Class of Your Own Announces School Curriculum Partnership with Bentley Systems

The Year in Infrastructure 2019 Conference – Class of Your Own, a UK-headquartered provider of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) curriculum and built environment-focused learning programs for secondary school students, today announced a partnership with leading global provider of software solutions for the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure, Bentley Systems.  The new, future-focused global curriculum, Design Engineer Construct!® (DEC) for the World’s Infrastructure, has developed over several years through Bentley Institute’s support of Class of Your Own’s DEC programs and provides opportunities for students to gain hands-on knowledge and skills for careers in infrastructure professions.

DEC is currently accredited and used in schools throughout the United Kingdom. The new program is already expanding into schools in Ireland, Lithuania, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates and offers technology education and project-based, real-world experiences through interaction with industry professionals. The DEC curriculum for students ages 11 to 18 years is offered at intermediate levels to encourage and excite learners and is enhanced by Bentley’s engineering design and 3D modeling technologies including ContextCapture, OpenBuildings, OpenRail, and OpenRoads ConceptStation. The more advanced Future Infrastructure qualification framework, for students ages sixteen and older, including foundation level study at colleges and universities, focuses on rail, highway, port, and hyperloop projects.

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 program 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 program 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!”

Earlier in 2019, Bentley Institute and Class of Your Own hosted the first ever Future Infrastructure Challenge: DEC Hyperloop challenge in London. The event included students from four schools in the UK whose assignment was to conceptualize a design of a hyperloop transport system and stations for their own towns, and then to adapt to Singapore. Students from Drummond Community High School from Edinburgh, Scotland won the challenge, and were awarded a complimentary trip from Bentley to attend its Year in Infrastructure Conference, held October 21 through 24 in Singapore.

David Robertson, director of digital advancement research for Bentley Systems, said, “Our partnership with Class of Your Own demonstrates the two organizations’ 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.”