Highlights of 2023

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2023 was an eventful year for the Institution. In its beginning, when pandemic restrictions were yet to be lifted, few would have been self-assured enough to venture the assertion that the road ahead of us would be an unequivocally smooth one. The reopening of the borders in February had restored our confidence in the future to some degree, but not nearly enough, I presume, to dispel all uncertainties completely.

 

The Hong Kong Engineers Week (HKEW) came along at such a time of uncertainties. Despite being something untried until then—an experiment so to speak—this new flagship campaign managed not only to interest everybody with its exciting events, but also, because of its great success, to inspire in us a renewed confidence in what could be achieved by unified efforts of this kind. For, among its many achievements, the HKEW had demonstrably succeeded in showcasing engineers’ professionalism, fortifying unity and solidarity within the profession, and leaving an indelible impression on many of us. Metaphorically speaking, it “got us off the ground again”—and this time completely.

 

Subsequent events did nothing but justify this rekindling of optimism. Since his installation as President in June, Ir Dr Barry Lee has been instrumental in furthering the Institution’s goal of “Enhancing Services to Members” (set down in the “Time to Change” Roadmap) with various initiatives derived, in their conception, from his Presidential Theme “We Engineer, We Serve 知行合一 成就專業”. Under Ir Dr Lee’s leadership, a new facility was set up, member benefits were actively sought out, and opportunities for qualification acquisition and intellectual exchange were multiplied through strengthened collaborations with counterparts in Mainland, UK, Dubai, among others.

 

Given the bounty of 2023, this outline cannot but be sketchy. For a more detailed look, may I invite you all to an exploration of the Institution’s achievements last year—in the summary that follows.

 


 

February

 

  • The HKIE Prize Presentation Ceremony cum New Members’ Reception was held on 18 February at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The HKIE Scholarship, the HKIE Prize for Outstanding Engineering Students, the prizes for “City Dress-Up Photo Competition”, and the Trainee of the Year Award were also presented.

 

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  • The HKIE Public Exhibition was held in Central Market from 18 to 26 February as part of the Hong Kong Engineers Week 2023 (HKEW 2023) to provide an opportunity for the public to gain knowledge about our 21 engineering disciplines.

 

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  • The Institution submitted its views on the formulation of the 2023-24 Budget to the Financial Secretary.
  • The theme song “Proud to be Engineers”, produced by a group of young HKIE members, was released.

 

March

 

  • The HKEW 2023 was held under the theme “Our Future, We Engineer” to showcase engineers' contributions from 3 to 11 March. Its March events included the HKEW Carnival themed “Our Living, We Engineer Σ (食住行)” at the West Kowloon Cultural District from 3 to 5, the HKIE International Conference and the HKIE Grand Award Presentation Ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on 9, and the HKIE Fundraising Cycling and Run at the Tseung Kwan O Promenade on 11.

 

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  • A briefing session was held with government bureau and departments in the Headquarters on 6 March to acquaint members with the Administration’s proposals on the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands.
  • The HKIE 45th Annual Dinner was held on 17 March at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. There, presentations were made of The HKIE Honorary Fellow, The HKIE Gold Medal, The President’s Award, and The Young Engineer of the Year Award.

 

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  • Following the reopening of the border, delegations from Beijing and Guangzhou visited the Institution on 18 and 19 March respectively. Discussion topics included green low-carbon construction, Hong Kong's integration into the Greater Bay Area, reciprocal recognitions, and preparations for the Greater Bay Area Engineers Forum in May.

 

April

 

  • To enhance membership value, on 1 April the Institution began enforcing the Privacy Management Programme (PMP) in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO).
  • To promote the engineering profession, the video campaign “Meet an Engineer's Master Engineer 十載‧工情” , about mid-career engineers, was launched.
  • Career and internship fairs featuring HKIE Scheme “A” companies were being held at local universities.
  • Visits to universities and meetings with various engineeringrelated organisations were conducted as part of Membership promotion campaign with a view to recruiting new members. The first of such meetings was held on 12 April with TK Elevator Hong Kong Ltd.

 

May

 

  • On 12 May, the Institution signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cyberport to jointly promote innovation and technology (I&T) and foster an entrepreneurship culture among engineers.

 

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  • The Second Greater Bay Area Engineers Forum was held jointly with the China Association for Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the Chinese Society of Engineers at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from 21 to 22 May under the theme of 「工程創新 灣通世界」 to present collaboration results between GBA cities and sign agreements with Mainland engineering bodies.

 

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  • A press conference was held on 31 May with experts from the Structural Division in attendance to address the incident in which part of a structural wall was removed during the renovation of a private residential flat.

 

June

 

  • The HKIE New Members' Reception took place on 3 June at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and was attended by over 280 newly admitted Members and guests. Presentations of membership certificate were made to our newly admitted Fellow Members and Members.

 

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  • A Beijing delegation entitled 「高端人才北京交流團2023」 was held from 18 to 21 June and included visits to various mainland ministries and engineering-related organisations, as well as technical visits to infrastructure projects.

 

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  • The 48th Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on 28 June at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Ir Dr Barry Lee was installed as the President for 2023/2024. The Presidential Theme “We Engineer, We Serve 知行合一 成就專業” and the slogan “Be the Change 不一樣” were announced.

 

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  • The Council approved the addition of a new CPD category, namely, “Social Gathering or Networking Activities” to the current HKIE CPD requirements for Corporate Members.
  • The Council approved the setting up of the HKIE Student Chapter at the Hong Kong Metropolitan University Student Chapter.

 

July

 

  • The International Council on Electrical Engineering (ICEE) Conference 2023 was jointly hosted with the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering, the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan and the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers at The University of Hong Kong from 2 to 6 July under the theme “Frontiers in Carbon Neutrality Power and Energy”.

 

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  • EngHub 工程薈, the Institution’s new facility in HK NEO, Kwun Tong, opened on 14 July and aims to provide members with a relaxing venue in Kowloon East CBD2 for meetings, seminars, and other activities.

 

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  • Ir Prof Alfred Sit was appointed as the new Chief Executive and Secretary, taking over the position from Ir C K Hon.
  • The first Council meeting of Session 2023/2024 was held on 20 July, along with a photo session featuring Council Members and some of our Past Presidents, who are Honorary Members of the Council. Members were appointed onto about 23 standing committees and 21 Discipline Advisory Panels at the meeting.

 

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  • On 21 July, the Institution signed a cooperation agreement with industry enterprises i.e. China Mobile Hong Kong, Automated Systems, Hong Kong Broadband Network, Huawei, Otis, and TK Elevator to jointly promote the engineering profession and nurture talented engineers.
  • The Presidential Visit to Macau was held on 22 July with a series of networking and team building activities, including the HKIE Cocktail Reception@Macau, to strengthen our internal cohesion and external collaboration.

 

Self Photos / Files - Macau visit

 

  • A press conference entitled “The building is sick: what to do with falling concrete?” was held in the Headquarters on 26 July to share insights into tackling the challenges implicit in ageing buildings.
  • 12 young members were selected to take part in the President’s Protégé Scheme 2023/2024 and given the opportunity to shadow and work with President Ir Dr Barry Lee.

 

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August

 

  • On 3 August, the Institution launched its Professional Certification Mechanism, which began with the accreditation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) qualifications and initiated a partnership with the Vocational Training Council (VTC).
  • A media gathering titled “Be the Change”, along with an impromptu press conference on recent fallen concrete incidents, was held on 8 August at EngHub to strengthen the Institution’s public presence and its bond with the media.

 

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  • The Institution submitted its views to the Chief Executive on the formulation of the 2023 Policy Address, focusing on areas such as talent training, education, innovation, innovation and new industrialisation, infrastructure development, and land and housing supply.
  • The President led a delegation of over 40 young engineers to visit Guangzhou on 12 August to conduct exchange with local counterparts, including the Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology, and hosted the “HKIE Cocktail Reception@Guangzhou” to strengthen our ties with our counterparts in Guangzhou and the area nearby.

 

Self Photos / Files - GZ visit

 

  • On 16 August, the technical seminar on new technology for concrete inspection in buildings organised by the BD Division was held in the Headquarters.
  • The HKIE Members’ Benefits Scheme was launched on 25 August, encompassing Clothing, Eating, Living, and Transportation.
  • The Consolidated STEAM Promotion Scheme, formalised through a Charter of Cooperation, was launched to strengthen STEAM education and inspire the younger generation to pursue engineering as their future careers.
  • On 30 August, the Institution held the first installment of its “President Forum Series” in hybrid mode under the theme “Challenges today and the future: the role of engineers in environmental protection and sustainable development” with expert speakers from government departments and green organisations.

 

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September

 

  • On 5 September, a press conference on water seepage was held under the theme “The Building is Sick: What to Do with Water Seepage at Home?”
  • The HKIE Social Media Training was held on 6 September in hybrid mode to equip members with the knowledge required to communicate ideas via social media.

 

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  • On 8 and 12 September respectively, two expert Q&A sessions on extreme weather were held to discuss water seepage, landslide risks, and the city’s discharge capacity.
  • The Presidential Address / Dinner was held on 15 September at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The HKIE Outstanding Paper Award for Young Engineers/Researchers 2023, The HKIE Best Transactions Paper Prize 2023, and The HKIE Long Service Award were presented.

 

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  • On 20 September, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) in its Chai Wan Campus to offer courses in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Stage Engineering under the Institution’s Professional Certification Mechanism. Another MoU was signed with the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI) to reinforce partnership.
  • A networking luncheon with a group of senior editors and reporters was organised on 22 September.
  • The council approved the formation of the Nuclear Discipline.

 

October

 

  • A press conference was organised on 6 October on the theme “Can Accidents be Avoided?” to address enclosed-space industrial accidents by introducing risk assessment methods and intelligent technologies for accident prevention.
  • To attract talents and promote membership, career fairs were held in collaboration with the Development Bureau at Tianjin University, Tsinghua University, and Beijing University of Technology (from 9 to 13 October), and Tongji University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and Southeast University (from 23 to 27 October). Similar career fairs at Guangzhou and Shenzhen were held in the coming months.
  • The second instalment of the President Forum Series, on “Climate resilience for infrastructure development: How far should we go?”, was held on 11 October in hybrid mode with expert speakers from government departments and a consultancy firm.

 

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  • A press conference was held on 27 October to discuss the 2023 Policy address and highlight the Institution’s responses to it.
  • On 26 and 27 October, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Symposium on Science and Technology was co-organised with the Shanghai Association for Science and Technology in Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel under the theme “Journey for the Data Savvy in the New Era”.
  • To strengthen relationships with sister institutions in the UK and promote Hong Kong as a promising city for engineering professionals, the Presidential visit to the UK was made from 30 October to 3 November. During the visit, the first-ever HKIE-led international conference held in the UK (at the Headquarters of the Institution of Civil Engineers) was conducted in hybrid mode with hundreds of participants. With the support of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London of the HKSAR Government, a series of networking and promotional events were held, including HKIE Cocktail Reception @Manchester; HKIE and HKETO Cocktail Reception @London; and HKIE Forum for UK Engineering Small and Medium-sized Enterprises.

 

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  • The Institution was awarded the Privacy-Friendly Awards 2023 - Gold Award by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data to recognise its efforts to promote personal data privacy.

 

November

 

  • On 12 November, a Mutual Recognition Framework Agreement (MRFA) with the Guangdong Institution of Engineers was established, aligning credentials in four engineering disciplines with those in five related fields in mainland China, paving the way for HKIE members to apply for engineering professional titles (工程師職稱) in the Mainland under a pilot mechanism.
  • The International Engineering Education Symposium 2023 (IEES 2023) was co-organised by the Institution from 15 to 17 November in Ningbo under the theme “Unleashing Potentials, Empowering Future: Embracing Graduate Attributes and Professional Competencies”.

 

December

 

  • The Presidential visit to Dubai was held from 5 to 8 December with the delegation participating in the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. A series of networking and promotional activities were conducted during the visit, namely a visit to the Society of Engineers-UAE; a technical visit to Burj Khalifa to witness the application and effect of an energy-saving technology developed by Hong Kong scientists; the HKIE Cocktail Reception@Dubai jointly organised with HKETO in Dubai and Hong Kong Climate Change Forum; young engineers’ chit-chat session with Mr Tse Chin-wan (Secretary for Environment and Ecology); and a live stream broadcast of the Hong Kong climate change related technologies that were displayed at COP28.

 

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  • A new thematic webpage (hkiehappening.com) was launched, serving as a comprehensive hub for all things related to the theme and happenings for this Session and the “Time to Change” Roadmap.

 

 

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