Bentley Systems, the leading global provider of comprehensive software solutions for advancing the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure, announced Drummond Community High School of Edinburgh, Scotland as the winning team of the first ever Future Infrastructure Challenge: DEC Hyperloop, which took place April 7 through 9. Hosted by Bentley Institute and Class of Your Own, the challenge included sixth form students, ages 16 to 18, from four schools in the UK whose assignment was to conceptualise a design of a hyperloop transport system and stations for Singapore.
Students
from participating schools, The
Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School from Greenford, London; Drummond Community High School from Edinburgh,
Scotland; King Ecgbert School
from Sheffield, South Yorkshire; and More
House School from Farnham, Surrey, travelled to Bentley Systems’ offices
in London on April 7. They were tasked
with creating the hyperloop concept and a presentation to convey their cohesive
plan to a judging panel.
The
overall winners of the challenge are students from Drummond Community High
School, Faye Fulton, Ryan Gordon, Alizah Mughal, and Wiktor Rauba, led by DEC
(design, engineering, construction) teacher, Mark Holden. The winning team
members and their teacher were awarded a complimentary trip to Singapore from
Bentley Systems to attend its annual Year
in Infrastructure Conference, which will be held this year October 21
through 24 at the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore.
The
four participating schools were selected from 100 schools studying the Class of Your Own Design Engineer Construct! (DEC) learning programme, which is
intended to educate students about and encourage exploration of careers in architecture, engineering, and construction.
In the spring of 2018, following meetings with students
studying DEC at a higher or advanced level, the four schools were invited to
enter teams to take part in the first Future
Infrastructure Challenge to mark
the 10th anniversary of Class of Your Own. Delivered in partnership
with Bentley Systems, the programme will be released as a full curriculum for
schools around the world later this year.
Mark Holden, teacher for the winning team, said, “Drummond
High School is committed to nurturing big ambition in its students and
equipping them for the world and workplace of tomorrow. The school became
involved in the DEC curriculum after seeing its success – and the attributes of
its students – from across England and recognising how closely this fit our own
aims. We have enjoyed several years of unparalleled opportunities and great
successes and are delighted that this has led to this collaboration with
Bentley and COYO. The development of our team has been incredible to watch, but
also the effect on the school community as a whole has been palpable. Knowing
that students from our school are taking part in such a huge project, working
with such esteemed professionals on this scale is a constant reminder to all of
our students of what they can achieve.”
Over
the two days prior to the presentation day, the students created their designs
using laptops and software provided by Bentley Systems at the offices of four
globally recognised companies: Arup, Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, Turner
Townsend, and WSP.
On
April 9, the teams presented their concepts to a distinguished panel of judges:
Harj Dhaliwal – Managing Director Middle East & India, Virgin
Hyperloop One
Chris Barron – Chief Communications Officer, Bentley
Systems, M. Arch., Harvard Univ., board member of the Zofnass Program for
Sustainable Infrastructure
Professor John Miles – Arup/Royal Academy of Engineering Chair
Transitional Energy Strategies, University of Cambridge
Professor Cam Middleton – Laing O’Rourke Professor of Construction
Engineering, University of Cambridge
Iain Blight – Director of Station and Building
Engineering at HS2
Chris Preston – President of Chartered Institution of Civil
Engineering Surveyors (ICES), Bentley’s Inaugural Professor at the National
College for High Speed Rail
Sadie Morgan – Co-founder, dRMM Architects; board member
National
Infrastructure
Commission / Chair of Independent Design Panel for HS2
Andrew Tyley – Partner, Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners
Ian Stilgoe – Vice President Geopositioning Europe,
Topcon Positioning Group
Harj
Dhaliwal, managing director Middle East and India of Virgin Hyperloop One,
said, “We can’t solve 21st century challenges with 19th century
technology. As the first new mode of transportation in over 100 years,
hyperloop is changing the narrative for mass transportation. It’s great to see
the next generation of engineers and designers embracing this technology and
the new type of thinking it requires. I have been overwhelmed by the approach
to innovation and the out-of-the box thinking the young students have
demonstrated. All of them are winners today.”
The
teams’ concepts were judged according to feasibility and quality of design,
social and economic impact, building efficiency, sustainability, originality,
and quality of the presentation.
Chris
Barron, chief communications officer for Bentley Systems, said, “It has been a
pleasure hosting these talented students, seeing their hyperloop designs, and
watching their excellent presentations. It was, in a word, inspiring, not only
because of the depth of research they performed, and the thoughtfulness of
their designs, but also because they demonstrated that the next generation of
infrastructure professionals are ready to face the challenges of advancing our
economy and sustaining our environment. Bentley is committed to supporting STEM
learning programmes like Class of Your Own, which inspire and challenge
students to think creatively about the future of infrastructure and to perhaps
even pursue careers in infrastructure-related fields. We’re looking forward to
hosting more events like this around the world.”
Additional awards of £350
to be donated in the name of the students and the school to a local, national,
or international charity of their choice were given in the following categories:
Best Definition of Requirements – King Ecgbert School (Yuanhao Lei, Annabel Smith, Joe Toyne, with teacher
Helen Vardy)
Best Quality of Research – Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School
(Kieran Barton, Sanjiv Duelas, Kacper Kumor, Shakil Perrera, Julia
Podlinska, with teacher Paul Foote)
Best Quality of Design – More House School (George
Armytage, Finley Skinner, Uday Pal Trabelsi, with teacher Charles Stewart)
Best for Energy Use and Environmental
Impact – Drummond Community
High School (Faye
Fulton, Ryan Gordon, Alizah Mughal, and Wiktor Rauba, with teacher Mark Holden)
Best for Innovation – Drummond Community
High School
Best Presentation, Communication,
and Use of Technology – Cardinal
Wiseman Catholic School
Alison Watson, CEO and founder of Class of Your Own, said, “DEC
has produced some incredible digital talent thanks to great teachers and
support from industry. After 10 years, I felt it was time to ramp up the
challenge and write a new curriculum that takes students, and their teachers,
to another level of learning. I’ve watched these four teams grow in so many
ways as they’ve developed their designs and in truth, all are champions. The students can now look forward to showing the
world what young people can do when given the opportunity to learn in a
real-life environment. I couldn’t be more proud of these young role models and
thank the Bentley team for their unwavering support of COYO and our schools to
make this happen.”
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Image and Caption:
Winners of the 2019
Future Infrastructure Challenge: DEC Hyperloop is the Drummond Community
High School Team(Alizah Mughal, Ryan Gordon, Wiktor Rauba, Faye Fulton) with Harj
Dhaliwal, Managing Director Middle East & India, Virgin Hyperloop One, who
was a member of the judging panel for the event.
About Class
of Your Own
Class of Your Own
Limited (COYO) is an
award-winning consultancy specialising in education for the digital built environment.
Established in 2009, COYO has been delivering the ground-breaking Design Engineer Construct! learning
programme in addition to workshops, challenges and other student engagement
programmes to schools and colleges across the United Kingdom. Class of Your Own
develops innovative, contextualised approaches to teaching and learning that enable
young people from all backgrounds to explore aspirational career pathways in architecture,
engineering, surveying, and construction.
About Bentley Institute
Bentley Institute advances the infrastructure
professions by encouraging and supporting Bentley users’ ambitions in going digital. Its initiatives attract
and advance infrastructure professionals, and future professionals, through
continuous learning about technology solutions, as well as project delivery and
asset performance best practices.
