President Ir Alice Chow: Breaking barriers - the inspiring journey of the HKIE’s first female President
Ir Alice Chow, the President of The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers for Session 2025/2026, has set her heart on heralding changes in the industry by championing resilience, innovation, sustainability and equity.
The engineering profession has long been perceived as a male-dominated field: in Hong Kong, one pointer to this is that our female engineers account only for around nine percent of the entirety.1 But with this year comes a woman who has broken through the glass ceiling: The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers welcomed Ir Alice Chow, the first female President in its history, as it celebrates the 50th Anniversary of its establishment.
With her Presidential Theme laid down as “Together we RISE”, Ir Chow, an experienced engineer in Civil and Structural Disciplines, has evidently committed herself to leading the industry in exploring a wider range of possibilities under the key values of Resilience, Innovation, Sustainability and Equity.
From nursing to engineering
As a teenager, Ir Chow was unlike the stereotypical lost youth, someone who is perpetually at a loss as to what she wants to do as a grown-up. She was fairly clear about her goal – things just turned out very differently from the plan.
“My father used to say he would only support me until 18,” said Ir Chow. “I was about 14 or 15 and was desperate to find a way to make money, to become financially independent.”
At that time a Form 4 student, Ir Chow was not exactly the top of her class, or what was conventionally the cream of the crop. When she was struggling to decide upon a suitable career, an elderly friend of hers made the helpful suggestion that she could embark for the United Kingdom for a two-year nursing school, and that she could pay off the tuition after two years of training.
Ir Chow was inspired by her friend’s suggestion, leading her to pursue training as a nurse. However, after she filed her O-Level application and landed in the United Kingdom, it dawned on her that she could not, after all, study nursing due to age limitation – only those over 18 could take the programme.
Instead of holding off for a few more years, Ir Chow decided promptly to apply for A-Level, studying physics and mathematics among other subjects. It was a choice that would eventually land her in university with engineering as her chosen subject.
“I remembered always telling my mom that, someday, I would build a house for her. Though this remains a mere promise up to now, I thought at that time of pursuing a career in construction. It was for this reason that I went for civil engineering, amid the vast spectrum of engineering disciplines available,” said Ir Chow, who later obtained both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the United Kingdom.
This ambitious youth, whom one could almost say had stumbled upon engineering by chance, is today a respected member of the global consultancy Arup’s Trustee Board. Ir Chow plays a vital part in safeguarding the firm's independence, ensuring its long-term success, and upholding its distinctive culture on behalf of its members. With over 30 years of multidisciplinary engineering experience, Ir Chow has managed numerous award-winning projects – from key infrastructure systems such as airports to educational and healthcare facilities. She also earned the title “Arup Fellow” - plausibly one of the highest honour in technical and professional achievements across the industry worldwide.
Ir Chow was appointed as an Arup Fellow in 2019, one of the highest honours
recognising exceptional technical and professional achievements across the global industry
Engineering as a mission
For Ir Chow, engineers are at their core problem-solvers
who not only fix current issues but avoid future ones.
After working for a year in the United Kingdom as a bridge engineer, Ir Chow returned to Hong Kong. Although her professional focus was on the construction of high-rise buildings, she also worked on functional projects, including the Hong Kong International Airport.
Back then, there was no road to the airport because it was built on reclaimed land. The only way to reach there was by a ship ride. This posed a severe challenge for Ir Chow because she suffered from seasickness.
Nevertheless, she completed the task and overcame every difficulty that she encountered.
“I think this is how civil engineers approach a task,” said Ir Chow. “No matter how hard it seems, you overcome the obstacles and make your project ready for public use. It is immensely satisfying, in fact.”
Besides the Hong Kong International Airport, Ir Chow also had a hand in the Beijing Capital International Airport and the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in South India. She said she enjoys working on such functional projects because they offer plenty of chances to acquire knowledge about widely divergent sectors.
“It is true that there exists a certain international standard about airports. But it is important to tailor the airport you’re building to the local setting - by integrating that fixed standard into the culture that you’re building it for,” Ir Chow added.
Ir Chow, together with the project team, contractors, and developers, worked closely on the Chu Hai College Higher Education Project and
was proudly recognised with the Construction Project Team of the Year award
at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards Hong Kong 2017
for their outstanding collaboration and successful project delivery
Bridging engineering and volunteering
Outside of her work, Ir Chow is passionate about public service and contributing to both the industry and the society. She was a member of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal under the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Office and a member of the Town Planning Board. Perhaps more remarkable, she participated personally in the volunteering programmes of the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), more widely known in Hong Kong as Doctors Without Borders.
“I am always grateful that I have had the opportunities to take on so many diverse infrastructure and other projects across multiple disciplines,” said Ir Chow. “But I kept thinking about how I could use the skills I have acquired to make a difference in places where they were needed most.”
That was how Ir Chow, who had been a long-time donor to MSF, suddenly got the idea of becoming a volunteer herself. “Some might describe it a ‘calling’ and what I did was merely to heed that calling,” Ir Chow said with a smile. Embracing this calling, she went on to make use of her engineering expertise to help the local communities in Afghanistan and Ethiopia.
After going through interviews and the relevant training, Ir Chow swiftly received an assignment from MSF within a month.
In 2003, she officially became a logistician for MSF’s long-term programme in Afghanistan. On ground, she confronted a harsher and different reality than she could have expected, as the team was forced by security threats to relocate its compound.
As a civil engineer, Ir Chow was given the task of helping to build facilities for the new compound.
“I was glad that the basic engineering skills that I used were able to help an underdeveloped area,” said Ir Chow.
In a separate emergency programme in Ethiopia, Ir Chow assisted in delivering essential resources such as water and power. Tasked with the responsibility of orchestrating logistical arrangements to transport goods over expansive territories, she, although not a mechanical engineer, managed to acquire skills in vehicle maintenance and handle complex supply chains.
Ir Chow volunteered with MSF, applying her civil engineering expertise to rebuild facilities, support critical infrastructure recovery,
and manage complex logistics and supply chains while mastering vehicle maintenance in underdeveloped regions
such as Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Banda Aceh
Ir Chow’s expertise was also put to great use in providing infrastructure support for Indonesia’s Banda Aceh right after the 2004 tsunami and the quake-stricken Sichuan province in 2008.
Promoting innovation and sustainability
Ir Chow’s diverse experiences within and beyond the engineering realms of various nations have equipped her with a wealth of knowledge capable of addressing a myriad of challenges. Among these challenges, she highlighted emerging trends such as new industrialisation, standardisation across the Greater Bay Area, and renewable energy like hydrogen and nuclear fusion. Besides enabling the recognition of challenges, such experiences were also pivotal in shaping her perspectives on the roles and responsibilities of engineers.
“In Hong Kong, engineers are required to constantly adapt to changes and accumulate experience from day-to-day practices,” said Ir Chow. “Which means, engineers should be more than bridge-building types; they should also be the kinds of enterprising professionals who involve themselves in productivity enhancement and even the creation of start-ups.”
It is such inspirations that lie behind the HKIE Enginpreneurs Programme, a support scheme overseen by Ir Chow in her capacity as a dedicated Working Group’s Chairperson. The programme, which collaborated with Cyberport (a digital technology hub in Hong Kong), fosters entrepreneurship among engineers and help them transform innovative concepts into concrete reality.
The initiative offers financial assistance to admitted HKIE candidates, together with the extensive resources provided by Cyberport’s platform.2
“The HKIE is a neutral platform. Our goal is to help engineers know more about their own strengths, improve their start-up concepts, and ultimately create more value for end-users,” said Ir Chow, who also noted that there are already two successful cases under the Incubation programme, with several more applications under Cyberport Creative Micro Fund (CCMF).
Ir Chow, as Chairperson of the HKIE Enginpreneurs Working Group, listening attentively to
a startup presentation, supporting the programme’s mission to foster engineering entrepreneurship
and innovation through collaboration with Cyberport
Ir Chow also believes in the importance of delivering engineering solutions that are excellent both in technical and in sustainable terms, and she advocates for that as the Chairperson of the HKIE’s first Working Group devoted to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). This initiative, established in 2019, provides a roadmap for how engineers in various Disciplines can take effective and substantial measures to tackle pressing global challenges like climate change.
Ir Chow said the Working Group is communicating with the government on the development of sustainable tools for infrastructure projects. Another area of its work is to study the possibility of including UNSDGs-related elements as criteria in engineering qualification assessment.
Advocacy-wise, each of the HKIE Divisions has, at the Working Group’s invitation, filmed a short video to introduce their Discipline’s intimate relation to the UNSDGs. In November 2024, the eBook Engineered for Sustainability: Hong Kong’s Contribution to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals was published, under the Working Group’s direction, to showcase what Hong Kong’s engineering projects have contributed to the UNSDGs.
“As sustainable projects continue to unfold in Hong Kong, our objective is to broaden the scope of this electronic archive, capturing a wider array of these outstanding endeavours and providing updated highlights accessible to the public,” said Ir Chow.
In April, her efforts at sustainable development gained global recognition, with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development granting her the 2025 Leading Women Awards.
Launched in 2016, the award recognises outstanding female leaders who have driven progress toward the UNSDGs within their respective organisations and communities. The conferment, incidentally, was an excellent example of the spirit of SDG 5: to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment.3
However, Ir Chow did not want the recognition to be solely attributed to her gender. Something even more important was at stake, as she discovered during the award’s nomination process.
“When I was asked to write about what I’ve done in my life, I saw how every step I had taken had prepared me to gradually become the engineer that I am today. My gender, I discovered, was only a tiny iceberg of the whole picture,” reflected Ir Chow.
It is the sum of our past actions, the cumulative efforts we have invested over the years, that little by little shape what we refer to as ‘the future’.
The key point is to do your best, embrace challenges, and trust that consistency will lead to something meaningful.
Vision as the first female President
Although Ir Chow has shown decisiveness in her career paths all along, the HKIE Presidency is quite a different story: until recent years, she had never imagined herself as, or becoming, the HKIE’s President. She admitted that the responsibility borne by her would probably be enormous.
“I hope the HKIE can help our members adapt to the fast-changing world without fear of difficulties, and overcome them one step at a time,” said Ir Chow.
For her term of presidency, Ir Chow has chosen “Together we RISE” (同心同創) as the theme. This theme embodies her aspirational vision for the future of engineering — one that hinges on embracing a multidisciplinary perspective, fostering empowerment, and nurturing collaborative efforts.
Ir Chow calls upon her fellow engineers, each with unique talents, to unite and rise collectively to meet their challenges as a cohesive force. Together, engineers can stand resolute in their endeavours, championing RISE—Resilience, Innovation, Sustainability, and Equity—values and societal responsibilities that, in Ir Chow’s belief, define the essence of engineering.
The theme comprises five sub-themes:
(i) Nurturing and expanding engineering Innovation and Technology (I&T) ecosystem: Expand and strengthen the engineering I&T ecosystem to foster collaboration, innovation, and growth; enhance skills development, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities for professionals; and drive technological advancements by supporting the adoption of emerging technologies within the engineering field;
(ii) Fostering sustainability in engineering: Cultivate a culture of sustainability by deepening members’ awareness of global objectives and empowering them to integrate sustainable practices into their professional endeavours, contributing to decarbonisation and a more socially conscious future;
(iii) Preparing for the future of engineering: Ensure that the engineering landscape in Hong Kong is well-equipped and prepared for the evolving challenges of the future, which requires multidisciplinary collaboration and synergy;
(iv) Strengthening advocacy in specific new areas: Advocate policies that support job creation, economic recovery, and workforce development, engage with government authorities, industry stakeholders, and policymakers to address issues affecting job loss, industry challenges, and workforce support. Focus will be laid on expanding presence in emerging and high value-added sectors such as I&T and new industrialisation, and enhancing our footprint nationally and globally; and
(v) Consolidating “Time to Change” Roadmap: Evaluate the progress made in pursuing the five focus areas of the Roadmap, extract key learnings and insights to inform future strategic planning and decision-making, and communicate the results to members and relevant stakeholders.
To encourage continuous learning, Ir Chow said she consistently engage with members across Divisions, Committees and Disciplines on the question of how to add value to their expertise.
For instance, with emerging trends such as hydrogen power and low-altitude economy, she said it is important for engineers to adapt to these advancements and understand their implications for the engineering field.
In particular, Ir Chow noted these trends’ rapid development within the Mainland, an observation that underscores how important it is for Hong Kong to serve as a super-connector for the nation.
“Our generation is uniquely positioned to bridge Eastern and Western systems,” said Ir Chow, who spent nine years in the United Kingdom and is a frequent world traveller in her involvement in various engineering projects. “Our advantages as Hong Kong engineers can surely be leveraged for our nation’s development. I believe that in doing so we will come by, as an extra benefit, opportunities that are right for ourselves.”
In 2024, Ir Chow represented Hong Kong’s engineering community at the 75th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing,
engaging with national ministries and exploring key infrastructure and innovation projects that underscore the vital role of
Hong Kong engineers as connectors between the Mainland and the global market
Women’s empowerment
As a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion, Ir Chow has devoted herself to advancing the participation of women in the engineering sector, including heavy involvement in dedicated task forces of the HKIE to empower more female professionals to take leadership roles in the industry.
In the workplace, Ir Chow actively advocates for the implementation of flexible policies for female employees,
especially those who need to balance family and work commitments.
“For example, female employees with childcare responsibilities should benefit from flexible working arrangements, enabling them to complete work later in the evening after attending to their children,” Ir Chow proposed. “In some cases, extended leaves of up to a year should also be considered if needed.”
“While making flexibility allowances for the female, we must not forget to take care of the male’s feelings, and we must prepare them properly to run the extra mile to help their female colleagues. This is for the long-term benefit of our society.” Ir Chow added.
While women in Hong Kong enjoy significant respect within the workplace, the engineering sector must, Ir Chow pointed out, embrace gender-inclusive policies to a greater degree to attract and retain female talent, not least because a fair proportion of female engineering students would choose alternative career paths after graduating.
“We must also reshape the public perception of engineering, which, unlike common beliefs, extends beyond fieldwork and gritty environment. Fields like computer engineering offer positions that align well with women’s strengths, such as multitasking, precision and communication,” she emphasised.
An increase in female participation in the engineering industry, Ir Chow maintained, will be conducive to the industry’s overall progress and long-term evolution.
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the HKIE
To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the HKIE, Ir Chow said a series of events was either successfully completed or still underway. Among the former was the Grand 50th Annual Dinner, bringing together a record-breaking attendance of 1,800 leaders and industry elites from Hong Kong, the Mainland, and overseas to celebrate the Institution’s Golden Jubilee, as well as the HKIE 50th Anniversary Legacy Award, which honoured outstanding engineering projects in Hong Kong over the past five decades.
“Moving forward,” Ir Chow said, “we are hoping to promote the local engineering accomplishments in an exhibition in Beijing, if only because Hong Kong engineers have also expanded their careers in the Mainland,” said Ir Chow. “We want to highlight their accomplishments and demonstrate to the nation the success we in Hong Kong have attained.”
In November 2025, the HKIE will lead its members to participate in an international conference on railway safety, which will bring together experts from different countries. Together with railway safety regulators, operators and relevant stakeholders, members may have the opportunity to personally experience recent railway development in the Mainland.
The HKIE will celebrate its official Anniversary on 5 December with a cocktail reception, followed tentatively by a carnival on 6 to 7 December.
“We have always encouraged members to engage in the HKIE’s growth, and many have been actively involved,” said Ir Chow, hoping to see more members participating in the HKIE’s initiatives. “This is also the essence I aim to promote through my theme ‘Together we RISE’.”
Way to the future
Looking ahead, Ir Chow said she hopes to attract more young talent to the engineering profession. She emphasised how the profession’s innovative and solution-based aspects, which the youngsters are drawn to, may help her in this endeavour.
She affirmed her commitment to lead the HKIE and its members towards furthering sustainable development, aligning with global standards, and elevating Hong Kong’s engineering sector’s standing on the world stage.
“Engineers play an indispensable role in sustainable development, so we need more of them to make progress,” said Ir Chow.
Acknowledging the sense of disorientation and anxiety among engineers amidst today’s era of pervasive uncertainty, Ir Chow said it is the HKIE’s mission to help professionals in adapting to changes and find their way forward.
“As long as we unite and progress collectively, we will undoubtedly illuminate a promising path for all,” said Ir Chow.
As a trailblazer in Hong Kong’s engineering industry, the story of Ir Chow has not only demonstrated the vast potential of women in the field but also injected a fresh vigour into the entire sector. It is also a testament to the ongoing evolution within the engineering sphere. Under the banner of “Together we RISE”, let us aspire to witness the HKIE embarking on the next 50 years of pioneering progress and enduring excellence.
Ir Alice Chow, President for Session 2025/2026
References
- Hong Kong Women in Figures 2021. (2022). [online] Women’s Commission, Labour and Welfare Bureau of Hong Kong, p.34. Available at: https://www.women.gov.hk/download/research/HK_Women2021_ e.pdf
- Hkengineer.org.hk. (2024). HKIE Enginpreneurs: Engineering Innovations Towards Entrepreneurship (Vol 52 Sep 2024) - The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers . [online] Available at: https://www.hkengineer.org.hk/issue/vol52-sep2024/feature_ story/?id=18382.
- Wbcsd.org. (2016). Leading Women Awards | WBCSD’s Leading Women and LEAP Program. [online] Available at: https://leadingwomen.wbcsd.org/leading-women-awards/.