Education & Profession
Koh Tieh Yong graduated from Imperial College London with a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) in Physics in 1994 and from Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a Doctor of Philosophy in Atmospheric Science in 2001. He was a Visiting Scientist with Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique at Ecole Polytéchnique in Paris before returning to his home country as a Research Scientist with Temasek Laboratories at National University of Singapore.
Tieh Yong embarked on his teaching path in 2004 as an Assistant Professor with School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at Nanyang Technological University and successfully obtained tenure as Associate Professor in 2013. All this time, he taught in disciplines of Mathematics, Physics and Climate Science. To broaden his knowledge from Climate to Sustainability, in 2016, he made a bold move to the newly established Singapore University of Social Sciences to spearhead a programme in Sustainability Science.
Having matured as a specialist in weather and environmental science, Tieh Yong decided in 2023 to indulge in his other passion by reading a Master of Advanced Study in Mathematics (Theoretical Physics) at University of Cambridge. He muses over further pursuits in the universe of quantum fields and spacetime physics in future.
As for the present, Tieh Yong teaches Atmospheric Physics in National University of Singapore as an Adjunct Associate Professor. He also engages in consultancy projects and conducts workshops on Climate Change, Sustainability Science, and Theoretical Physics.
Activities & Achievements
At Nanyang Technological University, Koh Tieh Yong received the Koh Boon Hwee Scholars Award three times in 2011-2012 for inspirational teaching and the Nanyang Education Award for excellent teaching in 2013. He was one of only three examiners in the Asian Physics Olympiad 2014. He served in the 2019 Curriculum Review Committee for Pre-University Geography under Ministry of Education, Singapore.
As a weather and climate scientist, Tieh Yong was an expert reviewer for the Fifth Assessment Report by Working Group I of Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change of the United Nations (2013) and contributed to ASEAN State of Climate Change Report (2021). He served as a secretary for Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (Atmospheric Sciences) from 2010 to 2023 and as an editor for Scientific Online Letters on the Atmosphere published by the Meteorological Society of Japan from 2016 to 2024.
Currently, Tieh Yong participates actively in the Working Group on Asia-Australian Monsoons under the World Climate Research Programme of World Meteorological Organization and has served as the co-chair from 2022 to 2025. He is accredited by and is a Provisional Member of the Asia Pacific Institute of Experts, a society of expert witnesses involved with the legal profession. He is registered among the List of Experts at Intellectual Property Office of Singapore and the List of Neutrals at World Intellectual Property Organization.
Interests & Mission
Tieh Yong is passionate about theoretical physics, atmospheric dynamics, geophysical mixing, and Southeast Asian weather and climate.
In his free time, Tieh Yong loves to swim, jog, hike, and travel. He enjoys books, music, the visual and performing arts.
Koh Tieh Yong’s mission is to apply STEM knowledge in support of the sustainable development of society, while he is on a personal journey to explore the reality of the physical universe.