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The winners of the 2024 Early Careers Challenge (ECC), presented by Ground Engineering and Mott MacDonald, were revealed at last week's GE Basements & Underground Structures conference.
This year's winning team included Aecom engineering geologist Matthew Culley, University College London civil engineering graduate Petra Fatér, Bam Ritchies assistant geotechnical engineer Anjana Gopan, Multiconsult UK geotechnical engineer/engineering geologist Rebecca Gulowsen Ekeberg, and Arcadis graduate I&M engineer Jessica Leung.
The 2024 ECC was kicked off by Ground Engineering (GE) magazine and Mott MacDonald in May. This marks the second year of the ECC, following its initial launch in 2023.
Early career ground engineering professionals and apprentices, with less than five years' industry experience, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students were all invited to apply for the challenge.
The 20 finalists were chosen from a pool of close to 100 applicants and divided into four teams, which all had their own mentor.
This year's challenge involved designing a deep underground shaft in a prestigious historical waterfront setting in the UK. The major role that ground engineering plays in delivering net zero was also a key focus of this year’s ECC. There was an added twist to this year's challenge as after the the first stage of presentations in front of the judges, the design brief was altered.
The winners were announced towards the end of the GE Basements & Underground Structures conference in London on 3 October. All teams gave their final presentations to the judging panel in the morning, after which the winning team was chosen.
The judges said the winning team gave "an outstanding presentation with clear demonstration of effective team work and collaboration".
They added that it was "well laid out with good visuals to address client criteria", and included "excellent identification of risks and consideration of these within the design proposal".
The winning team's mentor, Aecom technical director Dimitrios Daskalopoulos, commented: "It was a learning experience, so they taught me as much as I think I taught them, and I'm pretty happy about that."
In response taking home this year's ECC trophies, Culley said he enjoyed "the collaboration and teamwork, working with a great team to deliver on a fantastic challenge".
Leung added: "I'm very happy all the hard work paid off, and I really enjoyed getting to know all of my team mates."
Winning team
Petra Fatér, UCL
Petra Fatér is a Ground Engineering student editor and has recently graduated from UCL with a BEng degree in civil engineering. During her studies she became interested in geotechnical engineering, and is planning to pursue a master’s degree in geotechnical and structural engineering at ETH Zürich.
She worked as a geotechnical consulting intern at A-squared Studios during her last year at university, gaining professional experience on various projects in London and in the UK.
Anjana Gopan, Bam Ritchies
Anjana Gopan is an assistant geotechnical engineer at Bam Ritchies. She has a master’s degree in engineering geology from the University of Portsmouth and is currently involved in mine mitigation efforts for the Transpennine Route Upgrade project.
Matthew Culley, Aecom
Matthew Culley is an engineering geologist within Aecom’s Newcastle ground engineering team. He joined the company after completing an MSc degree in engineering geology at Newcastle University. His dissertation focused on sustainable drainage solutions. Culley has worked on a variety of projects, mostly specialising in mining risk mitigation and railway infrastructure.
Rebecca Gulowsen Ekeberg, Multiconsult UK
Rebecca Gulowsen Ekeberg is a geotechnical engineer/engineering geologist at Multiconsult. She has a master’s degree in engineering geology from the University of Leeds and a bachelor’s in geology from the University of Bristol. Gulowsen Ekeberg has a range of project experience, from hydropower projects, to slope stability schemes, and retaining wall and foundation design on major infrastructure projects in the UK and Norway.
Jessica Leung, Arcadis
Jessica Leung is a graduate civil engineer at Arcadis, where she is part of the design joint venture on HS2. Leung works on site within the instrumentation and monitoring department of the construction services team. She uses a wide range of sensors and instruments to monitor in-ground and structural movements to check whether they are moving as expected and to help optimise construction.
The other team mentors were Mott MacDonald technical director James Codd, Systra geotechnical team leader Caleb Parker, and Systra UK discipline lead for ground engineering Charlotte Woodhall-Jones, supported by Mott MacDonald principal geotechnical engineer Natalie Wride.
The judges throughout the two stages of the ECC included University of Hertfordshire senior lecturer Kirstie Broadbent, Bam Ritchies engineering manager Emily Wood, London Underground senior geotechnical engineer Mehdi Alhaddad, Mott MacDonald geotechnical director Rob Talby, Welsh Government principal geotechnical engineer Iain McKenzie, University of Birmingham geotechnical engineering assistant professor Esdras Ngezahayo, and Mott MacDonald project director for geotechnics Christina Mavrommati.
A write-up of the winning team's entry will be published in a future issue of GE.
The next round of the ECC will be launched in 2025.
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