He Tohu Pūpū Seismic Design Competition

This competition sees teams of young engineers  - undergraduates, postgraduates, and/or early-career practitioners  - design and build a small-scale earthquake-resistant building that is tested on a shake table during the conference.

You can view the 2026 competition rules HERE.

Requirements for participants include:

Teams will have an opportunity at the breakfast session held on the morning of the competition to present their model 3-5 minutes. This is a chance to pitch the architectural and innovative aspects of the design to score more points.

The first placed team will win a cash prize to be shared amongst team members, plus one year of complimentary membership to NZSEE for each team member. Further details to follow.

To sign up your team, please provide all team names and affiliations by email to Natalie Morrison (natalie.morrison@holmesgroup.com). Queries may also be sent to this address.

We look forward to hearing from this year’s passionate young engineers,

He Tohu Pūpū Seismic Design Competition Committee 2026