Infrastructure engineering software company Bentley Systems, Inc. has launched the Bentley Education program, which encourages the development of future infrastructure professionals for careers in engineering, design and architecture. Student and educator entitlements allow no-cost learning licenses for Bentley infrastructure engineering applications and proven learnings through the portal.
Open to students and educators at community colleges, technical institutes, polytechnics, universities, secondary schools and homeschooled students, the Education program is designed to create world-class talent that can rise to the challenge of improving quality of life and positively changing the world using Bentley infrastructure engineering software, applications and proven learnings. The program will also help students develop the digital skills that are critical for a qualified talent pipeline to support infrastructure growth and resilience worldwide.
The program uses a role-based learning approach that allows users to focus on specific capabilities needed for specific professions. Students can go beyond mere product proficiency and develop a comprehensive understanding of skillsets required to excel in various roles in infrastructure engineering.
“With many nations and institutions committing to infrastructure and digital education initiatives as top priorities for a post-pandemic world, we are excited to launch this much-requested and responsive program now,” said Katriona Lord-Levins, chief success officer, Bentley Systems. “We want to inspire and encourage students to learn about infrastructure engineering as a possible career path, and to introduce these young minds to the vast opportunities that lie ahead, with infrastructure going digital.”
The Education program includes full access to learning licenses of over 40 of Bentley’s most popular applications, including ContextCapture, MicroStation, OpenRoads Designer, STAAD.Pro and SYNCHRO. Students and educators using the portal will have access to comprehensive resources, including:
- insights from leading AEC professionals sharing what the industry has to offer students and what skills are in high demand;
- the latest news and emerging trends in architecture, engineering and construction;
- and firsthand perspective of current engineering students, mentors and women in infrastructure engineering.
The Bentley Education program is initially available in the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Ireland, and Lithuania, with plans to expand to the United States, Canada, Mexico, Latin America and India by mid-summer. The portal can be accessed via https://education.bentley.com.
A Star is Born
In addition to the Education program, the portal will also serve as a gateway for Bentley’s Future Infrastructure Star Challenge 2021, a global competition for individual students or teams of two to submit innovative infrastructure concepts that can improve quality of life. The challenge is open to students from community colleges, polytechnics institutes and universities.
The inaugural Future Infrastructure Star Challenge is divided into Stage 1 (Conceptualization) and Stage 2 (Design and Visualization). In Stage 1, students are invited to submit their ideas for “a next big infrastructure project” in any of the following categories:
- road and rail
- building and facilities
- water and wastewater
- cities and mapping
- power generation
While conceptualizing their idea, students should focus on an environmental challenge that affects or is affected by infrastructure development, consider applying the Internet of Things (IoT) and emphasize the project’s contribution to the world’s health and welfare.
The top 20 judged projects from Stage 1 will each win $500 USD, with the top 10 projects moving on to Stage 2. Here, each such entry may take advantage of opportunities to work with infrastructure professionals and/or to attend masterclasses with Bentley experts to bring their ideas to life using Bentley applications. Students advancing in the challenge will work on modeling, simulation and visualization to develop a design model.
The winner of the Future Infrastructure Star Challenge will be announced during the Going Digital Awards at the Year in Infrastructure 2021 Conference. In addition, the winner will receive a cash prize of $5,000 USD and recognition in Bentley’s 2021 Infrastructure Yearbook.
“We want to make the Bentley Education portal the place where students can go to learn about and become inspired to make infrastructure engineering their career choice. The goal of the program is to help students who are passionate about infrastructure to get a jump-start on a fulfilling career," said Vinayak Trivedi, vice president of Bentley Education. "The Future Infrastructure Star Challenge 2021 provides an opportunity for them to be creative and innovative in project designs for improving the quality of life and positively changing the world.”
Information provided by Bentley Systems, Inc. and edited by Becky Schultz.
