Bentley announces design competition winners

EXTON, PA. — Bentley Systems has announced the winners of the 2010 Bentley Student Design Competition and named professor Efrat Gilboa, B. Des., M.A., Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Ramat-Gan, Israel, as Bentley Educator of the Year.

The competition awards technically advanced projects created using Bentley software by university, high school, and middle school students around the world, and recognizes the achievements of their educators and mentors.

The program fosters interest and growth in architectural, engineering, construction (AEC), and geospatial professions by encouraging students to explore the software and hone the skills they’ll need as future members of the infrastructure community.

The Educator of the Year award recognizes a member of the academic community who has an outstanding record of achievement and is committed to inspiring students to pursue careers in the infrastructure professions.

Commenting on the award, professor Gilboa said, “I am deeply honored to receive this illustrious award. As an educator in the fields of computer-aided design and parametric design, it is incredibly gratifying to know that, one day, the bright, young people I’m mentoring will make important contributions to the design of our living environment — creating inspiring, sustainable environments, buildings, and other infrastructure from which many generations will benefit.”

For the 2010 Student Design Competition, individual students or teams submitted their projects in various categories depending upon their level of education. University and technical college students submitted projects in two categories: “Architectural Design” and “Computational Design.” High school and middle school students submitted projects in the “Design a Medical Facility of the Future” category.

The winners in this year’s competition include: Pistorius Center for Rehabilitation, Kiamsha Barnes, Sarah Cieslak, and Karyn Warthen, Eastern Technical High School, Baltimore, in the “Design a Medical Facility of the Future” category; Tegumentated Structure, Matteo Soru, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy, in the “Architectural Design” category; Dynamic Systems, Pauline Barkin and Katheryn Czub, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y., in the “Computational Design” category.

Scott Lofgren, Bentley global director of Be Careers Network, which sponsors the competition, said, “I congratulate each of this year’s winners in the 2010 Bentley Student Design Competition, and thank all of those who participated. With project submissions becoming ever more intricate, our distinguished panel of educational leaders and industry professionals was truly challenged to determine a winner in each category,” he said. “The students’ imaginative and skillfully crafted designs are testament to the talent and dedication of their teachers and mentors who give hours of their time in motivating and inspiring these young people. Each of this year’s student participants demonstrated the ability and drive to one day become highly productive members of the infrastructure community.”

Lofgren continued, “The Educator of the Year award is presented to an esteemed individual who is skillful in advancing student development and providing an enriched environment for learning the sciences and infrastructure engineering,” he said. “Professor Gilboa focuses her classroom work on creative and analytic approaches in the parametric design process, while integrating themes from her practical experience as a former interior designer. She has taught in Italy and Germany, and has conducted research on parametric design, sound, and fabrication with her students. I congratulate professor Gilboa for her achievements and on receiving this distinguished award.”

The winning students and projects in the 2010 Student Design Competition will be recognized at their respective schools. Additionally, each winner or winning team will receive a scholarship, a handcrafted award to display at their school, and be able to choose 10 seats of Bentley software — from the more than 50 products available through the Be Careers Network academic subscription — for use by their school.

For additional information about the competition winners and chosen educator of the year, please visit www.bentley.com/winners.