Keynotes
Both Los Angeles and London began the learning process with inspiring and informative keynote presentations by Bentley executives.

CEO Greg Bentley took the dais to argue that increased economic productivity is the only way to meet the growing workload of infrastructure professionals. 

Bhupinder Singh, senior vice president, Bentley Software, then spoke on increasing productivity from a product perspective. He explained that Bentley’s “one platform” consisting of MicroStation and ProjectWise allows the company’s developers to achieve faster time to market for applications, intrinsic integration of Bentley products, a common user experience, and consistent application behavior.

CTO Keith Bentley began by explaining that Bentley’s one-platform approach enables the company to expand its application reach in the marketplace, to better leverage its research and development and testing resources, and to facilitate product innovation among its developers.

Buddy Cleveland, senior vice president, Applied Research, explained that while Bentley has always invested in research, much of it was product-focused and, therefore, “subject to fairly short time horizons.” He said that the new Bentley Applied Research group will work beyond the horizon to “work the future.”

COO Malcolm Walter opened his remarks by noting the sustainability challenges facing the world in the coming decades and called upon the audience to use innovation to become the “greenest generation".  He then recognized four projects as the first-ever recipients of the BE Award for "best return on innovation” and presented each as a case study.

Vertical-specific keynotes were made by Gabe Norona, senior vice president Civil and Geospatial Solutions; Styli Camateros, vice president Civil and Geospatial Products; Rob Whitesell, vice president Building and Plant Products; and Huw Roberts, global marketing director, Bentley Building.

BE Conference 2007 keynotes videos are now available.

Also among the combined total of more than 1,100 BE Conference information-rich sessions in Los Angeles and London were:

Best Practices—More than 175 sessions were presented on the best application of technology from experienced peers and technology experts. Past BE Conference attendees have always rated the best practices sessions, which often include suggestions on ways to leverage technology to increase productivity, as extremely useful for their projects and their careers.

New Technology—More than 170 sessions direct from Bentley developers and product managers on the newest products were presented by Bentley Software. Two examples include Bentley Electric XM and Bentley Expert Designer XM, which support a new level of efficiency in managing electric distribution networks throughout the plan, design, build, and operations lifecycle.

Professional Training—More than 30,000 learning units of professional training in more than 470 courses were provided by Bentley Institute.

Networking—Numerous opportunities to network and socialize with peers and friends were available at special events, including the BE Awards of Excellence ceremony and a Hollywood tour for Bentley Institute five-star learning achievers in Los Angeles, and a dinner in London recognizing the BE Award winners and Golden KIWI award winners, as well as a cruise on the River Thames for five-star learning achievers.

BE Awards of Excellence—In 2007, we received 235 professional entries and 44 academic submission, resulting in an astounding 279 total projects! This year’s winners and finalists were chosen by an international panel of jurors, and announced during the BE Awards Ceremony held on Monday, April 30, in Los Angeles, California.  Learn more at www.be.org/awards.

SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS AND EXHIBITORS 

• Platinum – HP
• Gold – Adobe Systems, McGraw-Hill, Microsoft, Océ
• Silver – Beck Technology, CADsmart, Cadventure, Forum 8, Legion, Leica Geosystems 
• Bronze – Advanced Micro Devices, ASD, COMIT, ConnectPress, GeoConnexion Magazine, GeoInformatics Magazine, International Red Cross, Leica Geosystems, Matrox Graphics, MEKON, Norconsult Informasjonssystemer A/S, Simtra AeroTech AB, and Trimble
• Exhibitors - 3M, Altiva Software, Inc., AMD Graphic Technologies, Andersson Technologies LLC, Archway Systems, Inc., Axiom International, Beck Technology Group, Carlson Software, CH2M Hill, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, ConnectPress Ltd., Epilog Lasers, Fiatech, Forum8 Co., Ltd,
  Future City Competition, GeoConnection, GeoInformatics, GIM International, Intelisum, Inc., Knowledge Base Consulting Group, Legion USA, Mill Creek Systems, Inc., NorConsult Informasjonssyter AS, Panasonic Toughbooks, Transoft Solutions, US Cost, Vidar, WinEstimator, Inc., Z Corporation, and Zweig-White
  

BE CONFERENCE ATTENDEES
BE Conference attendees came to the Los Angeles Convention Center and Hilton London Metropole from AE firms; architecture firms; design-build firms; engineering consultants; facility owner-operators; departments of transportation (DOTs) and transportation ministries; rail companies; site engineering firms; communications and utilities firms; national governments and associated contractors; local governments; cadastral authorities; public works agencies; plant engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors; and plant owner-operators.

They included users of Bentley’s MicroStation, ProjectWise, AutoPLANT, Haestad Methods, STAAD, and RAM solutions, among others.

Each year, select organizations from around the world receive BE Award nominations for the work they have done improving the world’s infrastructure. 

BE CONFERENCE VIDEOS
BE Conference 2007 keynotes and highlight videos are now available.  BE Awards of Excellence videos are also available at www.be.org/awards.