From June 28 to June 30, 2024, M. Patrick Kane, the Bridge Expert, Chief Operating Officer, and Head of the Bridge Team, and Elliot D. Mandel, the Vice President of the International Bridge Conference (IBC) from the United States, were invited to inspect the upcoming Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link and attend the China-US Bridge Engineering Workshop. Associate Professor Guo Jingyi from the School of Foreign Languages participated in the reception as an interpreter, undertaking the translation work for the conference.
On June 28, the two experts, accompanied by Associate Professor Guo Jingyi, visited the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge to inspect various details such as different expansion joints, dehumidification devices, dampers, and wind-resistant devices on the bridge. Professor Guo provided precise translations for the conversations between the Chinese and foreign engineers, earning unanimous praise from both sides. Vice President Elliot commented that today was the most memorable day of his life, filled with valuable insights, and that the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link had left a profound impression on him.
During the workshop, both sides engaged in a profound discussion on the similarities and differences between the Chinese and American experiences, with Associate Professor Guo Jingyi serving as the interpreter throughout the meeting. Both parties expressed satisfaction with the effectiveness of the exchange, praising it as a successful dissemination of Chinese engineering technology.
The International Bridge Conference (IBC), hosted by the Western Pennsylvania Engineers’ Association in the United States, is a prestigious international bridge academic conference with immense influence in the global bridge community. Established in 1988, the IBC Awards are conferred annually and are hailed as the “Nobel Prize” of the bridge industry. Both the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link have received prestigious honors from IBC, winning the “Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award” and the “George S. Richardson Medal” respectively. Associate Professor Guo Jingyi, who has translated technical materials for these two bridges, is highly familiar with the innovative technologies employed in the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link Bridge and its immersed tube tunnel. The successful completion of this translation and hospitality task not only represents a significant milestone in Professor Guo’s bridge engineering translation practice but also signifies an important step forward for the Foreign Languages School in engineering translation practice. The School will actively explore new avenues for engineering translation practice and continue to refine its “engineering + English” talent cultivation model.
