BLUlabs is a 40,000-sq-ft facility with reconfigurable industrial space designed to support real-world testing, prototyping, and product development.  

“BLUlabs is an incubator for the ideas that will shape the future of construction,” said Gene Hodge, vice president of Innovation at Mortenson. "We needed a dedicated space where teams could test tools, technologies, and processes in a controlled environment. This new facility is a testament to our belief that innovation thrives when given space to grow."

Derek Cunz, president and CEO of Minneapolis-based Mortenson, said  the investment follows Mortenson's traditional early technology adoption curve, such as getting involved in virtual design and construction in the 1990s.

"From our early VDC efforts at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, to building manufacturing facilities, to advanced industrialization on energy and data center projects, we’ve always pushed what’s possible in design and construction. BLUlabs is another step in our journey," Cunz said in a statement.

The facility is outfitted with 3D printers, CAD equipment and software, CNC machines, a plasma cutting table, and tools for carpentry, metal, concrete, and electrical work. It has a dedicated engineering and fabrication staff to assist with designing, prototyping, and equipment operation and they are available to all Mortenson team members.

More 'Versatility' for Steel Managers

Versatile, in July, updated its crane-mounted sensor and jobsite analytics platform with what it says is the first project dashboard built specifically for steel erection pros. 

Versatile's Control Center consolidates crane activity, sequence progress, and milestone tracking into one view, giving project managers, particularly steel erection PMs, visibility into jobsite performance.The company's founders, led by executive chairwoman Meirav Oren, developed Control Center to solve one of steel erection's most persistent pain points: project managers forced to chase updates across spreadsheets, calls, texts, and field reports just to know if their job is on track. 

Robert Allen, senior onsite project manager with Cooper Steel said in a statement that "Control Center gives me one place to see what’s really happening. My crew and I can track progress, stay ahead of delays, and make quicker adjustments without chasing updates. It keeps us efficient and aligned with the GC."

By capturing crane-mounted device data and aligning it with project plans, Versatile's Control Center eliminates can deliver clarity to PMs, foremen and project executives without chasing it from the field.

"Versatile believes that jobsite data is the most underutilized asset in construction. Control Center turns that data into a strategic advantage," Versatile’s CEO, Eishay Smith, said in a statement. "It’s built for leaders who want clarity and visibility into their projects and care about performance.”

Versatile also added weather integration to its Explore and Calendar views, providing project teams with visibility into how environmental conditions affect their jobsites. Temperature, wind, and precipitation for each lift can be planned using the Explore and Calendar views updating weather data from project sensors as rapidly as hourly.

Buildots Inks Agreement WIth Student Housing Contractor

AI construction scheduling and technology provider Buildots announced August 27 a three-year enterprise agreement with Juneau Construction Co., a builder of residential and student housing projects in the Southeast. Juneau will implement Buildots' AI-powered platform across its entire portfolio, leveraging data-driven insights from its own construction data.

Buildots automates on-site progress tracking by using AI and computer vision to show the latest project data and predictive performance metrics. Juneau has delivered multiple large-scale construction projects in the student housing market, including Hub Knoxville, an 800,000-sq-ft, three-building student housing complex at the University of Tennessee.

"The immediate visibility and predictive insights we've gained from Buildots have the ability to fundamentally change how our teams operate. By using the platform across our portfolio, we’re confident the value it brings will increase exponentially, helping us improve organization-wide processes and deliver enhanced experiences for our teams and clients," said Jake Landreneau, executive vice president of Innovation + Technology at Juneau Construction Co.