PRDW

About PRDW

PRDW is an international consulting engineering firm that works only in port and coastal engineering. The company began in Cape Town in 1992. Today it has more than 160 employees and offices in seven countries across four continents. Its head offices are in Cape Town and Santiago, Chile, with further offices in Perth, Seattle, Vitoria, Panama City and London.

The firm has worked on projects in over 40 countries. Its services include port planning, breakwaters and quay walls, dredging and land reclamation, energy-sector projects, and marine intakes and outfalls. Its team mixes civil, coastal, hydraulic, structural and geotechnical engineers with oceanographers and cost estimators.

How PRDW supports students

Port and coastal engineering is a small and highly technical field, so skilled graduates are hard to find. PRDW therefore funds a South African bursary programme to build a pipeline of talent. Awards go to a limited number of students who are already well into their degrees and need financial help to continue.

Recent calls covered BSc or BEng degrees in civil, mechanical and mechatronics engineering. Applicants had to be South African citizens or permanent residents studying full time at an accredited South African university. They also needed to have finished at least their third year and kept an overall average of 65%.

Vacation work is part of the deal. Bursary holders spend university breaks working at PRDW, which gives them practical experience of specialist projects before they graduate. As a result, students see how coastal and port designs move from early studies to construction supervision.

What to know before applying

Because holders must complete vacation work, PRDW expects you to live within reasonable reach of Cape Town during the breaks. Candidates should also be ready to show strong academic results, since the bar is set at 65%.

Closing dates, fields and requirements change from year to year. The firm publishes a bursary application form on its careers pages, and a recent call closed in late August. Always read the latest call on the official PRDW website, and make sure your application is complete before the deadline.

It also helps to know what the work looks like. PRDW designs structures such as breakwaters and quay walls that must survive waves, tides and heavy ship traffic. Engineers there use physical and computer modelling to test designs before anything is built. If that mix of hydraulics, structures and the sea interests you, a PRDW bursary is a good way to get close to it. Write your application carefully, show your marks clearly and explain why you want a career in port and coastal engineering. In addition, keep your results transcript up to date for the review.