Image courtesy of Balfour Beatty Construction Related Links: How Balfour Beatty and Autodesk are Driving BIM Use How Ready Is 'BIM-?Ready'? Online Assessment Tells All Technology adoption quickened its pace with more construction professionals in 2012, fueled by growth in cheaper cloud- computing resources, faster networks and a variety of new tablet devices that have lower price points.And then there were apps—lots more apps.If 2011 was the year that tablets took off in construction, then 2012 could be called the year when even more apps found their way on to construction professionals' tablets and smartphones.As ENR's Luke Abaffy noted in
Courtesy Buckaplan.com Inevitably, as technology jets forward, some business models are hurt, maimed or left in the dust. One example of an industry under assault is reprographic services, which have been taking a yearly shot to the checkbook as mobile electronic plan-visualization tools get more popular by the day.To fight back, one printer decided to simplify, refocus on subcontractors, extend service boarders and, most important, get a catchy name."When the industry took a nosedive, we didn’t want to lay off people, so we made a change,” says Brian Burke, president of Buckaplan.com, a subsidiary of Universal Copy LLC, Waterbury, Conn.
Hurricane Sandy’s impact on the United States was tremendous. The nation’s most heavily populated metropolis experienced electrical power outages, critical supply chain disruptions, and intermittent transportation in the days and weeks after the storm’s landfall. Many critical operations struggled to get diesel fuel to supply their back-up generators. Some experts thought the New York metro area would be immune to such catastrophic critical infrastructure disruptions, so how could the area have mitigated Sandy’s impact? Energy microgrids could have played a part. A microgrid is a small, electric utility than can be disconnected from the larger electrical grid for stand-alone, computer-controlled,
Related Links: BIM 360 Glue Amazon Web Services Health Dashboard From BIM 360 programs and remote desktop protocols to amped-up graphics-processing units, cloud-based tools are the top priorities of Autodesk. The cloud theme rang out at the firm's Autodesk University 2012 conference in Las Vegas last month. Many companies at the conference featured cloud technology that helps smooth remote access to large amounts of data or functions as a powerful workstation.Anthony Governanti, Autodesk's technical marketing manager, found his BIM 360 booth very popular during the conference."It's one click to BIM," Governanti told the users crowding around his booth and during
Screen shot courtesy of Autodesk Finger Models The new graphic modeling iPad app from Autodesk displays building area and volume and also allows for sun diagramming. Related Links: FormIt on iTunes Autodesk YouTube Video of FormIt in Action At first glance, Autodesk's FormIt app looks like SketchUp, Trimble's 3D modeling tool. But Autodesk says this app does more, such as adding more site information to the building information model. Users can pinpoint site location on imported satellite images and run sun diagrams, among other features. The app debuted at Autodesk University 2012, Las Vegas.Matt Jezyk, senior manager of the AEC
Photo by Sean Hamilton / Hunter Roberts Oliver Soler, Hunter Roberts information systems manager, explains Windows 8's home screen to his IT team. Related Links: Online buzz over Microsoft Surface Pro All About Microsoft blog Microsoft's rolling release of its new Windows 8 operating system, along with its companion Surface touch-screen tablets to run it, is being greeted by construction IT managers like a beast with a split personality—but with great potential to liberate data.For some qualities—specifically, the ability to run Windows applications while using Microsoft's DirectAccess server to make secure, effortless connections through firewalls, along with Surface's battery life
Courtesy of Morpholio Morpholio Trace lets users sketch on layers of digital tracing paper and store, share and critique design work through the Morpholio app. Related Links: Morpholio Trace Link to App Store Mobile devices have seen unprecedented growth recently. Apple alone has sold over 84 million iPads in the past two years. It is clear these devices have changed the culture of digital-media consumption, but have they changed the way designers work?The Morpholio Project, a digital-media company started by practitioners and academics in the design professions, enters the currently limited field of design-oriented mobile-device apps with the goal of
Related Links: New Survey Shows That Mobile Tools Boost Jobsite Productivity Deltek Vision Performance Management Dexter + Chaney's Spectrum software Developers of enterprise data management systems say the long-awaited dawn of business intelligence for construction has arrived, thanks in part to the rapid adoption of mobile computing devices and anywhere-anytime access to years of company data. Some users, however, say that while the sun may be rising—and that's worth celebrating—it's still only the early adopters who are seeing the light.Access to business intelligence is rising with the expansion of fast internet connections as well as cloud and web services for
Related Links: Designer, Jon Atherton's Blog HEX3 Website JaJa Kickstarter ENR tested a new stylus that works with any tablet and could make a fine combination with the Morpholio Trace app.Most tablet stylus pens work via WiFi or Bluetooth technology, but both methods are battery hogs. A new device offers an alternative, communicating with tablets via high-frequency sound and allowing for pressure-sensitive control on touch screens.The JaJa Stylus—designed and built by Brisbane, Australia-based HEX3, funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign and produced by Hex3 Ltd., Hong Kong—adds capability to the iPad and other tablets. Unlike a Wacom drawing tablet, the
Mobile Devices Are Key to BI in Construction Stats: Construction Industry Dead Last in IT Spend Gartner Research: Big Data Trends How to Avoid e-Discovery Disasters With Big Data Tools (subscription only) Linked Data Working Group Website Dig into the master schedule on any major construction project and you will likely find plenty of examples of big data.
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