Bentley was a co-sponsor of the University of Maine’s Creative Design at CAD camp, July 6-11, 2008. CAD Camp lets students mix their interest in design and computers with the fun of making new friends, all while enjoying the beauty of the Maine outdoors. All campers learn to use Bentley PowerDraft and MicroStation during the week.
The camp seeks to attract students from populations underrepresented in technical career fields. This year, 33 percent of the campers were girls. The camp is particularly pleased that sponsor support has resulted in the successful outreach to girls to try technical activities through Creative Design at CAD Camp. Nine scholarship recipients received free or reduced lunch. Students from low-income backgrounds are less likely to have educational aspirations that include college and the camp seeks to boost their aspirations. Several campers with disabilities also attended.
CAD Camp knows that young people who have technical hobbies that are supported by their families and that they can enjoy with friends are more likely to enter technical careers than others. One camp goal is to introduce campers to CAD software in a way that encourages them to use it as a hobby. Campers take home copies of Bentley PowerDraft for students, and they can use it a home or at school. Prior campers say that after attending CAD Camp they have been hired for summer positions using their CAD knowledge, or they have decided to complete technical majors such as engineering when they attend college.
In the past seven years CAD Camp has hosted 246 campers; considering repeat campers this represents 206 individuals.
For more information, please visit University of Maine.
What did the campers say about CAD Camp?
"I would like to thank you for donating the money to allow students like us to go to this exciting camp. I personally was interested in CAD because of my fascination with computers. With the help from you, I was able to better realize how much fun this is! Both the outdoor part and the actual CAD part were amazingly fun. They showed us how to make buildings and all sorts of other cool things. Thank you for your help to make this possible." - Eric
"I enjoyed CAD Camp a lot not only because of the computer part, but because I got to meet many new friends that I plan to keep in good touch with. We did lots of activities, like the ropes course, swimming, going to the movies, and boating. The only thing that I would ever change about this camp is to make it longer... Time flies when you are having fun! I am so glad that I got the opportunity to attend this camp, and hope I get to come again. Thank you." - Alexandria
"I really appreciate your sponsorship for CAD Camp. I learned a lot about CAD and had a lot of fun in the activities session. I learned both leadership and communication skills in the activities. All the assistants and counselors were a lot of help and made this camp really both fun and educational. The software I learned will be very useful for me in the future. So far this was the best part of my summer; and thank you very much for helping me get into this camp." - Shashank
"First of all, I want to thank you for donating the money to allow students like us to come to the camp. I really enjoyed CAD Camp! It was so much fun. From the first day to the last, I thought it was not only fun, but educational too. The outdoor activities that we did were awesome. Thank you very much for giving this opportunity to me and other students." - Shavya
"Thank you very much for sponsoring and allowing us this opportunity. I really enjoyed this camp; although I had never used any CAD program, it was not difficult to use and I made some great designs with it. Because the camp was great overall, I am glad I decided to register. Thank you again." - Brandi