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Smart Heat: A Digital Twin Helps a College Town Move Toward Carbon Neutrality. Are big cities next?

Ithaca is a picturesque town in upstate New York famous for its waterfalls and gorges, and the world-renowned Cornell University. The area has long been hailed as a beacon of progress. Cornell’s students and scientists, for example, helped discover that water once flowed on Mars, built the first fully functioning synthetic human ear, and learned from famed astronomer Carl Sagan. Now, Ithaca and its 32,000 residents have big plans to extend their innovative legacy by leading in urban decarbonization. The city has decided to replace its fossil fuel-burning infrastructure, like boilers and stoves, with electric-powered heat pumps and induction cookers. The work is planned for all of the city’s 5,500 buildings, with the goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. The plan is to reach 100% electrification as efficiently and economically as possible—and at the center of the project is a digital twin. The digital urban building energy model was developed by researchers from Cornell’s Environmental System Lab and the Rocky Mountain Institute. Part of the work is sponsored by Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software company and a leader in digital twins and artificial intelligence (AI) for infrastructure. Bentley is also helping share lessons learned from the project with

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Breaking Barriers, Cutting Carbon: The Engineer Helping Infrastructure and Women Reach Net Zero

Many engineers have stories of meetings getting off to a rocky start. For Victoria Fillingham, one began with being mistaken for the coffee server. “I’ve seen a big change,” she says, “but I can tell you stories about being the facilitator of a meeting—bringing all these people together—only for some chaps to walk in, hand me their tea and coffee orders, and expect me to fetch them. I’d say, ‘This is my meeting. The tea and coffee machine is down there. Help yourself. We’ll wait until you’re back and settled.’” That meeting was just one of the hurdles along Fillingham’s long and accomplished engineering journey—one that began with an engineering epiphany in elementary school. That moment led her to a degree in architecture and environmental engineering, followed by a doctorate. Today, she works in the Advisory Services unit of Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software company and a leader in digital twins. She’s also a champion for women pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). On International Women’s Day, March 8, Fillingham emphasizes that more still needs to be done to inspire the next generation of girls to enter science and engineering fields. Inspiring Girls toward STEM  Fillingham

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Choose Your Own Adventure: How Joe Carr Is Helping Bentley Software Developers Unlock AI

If Joe Carr’s life were a Fighting Fantasy book—the well-thumbed Choose Your Own Adventure series that lines his bookshelves—it might begin like this: Before you lies a branching path. Every step a challenge, every choice a puzzle. Do you reason your way forward, code a solution, or invent a new way to play the game? For Carr, a senior software developer at Bentley Systems, this isn’t just a metaphor—it’s how he thinks. From high school math competitions to elite coding challenges, problem-solving is his game, whether in puzzles, algorithms, or real-world infrastructure. In Fighting Fantasy, success depends on three traits: skill, stamina, and luck. Carr’s journey—from cracking complex mathematical puzzles to designing solutions powered by artificial intelligence (AI)—has relied on all of them. The first two earned him a reputation as a formidable problem-solver, but a timely stroke of luck—a chance encounter with Bentley’s chief technology officer, Julien Moutte—gave him the chance to design and lead a company-wide coding and AI contest. Breaking the 100% Barrier Science and engineering were always in the cards for Carr. Born in Ottawa but raised in Mississauga, the Canadian city just west of Toronto, he grew up in a family where problem-solving was second

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Infrastructure in the Agentic Era: How AI and Open Data Are Shaping the Built Environment

I recently had the pleasure and privilege of sharing my thoughts on AI’s role in infrastructure with readers of AEC Magazine. (Martyn, thank you for the invitation!) In the piece, I explain why the massive amount of data generated during design, construction and operations makes our industry—and the infrastructure sector as a whole—ripe for disruption by artificial intelligence (AI). Today, it’s clear that AI isn’t just a trend: It’s a transformative force reshaping the built environment. I want to focus on three key points. First, AI has enormous potential in design to automate repetitive tasks like documentation and annotation, which would allow engineers to focus on higher-value work. This is especially important as the industry. faces mounting project demands while grappling with a shortage of engineers. AI also enables predictive analytics, helping operators detect issues and perform maintenance before failures occur. You’ve likely heard this before: We’re entering the Agentic Era of AI. This transformative chapter will bring systems capable of analyzing digital twins of infrastructure assets—bridges, roads, dams or water networks—to identify issues and recommend preventive action, avoiding costly breakdowns or safety hazards. I go into more depth in my piece for AEC Magazine, which covers the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

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5 Thought Leadership Stories From 2024 You Need To Read

In 2024, we turned over the pen — or, rather, the keyboard — to Bentley Systems executives and other insightful voices to tell us about the future of infrastructure engineering. They discussed how AI will change the sector, why we need resilient infrastructure to adapt to climate change, and other pressing topics. Here are five of our favorite discussions: The Future of Infrastructure Engineering is Open Bentley Systems is all-in on keeping data flowing freely in infrastructure. Nicholas Cumins has been championing this “openness” since he became CEO of Bentley, the leading infrastructure engineering software company. “A road, a bridge or a dam might be in operation for 50 years or more, undergoing repairs, upgrades and expansions,” Cumins writes. “By ensuring that our systems remain open, we allow organizations to adopt new technologies and innovations while still being able to access and build on historical data.” Cumins, who was named CEO last summer, notes that openness is not just about connecting different software: “It is about structuring and organizing data so that it can be queried, analyzed and reused across multiple platforms.” For example, many infrastructure assets generate gigabytes of data every day. But only a small fraction—10% or less—is

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How the ‘City of Bridges’ Inspired a Rising Engineer’s Career. She’s now Bringing Generative AI to Infrastructure

With hundreds of bridges crossing valleys, railroads and the three major rivers that meet downtown, Pittsburgh embodies its nickname as the City of Bridges. These bridges are more than infrastructure—they’re proud symbols of connection and community. That pride was on full display when the Andy Warhol Bridge became the centerpiece of Knit the Bridge, a 2013 public art project that blanketed the bridge with nearly 600 knitted and crocheted panels in a colorful tribute to the city’s engineering legacy. For Emily Zhang, who came to Pittsburgh to study computational mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, the city’s bridges are more than a backdrop. They sparked discussions in her classes and her interest in infrastructure. “For the first time, I started hearing about bridges and transportation systems, and how math could be used for real-world modeling,” she recalls. That shift in perspective set Zhang on the path to explore infrastructure—and the software that designs it—as a career. She’s now working on the sector’s leading edge, developing software powered by generative AI that is changing the game for civil engineers. While Pittsburgh sparked Zhang’s interest in infrastructure, her journey to Bentley Systems, a global leader in infrastructure engineering software, began much earlier and

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How Bentley’s CEO Sees AI and Open Data Shaping the Future of Infrastructure and Closing the Sector’s Talent Gap

In a wide-ranging conversation on The Infrastructure Podcast, Nicholas Cumins, CEO of Bentley Systems, the infrastructure engineering software company, talked about the challenges and opportunities facing the infrastructure sector. He addressed the shortage of engineering talent, explained the need for open data standards, and discussed the role of AI in the field. Cumins highlighted growing global demand for resilient infrastructure, especially amid challenges like rapid urbanization, economic growth, and the energy transition. But he emphasized that the industry’s capacity is strained by a lack of engineers, making technology essential to bridging the gap. “It’s great to be in infrastructure engineering software because software is of course one of the keys to help,” he said. He added that tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and digital twins are transforming how infrastructure is designed, built, and operated. Cumins said engineers and infrastructure owners and operators need for solutions that extend the lifespan of existing assets like roads and bridges, improve efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and make them more resilient. As examples of the Bentley’s focus on sustainable innovation and resilience, he pointed to the company’s new asset analytics offerings using AI to monitor infrastructure conditions at scale. One of them, Blyncsy, uses crowdsourced

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From Ancient Aqueducts to Generative AI: Bentley’s iLab Builds the Future, Brick by Digital Brick

Imagine stepping into a room where ancient aqueducts meet cityscapes conjured by generative AI, where stone roads lead to high-speed rail networks that emerge from a sea of data on a massive digital screen with just a few keystrokes. That’s the vision Bentley Systems’ iLab conjured with its Immersive Infrastructure Experience: From Aqueducts to AI. Part history lesson, part futuristic vision, the exhibit was the highlight of Bentley’s Year in Infrastructure and Going Digital Awards in Vancouver this October. Greg Demchak, Bentley’s vice president for emerging technologies, called the iLab “a time machine for infrastructure.” Guests began their journey thousands of years ago, marveling at the ingenuity of ancient bridges and roads, before being whisked to the present and future. Here, Bentley illustrated how advanced visualization tools—powered by video game technology, Google geospatial data, and Cesium’s 3D Tiles—are revolutionizing engineering, design, construction, and infrastructure management. This visualization technology, unveiled at the Vancouver event, merges real-time renderings with geospatial information, engineering details, and other data to give users a fully interactive view of their projects. “When people see what’s possible, they’re floored,” says Demchak, as he toggles between underground utilities and panoramic cityscapes. “This is the future of infrastructure design—connected, real-time,

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AI Takes the Wheel in Highway Repairs: New Tech Flags Deteriorating U.S. Roads for DOTs

One day a decade ago, when Mark Pittman was a student at The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, he got caught in a snarl of traffic caused by a broken traffic light. The line was barely budging, and he was growing irritated. He knew he would be late for his class. But then a different kind of light sparked in his mind, illuminating a path from frustration to opportunity. The result was Blyncsy, a startup using AI, machine vision and cloud computing to monitor road conditions, find problematic spots and help departments of transportation maintain their road networks. Since its launch in 2014, Blyncsy has emerged as the industry leader in providing intelligent roadway insights, automated asset management, and near real-time status updates to local and state transportation departments. AI drives highway repairs The company is now celebrating a milestone: The release of a comprehensive public map of all interstate highways in the continental U.S. The AI-powered map shows key roadway assets such as guardrails, speed limit signs and work zones to support roadway safety and maintenance conditions. The data is available to all state U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) agencies, enabling them to better address safety, maintenance

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The Future of Infrastructure Engineering is Open

This post is an excerpt from the keynote delivered by Bentley CEO Nicholas Cumins to open the 2024 Year in Infrastructure conference. Infrastructure today is facing unprecedented challenges. Around the world, demand for better, more resilient infrastructure is surging—whether it is to expand energy grids, modernize transportation networks, or retrofit existing structures to meet sustainable development goals. These are massive undertakings, requiring trillions of dollars in investment and decades of effort. Despite the urgent needs, there are not enough engineers to meet this demand. Backlogs are growing, and projects are stacking up. The shortage of skilled engineers and technical professionals is widening the gap between what is needed and what can realistically be delivered. While we have a shortage of engineers, we do not have a shortage of data. And there lies the biggest paradox of our industry. We have so much data, but comparatively few insights. Many assets generate gigabytes of data every day—whether from sensors on a bridge, a utility network, or any other system. But only a small fraction of this data is ever analyzed. Some say 10% of collected data is used, others say not even that much. As we advance toward more sophisticated asset operations

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