The "Circasia: Engaging the Creeks" project design by University of Pennsylvania landscape architecture student Diego Bermudez was selected as the top overall entry. The design aims to reconnect the urban core of Circasia, Columbia to its agrarian landscape.

Nemetschek Vectorworks, Inc., a provider of 2D/3D and building information modeling software, announces the first recipients of the Vectorworks Design Scholarship. Fifteen students from eight countries will receive $3,000 to support their studies in any design major at the accredited college or university of their choice. The schools will also receive Vectorworks software licenses and training.

The scholarship program is open to design students across disciplines: architecture; landscape architecture; lighting and interiors. Nearly 1,000 students from 56 countries submitted entries, which were evaluated by a global panel of architects, landscape architects, professors, lighting designers and media professionals.

University of Pennsylvania landscape architecture student Diego Bermudez was selected as having the top overall entry. In addition to the scholarship, Bermudez receives the Richard Diehl Award and an additional $7,000.

Bermudez took top honors because of "his superb use of digital tools to demonstrate how reclaiming an area devastated by poor use fosters human interaction." His project, "Circasia: Engaging the Creeks," redefines the relationship between the villages and creeks in Circasia, a rapidly growing coffee community in Colombia, by helping residents reconnect Circasia's urban core to its agrarian landscape.

"I have always been interested in providing new and better opportunities for people, working almost exclusively in social urbanism," Bermudez says. "The scale doesn't really matter; it can be a small vegetable garden providing food for a family, or a whole new regional plan protecting people, water sources, forests, agricultural land and
cultural assets."

To see the winning projects and view the list of judges, visit www.vectorworks.net/scholarship