Shaping Tomorrow:
BCD’s NextGen Land Development Challenge

Win $2,500 in prizes + practical experience on a real-world land development brief.

What Is the Challenge?

“Shaping Tomorrow” is a 6‑week team-based land development challenge designed for University of Waikato students who want to apply their engineering, geology, or planning skills in a real-world context.

Your team will act as the consulting group for a real parcel of land.
The Challenge: Produce one viable land development option that could be presented to a client.

We will give you:

A site brief
Supporting data
A BCD mentor
Access to industry professionals
Clear deliverables & judging criteria

Who Can Enter:

This challenge is open to Waikato Uni 2nd and 3rd year students studying:

Civil Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
Earth Sciences / Geology
Planning

Teams must have 4 members to compete.

What You'll Gain:

Real-life project experience
Exposure to industry-level problem solving
Feedback from BCD engineers and planners
A standout CV project
Connections with BCD mentors and potential future employer

The Prize (Per Person)

$2,000 scholarship toward 2027 fees
$500 cash
Optional Day in the Life experience or career mentoring

The winning team will be announced at the Waikato University Engineering Roadshow 2026.

Key Dates

Team entries close: 5pm, Friday 19 June 2026
Challenge briefing: Thursday 9 July 2026, 6pm at BCD Office
Challenge starts: 13 July 2026
Submissions due: 5pm, Friday 21 August 2026

What You’ll Deliver

Your submission must include:

Considerations of cultural impact
Iwi engagement approach
Contamination & geological constraints
Water availability
Considerations of economic/social impact
Consenting pathway
District Plan Rules Assessment
Preliminary constructability and cost considerations

Judging Criteria

A panel of engineers and planners from BCD will review submissions based on:

Creativity & innovation
Understanding of engineering/planning principles
Accuracy of calculations
Feasibility & viability
Clarity of communication

About BCD Group Hamilton

We are a multi-disciplinary consultancy that provides services across Surveying, Planning, Draughting, Environmental, Geotechnical, Civil, Traffic & Transport, Structural, and Fire Engineering.

As a result of our service offerings expanding over the last few years many of our projects are multi-disciplinary in nature. We believe this, coupled with the solutions-focused mindset that we offer our clients gives us our competitive edge in the market and creates unparalleled career opportunities for our team.

Our loyal client base covers a wide range of public and private sector clients throughout New Zealand. We have built up an impressive portfolio of work over the last 10+ years that has seen our capabilities grow to cover commercial, residential, hospitality, education, sport and recreation, cultural and community, industrial and manufacturing, heritage, retail, health and project management projects providing a wide learning scope to our people.

Round the Bridges | Hamilton 2023
GMV Corporate Challenge | Cambridge, May 2024
Hamilton Office Christmas Shirt Day 2025
Hamilton Corporate Rowing, 2024
Tongariro Crossing | November 2025
Hamilton Office Mobility Session
2025 BCD Conference Dinner

Win $2,500 in prizes + practical experience on a real-world land development brief.

BCD Company Events

It should come as no surprise that bringing our whole team together when we can is pretty important to us. To keep things interesting each year we alternate between a company conference, aimed at providing professional development. And an event known to us as BCD Games, aimed at providing team bonding experiences.

We captured BCD Conference 2025 and summarised it into this short video.

OUR VALUES

We are committed to fostering a culture of positive team work that is built on respect, trust, loyalty and enjoyment. We support each other’s professional and personal achievements and celebrate all of our successes. We don’t tolerate jerks.
We are committed to empowering our team through supporting them in their development by delegating challenging tasks that they can learn and grow from. We encourage an entrepreneurial spirit that inspires our employees.
We are committed to providing our clients with the best possible advice, service and solutions that add value and deliver quality.
We are committed to continually pushing ourselves to keep learning, evolving and upskilling so we are all respected and trusted advisors in our own fields.
We are committed to taking ownership and being leaders who always pursue the solutions to a problem.
We are committed to being market leaders and identifying new and better ways of doing things that are innovative, cutting edge and provide better value.
We are committed to being real and true to our word by having integrity and being accountable for our own actions and outcomes.