in Port and Waterway Engineering. After three years working in the construction industry, he studied a DPhil at the University of Oxford. Shortly after his DPhil, he was employed as a Lecturer at Newcastle University in March 2006 before being promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2011 and Professor in 2013. In 2018, Professor Liang joined 含羞草视频 as Professor of Water Engineering.  

Since then, Professor Liang has established a research team in hydro-environmental modelling for natural hazard risk and resilience, followed by the establishment of the UNESCO Chair in Informatics and Multi-hazard Risk Reduction and the International Centre for Informatics and Disaster Resilience (ICIDR).  

In 2023, he also worked alongside global partners to initiate and launch the Global Partnership for Smart Informatics and Multi-hazard Reduction (SIMR) to promote international research collaboration and resources sharing for global disaster risk reduction. Earlier this year, his research in developing open-source high-performance modelling tools for flood forecasting and risk assessment was also recognised by a prestigious Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water (PSIPW).  

The new RAEng cohort consists of 60 Fellows, six International Fellows and five Honorary Fellows, each of whom has made exceptional contributions to their own sector, pioneering new innovations, leading progress in business or academia, providing high level advice to government, or promoting wider understanding of engineering and technology. 

Speaking about the announcement, Professor Liang said: “I am absolutely thrilled and deeply humbled to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. It is incredibly rewarding to have my work in computational hydraulics and disaster risk reduction recognised in this way. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the colleagues and collaborators who have worked with and supported me over the years, making this honour possible.” 

Dr John Lazar鈥疌BE FREng, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, commented: “Our new Fellows represent some of the most talented people in the world of engineering and are taken from the ranks of those who are aiming to address some of our most critical problems. We are proud to say that many of our newly elected Fellows have come from underrepresented groups in engineering and related sectors and we hope this helps to tackle some of the issues around a lack of diversity within the profession. There is ample evidence that a wider pool of ideas and experiences helps to improve decision-making and develop novel solutions to global challenges.”