cadalyst
AEC

Bentley Announces Generative Design Trial Program

4 Nov, 2007

Starting November 16, users can download GenerativeComponents free for 90 days and access online community resources to accelerate learning of the design technology.


Bentley Systems announced a generative design trial program that will provide a no-charge, 90-day subscription to GenerativeComponents design software and a Web 2.0 community space for users to accelerate their learning and share ideas about the new design technology. The trial program starts November 16.

GenerativeComponents allows engineers and architects to describe design components and relationships using algorithms. As the design progresses, a change to one component automatically drives changes to other related components and updates the design. GenerativeComponents reportedly allows users to explore design alternatives and speed their design iterations.

"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 product manager Makai Smith added, "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. 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 deliver a set of GenerativeComponents-related resources from Bentley, as well as a community of blogs, wikis, forums, and a media center for sharing generative design project work. GenerativeComponents software will be available for a trial download at the same Web site. After the trial period, users will be able to upgrade to a one-year Discovery subscription to GenerativeComponents for $250.