Ir Dr Vincent Ho BS, MS, PhD, MBA, PE, CSP, RPE, CEng, FHKIE, CFIOSH, FIMechE, FCILT, POST

With a distinguished 40-year career in risk management and safety, Professor Vincent Ho has effectively enhanced safety performance in the transportation, defence, nuclear, and energy sectors. His extensive experience in risk management, fire risk analysis, system safety, and safety assurance and governance has earned him international recognition. Professor Ho's leadership transcends borders. He made history as the first international president of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), the world's leading professional membership organisation for health and safety practitioners, setting a precedent as the first Chinese leader and the first Asia‑based leader of this prestigious organisation.

Professor Ho currently serves as the Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Occupational Safety and Health Organisation (APOSHO), the world's largest multinational alliance in occupational safety and health. APOSHO brings together over 35 nonprofit OSH councils, institutes, and associations across the Asia Pacific and beyond. As a unique global network dedicated to OSH, APOSHO serves as a collective voice advancing workplace safety, health, and sustainability at scale. Professor Ho also serves as the Chair of the Northeast Asia Region of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), the world's largest mechanical engineering professional organisation, which provides professional development and networking opportunities, and sets industry standards in mechanical engineering. Additionally, Professor Ho was elected as the Chair of the Nuclear Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. His leadership and influence in these diversified fields underscore his pivotal role in engineering and safety.

Professor Ho's influence extends to setting industry benchmarks; he is the founding chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Risk Management and Safety and has chaired multiple internationally renowned risk management and safety organisations. Professor Ho is a Former President of the International Association of Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management and the Society for Risk Analysis-Southern California, and a former Chair of the Safety Specialist Committee, the Mechanical, Marine, Naval-Architecture, and Chemical Division of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, the Construction Industry Safety & Health Committee of OSHC-HK, and IOSH (Hong Kong Community).

Professor Ho received the Derek Smyth Safety Leadership Award in 2024 and the first Global Safety Influencer Award in 2021, recognising his transformative impact in the field of safety and his significant advancements in promoting safety. Prof. Ho received his BS, MS, PhD, and MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he conducted research in probabilistic fire risk assessment, compartment fire growth, magnetohydrodynamic power generation, fire growth in a microgravity environment, space travel, inherently safe nuclear fast reactors, man-machine interface, artificial intelligence, and dynamic human action analysis. He volunteered as a Reserve Police Officer at the City of Pasadena in Los Angeles, participating in patrol and undercover operations, and he received distinguished awards from Pasadena and the County of Los Angeles.

Professor Vincent Ho has served on a wide spectrum of government boards and committees, including the Independent Police Complaints Council, Inland Revenue Board of Review, Daya Bay Contingency Plan Review Panel, and various appeal and disciplinary boards related to safety ordinances. After retiring from his executive manager position in the private sector, Professor Ho's passion for knowledge transfer remained strong. He founded the Safety Design Research Center at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the world's first research center dedicated to studying and applying safety design concepts to control safety risks in the construction industry. Prof. Ho also lectures on engineering and risk management subjects at several global top 100 universities, including:

• Professor of Practice (OSH), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Hong Kong
• Adjunct Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• Adjunct Professor, Nuclear and Risk Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong