Early Careers Challenge 

GE and Mott MacDonald are delighted to announce the 2024 Early Careers Challenge

Last year’s Early Careers Challenge was a resounding success. It exceeded our aims to deepen existing links with the wider industry and academia. This year, we have developed the challenge to focus on the major role our ground engineers play in the sustainability race to deliver the net zero transformation. It’s a key challenge for our industry. Achieving and demonstrating new developments are sustainable is a requirement for project legacies.

Our 2024 Early Career Challenge will show the teams that their talents and efforts will be making a difference for the future.

Registrations are now closed

The Challenge

Design a deep underground shaft in a prestigious historical waterfront setting in the UK

It will be run as a challenge – with a problem to solve.

It’s not going to be straightforward – and there are many potential solutions!

It will require the Teams to consider the site setting and adapt to Client requirements. Teams will have to draw on case studies, industry lessons learnt, use every research opportunity available and apply them to modern standards. Teams should aim to use digital tools to prove long-term sustainable goals to their scheme.

The teams will be asked to present for 15 minutes and will be assessed by a panel of industry judges at the two GE conferences. They will be judged on their approach to solving the challenge by consideration of different options and assessing them in terms of construction cost, program, risk and suitability, team working and collaboration, and sustainable solutions.


Who can enter?

  • A civil engineering or geology undergraduate or postgraduate student
  • Early careers professional or apprentice with less than 5 years’ experience in the industry

The Challenge will only be available for individuals working in the UK

Why enter

Put your ideas to industry leading judges, grow your own network and learn from sector expertise

Be mentored throughout the process by Mott MacDonald experts

Gain complementary access to attend all of the 2023 GE conferences

Have your ideas and work published in the prestigious Ground Engineering Magazine if part of the winning team

Receive recognition within the industry and gain experience for your CV

Have a chance to win the Early Careers Challenge trophy

What's involved?

Applications are for individuals only, as teams will be created once the registration process closes. Potential challenge applicants will need to be able to attend all aspects of the Challenge: 

  • Launch meeting – discover the full challenge and meet your team and mentor
  • Mentor calls – teams will be invited to a catch-up call with the mentor during this period ahead of their first presentation
  • GE Sustainability – teams will pitch the Round 1 judges and get feedback on their ideas
  • GE Smart Geotechnics – team will give their final pitch to Round 2 judges, with the winning team presenting on the conference stage

From start to finish the challenge will take a little over two months. Applicants will be required to attend (in-person) the kick off workshop (26th July), GE Sustainability conference (18th September), and GE Smart geotechnics conference (3rd October). It is anticipated that three further days will be required to complete the challenge and create their 15 min presentation. Each team will gain feedback on their presentation by their mentor before their first presentation at the GE Sustainability conference, where they will also gain feedback from the judges, before they present their final solution to the judges at the GE Smart geotechnics conference.


Key dates:
Registration deadline
Launch meeting
GE Sustainability conference
GE Smart Geotechnics conference

Register your interest to be one of the ECC mentors

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Hear what 2023 mentors said about the challenge:

This challenge is a great and unique opportunity to get experience of the ground engineering industry and for the teams to get involved with creating more sustainable geotechnical solutions. It's exciting to be involved as a mentor and I'm looking forward to seeing what the teams come up with!

Mary Schafer

Having been a mentor, DE, SCE, and ICE Reviewer for many years, I see the Early Careers Challenge as a different and exciting opportunity to help ECPs become professional engineers and geologists. 

Peter Rutty

Our industry needs to focus on embedding sustainability in our designs and this will be a chance to meet and work with the future of ground engineering. This challenge gives a chance to work with industry professionals who are passionate about ensuring geotechnical designs are sustainable.

Gareth Mason

Sustainable geotechnical design is imperative to the UK’s future net-zero and climate resilience aspirations – this challenge seeks to plant a seed to grow through your careers and I look forward to supporting and hearing fresh thoughts on developing sustainability.

Nick Haynes

I believe that engineers that design amazing and sustainable structures can change, improve and make the world we live in much safer, secure and magnificent - and I want to help others be a part of this. I see beyond the technical side of our work and I lead my teams in a way that they are engaged, inspired and proud of what they do always, just as I am. This challenge will encourage all participants to actively pursue a fascinating and inspiring career where they will be challenged every day.

Christina Mavrommati