Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced a strategic initiative to deliver Bridge Information Modeling (BrIM) technology for the entire bridge lifecycle. A new business unit, Bentley BrIM, will drive the initiative under the leadership of Bentley Senior Vice President Gabe Norona. Bentley BrIM will provide broad access to newly acquired advanced bridge products in Bentley's comprehensive software portfolio. In addition, it will integrate these and other related Bentley products to provide an interoperable, data-managed bridge solution for planning, design, engineering, analysis, fabrication, construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation. This end-to-end solution will enable the transportation industry to efficiently and effectively address the challenges of new and aging bridges and deliver sustainable, long-lasting infrastructure.
CEO Greg Bentley said, "Growing demand for new bridges in developing economies and aging bridges in developed economies are behind burgeoning workloads and mounting backlogs for bridge engineers around the world. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, in the United States alone, more than a quarter of the nation's almost 600,000 bridges are deficient, and more than $65 billion could be invested immediately in a cost-beneficial way to replace or otherwise address existing bridge deficiencies.
"Having the world's largest team of software developers dedicated to BrIM, Bentley is uniquely positioned to help engineers meet this demand."
Gabe Norona added, "Bentley's BrIM initiative will focus on new approaches to bridge project delivery and bridge sustainability. By closing the gaps in traditional bridge lifecycle processes and facilitating the flow of digital information between the various stages, BrIM will enable bridge designers, builders, and owner-operators to easily share a common bridge information model. This will help optimize design decisions and lead to process innovation, largely through information reuse."
In the past year, Bentley has extended its commitment to sustaining bridge infrastructure through the acquisition of TDV GmbH, LEAP Software, and C.W. Beilfuss & Associates - all leading bridge engineering and operations technology providers. These additions to Bentley's portfolio result in the most comprehensive offering of bridge software available to the infrastructure community:
-- Bentley Bridge RM - structural engineering, design, and analysis software used worldwide for large and medium span bridges, including cable-stayed bridges. With its wide range of international design codes, RM is unmatched in its support of highly intensive, specialized engineering for bridges of all types.
-- Bentley LEAP Bridge - a parametric, integrated design and analysis solution for pre-cast, cast-in-place, reinforced, and post-tensioned concrete - an industry standard in place at 38 U.S. state departments of transportation (DOTs), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), city and county agencies, and engineering consultancies.
-- Bentley BridgeModeler and Bentley LARS - companion products for bridge load-rating, analysis, and analytical modeling for existing and planned bridges offering conformance with the latest AASHTO bridge design specifications and interface to the AASHTO BRIDGEWare database.
-- Bentley SUPERLOAD for advanced oversize/overweight vehicle permitting and routing that takes full account of bridge load-rating and analysis data.
Bentley BrIM will establish intra-operability among these products as well as other Bentley products relevant to bridge projects, including Bentley Rebar, GEOPAK Bridge, InRoads Bridge, and ProjectWise. Bridge professionals will benefit from streamlined workflows, increased productivity, and the ability to more effectively operate and manage bridge infrastructure.
For more information about Bentley's BrIM initiative, visit www.bentley.com/brim.
BrIM Track at BE Conference 2008
Leaders in the bridge industry are encouraged to participate in BE Conference 2008, taking place May 28-30 in Baltimore, Md. The conference will provide infrastructure professionals an inclusive and engaging environment to share best practices and learn about Bentley solutions from the leading provider of infrastructure software. Included in the program will be a special BrIM track that will bring together influential bridge owner-operators, policy makers, engineering consultants, and contractors to explore new technology, new methods of project delivery, and the influence of bridge information modeling. The discussions will go well beyond design to problems ranging from maintenance of traffic to constructability and risk mitigation. For more information about BE Conference 2008, go to www.bentley.com/beconference.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2,400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a Daratech research study.
Showing posts with label Bentley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bentley. Show all posts
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd. Joins Bentley's Enterprise License Subscription Program
Map India 2008 - Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced that TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd., a leading international consulting engineering firm providing services and sustainable solutions for power, transportation, water, building, manufacturing, spatial planning, and the environment that is part of the Tata Group of Companies, has joined Bentley's Enterprise License Subscription (ELS) program. Bentley's ELS program grants organizations unlimited access to the entire ELS software portfolio for a fixed annual fee. The portfolio covers all the architectural, engineering, construction (AEC) and geospatial software needs of subscribers, providing building, plant, civil, and geospatial solutions and supporting a managed environment for their AEC and geospatial IT. The total coverage at a fixed, discounted price means that organizations can increase their software productivity and reduce their total AEC and geospatial software costs simultaneously. The unlimited access streamlines AEC and geospatial software administration while the annual term simplifies budgeting and accounting.
A.P. Mull, executive director and CEO of TCE Consulting Engineers, said, "The backbone of our organization is providing clients with time-bound, cost-effective, and innovative multidisciplinary engineering solutions for diverse projects.
Our new Bentley ELS supports our ability to be innovative by providing quick access to end-to-end solutions for our projects. The comprehensive portfolio available to us lets our technical teams select software solutions based on the requirements of a specific project without increasing our budget to accommodate them.
"For example, TCE Consulting Engineers recently deployed Bentley WaterGEMS and HAMMER, which are included in our ELS, on a water distribution modeling and transient analysis project for the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board. Other usages include AutoPIPE, Bentley's pipe analysis solution, for power and other projects. By using these solutions we can deliver projects on time and on budget, and win future assignments based on our proven capabilities and accomplishments."
The Bentley ELS gives TCE Consulting Engineers a quick, cost-effective way to offer its clients technically creative alternatives and sustainable solutions for its projects. As a strategic benefit, Bentley's ELS helps organizations such as TCE Consulting Engineers become more agile. Project starts can happen faster and teams can reconfigure for new opportunities more quickly. No-charge pilots allow new technology to be infused into projects more readily. ELS agreements can include partners, extending the agility and multiplying the benefits in global projects.
About TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd.
TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd., the apex company of the Tata Group of Companies, which collectively form one of the largest industrial conglomerates in India's private sector. TCE Consulting Engineers has executed more than 4,900 projects including those funded by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and JBIC.
Established as Tata-Ebasco Consulting Engineering Services in 1962, the company has emerged as a leading, multidisciplinary engineering consulting firm. Tata-Ebasco was reconstituted as Tata Consulting Engineers in 1968 and became a wholly owned division of Tata Sons Ltd. in 1974. The company was incorporated as TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd., a subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd., in 2000. For more information about TCE Consulting Engineers, visit www.tce.co.in.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2,400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a Daratech research study.
A.P. Mull, executive director and CEO of TCE Consulting Engineers, said, "The backbone of our organization is providing clients with time-bound, cost-effective, and innovative multidisciplinary engineering solutions for diverse projects.
Our new Bentley ELS supports our ability to be innovative by providing quick access to end-to-end solutions for our projects. The comprehensive portfolio available to us lets our technical teams select software solutions based on the requirements of a specific project without increasing our budget to accommodate them.
"For example, TCE Consulting Engineers recently deployed Bentley WaterGEMS and HAMMER, which are included in our ELS, on a water distribution modeling and transient analysis project for the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewage Board. Other usages include AutoPIPE, Bentley's pipe analysis solution, for power and other projects. By using these solutions we can deliver projects on time and on budget, and win future assignments based on our proven capabilities and accomplishments."
The Bentley ELS gives TCE Consulting Engineers a quick, cost-effective way to offer its clients technically creative alternatives and sustainable solutions for its projects. As a strategic benefit, Bentley's ELS helps organizations such as TCE Consulting Engineers become more agile. Project starts can happen faster and teams can reconfigure for new opportunities more quickly. No-charge pilots allow new technology to be infused into projects more readily. ELS agreements can include partners, extending the agility and multiplying the benefits in global projects.
About TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd.
TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd., the apex company of the Tata Group of Companies, which collectively form one of the largest industrial conglomerates in India's private sector. TCE Consulting Engineers has executed more than 4,900 projects including those funded by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and JBIC.
Established as Tata-Ebasco Consulting Engineering Services in 1962, the company has emerged as a leading, multidisciplinary engineering consulting firm. Tata-Ebasco was reconstituted as Tata Consulting Engineers in 1968 and became a wholly owned division of Tata Sons Ltd. in 1974. The company was incorporated as TCE Consulting Engineers Ltd., a subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd., in 2000. For more information about TCE Consulting Engineers, visit www.tce.co.in.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2,400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a Daratech research study.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced its trial program for generative design in architecture and engineering. The program, which opens Nov. 16, 2007, will include a no-charge 90-day subscription to GenerativeComponents - Bentley's generative design software - and a Web 2.0 community "space" for users to accelerate their learning and to share ideas about this new approach to design.
In generative design, architects and engineers describe design components and relationships using elegant, powerful algorithms. As the design progresses, a change to one component in the system automatically drives changes to other related components - updating the design. Using this approach on even the most complex designs, users can quickly explore a broad range of alternatives, speed their design iterations, and generate designs that are freer in form, more efficient, and more fit for purpose.
"In generative design, architects and engineers are achieving results and designs that were virtually unthinkable before," said Buddy Cleveland, senior vice president, Bentley Applied Research. "They've upgraded from using computers to simply speed the drawing process to employing immense computational power to discover their ideal design."
GenerativeComponents uniquely preserves and exploits the critical relationships between design intent and geometry. Users can, for instance, dynamically model and manipulate geometry, apply rules and capture relationships among geometric features, and define complex forms through concisely expressed algorithms. By virtue of GenerativeComponents' extension of Bentley's MicroStation environment, the resulting generative designs can flow through to detailed production and fabrication without information loss.
"Emerging from work with the forward-thinking SmartGeometry Group, Bentley's generative design software was inspired by creative designers who were not content with the constraints imposed by the traditional CAD interface," said Makai Smith, GenerativeComponents product manager. "GenerativeComponents applied to their real-world projects was so compelling that we have decided to open this trial program to accelerate the learning curve for those architects and engineers so eager to raise the level of innovation in their work."
The generative design virtual community site will be located at www.be.org/gd. It will deliver a robust set of GenerativeComponents-related resources from Bentley - including the software for download and on-demand learning - as well as an emerging community of blogs, wikis, forums, and a media center for sharing generative design project work. Practitioners will be able to meet equally inquisitive and industrious peers, share how-to's and best practices, and learn about upcoming events such as SmartGeometry 2008.
GenerativeComponents has already been adopted by top architectural and engineering colleges and universities around the world, including Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT in North America; the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, the University of Bath, and the Architectural Association in the United Kingdom; TU Delft and KTH Stockholm in Continental Europe; and RMIT University in Australia.
Designs that have been completed using GenerativeComponents include Dostyk Towers by NBBJ and E/Ye Design, Cutty Sark Pavilion by YOUMEHESHE, The Pinnacle by Kohn Pederson Fox, and Museo del Acero by Grimshaw Architects.
What Experts Are Saying
"KPF has been using GenerativeComponents for some time and it forms a key component in the armory of the KPF Computational Geometry Group. Several of our most advanced projects employ GenerativeComponents as a tool for exploring thousands of options as well as the complex geometry to be used in final construction, all ultimately benefiting our clients. The nature of GenerativeComponents as a MicroStation extension means that, as a matter of course, our advanced designs can be interchanged with an extraordinary variety of software." - Lars Hesselgren, Kohn Pederson Fox.
"At Arup, we believe firmly in the principle of integrated design and integrated approaches to design - it's the only way to design complex buildings well. That's why we use GenerativeComponents. And we are not alone. We are starting to see young people coming through the system doing things we could only have dreamed about a few years ago." - J Parrish, Arup Sport
"Simplicity seeds complexity. But in the search for form we need to add reference to the representation to articulate the result. GenerativeComponents enables us to find, explore, and regulate forms more rapidly, and to transmit these forms to fabrication more economically." - Hugh Whitehead, Foster + Partners.
"Grimshaw's offices all share a common DNA. We are a design-driven office, and all projects are informed by the specific location, program, and environmental forces. We employ GenerativeComponents to take in and embed the multitude of inputs and structure them using this common DNA, thus enabling us to rapidly explore a variety of environmentally appropriate solutions for each design project." - Shane Burger, Grimshaw Architects.
"Using GenerativeComponents, we can accelerate our iteration through design options and, in parallel, assess all concepts and dismiss those that would be uneconomic to construct. As a result, we get to spend more time fine-tuning the best solution." - Volker Mueller, NBBJ
"Using GenerativeComponents to design the Cutty Sark Pavilion we were able to dynamically and fluidly alter our building design footprint to responsively accommodate an ever-changing plot plan while maintaining the most economic balance of material and structure. In fact, we only considered the design to be fixed when the construction was finished." - Simon Beames, YOUMEHESHE
"Projects already completed using GenerativeComponents clearly illustrate tremendous creativity based on a highly developed sense of intuitive design, while being expressed with a clarity that comes from an equally developed sense of design logic." - David Chadwick, CADUser
More on the Development of GenerativeComponents
GenerativeComponents was born of a research project led by Bentley Building's director of research, Robert Aish, Ph.D., that attracted expert input from a network of elite adopters. Said Dr. Aish, "With Bentley's GenerativeComponents, designers and engineers have a unique opportunity to shape the built environment by challenging conventional assumptions about the form, fabrication, and behavior of buildings.
"One aspect of this is the use of computational design tools that are not simply encoding current design practice. Rather, generative approaches pose creative and intellectual challenges in key areas of contemporary design: geometry, composition, and algorithms."
As the software solidified, the research transitioned to commercial product development led by Bentley Software. The Bentley developers continued to collaborate with the network of early adopters, who coalesced into the independent SmartGeometry Group.
"It's impossible to talk about the early development work on GenerativeComponents without first recognizing the tireless enthusiasm and visionary aspirations of Robert Aish," said CEO Greg Bentley. "As he's leaving Bentley Systems at this juncture, I want to personally thank Robert for helping me see the tremendous potential of generative design. We wish him well in his next research pursuits."
Mr. Bentley continued, "But credit for this innovation must be shared with the SmartGeometry Group, whose members exemplify the world's most forward-thinking designers. I thank the group for its diligent work with the Bentley team on this important development. Together, we intend to make GenerativeComponents part of the vocabulary of infrastructure professionals everywhere who want to move beyond CAD to discover their ideal design."
The GenerativeComponents software for download and the generative design community site will be available to individual users at www.be.org/gd. After the trial period, practitioners will be able to upgrade to a one-year Discovery Subscription to GenerativeComponents for US$250. MicroStation SELECT subscribers can immediately download GenerativeComponents from SELECT Services Online. For more information about GenerativeComponents, visit www.bentley.com/gc.
About the SmartGeometry Group
The SmartGeometry Group is firmly committed to the belief that computer-aided design lends itself to capturing the geometric relationships that form the foundation of architecture. The group is dedicated to educating the construction professions in the new skills required to effectively use advanced design systems such as GenerativeComponents. The directors of the SmartGeometry Group include Lars Hesselgren of Kohn Pederson Fox, Hugh Whitehead of Foster + Partners, and J Parrish of Arup Sport. For more information, go to www.smartgeometry.org.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a recent Daratech research study.
To receive Bentley press releases as they are issued, visit www.bentley.com/bentleywire. For more information, visit www.bentley.com. To view a copy of Bentley's April 2007 Annual Report online, go to www.bentley.com/April2007annualreport.
Bentley, the "B" logo, GenerativeComponents, MicroStation, and SELECT are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
In generative design, architects and engineers describe design components and relationships using elegant, powerful algorithms. As the design progresses, a change to one component in the system automatically drives changes to other related components - updating the design. Using this approach on even the most complex designs, users can quickly explore a broad range of alternatives, speed their design iterations, and generate designs that are freer in form, more efficient, and more fit for purpose.
"In generative design, architects and engineers are achieving results and designs that were virtually unthinkable before," said Buddy Cleveland, senior vice president, Bentley Applied Research. "They've upgraded from using computers to simply speed the drawing process to employing immense computational power to discover their ideal design."
GenerativeComponents uniquely preserves and exploits the critical relationships between design intent and geometry. Users can, for instance, dynamically model and manipulate geometry, apply rules and capture relationships among geometric features, and define complex forms through concisely expressed algorithms. By virtue of GenerativeComponents' extension of Bentley's MicroStation environment, the resulting generative designs can flow through to detailed production and fabrication without information loss.
"Emerging from work with the forward-thinking SmartGeometry Group, Bentley's generative design software was inspired by creative designers who were not content with the constraints imposed by the traditional CAD interface," said Makai Smith, GenerativeComponents product manager. "GenerativeComponents applied to their real-world projects was so compelling that we have decided to open this trial program to accelerate the learning curve for those architects and engineers so eager to raise the level of innovation in their work."
The generative design virtual community site will be located at www.be.org/gd. It will deliver a robust set of GenerativeComponents-related resources from Bentley - including the software for download and on-demand learning - as well as an emerging community of blogs, wikis, forums, and a media center for sharing generative design project work. Practitioners will be able to meet equally inquisitive and industrious peers, share how-to's and best practices, and learn about upcoming events such as SmartGeometry 2008.
GenerativeComponents has already been adopted by top architectural and engineering colleges and universities around the world, including Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT in North America; the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, the University of Bath, and the Architectural Association in the United Kingdom; TU Delft and KTH Stockholm in Continental Europe; and RMIT University in Australia.
Designs that have been completed using GenerativeComponents include Dostyk Towers by NBBJ and E/Ye Design, Cutty Sark Pavilion by YOUMEHESHE, The Pinnacle by Kohn Pederson Fox, and Museo del Acero by Grimshaw Architects.
What Experts Are Saying
"KPF has been using GenerativeComponents for some time and it forms a key component in the armory of the KPF Computational Geometry Group. Several of our most advanced projects employ GenerativeComponents as a tool for exploring thousands of options as well as the complex geometry to be used in final construction, all ultimately benefiting our clients. The nature of GenerativeComponents as a MicroStation extension means that, as a matter of course, our advanced designs can be interchanged with an extraordinary variety of software." - Lars Hesselgren, Kohn Pederson Fox.
"At Arup, we believe firmly in the principle of integrated design and integrated approaches to design - it's the only way to design complex buildings well. That's why we use GenerativeComponents. And we are not alone. We are starting to see young people coming through the system doing things we could only have dreamed about a few years ago." - J Parrish, Arup Sport
"Simplicity seeds complexity. But in the search for form we need to add reference to the representation to articulate the result. GenerativeComponents enables us to find, explore, and regulate forms more rapidly, and to transmit these forms to fabrication more economically." - Hugh Whitehead, Foster + Partners.
"Grimshaw's offices all share a common DNA. We are a design-driven office, and all projects are informed by the specific location, program, and environmental forces. We employ GenerativeComponents to take in and embed the multitude of inputs and structure them using this common DNA, thus enabling us to rapidly explore a variety of environmentally appropriate solutions for each design project." - Shane Burger, Grimshaw Architects.
"Using GenerativeComponents, we can accelerate our iteration through design options and, in parallel, assess all concepts and dismiss those that would be uneconomic to construct. As a result, we get to spend more time fine-tuning the best solution." - Volker Mueller, NBBJ
"Using GenerativeComponents to design the Cutty Sark Pavilion we were able to dynamically and fluidly alter our building design footprint to responsively accommodate an ever-changing plot plan while maintaining the most economic balance of material and structure. In fact, we only considered the design to be fixed when the construction was finished." - Simon Beames, YOUMEHESHE
"Projects already completed using GenerativeComponents clearly illustrate tremendous creativity based on a highly developed sense of intuitive design, while being expressed with a clarity that comes from an equally developed sense of design logic." - David Chadwick, CADUser
More on the Development of GenerativeComponents
GenerativeComponents was born of a research project led by Bentley Building's director of research, Robert Aish, Ph.D., that attracted expert input from a network of elite adopters. Said Dr. Aish, "With Bentley's GenerativeComponents, designers and engineers have a unique opportunity to shape the built environment by challenging conventional assumptions about the form, fabrication, and behavior of buildings.
"One aspect of this is the use of computational design tools that are not simply encoding current design practice. Rather, generative approaches pose creative and intellectual challenges in key areas of contemporary design: geometry, composition, and algorithms."
As the software solidified, the research transitioned to commercial product development led by Bentley Software. The Bentley developers continued to collaborate with the network of early adopters, who coalesced into the independent SmartGeometry Group.
"It's impossible to talk about the early development work on GenerativeComponents without first recognizing the tireless enthusiasm and visionary aspirations of Robert Aish," said CEO Greg Bentley. "As he's leaving Bentley Systems at this juncture, I want to personally thank Robert for helping me see the tremendous potential of generative design. We wish him well in his next research pursuits."
Mr. Bentley continued, "But credit for this innovation must be shared with the SmartGeometry Group, whose members exemplify the world's most forward-thinking designers. I thank the group for its diligent work with the Bentley team on this important development. Together, we intend to make GenerativeComponents part of the vocabulary of infrastructure professionals everywhere who want to move beyond CAD to discover their ideal design."
The GenerativeComponents software for download and the generative design community site will be available to individual users at www.be.org/gd. After the trial period, practitioners will be able to upgrade to a one-year Discovery Subscription to GenerativeComponents for US$250. MicroStation SELECT subscribers can immediately download GenerativeComponents from SELECT Services Online. For more information about GenerativeComponents, visit www.bentley.com/gc.
About the SmartGeometry Group
The SmartGeometry Group is firmly committed to the belief that computer-aided design lends itself to capturing the geometric relationships that form the foundation of architecture. The group is dedicated to educating the construction professions in the new skills required to effectively use advanced design systems such as GenerativeComponents. The directors of the SmartGeometry Group include Lars Hesselgren of Kohn Pederson Fox, Hugh Whitehead of Foster + Partners, and J Parrish of Arup Sport. For more information, go to www.smartgeometry.org.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a recent Daratech research study.
To receive Bentley press releases as they are issued, visit www.bentley.com/bentleywire. For more information, visit www.bentley.com. To view a copy of Bentley's April 2007 Annual Report online, go to www.bentley.com/April2007annualreport.
Bentley, the "B" logo, GenerativeComponents, MicroStation, and SELECT are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Bentley Announces Trial Program for Generative Design
Bentley Systems, Incorporated announced its trial program for generative design in architecture and engineering. The program, which opens Nov. 16, 2007, will include a no-charge 90-day subscription to GenerativeComponents - Bentley's generative design software - and a Web 2.0 community "space" for users to accelerate their learning and to share ideas about this new approach to design.
In generative design, architects and engineers describe design components and relationships using elegant, powerful algorithms. As the design progresses, a change to one component in the system automatically drives changes to other related components - updating the design. Using this approach on even the most complex designs, users can quickly explore a broad range of alternatives, speed their design iterations, and generate designs that are freer in form, more efficient, and more fit for purpose.
"In generative design, architects and engineers are achieving results and designs that were virtually unthinkable before," said Buddy Cleveland, senior vice president, Bentley Applied Research. "They've upgraded from using computers to simply speed the drawing process to employing immense computational power to discover their ideal design."
GenerativeComponents uniquely preserves and exploits the critical relationships between design intent and geometry. Users can, for instance, dynamically model and manipulate geometry, apply rules and capture relationships among geometric features, and define complex forms through concisely expressed algorithms. By virtue of GenerativeComponents' extension of Bentley's MicroStation environment, the resulting generative designs can flow through to detailed production and fabrication without information loss.
"Emerging from work with the forward-thinking SmartGeometry Group, Bentley's generative design software was inspired by creative designers who were not content with the constraints imposed by the traditional CAD interface," said Makai Smith, GenerativeComponents product manager. "GenerativeComponents applied to their real-world projects was so compelling that we have decided to open this trial program to accelerate the learning curve for those architects and engineers so eager to raise the level of innovation in their work."
The generative design virtual community site will be located at www.be.org/gd. It will deliver a robust set of GenerativeComponents-related resources from Bentley - including the software for download and on-demand learning - as well as an emerging community of blogs, wikis, forums, and a media center for sharing generative design project work. Practitioners will be able to meet equally inquisitive and industrious peers, share how-to's and best practices, and learn about upcoming events such as SmartGeometry 2008.
GenerativeComponents has already been adopted by top architectural and engineering colleges and universities around the world, including Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT in North America; the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, the University of Bath, and the Architectural Association in the United Kingdom; TU Delft and KTH Stockholm in Continental Europe; and RMIT University in Australia.
Designs that have been completed using GenerativeComponents include Dostyk Towers by NBBJ and E/Ye Design, Cutty Sark Pavilion by YOUMEHESHE, The Pinnacle by Kohn Pederson Fox, and Museo del Acero by Grimshaw Architects.
What Experts Are Saying
"KPF has been using GenerativeComponents for some time and it forms a key component in the armory of the KPF Computational Geometry Group. Several of our most advanced projects employ GenerativeComponents as a tool for exploring thousands of options as well as the complex geometry to be used in final construction, all ultimately benefiting our clients. The nature of GenerativeComponents as a MicroStation extension means that, as a matter of course, our advanced designs can be interchanged with an extraordinary variety of software." - Lars Hesselgren, Kohn Pederson Fox.
"At Arup, we believe firmly in the principle of integrated design and integrated approaches to design - it's the only way to design complex buildings well. That's why we use GenerativeComponents. And we are not alone. We are starting to see young people coming through the system doing things we could only have dreamed about a few years ago." - J Parrish, Arup Sport
"Simplicity seeds complexity. But in the search for form we need to add reference to the representation to articulate the result. GenerativeComponents enables us to find, explore, and regulate forms more rapidly, and to transmit these forms to fabrication more economically." - Hugh Whitehead, Foster + Partners.
"Grimshaw's offices all share a common DNA. We are a design-driven office, and all projects are informed by the specific location, program, and environmental forces. We employ GenerativeComponents to take in and embed the multitude of inputs and structure them using this common DNA, thus enabling us to rapidly explore a variety of environmentally appropriate solutions for each design project." - Shane Burger, Grimshaw Architects.
"Using GenerativeComponents, we can accelerate our iteration through design options and, in parallel, assess all concepts and dismiss those that would be uneconomic to construct. As a result, we get to spend more time fine-tuning the best solution." - Volker Mueller, NBBJ
"Using GenerativeComponents to design the Cutty Sark Pavilion we were able to dynamically and fluidly alter our building design footprint to responsively accommodate an ever-changing plot plan while maintaining the most economic balance of material and structure. In fact, we only considered the design to be fixed when the construction was finished." - Simon Beames, YOUMEHESHE
"Projects already completed using GenerativeComponents clearly illustrate tremendous creativity based on a highly developed sense of intuitive design, while being expressed with a clarity that comes from an equally developed sense of design logic." - David Chadwick, CADUser
More on the Development of GenerativeComponents
GenerativeComponents was born of a research project led by Bentley Building's director of research, Robert Aish, Ph.D., that attracted expert input from a network of elite adopters. Said Dr. Aish, "With Bentley's GenerativeComponents, designers and engineers have a unique opportunity to shape the built environment by challenging conventional assumptions about the form, fabrication, and behavior of buildings.
"One aspect of this is the use of computational design tools that are not simply encoding current design practice. Rather, generative approaches pose creative and intellectual challenges in key areas of contemporary design: geometry, composition, and algorithms."
As the software solidified, the research transitioned to commercial product development led by Bentley Software. The Bentley developers continued to collaborate with the network of early adopters, who coalesced into the independent SmartGeometry Group.
"It's impossible to talk about the early development work on GenerativeComponents without first recognizing the tireless enthusiasm and visionary aspirations of Robert Aish," said CEO Greg Bentley. "As he's leaving Bentley Systems at this juncture, I want to personally thank Robert for helping me see the tremendous potential of generative design. We wish him well in his next research pursuits."
Mr. Bentley continued, "But credit for this innovation must be shared with the SmartGeometry Group, whose members exemplify the world's most forward-thinking designers. I thank the group for its diligent work with the Bentley team on this important development. Together, we intend to make GenerativeComponents part of the vocabulary of infrastructure professionals everywhere who want to move beyond CAD to discover their ideal design."
The GenerativeComponents software for download and the generative design community site will be available to individual users at www.be.org/gd. After the trial period, practitioners will be able to upgrade to a one-year Discovery Subscription to GenerativeComponents for US$250. MicroStation SELECT subscribers can immediately download GenerativeComponents from SELECT Services Online. For more information about GenerativeComponents, visit www.bentley.com/gc.
About the SmartGeometry Group
The SmartGeometry Group is firmly committed to the belief that computer-aided design lends itself to capturing the geometric relationships that form the foundation of architecture. The group is dedicated to educating the construction professions in the new skills required to effectively use advanced design systems such as GenerativeComponents. The directors of the SmartGeometry Group include Lars Hesselgren of Kohn Pederson Fox, Hugh Whitehead of Foster + Partners, and J Parrish of Arup Sport. For more information, go to www.smartgeometry.org.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a recent Daratech research study.
To receive Bentley press releases as they are issued, visit www.bentley.com/bentleywire. For more information, visit www.bentley.com. To view a copy of Bentley's April 2007 Annual Report online, go to www.bentley.com/April2007annualreport.
Bentley, the "B" logo, GenerativeComponents, MicroStation, and SELECT are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
In generative design, architects and engineers describe design components and relationships using elegant, powerful algorithms. As the design progresses, a change to one component in the system automatically drives changes to other related components - updating the design. Using this approach on even the most complex designs, users can quickly explore a broad range of alternatives, speed their design iterations, and generate designs that are freer in form, more efficient, and more fit for purpose.
"In generative design, architects and engineers are achieving results and designs that were virtually unthinkable before," said Buddy Cleveland, senior vice president, Bentley Applied Research. "They've upgraded from using computers to simply speed the drawing process to employing immense computational power to discover their ideal design."
GenerativeComponents uniquely preserves and exploits the critical relationships between design intent and geometry. Users can, for instance, dynamically model and manipulate geometry, apply rules and capture relationships among geometric features, and define complex forms through concisely expressed algorithms. By virtue of GenerativeComponents' extension of Bentley's MicroStation environment, the resulting generative designs can flow through to detailed production and fabrication without information loss.
"Emerging from work with the forward-thinking SmartGeometry Group, Bentley's generative design software was inspired by creative designers who were not content with the constraints imposed by the traditional CAD interface," said Makai Smith, GenerativeComponents product manager. "GenerativeComponents applied to their real-world projects was so compelling that we have decided to open this trial program to accelerate the learning curve for those architects and engineers so eager to raise the level of innovation in their work."
The generative design virtual community site will be located at www.be.org/gd. It will deliver a robust set of GenerativeComponents-related resources from Bentley - including the software for download and on-demand learning - as well as an emerging community of blogs, wikis, forums, and a media center for sharing generative design project work. Practitioners will be able to meet equally inquisitive and industrious peers, share how-to's and best practices, and learn about upcoming events such as SmartGeometry 2008.
GenerativeComponents has already been adopted by top architectural and engineering colleges and universities around the world, including Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, and MIT in North America; the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London, the University of Bath, and the Architectural Association in the United Kingdom; TU Delft and KTH Stockholm in Continental Europe; and RMIT University in Australia.
Designs that have been completed using GenerativeComponents include Dostyk Towers by NBBJ and E/Ye Design, Cutty Sark Pavilion by YOUMEHESHE, The Pinnacle by Kohn Pederson Fox, and Museo del Acero by Grimshaw Architects.
What Experts Are Saying
"KPF has been using GenerativeComponents for some time and it forms a key component in the armory of the KPF Computational Geometry Group. Several of our most advanced projects employ GenerativeComponents as a tool for exploring thousands of options as well as the complex geometry to be used in final construction, all ultimately benefiting our clients. The nature of GenerativeComponents as a MicroStation extension means that, as a matter of course, our advanced designs can be interchanged with an extraordinary variety of software." - Lars Hesselgren, Kohn Pederson Fox.
"At Arup, we believe firmly in the principle of integrated design and integrated approaches to design - it's the only way to design complex buildings well. That's why we use GenerativeComponents. And we are not alone. We are starting to see young people coming through the system doing things we could only have dreamed about a few years ago." - J Parrish, Arup Sport
"Simplicity seeds complexity. But in the search for form we need to add reference to the representation to articulate the result. GenerativeComponents enables us to find, explore, and regulate forms more rapidly, and to transmit these forms to fabrication more economically." - Hugh Whitehead, Foster + Partners.
"Grimshaw's offices all share a common DNA. We are a design-driven office, and all projects are informed by the specific location, program, and environmental forces. We employ GenerativeComponents to take in and embed the multitude of inputs and structure them using this common DNA, thus enabling us to rapidly explore a variety of environmentally appropriate solutions for each design project." - Shane Burger, Grimshaw Architects.
"Using GenerativeComponents, we can accelerate our iteration through design options and, in parallel, assess all concepts and dismiss those that would be uneconomic to construct. As a result, we get to spend more time fine-tuning the best solution." - Volker Mueller, NBBJ
"Using GenerativeComponents to design the Cutty Sark Pavilion we were able to dynamically and fluidly alter our building design footprint to responsively accommodate an ever-changing plot plan while maintaining the most economic balance of material and structure. In fact, we only considered the design to be fixed when the construction was finished." - Simon Beames, YOUMEHESHE
"Projects already completed using GenerativeComponents clearly illustrate tremendous creativity based on a highly developed sense of intuitive design, while being expressed with a clarity that comes from an equally developed sense of design logic." - David Chadwick, CADUser
More on the Development of GenerativeComponents
GenerativeComponents was born of a research project led by Bentley Building's director of research, Robert Aish, Ph.D., that attracted expert input from a network of elite adopters. Said Dr. Aish, "With Bentley's GenerativeComponents, designers and engineers have a unique opportunity to shape the built environment by challenging conventional assumptions about the form, fabrication, and behavior of buildings.
"One aspect of this is the use of computational design tools that are not simply encoding current design practice. Rather, generative approaches pose creative and intellectual challenges in key areas of contemporary design: geometry, composition, and algorithms."
As the software solidified, the research transitioned to commercial product development led by Bentley Software. The Bentley developers continued to collaborate with the network of early adopters, who coalesced into the independent SmartGeometry Group.
"It's impossible to talk about the early development work on GenerativeComponents without first recognizing the tireless enthusiasm and visionary aspirations of Robert Aish," said CEO Greg Bentley. "As he's leaving Bentley Systems at this juncture, I want to personally thank Robert for helping me see the tremendous potential of generative design. We wish him well in his next research pursuits."
Mr. Bentley continued, "But credit for this innovation must be shared with the SmartGeometry Group, whose members exemplify the world's most forward-thinking designers. I thank the group for its diligent work with the Bentley team on this important development. Together, we intend to make GenerativeComponents part of the vocabulary of infrastructure professionals everywhere who want to move beyond CAD to discover their ideal design."
The GenerativeComponents software for download and the generative design community site will be available to individual users at www.be.org/gd. After the trial period, practitioners will be able to upgrade to a one-year Discovery Subscription to GenerativeComponents for US$250. MicroStation SELECT subscribers can immediately download GenerativeComponents from SELECT Services Online. For more information about GenerativeComponents, visit www.bentley.com/gc.
About the SmartGeometry Group
The SmartGeometry Group is firmly committed to the belief that computer-aided design lends itself to capturing the geometric relationships that form the foundation of architecture. The group is dedicated to educating the construction professions in the new skills required to effectively use advanced design systems such as GenerativeComponents. The directors of the SmartGeometry Group include Lars Hesselgren of Kohn Pederson Fox, Hugh Whitehead of Foster + Partners, and J Parrish of Arup Sport. For more information, go to www.smartgeometry.org.
About Bentley
Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world's No. 2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a recent Daratech research study.
To receive Bentley press releases as they are issued, visit www.bentley.com/bentleywire. For more information, visit www.bentley.com. To view a copy of Bentley's April 2007 Annual Report online, go to www.bentley.com/April2007annualreport.
Bentley, the "B" logo, GenerativeComponents, MicroStation, and SELECT are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.
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