Hello, and welcome to this Infrastructure-themed GeoSpatial Stream. I’m your host, Todd Danielson, and today’s Lead Sponsor is Bentley Systems.

Tactfully segueing to a Bentley competitor, today’s Top Story is Autodesk University. I recently attended this wide-ranging event that’s annually held in Las Vegas, where Autodesk discusses its growing and evolving platform of technologies. Let’s start with some video highlights I recorded and finish with a piece of video Autodesk created that gives you an idea of the grand spectacle that is the AU opening session.

That was today’s Top Story. I’ll be back with more news after this interview clip from Bentley Systems Year In Infrastructure 2015 event.

You can learn a lot more about Autodesk University and Bentley’s Year In Infrastructure event at the Informed Infrastructure Web site, which features commentary, analysis and some lovely videos created by me. While there, check out the digital flip book of the most-recent issue or sign up for a free print subscription.

If you check out the cover story, you’ll learn about how the Alabama Department of Transportation is turning negative feedback about a proposed new bridge across Mobile into a fast-tracked project with wide-ranging support by creating a realistic rendering and model to demonstrate what the bridge will look like and how it can decrease existing traffic bottlenecks.

If you’re near New York City in a few years and have seen all the usual sights, check out the Gowanus Canal Sponge Park. Not only does it have a fun name, but the proposed design is a new breed of multifunctional public open space that slows, absorbs and filters surface-water runoff to remediate contaminated water. Sponge Park. I like it.

In industry headlines, the Terracon Foundation presented a $50,000 National Partner grant to the Society of Women Engineers to support its Collegiate Leadership Program.

Intelligent Light partnered with Visual Technology Services to develop FieldView 16, the first Computational Fluid Dynamics tool with built-in 3D PDF interactive report-generation features.

Atkins was named the design lead for the largest freeway project in Nevada’s 151-year history.

And Leica Geosystems released the Leica ULTRA underground-service locating system for site engineers and underground utility specialists who need to trace buried utility lines accurately for safe excavations and utility surveys.

And now for today’s Final Thought. Most of the year I keep these thoughts on the industries we cover, but here in the United States I’m getting ready to start our annual holiday vacation. For a couple weeks, work moves to the background, and I get to spend some genuinely quality time with family and friends. I’m really looking forward to it.

So from all of us at V1 Media, no matter where you are or whether it’s even holiday season for you, I wish you all health, happiness and a wonderful 2016. I’ll see you next year.

I’m Todd Danielson, and this … was your GeoSpatial Stream.