Manava Bharati India International School, Panchsheel Wins 2008-2009 Future Cities India 2020 Student Design Competition

Competition, Now in Third Year, Encourages Students to Use Design Skills to Prepare India’s Cities for the Future

New Delhi – The Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India, and Bentley Systems, Incorporated, the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for the infrastructure that sustains our world, today announced that the project designed by students of Manava Bharati India International School, Panchsheel won top honors in the 2008-2009 Future Cities India 2020 competition. Launched by the Ministry of Science & Technology and Bentley in 2006, the program is a partnership among government, universities, and the business community to promote and inspire young students to consider careers in the infrastructure design and engineering professions. It encourages students to use their design skills, along with Bentley’s software, to help prepare India’s cities for the year 2020, when it is estimated that more than 50 percent of India’s citizens will live in the country’s largest cities. This year’s challenge centered on Indian Railway’s plans to refurbish the country’s aging railway stations into world-class facilities. Student teams submitted conceptual designs for the rehabilitation of the New Delhi railway station, the first of 22 stations on the redevelopment schedule.

Shri. Kapil Sibal, the Honorable Union Minister for Science & Technology & Earth Sciences, in his message to the participants, said, “We had a number of stunning submissions this year that married provocative design with pragmatic functionality to better serve the city’s burgeoning population. As has been the case for the past two Future Cities competitions, choosing a winner was extremely difficult. In the end, the judges chose Manava Bharati India International School, Panchsheel, and I congratulate the team members. They have shown extreme foresight in their design and have proven that they fully understand the pressing need for more sustainable, high performance infrastructure to improve the lives of our citizens.

“By exposing young minds to engineering and design, we are grooming the next generation of infrastructure professionals, and giving them an opportunity to contribute to society now.”

The winners were awarded scholarships and trophies, and the teachers and technical professionals who served as counselors and mentors also received awards and recognition. Members of the winning team included Harkeerat Singh, Sambit Ghosh, Ujjawal Gupta and Shwetank Chaudhry. Second place honors went to Amity International, Gurgaon.

Scott Lofgren, global director, Be Careers Network, said, “For the third straight year the student participants in the Future Cities India 2020 competition have demonstrated an unwavering desire to remain on task and deliver high-quality projects aimed at sustaining India’s cities. We are delighted to be a part of this wonderful program.”

Commenting on the winning team’s experiences during the five-month competition, team leader Shwetank Chaudhry said, “It is an honor to contribute to the future of our country through this exciting and difficult competition. We met the challenge put before us, but all the students produced great projects so no one team had more of an advantage over the others. This makes winning all the better given the high caliber of our competitors.”

The Future Cities India 2020 competition consisted of 15 student teams representing 14 high schools. Teachers and industry mentors guided each team in designing a plan to rehabilitate the New Delhi railway station. Using Bentley software, students designed a world-class railway station to accommodate the country’s growing number of commuters, while keeping in mind the concerns of the surrounding infrastructure and all environmental sustainability issues. A distinguished panel of experts from India’s infrastructure community judged the project presentations based on three requirements: using the existing land and infrastructure to best advantage, accommodating internal access zones, with separate parking zones at Paharganj and Ajmeri Gate terminals, and using environmentally responsible materials.

The Ministry of Science & Technology opened the 2008-2009 Future Cities India 2020 design competition to all 11th-grade standard school students from Delhi and the National Capital Region. Bentley, through its Be Careers Network program, provided software products and solutions to the students and trained them, with the assistance of the industry mentors, in their use. For more information about Future Cities India, visit http://www.futurecitiesindia2020.co.in.

About the Ministry of Science & Technology, DST
The Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India, was established in May 1971, with the objective of promoting new areas of Science & Technology (S&T) and to play the role of a nodal department for organizing, coordinating and promoting S&T activities in the country. The DST has major responsibilities for specific projects and programs as listed below: formulation of policy statements and guidelines on science and technology and coordination of areas of science and technology, in which a number of institutions and departments have interests and capabilities; support of basic and applied research in national institutions throughout the country and provision of minimum infrastructural facilities for testing and instrumentation; support of critical technology programs; support of autonomous research institutions, whose specialization ranges from advanced medical research materials to astronomy; fostering international cooperation and establishment of special joint centers/projects; support socially oriented S&T interventions in rural areas for weaker sections; support knowledge-based and innovation-driven entrepreneurship development to create self-employment opportunities; popularization of science and technology; providing scientific services in terms of surveying and maps for defense, external affairs, state governments and several other developmental agencies through Survey of India (SOI) and National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization (NATMO); providing meteorological services for agriculture, water resources management, disaster warning, and civil aviation, Management of Information Systems for Science and Technology and Natural Resources Data Management Systems (NRDMS). The present program was initiated by NRDMS, which has a mandate of developing spatial infrastructure, GIS, and natural resources data collection for social and economic development. NRDMS, in its initiative to harness the creative skills of young minds to address local issues by way of design, interaction, communication and spreading awareness, developed the Future Cities India 2020 program in India in collaboration with Bentley.

The Be Careers Network
The mission of Be Careers Network is to help students graduate with market-ready technology skills. It provides programs for students, teachers, and schools, including free and discounted software licenses, training, curriculum counseling, and scholarships. For more information about Be Careers Network, including its many competitions and scholarship opportunities, go to www.becareers.org/competitions.