TEACHING STAFF

MSc. Pham Ngoc Vuong

Head of technical department and a high-rise structural engineer. The only member of our staff who both designs structures and has written structural software: six years developing RDSUITE, RDCAD and RDSTEEL.

2015in structural design since
39storeys — tallest project designed
03structural programs co-developed
10+years in design and design management
Pham Ngoc Vuong, lecturer on high-rise structural design at the Institute
Pham Ngoc Vuong, lecturer on high-rise structural design at the Institute

ROLE AT THE INSTITUTE

Teaching structures from the toolmaker side

People who use structural software and people who write it understand the problem very differently. He has been on both sides.

  • Leads the ETABS - SAFE - SAP2000 high-rise design course — exactly the three programs used on the Class I projects on his record.
  • Six years developing structural software at RD: RDSUITE, RDCAD and RDSTEEL, tools for drawing production and analysis. Knowing what the software computes changes how you read its output.
  • Three specialist certificates from Hanoi University of Civil Engineering: high-rise design, post-tensioned structures and basement structures.
  • BIM Manager certificate (2026), connecting structural design with the project BIM process.

CAREER

Three stages: designing, building the tools, managing design

From analysing structures, to making the tools that analyse them, to reviewing other firms designs.

Structural engineer and head of technical department — RD (2015-2022)

Structural design on a long run of Class I and Class II projects: the Kepler Land twin towers at Mo Lao, 39 storeys and 3 basements; the Kinh Te va Do Thi housing block, 21 storeys and 3 basements; Thien Thanh hotel in Phu Quoc; the 18-storey Kinh Bac centre. Structural appraisal of the Hoa Binh provincial government building.

Software development — RDSUITE, RDCAD, RDSTEEL (2016-2022)

Directly involved in developing three programs for drawing production and structural analysis, written in C#, VBA and Delphi.

Structural design management — Eurowindow Group (2022-2025)

Managing structural, infrastructure and landscape design for large urban developments: Hoang Long in Thanh Hoa at 175.9 ha, Bai Cat Tham in Khanh Hoa at 500 ha, Twin Parks in Gia Lam, Dong Vinh in Nghe An and Dong Hoa in Thai Binh.

Structural design management — Thai Nam Investment Group (since 2025)

Managing structural design for police-force housing projects in Hanoi, including a 30-storey block with 3 basements and a 40-storey commercial tower, plus the Hanoi Medical University healthcare complex delivered as a public-private partnership.

WHAT HE TEACHES

The parts covered most closely

  • Modelling and analysing high-rise buildings — choosing the lateral system, lateral loads, drift limits and the checks the codes require.
  • Reading software output critically — what ETABS and SAFE actually compute, and where results are wrong because the model is wrong rather than the software.
  • Post-tensioned structures — tendon layout, prestress losses and the checking sequence.
  • Basement structures — diaphragm walls, deep excavations and the effect on neighbouring buildings.
  • Automating repetitive work — using programming to shorten drawing production and schedule generation instead of doing it by hand.

TOOLS

Software used

  • ETABS, SAFE and SAP2000 — high-rise and slab analysis.
  • Plaxis, Geo5 and Prokon — geotechnics, diaphragm walls and excavations.
  • AutoCAD and Revit — drawing production and structural modelling; SketchUp for quick massing.
  • C#, VBA and Delphi — writing automation tools and structural software.

EDUCATION AND AWARDS

Education, certificates and awards

An engineering degree then a master’s, both at Hanoi University of Civil Engineering.

  • Civil Engineering degree — Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, 2016
  • MSc in Civil and Industrial Construction Engineering — Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, 2018
  • Certificates in high-rise design, post-tensioned structures and basement structures — Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, 2018
  • BIM Manager certificate — 2026
  • Second prize, university research competition — twice: Faculty of Information Technology (2013) and Faculty of Civil and Industrial Construction (2014-2015)
  • Top ten students at Hanoi University of Civil Engineering for 2014-2015, CSC award

Learn high-rise design from someone who wrote the tools

Knowing what the software computes changes how you read its results.

ETABS - SAFE - SAP2000 high-rise design

See the full teaching staff