Throughout my career, I have been guided by a commitment to inclusive leadership, purposeful system design, and empowering others to reach their full potential. I believe that meaningful and sustainable innovation arises when we design systems with intention—centred on people, informed by diverse perspectives, and focused on equity, safety, and long-term impact.

After earning a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Social Science from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, I began my career in the corporate world. For nearly a decade, I led large-scale organisational change and IT transformation projects for multinational companies across Asia-Pacific, North America, and Australia. I was relocated to several of these regions, enabling me to work closely with local teams, build cultural understanding, and deliver operational improvements in areas such as product design, safety, and supply chain performance.

While this international industry experience gave me a strong foundation in systems thinking and strategic operations, I became increasingly aware of the human and societal risks embedded in industrial environments—particularly in high-risk sectors like construction. I realised that addressing these challenges required more than business tools alone; it demanded a deeper understanding of how engineering systems interact with human factors and organisational dynamics. This led me to pursue an MSc and PhD in Civil Engineering at the University of Maryland, USA, specialising in construction management and occupational safety, health, and well-being (OSHW).

Since joining The University of Manchester (UoM) in 2017, I have progressed from Lecturer (Assistant Professor) to Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor), and currently serve as Reader in Engineering Management. I am a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and AgilePM® practitioner, and am currently pursuing Chartered Membership of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH). My research integrates engineering management, organisational psychology, and digital innovation to improve OSHW performance. I also examine how OSHW contributes to broader sustainability outcomes—such as workforce resilience, health equity, and responsible production—and how emerging technologies such as AI, IoT, and robotics can be leveraged to support this transformation in practice.

With my diverse experience, I am especially keen to lead international and interdisciplinary research initiatives that bring together academia, industry, and government to co-create human-centred solutions. Since 2022, this commitment has led me to lead or contribute to more than ten international projects—funded by the UK International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF)—across ASEAN, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and North America. In addition, my national research has been supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), professional bodies, charities, and private industry, contributing to policy and practice in OSHW and in the broader area of digital transformation. I was honoured to be named one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering for Safety and Security by the Women’s Engineering Society in 2023, and the winner of Digital Women Award in the “Role Model – Leadership Impact” category in 2025—reflecting my ongoing commitment to inclusive leadership and purposeful innovation.

Alongside my research, I serve the wider community through a range of senior leadership roles both inside and outside of the university. At UoM, I currently serve as the Faculty of Science and Engineering’s Head of Internationalisation for ASEAN, Japan, and Korea (since 2022), and as Lead for Engineering Management (since 2024) in the Department of Civil Engineering and Management. I am also the Platform Lead for Digital Safety and Health (since 2021) at the Thomas Ashton Institute—a joint research centre between the University of Manchester and the UK Health and Safety Executive, the national regulator for workplace health and safety. I previously served as Deputy Head of Research for the School of Engineering between 2023 and 2024.

In addition to my leadership roles at the university, I served as a school governor at a local primary school (2021–2025), where I advocated for greater inclusion of girls in STEM from an early age. I currently sit on the committee of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), supporting academia–industry–government collaboration on OSHW policy and innovation, and serve on the Greater Manchester Japan Steering Committee, helping to advance strategic city-to-city collaboration between Manchester and Japan. As an Associate Editor for the ASCE Journal of Management in Engineering, and through all my professional and civic contributions, I remain dedicated to creating systems, environments, and partnerships that enable people and organisations to thrive—together—for a safer, more inclusive, and sustainable future.

Examples of Funded Research Projects:

• UK-Japan-Switzerland-Germany-Netherlands Transnational Network for Safer and Healthier Human-Robot Collaboration in Construction (Funded by Academy of Medical Sciences) Principal Investigator
• Streamlining the Adoption of Robotics in Construction through Advanced Human-Robot Collaboration and Safety Simulation (ARCHES - Japan and the UK) (Funded by Royal Society) Principal Investigator
• Synchronising Society 5.0 Innovations with Built Environment for Sustainable Growth and Yield in Japan and the UK (SYNERGY-Japan & the UK) Network (Funded by British Council) - Principal Investigator
• Digital Occupational Safety and Health (D-OSH) Network: Connecting Research, Policy and Practice in Construction Across Continents UK-Canada-South Korea (Funded by Academy of Medical Science) Principal Investigator
• High-Performance Graphene Enhanced Cement: A Revolutionary Innovation in Low Carbon Manufacturing Process (Funded by Innovate UK) - I led the work package to evaluate the occupational health and safety impact of the newly developed graphene-enhanced cement.
• Occupational Safety and Health - understanding decision making and the role of evidence (Funded by Lloyds Register Foundation and the Department of MACE) - I led the evaluation of the evidence of how occupational safety and health leading indicators have been applied and their effectiveness in high-risk industries.
• Machine learning-powered safety leading indicators for enhancing safety performance in high-risk industries (Funded by EPSRC-IAA - Principal Investigator) - I led a project team to identify the critical health and safety leading indicators of high-risk industries for the business partner by applying various machine learning methods.
• Keep the UK Building Safely Project (Funded by Health and Safety Executive) - I led the work package to simulate and model the COVID-19 transmission risk of construction sites with different protective measures (e.g. social distance, masks, and isolation, etc). The government commission report of the project can be found here: https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/covid19-national-project/2023/01/17/3726/
• Workplace well-being of project professionals (Funded by the Association for Project Management - Principal Investigator) - I led a project team to conduct the first benchmarking study on evaluating the well-being levels of project professionals and recommended ways to enhance it. The APM project report can be found here: https://www.apm.org.uk/news/new-research-finds-more-must-be-done-to-support-project-managers-wellbeing/

• Occupational Safety, Health, and Well-being (OSHW) Performance – Improving workplace safety, health, and well-being while optimising productivity and operational efficiency.
• Digital Transformation and AI-Driven Innovation – Leveraging robotics, AI, and automation to enhance OSHW performance, decision making process and operational efficiency while addressing challenges in change management, workforce adaptation, and skills development.
• Leadership, Policy, Organisational Culture, and Training – Investigating how leadership, regulatory frameworks, organisational culture, and workforce training shape OSHW management, drive operational sustainability, and support the successful adoption of emerging technologies.

Teaching Units:

• Postgraduate Level
  • ENGM 62012 (Project Planning and Control): Unit Lead - teach data analytics and change management.