Early in April, independent jurors evaluated a record number of submissions to our 2009 Academic competition and selected the top projects from around the globe.
Some of the student winners were from the United States, and I had the pleasure of traveling to their schools to present them with their awards and scholarships.
On April 22nd, I visited Randolph High School, in New Jersey, to present an award to student Christopher Fairfield for his "Fair Field" project, which won the Middle/High School category. This year's challenge for the category was to design a Sports Center of the Future, using MicroStation PowerDraft. Christopher's design was highly detailed and well conceived; it's no surprise that several university Engineering programs are actively recruiting him.
You can see Christopher's design here: ftp://ftp2.bentley.com/dist/collateral/docs/Be_careers/2009-awards_fair-field_randolph-hs.pdf
Principal Carol Strowbridge, Instructors Jack Leffler and Bruce Sappah, the entire CAD class, and Christopher's family joined us for the award presentation.
April 23rd found me at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in New York, where I was privileged to take part in the School of Architecture's annual awards celebration. The Be Inspired Award for the Engineering Category was presented to Architecture students Kendall Baldwin and Jeffrey Christianson. Their "Lingotto Bridge Station" project was developed using GenerativeComponents, during a joint workshop with Polytechnico Torino last Fall, led by RPI Undergrad Chair David Reibe.
View Kendall and Jeffrey's inspiring project here: ftp://ftp2.bentley.com/dist/collateral/docs/Be_careers/2009-awards_lingotto-bridge-station_rpi.pdf
Dean Mark Mistur also accepted the award on behalf of the School of Architecture, in front of an audience composed of both students and faculty.
Finally, I wish to congratulate Dr. Earl Mark, of University of Virginia, whom jurors named 2009 Educator of the Year: ftp://ftp2.bentley.com/dist/collateral/docs/Be_careers/2009-awards_earl-mark.pdf
Dr. Mark will receive his award in October, during the Be Inspired Awards event in Charlotte, North Carolina.
You can view all of the 2009 Academic Be Inspired winners, and see their projects, here: http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Community/Academic/Networking+and+Development/BE+Awards/
Congratulations to all of the winners, honorable mentions, and to everyone who submitted. We are truly inspired by your projects.