CADDManager Journal: For the unfamiliar, what exactly is STEM and why is it so vital?

Greg Bentley: The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) movement is a collaborative activity by business, industry, government, and nonprofits to promote STEM-oriented curricula and outreach programs in today’s classrooms. A 21^st century workforce requires the knowledge and skills associated with these more demanding areas of study to fill the growing demand for more technologists and engineers of all disciplines, including the many that comprise the infrastructure professions. This technically trained talent is the key to driving long-term economic growth by, for example, improving and sustaining the infrastructure needed to support the housing, transportation, water distribution, communications, and many other service requirements of modern societies.

STEM-based curricula also serve the individual career development requirements of our young people. It affords them better and more fulfilling occupations that provide a higher degree of job security, particularly during economic downturns.

CMJ: How has the STEM focus impacted our educational progress in these areas?

GB: Schools in the United States face a crucial challenge in improving STEM education, especially for K-12 students. There is growing awareness that STEM learning is important not just for our country’s ongoing economic strength, but also for global health and safety, as well as the ongoing sustainability of our environment. Improving the STEM focus, especially in the K-12 student, builds a stronger correlation to success in post-secondary engineering endeavors. In a statement issued by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the release early this year of the National Assessment of Education Progress report he warned that our nation’s students aren’t learning at a rate that will maintain America’s role as an international leader in the sciences. He said that, based on this “science report card,” the next generation will not be ready to be world-class inventors, doctors, and engineers.

Developing STEM literacy requires lasting commitment from government, educators, business leaders, and, ultimately, each of us. We are finding new ways for private, public and nonprofit agencies to better work together to develop programs and initiatives that engage, inspire, and educate young people in math and science. And with many initiatives under way, researchers are now able to study successful STEM-focused schools, as well as effective STEM education practices. Therefore, going forward we can promote best-practices and proven solutions to help create the most effective STEM education possible.

CMJ: What has Bentley done to assist in the STEM efforts?

GB: Bentley’s mission is to provide innovative software and services for the enterprises and professionals who design, build, and operate the world’s infrastructure—sustaining the global economy and environment for improved quality of life. Crucial to this mission is a commitment to helping develop, and, indeed, sustain the talented and multidisciplinary workforce of professionals charged with sustaining our world’s infrastructure. This can only be accomplished by attracting more students to the study of math and sciences, leading to greater interest in pursuing careers in engineering and technology. A number of our initiatives at Bentley are dedicated to this worthy endeavor.

The Bentley colleague STEM grant program enables each Bentley colleague to “earmark” grants – one per calendar year – to help support STEM programs in schools, nonprofit organizations, and nongovernmental organizations. Since the program’s inception in 2008, more than 1,500 STEM grants, each totaling $250 (or other country equivalent), have been directed by Bentley colleagues to enhance students’ involvement in STEM-related learning activities. These awards have gone to providing lab and science equipment, supporting robotics competitions, enabling students to attend science camp, and much more.

We also encourage students to explore the infrastructure professions through a Bentley Systems’-hosted program called Techies Day. Students from surrounding high schools visit our corporate headquarters in Exton, Pa., where they learn about potential areas of study and career opportunities. This year was our third annual Techies Day, and students were able to learn about 3D computing in engineering, what it takes to support a company’s IT needs, as well as what’s involved in designing, creating, and supporting software for infrastructure professionals.

In addition, Bentley is a long-time sponsor of the National Engineers Week Future City Competition, an annual engineering outreach program in which sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders from across the U.S. work in teams to design cities of the future. Each school team is supported by a teacher and an engineer-mentor. Through this problem-solving process students are able to experience firsthand what it is that engineers do: research, analysis, innovative thinking, and team collaboration.

The students create their vision of the city of tomorrow first on computers and then as large 3D models. They then write detailed narratives outlining the key features of their respective city, and a research essay on the real-world engineering challenge it addresses. By offering an opportunity to explore real issues, programs like this actively engage students, increasing their interest in science and math, and introducing them to the field of engineering. Helping young people discover what the field has to offer is a critical step in ensuring that the engineering professions continue to thrive in the years ahead.

CMJ: Please tell me a little history about National Engineers Week Future City Competition and how Bentley got involved.

GB: The Future City Competition is now in its 20th year, and Bentley has been involved since 1995, with the first Philadelphia regional competition. Since then, Bentley has continued and expanded its support of this great program, both at the regional and national levels, financially, and through the volunteer efforts of our colleagues who serve as mentors and judges for the competition. It also is our privilege to host the National Finals, and to sponsor the National Finals Grand Prize winners with a trip to the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala.

CMJ: How can a student or family get more involved with STEM or the competition?

GB: Anyone can become involved with STEM by contacting his or her school for in-school programs and outreach activities. They can get involved with the Future City Competition by visiting the website at www.futurecity.org.

CMJ: What has your involvement taught you about future generations and their focus on technology?

Our participation in these wonderful programs has taught us that sharing real-life work experiences with students inspire them to take on and excel in the more challenging subjects that are crucially needed to sustain our society, environment, and economy. Once their curiosity is engaged, it continues to increase at an exponential rate, and the Future City Competition bears this out. I can say, most sincerely, that one of my favorite events of the year is the National Finals in Washington. Watching the presentations of these incredibly bright and enthusiastic young people is a remarkable experience that always leaves me encouraged about our nation’s future.

CM: What lessons have you learned from your personal involvement that has impacted you?

GB: Mentoring can make a huge difference in a child’s life. I know this is the case through my own involvement as a Big Brother with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Through this rewarding experience, I am convinced that mentoring is of key importance to inspiring our next generation of infrastructure professionals. To further promote mentoring at Bentley, we have started the Be Mentors initiative, which is designed to support mentorship in STEM areas by both individuals and corporations.

The Be Mentors program provides assistance and resources for STEM mentors, and is open to all interested persons and organizations. The initial phase of Be Mentors is aimed at supporting the Future City Competition mentors in 2011-2012. From here we will expand support for ACE Mentors, SMART Competition, MATHCOUNTS, the National Academy of Engineers Grand Challenge, and other STEM-related programs in growing capacities, focusing on the value of the mentor in the learning process.

As I mentioned earlier, many of our Bentley colleagues currently volunteer as mentors, both for the Future City Competition and other STEM-related programs such as robotics and solar car competitions. Through the Be Mentors program, these colleagues will, in turn, support others in learning to inspire and encourage students in science, technology, engineering, and math.

You can learn more about our Be Mentors program at www.bentley.com/bementors.

CMJ: What other areas or programs has Bentley embraced in education? Software donations? Training? Partnerships with educational institutions?

GB: Many of the programs and initiatives that we embrace are in the form of mentorships, donations, and financial support. Examples include software donations to: Engineers Without Borders; AASHTO’s high school outreach program, TRAC; ACE Mentor; and the soon-to-be-launched “SMART Competition.”

At the university level, Bentley just recently awarded a research grant to the Society of Fire Protection Engineers Scientific and Educational Foundation named in memory of FDNY Assistant Chief Donald Burns. Chief Burns died in the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001, while setting up his command post to direct the evacuation. Through our partnership with SFPE, Bentley is awarding $25,000 annually in grant funds over a period of five years. Each grant will fund one or more baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate student global research projects that apply information modeling to improving emergency responder safety when training for, responding to, and operating during building emergencies.

Bentley’s Be Careers Network is dedicated to helping students graduate with the technology skills needed to start careers as infrastructure professionals in the architecture, engineering, geospatial, and construction fields. It does this by providing programs for students, faculty, and schools, including comprehensive and cost-effective software (for school labs and each student’s home computer and textbooks covering the full range of infrastructure disciplines; blended learning encompassing OnDemand eLearning available 24 X 7, product videos, and eSeminars, as well as curricula for educators; the tracking of student progress; professional networking and development through the Be Communities professional networking website; and academic competitions, such as the Student Design Competition, offering awards and scholarships. Just recently, we deployed STUDENTserver, a web based application where students and faculty can download software, enroll in training, or gain access to our Be Communities server with one single login. Be Careers is geared to the needs of students in universities, colleges, high schools, and technical schools. In addition, a special Be Employable initiative launched early in 2009 makes software and training available at no charge to outplaced infrastructure professionals.

CMJ:  Where can someone go to get more information or get involved?

GB: For additional information about the National Engineers Week Future City Competition, your readers can visit www.futurecity.org. For additional information about (or to join) our Be Mentors initiative, they can—and I would encourage them to—visit www.bentley.com/bementors. For additional information about our Be Careers Network, they can visit www.becareers.org.

The Mid Continent MicroStation Community is hosting an event.

Summer Conference
Overland Park, Kansas
August 25-26, 2009
Registration is now open!

Here are just a few reasons to attend this year’s conference:
• Interesting and informative sessions on MicroStation,
• The latest information on the current MicroStation, GEOPAK and InRoads releases
• Building Information Modeling (BIM), one of the hottest topics in architecture and engineering, continues to be a featured track
• User sessions by local and national firms
• Structural Analysis solutions (RAM, STAAD, LEAP, and others) in a dedicated track
• CAD Management tracks, as well as Plotting, Publishing, and Collaboration
• Hands on Workshops using MicroStation and Discipline specific Tools
• The ever-popular giveaway games and “Jeopardy”
• Visit our various exhibitors and browse their offerings
• The ability to network with your peers
• Earn Continuing Education Credits

View the sessions at a glance:
http://www.tmcmcmc.org/meetings/2009/sessions_2009.pdf

Register:
Register at http://www.tmcmcmc.org/modules/confreg/

Free CAD Managers Forum Event:

EatyourCAD (EYC) is holding the first US CAD Managers Forum event at HNTB’s offices in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday August 24th from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm. The focus of this round-table, open discussion session will be looking at the developing role of the CAD Manager, with emphasis on the current recession. We will be looking at how BIM is impacting our daily jobs, and how to approach implementation. We will be discussing the expense of training and how we can make the most of what is available to maximize benefits and how CAD Management should support our company’s business aims. Demonstrating success, and justifying the role of CAD Management can be difficult, but it is essential to the long-term success of the CAD Manager’s role. The afternoon sessions are for exchanging ways of managing your priorities, planning projects and monitoring your performance.

Here you go…

How do you think CAD technology will impact the nation’s infrastructure in 2009? How is Bentley poised to provide this?

Information modeling will still be the means used to design our nation’s infrastructure in 2009, much as it was in 2008. At Bentley, however, we believe that this technology can do a lot more in 2009, thanks to V8i. The result will be better-performing projects, delivering better-performing assets, while consuming the fewest nonrenewable resources.

So, for instance, the V8i products that make up Bentley’s buildings solution will enable designers to use applications not just to draft buildings, but to design the site with civil engineering software, analyze its energy performance and structural integrity, and perform construction scheduling without leaving the V8i environment. This, of course, contributes greatly to better-performing infrastructure.

The V8i portfolio also supports integrated project delivery, in which the deliverable is much more than paper drawings. Information created during the planning and design phases is reused throughout the project and during the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure. A stumbling block to this reuse of data has been that various disciplines in the project lifecycle require data in different formats, scoping, and level of detail. The interoperability platform in V8i lets practitioners of each discipline persist, share, and visualize infrastructure asset data in a common way leading to better-performing projects.

Many of us have been using CAD tools for quite some time. What are the core capabilities of Microstation V8i for your users?

Our comprehensive V8i software portfolio offers infrastructure professionals streamlined workflows among multiple disciplines and across project teams. It provides software products for all of the solution communities Bentley serves, including roads, bridges, rail and transit, campuses, factories, buildings, power generation, mining and metals, oil and gas, water and wastewater, electric and gas utilities, communications, and cadastre and land development. As a result, V8i features the breadth and depth of technology needed for fully integrated project delivery throughout the infrastructure lifecycle.

V8i delivers the most comprehensive suite of software products ever assembled in a single release. It does this by leveraging and extending core capabilities that are available to all of the applications in the portfolio. V8i gives users choices that address the many challenges faced by professionals from multiple disciplines working on a wide range of infrastructure projects.

The core capabilities include intuitive design modeling, which lets users seamlessly transition from conceptual modeling and visualization to fully complete architectural and engineering models in a single environment. Conceptual tools make it easier to intuitively sculpt solids and surfaces. Generative tools make it easier to iterate through many design alternatives.

Through the flexibility of this powerful toolset, infrastructure professionals can explore and embrace innovations in a more timely fashion to improve the performance of the projects and assets their teams deliver.

Additionally, our new Luxology rendering engine incorporated in the MicroStation product and all MicroStation-based applications provides near-real-time rendering in the design application. This saves time and improves the quality of rendered images for stakeholder review and buy-in.

V8i also includes dynamic views that make working in 3D much more interactive and more informative. With interactive dynamic views, V8i leapfrogs current approaches to solving the problem of drawing coordination. It does this by actively supporting the workflows of distributed multidisciplinary teams all working on the same project to deliver concurrent integrated documentation packages.

But V8i goes one step further by helping users simplify the 3D model creation process. Using something called “display sets,” V8i users can easily change the way different parts of the same 3D model are displayed in the same working view to interactively visualize and resymbolize 2D and 3D designs in real time. This means that teams can quickly improve the quality of integrated documentation packages and reduce the time spent creating 3D models and preparing and coordinating 2D documentation.

V8i’s intrinsic geo-coordination capability lets users coordinate information spatially from many sources using common coordinate systems. Users can locate files spatially with real-world context in ProjectWise for content management or in Google Earth for visual review.

By using V8i, infrastructure teams save time coordinating information from many sources, improve the quality and reliability of information leveraged by other practitioners, and reduce the risk of errors on site arising from poorly coordinated data.

V8i’s incredible project performance lets users work faster and collaborate more effectively to make the process of work sharing across multiple, distributed offices easy and efficient, even for the world’s largest infrastructure projects.

With Delta File Transfer (DFT), V8i solves the “big file” problem that traditionally slows productivity across distributed project teams. Transferring only changes to files, DFT makes ProjectWise V8i the killer app for project team collaboration – with 10x performance gains being the norm for average file sizes.

And with full read/write integration between ProjectWise V8i and Microsoft SharePoint, any project team member can quickly find project information stored in many different systems using a single web browser interface.

Lastly, the V8i software portfolio includes an interoperability platform to persist, share, and visualize infrastructure asset data in a common way. This enables practitioners to reuse project and asset information throughout the infrastructure lifecycle while reducing data translation costs, limiting project rework, and creating better-performing assets.

What’s Left for 2008: Bentley Reveals All (Almost)

By Rita Stange, ConnectPress Senior Editor

In this morning’s welcome ceremony Bentley Chief Marketing Officer Edward Mueller announced that this year’s BE Conference here in Baltimore, Maryland soared with over 2,000 registrations representing 50 different countries. In addition there were more than 70 journalists, 179 industry speakers and 26 exhibitors.

The full story

Live From Baltimore: BE Conference Welcome Reception

By Rita Stange, ConnectPress Senior Editor

The streets of Baltimore were flooded with baseball fans and hot dog vendors as I made my way to the convention center to attend the Bentley Systems welcome reception at the Baltimore Convention Center here in Maryland. Right across the street is the Camden Yards stadium where the Baltimore Orioles played the New York Yankees.

The full story

Bentley Acquires Common Point to Mainstream Construction Simulation

Acquisition Will Enable Bentley to Accelerate Integrated Project Delivery for Infrastructure Projects by Closing Gaps Between Design, Construction, and Operations

BALTIMORE – BE Conference 2008 – May 28, 2008 – Bentley Systems, Incorporated today announced that it has acquired the global business of Common Point, Incorporated, the pioneer and market leader in software products for construction simulation (ConstructSim) and operations simulation (OpSim). ConstructSim has become widely established in plant projects, has been successfully deployed on building projects, and, along with OpSim, can also be applied in civil infrastructure projects. The integration of Common Point’s technology with Bentley’s ProjectWise Navigator platform and comprehensive portfolio of applications and collaboration servers will enable Bentley to accelerate integrated project delivery for infrastructure projects by closing gaps between design, construction, and operations.

See the full press release.

WOW – The impressive list of software offerings from Bentley continues to grow. Take a look at the list. Gee – I remember when it was only Microstation PC.

It is the Microstation Connections web site. There is a lot here for the Ustn user.  A free membership sign up may be required.

The conference comes to a close and ti was quite a training event. Learning everywhere you turn. The Platform Team did the Wednesday keynotes and discussed the two platforms that the firm was focused on: Microstation and ProjectWise.

ProjectWise includes Navigator, StartPoint and InterPlot. Navigator is their visual collaboration tool with clash detection, animations and rendering farm controls. Startpoint is their integration with MS SharePoint, which allows you to open reference files from a remote site. IPlot server is the plotting tool and they also have an Integration Server that allows for project setup via Wizards, template creation and use and interoperability with CRM tools for pulling data.

They also discussed the next release of Microstation (code named Athens). They are adding SketchUp like conceptual design tools, Dynamic Views, Distributed Projects and Geo-Coordination.

All in all it was a good event. Presenting and discussing opening the tools and future plans that Bentley is developing.

First I heard from the Bentley BIM team on how BIM is changing the industry and how we can all tap into this movement or get left behind. Client demands and competition among architects to gain a leg up have impacted us.

Then it was on to some training in Bentley Architecture.

Paul Wagner did a very good job on some basic hands on lab training. He covered Space Planning, Design Development (walls, doors, windows) Reporting and Schedules and finally plotting. Ron Tate was covering the updates to Microstation V8 XM.

I then wandered over to the Bentley LEARN Cafe. Here I was able to sign up for free online training that extends beyond the event. This training is self paced and delivered via the web from Bentley.

Here are the winners for the Building Division for the Bentley BE Award:

• BIM for Architecture: Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners Ltd
  ]]> http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/05/be-conference-day-three/feed/ 0 http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/04/bentley-be-conference-day-two/ http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/04/bentley-be-conference-day-two/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2007 23:46:00 +0000 CADDManager http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/04/30/bentley-be-conference-day-two/ Wow – what a day!

  Half of the day was taken up by Keynote addresses. A parade of Bentley folks speaking to the issues of the day and the plans for tomorrow.

  First up – Malcolm Walters – COO

  He mentioned that there were over 2000 in attendance and that the whole event was about learning. In fact there were over 30,000 learning credits being offered at the event. This is a combination of AIA units, Bentley units and more.

  Five big screens up front and four in the middle of the room made the event easy to follow. There were some times that got a little dry and the presenter turned into a teleprompter reader, but overall it was a collection of good presentations.

  The few dry spots were more than made up for in content. Greg Bentley, CEO showered the room with an overload of project examples of successes with the tools. Showcase after showcase of effective firms using Bentley tools.

  One item that I was just hearing about is the Bentley Careers site at www.becareers.org. Free software for educational institutions at all levels. Free books and more. It is amazing how CAD and BIM tools are being introduced to High Schools and Middle Schools and pushing even earlier in the students experience. Exciting stuff.

  Other items mentioned included:

  On-Demand E-Learning
  New Passport licensing model
  IFC Certifications
  ProjectWise Online – Hosted ProjectWise sites

  One thing that was mentioned by Bhupinder Singh, SVP of Bentley Software, was the online “Compatibility Zone” tool – where you can go and select your tool or task and see what Bentley tools can interoperate or produce your output.

  Of note was a short discussion of how stable the file format has been since Microstation V5 until now. I know many firms that are using SE, J, V8 and more – all on the same files.

  And lastly – Buddy Cleveland, SVP of Applied Research, reinforced the Bentley dedication to researching new tools and technology.

  The BE Awards dinner is tonight – more info on the outcome tomorrow.

  I ran in to Shawn Foster of HNTB – We connected at the AIA LFRT CIO event in Kansas City a few months back. He presented on Sunday related to Microstation topics. It was good to see him.

  ]]> http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/04/bentley-be-conference-day-two/feed/ 0 http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/04/bentley-be-conference-in-la-day-one/ http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/04/bentley-be-conference-in-la-day-one/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:03:00 +0000 CADDManager http://www.caddmanager.com/CMB/2007/04/29/bentley-be-conference-in-la-day-one/ Day One of the Bentley conference comes to a close. There were many classes to choose from today and many ways to get more info.

  Bentley Architecture for Users Part I
  Bentley Architecture for Users Part II
  Well managed information in distributed teams – for CAD Managers
  BIM Based Integrated Practice
  The ProjectWise Experience

  Much more expected tomorrow – but what a great start!

  The exhibit hall opened and the welcome reception went well.

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