NEW DELHI, India – The Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India and Bentley Systems, Incorporated today launched the 2008-2009 Future Cities India 2020 competition finals. Currently in its third year, the competition encourages students to help prepare India’s cities for the year 2020 by providing design solutions to real-world infrastructure challenges. This year’s competition challenge focuses on Indian Railways’ recently announced plans to redevelop 22 of its centuries-old railway stations into world-class facilities. Students must create a conceptual design plan to upgrade the New Delhi Railway station, the first facility on Indian Railways’ redevelopment schedule. The program, which is open to all students attending schools in New Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), is sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Bentley Systems. Additional co-sponsors this year include McGraw-Hill Education and The American Center.
Scott Lofgren, global director of Bentley’s BE Careers Network, said, “Infrastructure sustains our world and serves as the interface between people and our planet. It provides the critically important facilities, services, and installations needed for the functioning of our society and the well-being of its people.
“The people of India know this all too well and face the challenge of improving their infrastructure to help support the country’s booming economy. Meeting this challenge will require many new architects and engineers, which is why Bentley believes it is important to get young people interested in these professions today.”
Lofgren continued, “Future Cities India 2020 engages some of the brightest, most talented young minds of India in infrastructure design projects to encourage them to choose a course of study that leads to a career in one of the architectural, engineering, and construction disciplines. In doing so, this initiative helps sustain the infrastructure professions and, ultimately, will lead to more and better infrastructure for the people of India.”
Each team in the 2008-2009 Future Cities India 2020 competition must address three requirements for designing the conceptual solution:
- Use the existing land and infrastructure to best advantage,
- Accommodate internal access zones, with separate parking zones at Paharganj and Ajmeri Gate terminals,
- Use environmentally responsible materials.
During a preliminary competition held last week, a panel of distinguished judges that included Dr. Purnima Parida of the Central Road Research Institute, Ms. Meenakshi Singh of the National Capital Region Planning Board, Mr. Anuj Maitrey of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited, and Mr. Kapil Mangla of Nirman Architects & Interior Designers, selected the following 15 student teams to participate in the Future Cities India 2020 competition finals: Team 1 KV Tagore Garden, Team 1 Manav Bharti International School, Team 1 Modern School Vasant Vishar, Team 1 APJ School Sheikh Sarai, Team 2 APJ School Sheikh Sarai, Team 1 APJ School SAKET, Team 1 Oxford School, Team 1 Convent of Jesus & Mary School, Team 1 APJ School Noida, Team 1 APJ School Pitampura, Team 1 Vasant Valley School, Team 1 Father Agnel School, Team 1 APJ School Faridabad, Team 1 AIS SEC 43 Gurgaon, and Team 1 AIS Saket.
Winners of the competition finals will be awarded scholarships and trophies, and the teachers and technical professionals who serve as counselors and mentors will receive awards and recognition.
For more information about the Future Cities India 2020 competition, visit www.futurecitiesindia2020.co.in.
About BE Careers Network
BE Careers Network is dedicated to helping students graduate with the technology skills needed for today’s infrastructure professions, including civil engineering and architecture. It accomplishes this by providing programs for students, teachers, and schools, including free and discounted software licenses, training, curriculum counseling, and scholarships. The programs are geared to the needs of students in middle schools, high schools, technical schools, colleges, and universities. For more information about BE Careers Network, visit www.becareers.org.
About McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill Education is a leading global provider of educational materials, information and solutions for the Pre-K through 12th grade, Assessment & Instruction, Higher Education and Professional markets. As an innovator and a global leader in high-quality teaching and learning solutions, McGraw-Hill Education’s mission is to help improve the world’s prospects and provide individuals with vital knowledge to enable them to reach their full potential throughout their lives. For more information about McGraw-Hill Education, visit www.mheducation.com.
About The American Center
The American Center in New Delhi presents a broad range of activities promoting professional, academic, and cultural relations between the people of India and the United States. It represents the American Embassy vis-à-vis the Government of India in official business related to education and culture; provides funding for and administrative support to the bi-national Fulbright Commission, established in 1950 and now known as the U.S. India Educational Foundation (USIEF); supports programs and exchanges that allow Indians and Americans to share ideas and experiences on diverse issues; and maintains the American Library at the Center, which provides timely, reliable and comprehensive information on contemporary American politics and government, economics and trade, foreign affairs and defense, the rule of law, human rights, and the environment.
About the Ministry of Science & Technology’s 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 as listed below: 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 defense, 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); and 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 the DST, visit dst.gov.in.
About Bentley Systems, Incorporated
Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Architects, engineers, constructors, and owner-operators are indispensable in improving our world and our quality of life; the company’s mission is to improve the performance of their projects and of the assets they design, build, and operate. Bentley sustains the infrastructure profession by helping to leverage information technology, learning, best practices, and global collaboration – and by promoting careers devoted to this crucial work.
Founded in 1984, Bentley has more than 2,800 colleagues, offices in more than 50 countries, annual revenues surpassing $500 million, and since 1993, has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions. Nearly 90 percent of the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms are Bentley subscribers, and a 2008 Daratech study ranked Bentley as the world’s #2 provider of geospatial software solutions. For more information about Bentley, visit www.bentley.com.
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Bentley, the “B” Bentley logo, Future Cities India 2020, and BE Careers Network are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.