{"id":815,"date":"2023-03-06T14:14:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T22:14:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/learn-lab\/?p=815"},"modified":"2023-03-06T14:14:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T22:14:59","slug":"the-2023-make-it-bridge-scholarship-design-contest-is-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/learn-lab\/2023\/03\/06\/the-2023-make-it-bridge-scholarship-design-contest-is-on\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2023 Make It Bridge Scholarship Design Contest is On"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pro athletes Connor Clifton (far left) and James Develin (far right) hosted an Autodesk web series on the state of the modern construction industry.\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vibrant communities are walkable communities. Having convenient, walkable access to local amenities connects pedestrians to businesses, activities, and each other, making for a healthy lifestyle. Blockages to pedestrian access are problems, however, they are also opportunities for designers to solve them through innovation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its latest annual Make It Real<\/a> scholarship design contest, Autodesk challenges high school students to connect physical divides in their communities by imagining how they could improve pedestrian infrastructure. Their new design should include a pedestrian bridge that addresses a real gap in the student\u2019s community and should establish a new connection between, for example, old and new spaces, urban and natural environments, the indoors and outdoors, and so on. The bridge could be part of a larger design that includes shelter-providing structures, landscaping, or whatever else the designer can imagine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the 2023 Make It Bridge<\/a> contest, entrants must be aged 13-21, currently in high school (or homeschooled) in the US or Canada, and must incorporate Autodesk software to create an\u202fInstructable<\/a>\u202ffor their bridge design. Winners have an opportunity to earn scholarship funds totaling $50,000, which can be used to support the winner\u2019s education and cover other related needs, such as tuition, books, room & board, transportation, and childcare.\u202fIn addition, there will be another $50,000 awarded in $500 microgrants<\/a>* to help young people ages 17-22 to transition into the building trades after high school. In 2022, the Make It Real program empowered 84 young people on the path to construction-related careers, of which 57% planned to enter building trades directly from high school.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Star Support for Student Design<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, Autodesk welcomes back former NFL fullback James Develin, a three-time Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots. He graduated from Brown University with a mechanical engineering degree, and for the last four years he has joined the Make It Real program by hosting webinars, video series, and design challenges that immersed students in the possibilities of the architecture, engineering, and construction fields.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Former NFL fullback James Develin (far left) has transitioned into a life of entrepreneurship and advocacy for students entering the architecture, engineering, and construction fields.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m so glad to partner once again with Autodesk to increase awareness of the incredible roles in construction, and to highlight the opportunities throughout all stages of the building process, from the initial idea for a project, up until the final nail is driven,\u201d Develin says.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, Develin has also teamed up with fellow athlete\/scholar Connor Clifton, a defender for the Boston Bruins NHL hockey team who studied engineering at Quinnipiac University. The two appear together on an active construction site in a web series focused on the possibilities for the next generation of builders. \u201cObviously education plays a big role,\u201d Clifton says, \u201cbut the experience of boots on the ground is something entirely different.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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