Programme Highlights 

Writing is a crucial skill for engineers, enabling them to articulate their ideas, thoughts, and experiences across various engineering projects. It is also vital for preparing training reports and professional assessments. Additionally, essay writing plays a significant role in the professional assessment process, which can be challenging for many young engineers.  

This workshop aims to provide young engineers with guidance on professional writing, and the workshop includes: 

-        Useful structure/skills for writing an essay in a short period 

-        Tips and examples on professional essay and report writing 

-        How to present the experience/ express the views in a logical manner 

Language 

Cantonese (with presentation materials in English)

Speaker 

Dr. KONG Kwok Wai has extensive experience in international investment banking and engineering. He held senior roles at Barclays Capital and BNP Paribas, and worked as a project engineer at China Light and Power. He now designs and delivers technical and business training courses for engineers at major companies. 

Registration & Enquiries 

This workshop is free of charge and the number of participants is limited to 50 (max. 30 for joining in person and max. 20 for zoom). The applications will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis with priority given to Registered Young Members. For registration, please visit https://forms.gle/Wet8S46VGsQ5pf5Z7. The application deadline would be on 17 November 2024. Successful members will be informed by confirmation emails in due course. CPD certificate will be issued after the event through email. For any enquiries, please contact Mr. Tyler HO by email at hkiegpgymc@gmail.com.

Workshop on Professional Writing

By Mr Tyler HO

The captioned workshop jointly organised by the YMC and Continuing Professional Development Committee (CPDC) on 30 November 2024. The speaker was Dr Kong Kwok Wai, who has an extensive background in international investment banking and engineering. Dr Kong has held senior roles at Barclays Capital and BNP Paribas and worked as a project engineer at CLP. Currently, he designs and delivers technical and business training courses for engineers at major companies.

Dr Kong began the workshop by highlighting the fundamental differences between Chinese and English, using the phrase “道可道非常道”(The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao) to illustrate that the two languages have distinct structures and expressions. This set the stage for understanding the unique challenges Chinese writers face when writing in English.

During the workshop, Dr Kong focused on three main areas: avoiding common writing mistakes, writing efficiently, and projecting a professional image through writing. He highlighted several technical writing issues often encountered by Chinese writers, such as missing the articles (“a, an, the”), excessive use of the future tense, placing time-indicating phrases at the beginning of paragraphs, and positioning main ideas in the middle rather than at the beginning of paragraphs.

Dr Kong also addressed common mistakes to be avoided, including noun-verb disagreement and dangling modifiers. He gave practical advice on how to write stronger sentences by making clearer points. One of the key messages Dr Kong shared with the participants was the importance of simplicity in writing. He noted that the main reason people struggle with writing is often not a language problem, but a lack of thought for the intricacies of their experiences. Dr Kong encouraged participants to read more news reports, since they are typically well-structured and can serve as good examples.

The workshop provided valuable insights into professional writing, particularly for those who write in English as a second language. Dr Kong’s emphasis on simplicity, clarity, and understanding the nuances of one’s experiences offered practical guidance for enhancing writing skills. The event was a great opportunity for participants to learn from an expert and to improve their professional writing practices.

Dr Kong (standing) explaining the critical competencies required to prepare a well-organised professional report