Related Links: The Tomorrow Project from Intel FutureTech CIOs: Are You Paving Over a Cow Path? As computing chips become ubiquitous and smaller, imagination may be the only limiting factor in how they can be used, says Brian David Johnson, Intel's futurist, and that could have significant implications for the future of construction. Johnson talked about the future of work to more than 300 construction professionals attending ENR's FutureTech conference in San Francisco on July 10. JOHNSONBecause Intel needs to envision how its chips will be used, it is of "vital business importance" for the company to imagine how people
Photo by Tom Sawyer Smart Pick: Sonim's XP3340 is durable and will call if you fall. Photo courtesy of URS Corp. Instant Message: Just speaking into a NoteVault-equipped phone routes time-stamped observations and attached photos into a report e-mailed for approval. Jobsite communication tools are appearing as fast as device makers and app builders can churn them out—just keeping up could be a full-time job.But contractors don't need another full-time job. They just need to share critical project information quickly in the simplest, most reliable way.For years, Nextel's push-to-talk phones were the standard in construction, with PTT's instant voice contact
Bluebeam Software has officially launched its new Revu iPad app in the iTunes App store .The tool enables users to access, navigate and annotate PDF files on the go. With Revu iPad, company officials say, comments and annotations display clearly and accurately so nothing is missed, reducing the ping pong effect of ambiguous communications.The company says Revu iPad officially expands Bluebeam’s platform solution, Revu for Windows, for use in other industries. “Bluebeam Revu iPad removes current barriers to productivity, and enables technical and mobile professionals to work without limits,” said Richard Lee, President and CEO at Bluebeam Software, in statement.
ENR's FutureTech San Francisco event attracted over 300 construction technology professionals who attended and participated in a day's worth of demonstrations of the latest and future uses of technology in the industry.During one panel discussion moderated by Isaac Sacolick, CIO of McGraw-Hill Construction, called 'IT From the CIOs Perspective,' CIOs debated some of their main issues in delivering the next wave of information technology services. They also offered tips on how to balance their firms' demands to innovate new systems with the cost to develop and support those innovations.One of the main points: If a firm is building unique applications
Image courtesy of Warranty Hotel Danish company's new cloud-based warranty management site, which has apps for data acquisition, is available on a white-label basis for integration with other asset data-management systems. A new consumer-oriented Android app that lets users upload and manage an unlimited amount of warranty information on products for a onetime, 99-cent fee has crossover potential for construction, which could use it just as easily to track the same information for equipment, tools and materials.The app is associated with warrantyhotel.com, a website that gives users a free cloud-based account. Using the account, they can upload and track warranty
This summary of the results of projects implementing virtual design and construction, building information modeling, integrated project delivery and a range of other applications of new technology and process, which were presented at the CIFE Summer Progam,Stanford, University, on June 20-21, was prepared by presenter Gregory Luth at ENR's request. Additional information on the presentations may be obtained by contacting CIFE. The Presentations:NCC, a large, vertically integrated, Swedish contractor and developer presented project P303, a vision of the future of housing that responds to the need for improved energy efficiency, higher quality, and lower cost housing in a market where costs
Image courtesy of UC Berkeley PEER Center Shake up BridgePBEE improves study of soil, structure interaction during simulated earthquake. Related Links: Download BridgePBEE BridgePBEE examples Bridge analysis software to model the interaction of soil, foundation and structure in simulated earthquakes weighs a host of variables to achieve results. Making such a complex process user-friendly is a challenge.BridgePBEE, a graphical pre- and post-processor performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) analysis tool, aspires to do just that. The beta version is available for free download from the University of California, Berkeley's Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center.The PC-based tool lets engineers conduct PBEE analysis
Photo top, courtesy of Rampart Hydro Services. Graphic, bottom, courtesy of U.C. Berkeley Peer Center Data-driven Rampart Hydro Services long used FileMaker's databaseprogram to keep job information. Now it has used a new version to build an app. Related Links: FileMaker Product Line FileMaker techniques blog One hot IT market these days is developing business apps. But some contractors are using an old tool to build their own.Rampart Hydro Services, a hydro demolition firm in Coraopolis, Pa., has long used Apple's FileMaker product to manage project data. Recently, James Pierson, IT and facilities manager, began using a new version, FileMaker
Related Links: A summary of the CIFE presentations Over the last 10 years, BIM/IPD/VDC technologies have matured. Design and construction teams have mastered the tools and the industry has progressed beyond the tentative exploratory stages. There are clear advantages in exploiting the technologies. The imperative now is to develop strategies for managing the technologies and deploying the tools.The point was made abundantly clear at the annual CIFE Summer Program, June 20-21, when presenter after presenter delivered reports on real projects that demonstrated breakthrough performance improvements in areas that included project quality, schedule, cost, energy and design-construction processes. CIFE Executive Director
Related Links: ENR FutureTech Conference Agenda FutureTech for Jobsites? CIOs Need to See ROI First Jim Balding, CEO and founder of the architecture and design- technology research firm The ANT Group, has three passions: buildings, technology and improving communication. Balding will be among the presenters who will highlight game-changing technology at ENR's FutureTech conference in San Francisco on July 10. He recently chatted with ENR about key trends. Balding What's an emerging tech trend that will disrupt how the AEC industry works? One of the trends that's starting to emerge is digital fabrication. It [enables me] to model something, highly
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