Class of Your Own, the UK-based provider of built environment-focused skills programmes for secondary school pupils, has announced a new partnership with Bentley Systems to provide students with hands-on knowledge for careers in infrastructure
The international initiative, Design Engineer Construct! For the World’s Infrastructure, will see Class of Your Own’s DEC programme, already accredited and used in schools throughout the UK, expanded to Ireland, Lithuania, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates to boost careers in infrastructure.
It will offer technology education and project-based, real-world experiences through interaction with industry professionals for 11 to 18-year-olds, supported by Bentley’s 3D modelling technologies, including ContextCapture, OpenBuildings and OpenRail.
A more advanced Future Infrastructure qualification framework for students aged 16 and older will include foundation-level study at colleges and universities focusing on rail, highway, port and hyperloop projects.
Earlier this year, the Bentley Institute and Class of Your Own hosted the first-ever Future Infrastructure Challenge: DEC Hyperloop in London, which saw teams of students from four schools in the UK conceptualise a design for a hyperloop transport system and stations in their own towns, and then adapt the design to Singapore.
The challenge was won by a team from Drummond Community High School in Edinburgh, who were awarded a complimentary trip to the Year in Infrastructure conference.
Alison Watson, founder and chief executive of Class of Your Own, said: “Our vision is to inspire and engage young people and their teachers to reach their full potential through world-class education.
“So we’re very excited to partner with Bentley to offer the new curriculum, which applies industry knowledge and skills gained in the existing DEC programme to the most exciting infrastructure projects around the world.
“Our students are provided with face-to-face support from world-class sector professionals thanks to industry partners who truly understand what DEC can do.
“Expanding the programme outside the UK means we can offer genuine, meaningful opportunities for students and teachers around the world. We’re helping the surveyors, technologists, engineers, architects and managers of future infrastructure!”
David Robertson, director of digital advancement research for Bentley Systems, added: “Our partnership with Class of Your Own demonstrates the two organisations’ shared goal of providing students with valuable learning experiences that apply to real-world infrastructure professions and encourage students to pursue those professions. Bentley is very excited to participate in this important learning initiative to advance career opportunities for students around the world.”
