Ir Dr Andrew Chan holds the belief that the satisfaction derived by an engineer from a career is associated with his or her contributions to making the world a better place, facilitating humans and communities to thrive. He has wholeheartedly lived this philosophy for 50 years through contributing immeasurably to the community and the engineering profession.

Inspiring lifetime influence

Ir Dr Chan studied Civil Engineering at university because it was practical, and because he was attracted to what he described as the “big stuff” — such as buildings and infrastructure. He undertook post-graduate study with Cambridge University’s Soil Mechanics Group. Unexpectedly receiving a three-year grant from the British Council enabled him to research into modern soil mechanics for his PhD. He enthused, “I found myself exposed to a world of brilliant minds, fascinating knowledge and inspiring ideas. Just as the poet Xu ZhiMo (徐志摩) once wrote of his time there: ‘Cambridge is where my vision was first broadened, my curiosity aroused, and my self-awareness first conceived.’ (Ir Dr Chan’s translation). My three years there had a profound influence on my entire life!”

Ir Dr Andrew K C Chan, BBS, JP

Engineering to build a better world

Eager to gain practical experience in “real life” engineering, Ir Dr Chan joined Arup in London in 1975 with its Offshore Projects Group serving the oil and gas industry. He recalled, “I had a great start in my career being exposed to the enormous scale and complexity of structures and facilities, to be constructed and operated under the influence of extreme offshore environmental forces. Naturally, I had to learn fast and work hard every day just to keep up!”

Ir Dr Chan believed that, in order to excel, young engineers “must have the constant appetite to learn new things, be ready to be ‘stretched’ mentally, persevere in overcoming challenging situations or even hardship, and broaden one’s perspective of what is possible.”

He later joined Arup’s Geotechnics Group, working on infrastructure and building projects. In the mid-1980s, when the Mainland China first opened up, he initiated development of Arup’s business there. He built early power station projects, highways, airport terminals, commercial and mixed-use building developments all over China.

Ir Dr Chan held many leadership roles during his long career with Arup. He elaborated, “I felt very privileged to be appointed a director of Arup in Hong Kong in 1985; Chair to lead Hong Kong, Greater China and East Asia Region in 1995; Deputy Chair of the global firm in 2007; and Chair of the trustee companies in 2014. Each time I was the first Chinese to do so in a major international consultancy firm.”

Recalling iconic projects, he modestly said, “Throughout my career, there have been countless high profile and exciting projects showing what being an engineer is all about. Their successful completion brought me immense pride, but without exception, they were products of the labour of numerous talented colleagues, not to mention enlightened, or audacious, clients and collaborating professionals. Of course, I enjoyed the pleasure of visiting construction and opening of the Beijing Olympics venues, the airport and high speed rail termini, and prestigious architectural marvels like Beijing CCTV Headquarters, but it would be most pompous of me to claim any credit for them.”

He is proud of the humanitarian initiatives he participated in. One involved young Arup engineers who, he reminisced, “ventured deeply into the mountains of Yunnan Province to build a bridge (無止橋) by hand over a fast-running stream, enabling children to go to school in safety. No fees. No rewards. This won the 2012 Edmund Hambly Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers in the UK. I salute them with immense pride!”

Visiting the Beijing National Stadium in 2007

Ir Dr Chan (L) being conferred the Honorary Fellowship by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Encouraging engineers to take the lead

Ir Dr Chan is a tireless advocate of engineers taking leadership roles, which he himself has done. He believes that solutions to the global challenge of climate change and environmental sustainability must rely on engineering and technology. The examples that he gives include renewable energy generation; new materials development and inventions to slow resource depletion; new vehicles and systems to help reduce carbon emission in new mobility; smart devices for efficiency and well-being. He exclaimed, “They are not just about mitigation of risks and adaptation, but an engine for economic growth!”

In 2009, he led the establishment of, and chaired, the industry-wide Hong Kong Green Building Council. He recalled, “It was a privilege and great responsibility for an engineer. I was fortunate to have enthusiastic support from all stakeholders…in advocacy to the public, establishing assessment tools, training, promoting research to advance the state-of-the-art, and so on. We designed the Zero Carbon Building as a functional facility and testbed for technologies, which became the envy of overseas government bodies and organisations which shared our ambitions.”

Inauguration of the Hong Kong Green Building Council in 2009

Leading the HKIE as President for Session 2009/2010, Ir Dr Chan set a theme centring on sustainability and his Presidential Address was a call for “Engineers Designing a Resilient Hong Kong”. He further stated, “For thought leadership, I was supported by my Arup colleagues in deep thinking and research into the path for carbon emission reduction, and made many presentations and advisory sessions. It was a busy few years to take the lead, but groundwork was important and necessary.”

In 2014, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University established the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development, of which Ir Dr Chan chaired the International Advisory Committee. He elaborated, “Establishment of the University-Government-Industry Consortium followed in 2016 - a platform for identifying topics and sharing progress in sustainable urban development research - the Steering Committee I also chaired.”

He stressed, “The importance and urgency of sustainability in urban development could not be over-emphasised. Indeed, it was the theme of my keynote address to the 2015 Global Grand Challenges Summit of the three national engineering academies of America, Britain and China.”

Ir Dr Chan receiving the HKIE Gold Medal 2014

Ir Dr Chan is delighted that in 2016, after years of effort, his Hong Kong colleagues at Arup published the “Smart Green Resilient” reference framework for planning practice. He summarised, “This general framework and related concepts apply equally to other high density cities, like many in the Mainland China and Asia.”

He exclaimed, “The impact of engineers leading the efforts towards environmental sustainability is nowhere better demonstrated than in the Mainland, with achievements and economic opportunities in renewable energy generation, ultra-high-voltage (UHV) transmission, electric vehicles, batteries, smart technologies and devices, and so on.”

Championing engineering education and future competitiveness

Ir Dr Chan is passionate about education. “My recent interest,” he enthused, “is looking into the attributes of future young engineers and, therefore, the education of university engineering students in built-environment disciplines, namely ‘What to teach and How to teach’ in the age of digital revolution and AI.”

Appointed to be a member of the Economic Development Commission’s Working Group on Professional Services, Ir Dr Chan has championed the engineering profession’s long-term competitiveness. “Clearly, the impact of digital revolution and facilitating innovation were the keys,” he explained, “and it was imperative that the government take the lead…on initiatives.”

“Going forward,” he continued, “our engineering workforce will need to meet the evolving demands and challenges in the world, to remain competitive locally, regionally and globally. I can see continual and increased emphasis on digital proficiency, data literacy and sustainability principles. However, engineering fundamentals and technical rigour must remain very strong with our engineers, especially faced with the awesome impact of AI’s power.”

Ir Dr Chan summed up, “More than ever before, the world needed fine engineers to overcome global crises and challenges. I think it was H.G. Wells who said, ‘The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.’ It is up to our brilliant younger engineers to ensure that is the case!”

HKIE Presidential Address 2009-2010

Ir Dr Chan (R) being conferred the HKIE Honorary Fellow 2025 by the President