AEC Business

Two editors of a new Springer book, Industry 4.0 for the Built Environment, are Aarni Heiskanen's guests on the AEC Business podcast. Marzia Bolpagni, Head of BIM International at Mace, and Rui Gavina, Digital Practice Manager at VN2R, talk about the process of making the book, its content, and how Industry 4.0 can transform the construction sector.

The discussion topics include:

What inspired Marzia, Rui, and Diogo to put together a book about built environment technologyWhat's in the book and who were the authorsHow Industry 4.0 can help solve construction's long-lasting problemsSome recent examples of Industry 4.0 in practiceWhat's the value and future of BIM in Industry 4.0How companies can empower their employees to innovate

Get the book at Springer's website and visit the Industry 4.0 Channel on AEC Business to read articles by the book authors.  Industry 4.0 for the Built Environment is edited by Marzia Bolpagni, Rui Gavina, and Diogo Rodrigo Ribeiro.

About the Editors of the Book

Marzia Bolpagni works as Head of BIM International at Mace where she develops and implements digital construction solutions for public and private international clients in five international hubs. Marzia holds a Ph.D. in ICT and Smart Construction and she is passionate about filling the gap between industry and academia. She is a member of the BIMExcellence Initiative, Assistant Editor of the BIM Dictionary, and Ambassador of the UK BIMAlliance. She's an expert at the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) TC 442. Marzia is an Honorary Lecturer at UCL The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, and Visiting Professor at Northumbria University, and the founder of Italians in Digital Transformation Uk. She has received several awards for her activities including Woman of the Future for Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Construction.

Rui Gavina is Digital Practice Manager at VN2R, a structural engineering company and digital construction consultancy he co-founded. He develops and implements workflows and applications using digital technologies and has supported multiple design and construction companies in their digital transition. He has co-founded the group ISEPBIM, a non-profitable BIM community at ISEP-IPP. Rui is very active in the promotion and dissemination of digital construction solutions in Portugal and internationally, both as a speaker and committee member in multiple conferences. Rui holds a Bachelor's and Master’s degree in civil engineering from Polytechnic of Porto – School of Engineering (ISEP-IPP) and took a post-graduate degree in Computer Aided Structural Design.

Diogo Ribeiro is Adjunct Professor at Polytechnic of Porto – School of Engineering and holds a Bachelor's in Civil Engineering, a Master's in Structural Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, all from the University of Porto. He is Director of the Bachelor course in Civil Engineering of ISEP and Director of the Postgraduate Programs in BIM Coordination and Prefabrication in Concrete. Diego is a regularly invited teacher on Civil Engineering master's and postgraduate courses at the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and Federal University of Ouro Preto (Brazil). His main research interests are related to remote inspection, computer vision, artificial intelligence, automatic calculation of structures, BIM, digital construction, digital railways, railway infrastructures, structural testing and experimentation, model updating and validation, and damage identification.

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Grant Harris, Director of Business Development at Exyn Technologies, is Aarni Heiskanen's guest on the AEC Business podcast. Exyn provides autonomous aerial robot systems for the construction industry.

The discussion topics include:

Exyn's backgroundThe challenges and limitations of manually operated dronesWhat added value do autonomous drones provideHow to turn a drone autonomousData that Exyn provides and how it integrates with other systems and tools used in constructionHow customers can start using Exyn's solutionWhat's in the future for Exyn

About Exyn Technologies

Exyn Technologies is pioneering autonomous aerial robot systems for complex, GPS-denied environments. The company’s full-stack solution enables flexible deployment of single or multi-robots that can intelligently navigate and dynamically adapt to complex environments in real-time. For the first time, industries like mining, logistics, and construction can benefit from a single, integrated solution to capture critical and time-sensitive data in a safer, more affordable, and more efficient way.

Exyn is powered by a team of experts in autonomous systems, robotics, and industrial engineering, and is a spin-out of the University of Pennsylvania's world-renowned GRASP Laboratory. The company is VC-backed and privately held, with headquarters in Philadelphia.

For more information, please visit www.exyn.com.

Construction Robotics Today

Exyn is one of the companies featured in the AEC Business e-learning course Construction Robotics Today.

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Noam Rotem, Founder & CEO of Syracuse, is the guest in this episode of the AEC Business Podcast. Aarni and Noam discuss smart and autonomous cranes and the future where the role of the crane operator could change dramatically.

The discussion topics:

What sparked Noam to start up Syracuse and what the company offers todayWhat is the business case for an autonomous craneWhat does it take to make a crane autonomousWhat have been the biggest challengesHow an autonomous crane can or should integrate with other systems and tools used in constructionHow a customer can start using Syracuse's solutionWhat’s in the future for Syracuse

You can find more information about Syracuse and their solutions at syracuse-tech.com.

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In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Raffi Holzer, CEO of Avvir. The company provides a reality analysis platform that uses reality capture and BIM data to automate construction verification and progress monitoring.

The discussion topics include

Raffi's "unorthodox" backgroundHow traditional companies can start transforming their business with technologyWhat Raffi thinks about the quality and usability of data in today’s constructionWhat is Avvvir's solution and who uses itHow to take it into useSuccess storiesHow Raffi sees the future of construction tech.

About Raffi Holzer

Raffi Holzer is the CEO of Avvir, a construction technology company based in NYC that employs computer vision and deep learning to provide automated construction verification and progress monitoring.

Prior to starting Avvir, Raffi worked for three years as a product manager, helping clients realize and bring to market products that served the needs of both the users and the business.

He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with two master's degrees in mechanical and bioengineering and enjoys finding ways to apply his interdisciplinary training to difficult problems. He is passionate about bringing cutting-edge technology to market and often reads journal articles in fields ranging from neuroscience to materials engineering to stay ahead of what’s next.

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In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Mehdi Nourbakhsh, Ph.D., on his new book, Augment It. The book is a great resource for AEC professionals who want to start leveraging AI in their business.

Artificial intelligence is one of the most under-utilized emerging technologies in the AEC industry. When understood and used correctly, it builds efficiency, empowers creativity, and improves bottom-line results. While much of the information on AI is often misleading or confusing, through the pages of Augment It, Mehdi not only explains AI in layman’s terms through stories and anecdotes but does so specifically for AEC professionals. Including case studies of how AI is being used in AEC businesses today, Augment It explains how AEC executives can invent, innovate, and augment their capabilities using AI.

By implementing the techniques explained in the book, leaders – and their organizations – will become industry innovators with a sustainable and profitable future.

Visit augmentit-book.com for more information about the new book.

About Mehdi

Mehdi is an author, speaker, and CEO of YegaTech, a technology consulting company in AEC. He’s devoted to helping CEOs, CTOs, innovation directors, and business executives to grow their businesses and differentiate themselves and their companies via AI technology and innovation.

With a decade of experience in the research and development of innovative AI solutions in the AEC and manufacturing industry at YegaTech, Autodesk, and Georgia Institute of Technology, Mehdi brings a unique perspective to the AEC industry. Mehdi has led and advised on several AI solutions that are used by tens of thousands of AEC and manufacturing professionals every day. He is also the author of the new book: Augment It: How Architecture, Engineering and Construction Leaders Leverage Data and Artificial Intelligence to Build a Sustainable Future.

Book a meeting with Mehdi.

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In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Omer Keilaf, co-founder and CEO of Innoviz Technologies which provides LiDAR sensors for demanding uses.

On the podcast, Omer talks about the benefits and possibilities of LiDAR and how Innoviz has applied the technology to construction cranes. Japanese Obayashi began using Innoviz’s LiDAR on their sites in 2018 and is currently in the process of developing a full-scale system for building sites throughout the country.

About Omer David Keilaf

Omer Keilaf has spent 21 years driving cutting-edge technologies from inception to commercialization. As the co-founder and CEO of Innoviz Technologies, a leading provider of LiDAR sensing solutions, Omer is helping enable the mass commercialization of autonomous vehicles by providing high-performance LiDAR at mass-market prices. He has overseen the company’s tremendous success as it overtook older, more established LiDAR developers to earn a design win with BMW, marking the industry’s first major design win for series production of autonomous vehicles.

The company has also secured partnerships with Tier 1 solution providers, including Aptiv, Magna International, Samsung HARMAN, and HiRain Technologies. 

Omer spearheaded the company’s rapid growth as it raised $252 million and expanded to over 270 employees in a little over three years. For his efforts, he was named CEO of the Year by the 2018 Image Sensors Europe Awards, while Innoviz itself has been named a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, Automobility LA Top Three Startup, and CES Innovation Award winner, among other awards.

Prior to co-founding Innoviz, Omer served as an officer in an elite technological unit of the Intelligence Corps of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) before a distinguished career in optomechanics, electrical engineering, MEMS, and more. He held senior leadership roles at companies including Consumer Physics, STMicroelectronics, and IDF, where he served as the System and Product Team Manager, R&D manager, and Project Manager and System Architecture Manager, respectively. 

Omer holds a BSc and MSc in Electrical Engineering and an MBA, all from Tel Aviv University, where he served as a lecturer.

To learn more about Innoviz, visit https://innoviz.tech and follow their YouTube channel.

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On the AEC Business Podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Daniel Hall, Jerker Lessing, and Jennifer Whyte on industry 4.0 and how it enables new industrialized construction business models.

Daniel, Jerker, and Jennifer are co-writers of the article titled New Business Models for Industrialized Construction for a new Springer book  Industry 4.0 for the Built Environment. There's also a journal paper, Mirror-breaking strategies to enable digital manufacturing in Silicon Valley construction firms: a comparative case study, available from the same authors.

Our discussion topics include

What is Industry 4.0 and what opportunities it creates for constructionHow industrialized construction is becoming more than just prefabricationHow traditional construction is evolvingWhat are the three new industrialized construction business modelsWhat is the value that startups provide and how their funding could be changed

“Industry 4.0 for the Built Environment”, is the new Springer book, edited by Marzia Bolpagni, Rui Gavina, and Diogo Rodrigo Ribeiro.

About the guests

Daniel HallDaniel Hall is an Assistant Professor of Innovative and Industrial Construction at ETH Zurich. The theme of his research is to enhance governance, industrialization, circularity, and innovation in the construction industry through a transformation from fragmented project delivery methods to new organizational and informational models that integrate the complex supply chain. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy (2017) in Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) from Stanford University.

Jerker LessingJerker Lessing is a Director Research and Development at BoKlok. Since 2004 he has concurrently conducted research at Lund University. He is frequently engaged as a lecturer in both academia and industry, in Sweden and internationally, co-authored several books about industrialized construction, and is also an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University. His research is aimed at strategic development for platform-oriented and industrialized construction companies.

Jennifer WhyteProfessor Jennifer Whyte is Director of John Grill Institute for Project Leadership and Head of School of Project Management at University of Sydney. She is also a Professor of Systems Integration at Imperial College London, working closely with colleagues as part of the Centre for Systems Engineering and Innovation.

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On the AEC Business podcast, Aarni interviews Jason Perez, the co-founder and CEO of YARDZ, which provides software for tracking rental and owned equipment.

Jason shares his experiences as a construction professional and what led him to found YARDZ with another construction industry veteran Josh Schuyler.

The discussion topics include

How to better management of owned and rented equipment can have a significant impact on a contractor's bottom lineWhy construction technology is now boomingHow the infrastructure bill will be a catalyst for efficiency and how US contractors should prepare themselves to succeed

About Jason Perez

Jason manages the company's overall strategic direction as it expands in scope and size. Before establishing YARDZ, he founded the Veritas Group, a consulting and management firm with great success in the mission-critical world. Prior to that, Jason was Manager of Southeast Region Construction for Syska Hennessy Group. He has sat on the boards of several non-profit entities and is presently an Ambassador for the Marine Raider Foundation.

About YARDZ

YARDZ, founded in 2018, offers powerful software for tracking rental and owned equipment.

The YARDZ tool helps companies better understand precisely what equipment they have in their inventory and where it's located. This saves time and money by eliminating duplicate rentals, displaying all equipment contracts and their provisions, and ensuring that available equipment is sent to the jobs where it is needed most.

While initially intended for construction companies and crews, it is adaptable to a wide range of vertical markets. Suppliers who use YARDZ can also build stronger relationships with contractors and gain more rental business. Flexible pricing and multiple product versions make YARDZ applicable for companies of all sizes.

For more information, visit https://yardz.com/.

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Aarni's guest on the AEC Business podcast is Harri Majala, founder & CEO at GBuilder. We discuss, among others, the challenges construction technology developers face and how GBuilder has been able to manage them.

Our topics include

How a construction background helped Harri develop GBuilderHow to get your first customers as a construction tech companyWhy he refuses to start up technology pilot projectsHow customers' maturity to buy solutions is evolvingThe problems with the way designers create BIMs

About GBuilder

GBuilder is a BIM-based collaboration platform for property developers. It allows streamlining the interaction with customers, project teams, and construction sites.

GBuilder helps manage all customer-related tasks, material choices and options, configurations with HD 3D & VR visualizations, change requests, communication, documentation, bill of quantities and bill of materials, and more in the same user interface. It keeps construction sites and subcontractors updated with the latest documents and drawings. GBuilder takes the customer experience to the next level, increases efficiency, quality, and revenue, and decreases waste and emissions.

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On the AEC Business Podcast, Aarni interviews Abhishek Kumar Devjibhai, the founder and CEO of Ekotekt, a Helsinki-based construction tech startup. The company uses robotics, 3D printing, and CNC to create prefabricated building elements in a factory environment. They’re especially keen to solve the ever-increasing demand for new housing.

Ekotekt can fabricate walls, facades, and slabs. The structures are lightweight and consume 25% less material than traditionally. The company also uses environment-friendly concrete.

When Aarni asked why they’ve focused on offsite rather than onsite production, Abhishek said that they tried it, but offsite is more practical. Furthermore, this allows them to follow existing national building codes.

Offsite 3D printing combines the flexibility of digital fabrication and prefab installation practices that are familiar to Nordic contractors. No wonder Ekotekt is rolling out its production initially in the Nordics.

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