Prof. Irene Lo received her PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, where she started her research career. In 1992, she joined the newly founded HKUST, where she is now Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She was a visiting professor at Technical University of Denmark and University of Wisconsin at Madison and has held adjunct positions at Tongji University, Tianjin University, Jilin University and Harbin Institute of Technology.

Prof. Lo’s scholarly interest lies in remediation of hazardous waste and soil, treatment of water and wastewater, and lifecycle assessment of waste treatment process and construction materials. A prolific researcher, she authored/co-authored nine books and publicized her studies in about 300 refereed papers, with three patents under her name. She has served as the Associate Editor of the ASCE Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste since 2001.

Her academic achievements have been recognized through numerous awards. Notably, she was elected a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Association of Energy Engineers, and fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers. She received the Michael G. Gale Medal for Distinguished Teaching (2006) and Research Excellence Award (2013) from HKUST, the Best Practice-Oriented Paper Award (2012, 2008), the Wesley W Horner Award (2009), Samuel Arnold Greeley Award (2007) and the James Cross Medal (2004) from the American Society of Civil Engineers. In 2017, she was appointed a Justice of the Peace by the Hong Kong Government in recognition of her contribution to the community.