Excellence in Outreach

This category looks to recognise organisations, teams or individuals that have gone the extra mile to inspire people to consider a career in geotechnical contracting or consultancy. Whether it is promoting science, technology, engineering and maths in schools and colleges; mentoring interns, apprentices and new joiners; or working with youth organisations, this organisation/team/individual deserves recognition for encouraging younger people to take part in the ground engineering and construction sector.

Arup Cardiff Ground Engineering
STEM in action

Over the last year, the 29 members of the Arup Cardiff Ground Engineering team have completed over 300 hours of community engagement with several different organisations, schools and charities. Most of this engagement was focused on introducing the concept of ground engineering to pupils from deprived backgrounds and explaining the career paths and diversity of opportunities. The drive of the entire team has made the Cardiff team one of the most active across Arup's Community Engagement programme with key activities including valued partnerships with a local high school and universities, tutoring pupils from deprived backgrounds and engagement through the medium of welsh. All supported by innovative STEM challenges to promote interest in Ground Engineering.

Bam Ritchies
Angus MacGregor

BAM Ritchies’ Angus MacGregor champions young people and early career engagement with ground engineering and the construction sector, routinely supporting our primary schools, secondary schools, tertiary education establishments, Developing the Young Workforce (DYW), Skills Development Scotland, and employability schemes through hands-on contributions, administration and mentoring. Angus has sustained this commitment over many years and as a result has seen primary aged young people develop and grow into career professionals applying skills for life developed in workshops and activities Angus has run or facilitated.

EKFB
EKFB's industry leading outreach programme

As a main works contractor for HS2, EKFB is delivering positive benefits in the communities in which it works, with the proven aspiration of inspiring the younger generation and leaving a lasting legacy well after its civils works are completed.  Along with its supply chain, EKFB is committed to delivering industry-leading social impact that positively contributes to the needs of its communities and the generations of young people who will be inspired to join our exciting industry.

Geotechnics
Bridging gaps and nurturing future talent

Bridging Gaps and Nurturing Future Talent' Geotechnics, a UK-based SME with 100 staff, stands out in addressing the geoscience decline highlighted by Ground Engineering Magazine. Recognising the industry's reliance on passionate geologists, the company actively engages with schools, universities, and industry initiatives to raise awareness of geology, geoscience, and site investigation. Through impactful educational outreach, including workshops and guest lectures, Geotechnics fosters a growing interest in geology among students. Their commitment to inspiring the next generation is evident in STEM event participation, like #BING23. Geotechnics prioritises mentoring, apprenticeships, and an industry-leading graduate scheme, showcasing a comprehensive talent development approach. The company's dedication extends to sponsoring the Early Career Award, now the ""Threadgold Award,"" emphasising their commitment to nurturing the next generation of geotechnical professionals and bridging crucial gaps between education and industry which are essential for the geotechnical industry's sustained success.

Ground & Water
Inspiring future generations towards careers in geoscience, that are required to achieve the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals

Ground & Water exists to build sustainable communities in the UK and beyond, through better ground engineering, essentially, “Better living, engineered”. Our overarching aim is to do ‘business for good’ and help create a better world. The company has been built on deep rooted friendship and trust, spanning 25 years, and so our work ethos mirrors our own values of collaboration, trust, and friendship. We always let our values guide our decisions. Purpose and people over profit. We believe change happens when you become the change you want to see in the world. For us, that has been ensuring as leaders, we look after our team, alongside becoming role models and thought leaders in the industry and create a sustainable and responsible business. Our aim is to inspire the future generations towards all the important careers in geoscience that are required to achieve the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Mott MacDonald
Engineering Maths Classes - Demonstrating the application of maths in real-world engineering problems

Sheffield office’s Schools Engagement Forum was founded in 2021 to coordinate and improve Mott MacDonald’s attendance at schools’ events locally. Attending more careers events, we realised many students don’t know what Engineers do – we often spoke to female students who had written-off careers in STEM, and who thought the construction industry was only for men because it involved being on site in hi-vis, doing muddy, labour-intensive work. We know engineering is so much more than this, so we designed and delivered a series of fun engineering maths classes at Westfield and Mercia school with challenges loosely contextualised to their buildings and surrounding structures. The classes included an introduction to engineering, challenges on retaining walls and piled foundations, and on net zero carbon. Before the lessons, 25% of the girls said STEM jobs were mostly for boys. After the lessons, all agreed that STEM jobs were not by gender. 

Mott MacDonald
Demonstrating social resilience within outreach initiatives

Our team is a ~140 strong, geotechnically based, group of engineers within Mott MacDonald. We are proud of our ground engineering roots and want to share our knowledge and our excitement with the industry and our community. We know that our industry is facing recruitment and retention challenges – and so, we show our passion, our ideas and our techniques to others to:- offer new career direction to the undecided; stimulate a change of career; or just make them want to join our team. Here are just a few of our initiatives – we created ‘Bridges 4 Schools’ and ‘Inspiring Engineers’ and collaborated on an industry award ‘Early Careers Challenge’ and local ‘Ways2Work’ programme.

Story Contracting
Luisa Hendry AKA Scottish Geologist

With gaining 290K followers over the last 8 months across all social media platforms and promoting the subject as much as I can through my work, my commitment; I am now reaching over 3M accounts each month. The passion and enthusiasm I have received is astonishing. I remain committed to engaging with the next generation of geoscientists, both for Story Contracting and out with the workplace. I pro-actively get involved in upskilling, coaching, and developing the graduate engineer’s, moving them forward in their careers as well as promoting and raising awareness of how important engineering geology is within the wider community. I also encourage younger individuals in schools to pursue a career in geology or civil engineering via my more relatable platform.

Structural Soils
Michael Addinall

Michael’s enthusiasm for educating and engaging with young people across such a broad spectrum of ages makes his entry stand out from the crowd. He has provided geology lessons to primary school children as young as seven years old to spark an interest in the subject, has organised work experience at Structural Soils’ head office in Bristol for older GCSE and A-level students to introduce them to the realities of a career in the subject and has hosted student placements to further the education of those already planning a career in the sector. The placements he organised for two MSc students resulted in them joining the company, showing the success of his outreach work. Michael is also early careers officer for the Western Regional Group of the Geological Society, continuing his involvement in promoting the sector to young professionals just starting out in their careers. 

Transport for London
Ben Totterdell

We are in a climate crisis. In the UK to meet societal climate change challenges and deliver green transport infrastructure we require more engineers to join the construction industry with geotechnical skills. Ben is passionate about promoting ground engineering as a rewarding climate facing career option. In addition to his day-to-day role and responsibilities, Ben has instigated outreach opportunities to inspire the next generation both inside and outside his organisation. Ben has seen the value of engaging with a diverse range of people, ages and backgrounds from junior schools, sixth form and university placement students and those looking to become chartered through the Geological Society of London. Ben has taken the initiative to facilitate the involvement of peers and has developed resources and activities using real world TfL examples to introduce ground engineering practices and our role in creating a more sustainable future.