Dr Chan was born in Hong Kong. He graduated from Queen Mary College, University of London, in 1982. He then joined Plessey Radar in the newly formed Solid-state Techniques Department. In this department, he was responsible for the design of various microwave components and sub-systems, which were to form part of the world's first solid-state radar transmitter at s-band.

In 1984, Dr Chan joined Microwave Engineering Designs Limited as one of the four founding members. The company specialized in RF/microwave consultancy and he was responsible for customer liaison, project planning, procurement specification, documentation and the design of various RF/microwave components and sub-systems. The company won a national award, sponsored by Barclays Bank, for export achievements by new companies. Dr Chan also won a grant in a national competition for the most promising young professional engineer, organized by the IEE, to attend the European Microwave Conference held in Dublin in 1986.

Dr Chan joined the Department of Electronic Engineering, City University of Hong Kong in 1988, teaching higher diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate students. He specializes in RF/microwave systems, RF/microwave circuit design, and analogue electronics and communications. Apart from the normal administrative duties of a lecturer, he has been the HD (EE) Part-time Tutor, department representative to HD (AP), a member of the BEng degree in electronic engineering revalidation team, and was responsible for the 1992-93 JUPAS BEng (EE) student admissions. Dr Chan has been involved in five consultancy projects and has had 22 articles published in journals and at conferences. He was awarded his PhD degree by City University of Hong Kong in 1995 and is currently an Associate Professor.