AEC TECH NEWS: Bentley Systems Scarponcini receives 2016 INCITS Merit Award

Exton, Pa. — Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced that Paul Scarponcini, P.E., Ph.D., Bentley senior information architect, geospatial and civil software standards, was presented with a 2016 InterNational Committee for Information Technology Standards (INCITS) Merit Award. The award was given in recognition of Scarponcini’s numerous contributions to the INCITS/DM32.2 database standards community — including his important work on the SQL/MM Spatial standard.

Dr. Donald R. Deutsch, vice president, chief standards officer, Oracle, and chair of the INCITS DM32.2 database standards committee, said, “On behalf of the entire committee I want to congratulate Paul on being distinguished for his long-standing commitment to and support of our standards work. His award recognizes, in particular, his substantial contributions to the successful development and publication of the SQL/MM Spatial standard. I am certain that without his involvement, SQL/MM Spatial would never have happened!”

Lynn Barra, director, Standards Operations, INCITS, said, “Paul has served for more than 20 years as a major technical contributor, participant, and editor to the committee, as well as to the international mirror group ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 32 WG4, on SQL/Multimedia and application packages. He took the leadership role in harmonizing the SQL Spatial standard with both ISO TC211 and OGC, resulting in a common solution for all three standards bodies. His comprehensive knowledge of the subject matter is unparalleled.”

Commenting on his award, Scarponcini said, “I want to thank the INCITS organization for this tremendous honor, as well as for its crucial accomplishments as a leader in the standards development community. I also want to acknowledge the important contributions of all of the standards-developing organizations around the world with whom I’ve had the pleasure of working over the past 20 years. The award is also a recognition of Bentley Systems’ corporate commitment to advancing interoperability. I want to thank Bentley Systems for encouraging my participation in these efforts.”

Keith Bentley, founder and chief technology officer, Bentley Systems, said, “On behalf of our organization, I congratulate Paul on this deserved recognition. International standards work is intellectually demanding and requires conscientious attention to detail as well as sensitivity and willingness to learn about broader perspectives on other organizations’ requirements. Paul has been a consummate champion for interoperable standards not only in the world at large but also within our company, and our products and technology are better for his zealous advocacy.”

Scarponcini has extensive experience in designing and developing geospatial, civil, and transportation software solutions and database standards, as well as in teaching others about them. His many achievements include harmonizing the process of geospatial standardization across multiple standards developing organizations by bringing a consistent and integrated facility lifecycle approach to his participation in these efforts.

In 2015, Scarponcini was honored with Open Geospatial Consortium’s (OGC’s) prestigious Kenneth D. Gardels Award, given to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to advance OGC’s vision of geospatial information fully integrated into the world’s information systems. In 2010, he received the INCITS Technical Excellence Award for his work on INCITS/L1 and ISO TC211, for which he was editor of the ISO TC211 19148:2012 Linear Referencing standard.