Will Showcase Innovative Infrastructure Design Solutions for Commonwealth Games 2010 Project Site

“This year’s wonderful exhibition of Future Cities India 2020 project designs not only highlights the talent of our student participants, but also shows the effort put forth by their dedicated teachers and technical mentors,” said Shri.  Kapil Sibal, the honorable minister for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences.  “We continue to expand the program to encompass an ever-wider range of students, who are the future of India and will potentially be served by the very ideas they create for this competition.”

Bhupinder Singh, senior vice president, Bentley Software, said, “Hosting the Commonwealth Games is an added boon to India’s rapidly growing economy.  But how the infrastructure is repurposed when the games are over is a critically important question faced by virtually every city that has ever held an international event of this scope.

“This year’s Future Cities India 2020 program is special because it puts that question’s answer in the hands of India’s creative young minds and involves the community at large.  The exhibition featuring their innovative ideas to this very real challenge is something everyone in Delhi and the surrounding region will find fascinating.  The designs are not only imaginative, but also reveal an amazingly in-depth understanding of the complexities that typically must be addressed in these types of infrastructure projects.”

The 2007-2008 design competition, which is sponsored by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Bentley, includes teams of 11th-grade high school students from Delhi and the National Capital Region.  Guided by teachers and industry mentors, the teams were asked to conceptualize a plan to redevelop the international zone of the Commonwealth Games 2010, which will consist of temporary structures that will be dismantled at the conclusion of the Games.  Using Bentley software, provided through Bentley’s BE Careers Network program, the teams had to consider in their designs the impact on the neighboring residential community and environmental concerns.

Judges in the competition will base their decisions on five criteria: project design solution report, computer model, expenditure summary report, physical model, and team presentation.  Winners will be awarded scholarships and trophies, and the teachers and technical professionals who served as counselors and mentors will also receive awards and recognition.

Admission to the student projects exhibition at the American Centre is free.

About the Ministry of Science & Technology, DST

The Department of Science & Technology (DST) was established in May 1971, with the objective of promoting new areas of Science & Technology (S&T) and to play the role of a nodal department for organizing, coordinating and promoting S&T activities in the country.  The DST has major responsibilities for specific projects and programs, including: formulation of policy statements and guidelines on science and technology and coordination of areas of science and technology, in which a number of institutions and departments have interests and capabilities; support of basic and applied research in national institutions throughout the country and provision of minimum infrastructural facilities for testing and instrumentation; support of critical technology programs; support of autonomous research institutions, whose specialization ranges from advanced medical research materials to astronomy; fostering international cooperation and establishment of special joint centers/projects; support socially oriented S&T interventions in rural areas for weaker sections; support knowledge-based and innovation-driven entrepreneurship development to create self-employment opportunities; popularization of science and technology; providing scientific services in terms of surveying and maps for defence, external affairs, state governments and several other developmental agencies through Survey of India (SOI) and National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization (NATMO); providing meteorological services for agriculture, water resources management, disaster warning, and civil aviation, as well as providing seismicity data through India Meteorological Department (IMD); Management of Information Systems for Science and Technology and Natural Resources Data Management Systems (NRDMS).  The present program was initiated by NRDMS, which has a mandate of developing spatial infrastructure, GIS, and natural resources data collection for social and economic development.  NRDMS, in its initiative to harness young minds’ creative skills to address local issues by way of design, interaction, communication and spreading awareness, developed the Future Cities India 2020 program in India in collaboration with Bentley.  For more information about Ministry of Science & Technology, Department of Science & Technology visit http://dst.gov.in.

About BE Careers Network

The mission of BE Careers Network is to help students graduate with market-ready technology skills.  It provides programs for students, teachers, and schools, including free and discounted software licenses, training, curriculum counseling, and scholarships.  For more information about BE Careers Network, including its many competitions and scholarship opportunities, go to www.becareers.org/competitions.

About Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world’s infrastructure.  The company’s comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations.  With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world’s No.  2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a Daratech research study.

www.bentley.com