ENR Midwest Editor and Associate Technology Editor Jeff Yoders has been writing about design and construction innovations for 16 years. He is a two-time Jesse H. Neal award winner and multiple ASBPE winner for his tech coverage. Jeff previously launched Building Design + Construction's building information modeling blog and wrote a geographic information systems column at CE News. He also wrote about materials prices, construction procurement and estimation for MetalMiner.com. He lives in Chicago, the birthplace of the skyscraper, where the pace of innovation never leaves him without a story to chase.
Conference wrapup on Oct. 16 offered a glimpse at what comes next–the state of emerging technologies and how construction tech fits in the context of a changing industry market.
Efficiencies in design, construction and building use are being unlocked thanks to analysis and proactive changes informed by construction data. Even 3D printing for a NASA project on structures on Mars is on the table.
“Ideas and solutions are the easy part,” says Ricardo Khan, senior director of innovation at Mortenson Construction. It’s “the process” that is the real challenge. Khan’s midday keynote captured one of the key themes of the second day of the virtual ENR FutureTech conference—the need to identify the problems in your construction process before you start throwing technology at them
Telematics, wearables, online collaboration, 3D model management tools and the ever-evolving ways contractors collect and use data took center stage in the first day of ENR's all-virtual FutureTech construction technology conference.
A new coordination workflow between Autodesk BIM 360 Model Coordination and Navisworks allows users to assign and track clashes and other issuers from anywhere to anywhere without meetings and other face-to-face activities.
4,000-Member architects association chapter holds meeting to discuss controversy over the dismissal of its 14-year leader. A vote to recommend rehire failed with 149 yes votes, 104 no votes and 57 abstentions.
ENR Midwest's finalists for Project of the Year are a Populous-designed sports stadium with a stunning PTFE roof and sides that evokes Minnesota's northern lights, the latest in acoustic technology at a new music venue at the University of Wisconsin and a twisting, scenic pedestrian bridge in Dublin, Ohio.
An document filed by Chicago says the $8.5-billion revamp of O'Hare International Airport may be delayed as airline revenue, a key funding source, has been decimated by the pandemic, but the Chicago Dept. of Aviation says the new Studio-Gang-designed global terminal, the centerpiece of the revamp, will stay on track.