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The Future Cities India 2020 student design competition awarded top honors to the project designed by students of Manava Bharati India International School, Panchsheel. This year’s challenge centered on Indian Railway’s plans to refurbish the country’s aging railway stations into world-class facilities. Student teams submitted conceptual designs for the rehabilitation of the New Delhi railway station, the first of 22 stations on the redevelopment schedule.
Launched by the Ministry of Science & Technology and Bentley in 2006, Future Cities India 2020 is a partnership among government, universities, and the business community to promote and inspire young students to consider careers in the infrastructure design and engineering professions. It encourages students to use their design skills, along with Bentley’s software, to help prepare India’s cities for the year 2020, when it is estimated that more than 50 percent of India’s citizens will live in the country’s largest cities.
Shri. Kapil Sibal, the Honorable Union Minister for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences, in his message to the participants, said, “We had a number of stunning submissions this year that married provocative design with pragmatic functionality to better serve the city’s burgeoning population. As has been the case for the past two Future Cities competitions, choosing a winner was extremely difficult. In the end, the judges chose Manava Bharati India International School, Panchsheel, and I congratulate the team members. They have shown extreme foresight in their design and have proven that they fully understand the pressing need for more sustainable, high performance infrastructure to improve the lives of our citizens.
“By exposing young minds to engineering and design, we are grooming the next generation of infrastructure professionals, and giving them an opportunity to contribute to society now.”
The 2008-2009 Future Cities India 2020 competition consisted of 15 student teams representing 14 high schools. Teachers and industry mentors guided each team in designing a plan to rehabilitate the New Delhi railway station. Using Bentley software, students designed a world-class railway station to accommodate the country’s growing number of commuters, while keeping in mind the concerns of the surrounding infrastructure and all environmental sustainability issues. A distinguished panel of experts from India’s infrastructure community judged the project presentations based on three requirements: using the existing land and infrastructure to best advantage, accommodating internal access zones, with separate parking zones at Paharganj and Ajmeri Gate terminals, and using environmentally responsible materials.
The winners were awarded scholarships and trophies, and the teachers and technical professionals who served as counselors and mentors also received awards and recognition. Members of the winning team included Harkeerat Singh, Sambit Ghosh, Ujjawal Gupta, and Shwetank Chaudhry. Second place honors went to Amity International, Gurgaon. The innovative designs of the top six teams from the Future Cities India 2020 competition are on display at the Railway Ministry for the next three months, for study and observation.
Scott Lofgren, global director, Be Careers Network, said, “For the third straight year the student participants in the Future Cities India 2020 competition have demonstrated an unwavering desire to remain on task and deliver high-quality projects aimed at sustaining India’s cities. We are delighted to be a part of this wonderful program.”
Commenting on the winning team’s experiences during the five-month competition, team leader Shwetank Chaudhry said, “It is an honor to contribute to the future of our country through this exciting and difficult competition. We met the challenge put before us, but all the students produced great projects so no one team had more of an advantage over the others. This makes winning all the better given the high caliber of our competitors.”
The Ministry of Science & Technology opened the 2008-2009 Future Cities India 2020 design competition to all 11th-grade standard school students from Delhi and the National Capital Region. Bentley, through its Be Careers Network program, provided software products and solutions to the students and trained them, with the assistance of the industry mentors, in their use. For more information about Future Cities India, visit http://www.futurecitiesindia2020.co.in.
Read Frank Conforti’s quick review of the competition on Be Communities. |
The winners of the Future Cities India 2020 2009 competition with their physical model
Overview video
Media Coverage
Zee News (video)
India Education Diary
The Hindu
India Education Diary
Press Information Bureau
NBM&CW (pdf)
CE&CR (pdf)
Architecture & Design (pdf)
TOI Education Times (pdf)
Hindu FCI (pdf)
Education World (pdf)
Asian Age (pdf)
Geospatial Today (pdf)
Additional Links
Be Communities Blog
Future Cities India 2020 official site
2008 Media Coverage - DD News (video) |