AEC Business

The AEC Hackathon at BLOXHUB in Copenhagen engaged 154 attendees from 33 countries to work on interesting urban challenges over a February weekend. The two WDBE Talks guests were there but in different roles.

Alejandro Mata, Automation Manager at Ramboll Denmark, was in one of the hack teams. He talks about the experience of his first AEC Hackathon and how his team won the 1st prize. Helle Stendorff is the Head of Events and Activities at BLOXHUB. This was the second AEC Hackathon she helped organize at BLOXHUB.

The AEC Hackathon in Copenhagen was a pre-event of the World Summit on Digital Built Environment WDBE2020. Learn more about the conference and other pre-events at wdbe.org.

You can follow Alejandro on LinkedIn and contact Helle at [email protected].

Alejandro Mata

Helle Stendorff

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What's the future of 3D printing in construction? I discussed this and other related topics with 3D visionary Janne Kyttanen in this podcast episode.

Kyttanen, the CEO of What the Future Venture Capital, is a Finnish conceptual artist and designer who is best known for his work in design for 3D printing. He is the founder of Freedom of Creation and the former Creative Director of 3D Systems, an American-based manufacturer of 3D printers. His work has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries, including the Stedelijk Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, and Design Miami, the global forum for design.

In this interview, we discuss 3D printing and Kyttanen's ideas about how to use the technology in construction. His focus is on 3D value networks rather than specific printing technologies.

You can connect with Janne Kyttanen on his homepage at jannekyttanen.com, on LinkedIn, or email him at [email protected].

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This WDBE Talks podcast episode is a prelude to the pitchfest, WWF Life EconomisE KIRA-challenge, that takes place on May 19, 2020, in Helsinki and online. It's a WDBE 2020 Pre-event, in which WWF is partnering with KIRAHub and RAKLI to find cutting-edge solutions that can support institutional investors and real estate owners in future-proofing their investment portfolios.

Aarni Heiskanen's guest are

Jussi Nikula, Head of Ecological Footprint Programme at WWF FinlandAnna Hyrske, Head of Responsible investments at Ilmarinen, Finland’s oldest pension companyEero Sihvonen, CFO at Citycon, a leading owner, manager and developer of mixed-use centers for urban living including retail, office space and housing

We discuss, among others, what climate-proofing means and what investors can do are doing to reach the ambitious emission and climate goals.

About the challenge

WWF is striving for change that ensures that basically every real estate investment from now on would be ‘future-proof’.

At present, the energy efficiency investments are not happening at the pace and scale needed. The different players of the real estate sector must step up to overcome the challenge. The institutional investors and real estate companies must go way beyond the business-as-usual level of energy efficiency improvements guided by the existing legislation. First and foremost, we need to ask what is adequate in light of the pressing urgency informed by climate science.

WWF’s LIFE EconomisE project demonstrates how influencing financial flows for the decarbonization of building stock can deliver significant contributions towards 2020 and 2030 Climate and Energy targets, with special emphasis placed on working within the Paris Agreement’s temperature goals of 1.5/2°C. We also need new partners and clever solutions!

The objective is to influence the uptake of energy efficiency measures and to bring about a shift towards low-carbon investment, explicitly focused on the decarbonization of buildings and improved climate resilience. We cannot afford missed opportunities – therefore strong collaboration and partnerships with forward-thinking organizations, big or small, is greatly needed.

This episode of the podcast was produced with the contribution of the LIFE Programme of the European Union.

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In this podcast episode, Aarni discusses with Francesca Noardo and Rick Klooster who gave presentations at this year’s first WDBE pre-event which took place in Tallinn, Estonia. The event was about BIM-based Building Permit Process Automation.

Volumetric modular construction is on the rise. I had the pleasure of interviewing one of the leading experts on the subject, Henry Mickleburgh.

About Henry

This is how Henry describes himself: "Narrowly avoiding a lucrative career in the burgeoning telecommunications industry of the late 80s, I was convinced, by a friend, to join him at University for the world of Civil Engineering. Years of 'normal' Site Engineering and Site Management Progression ensued, which I wasn't really comfortable with. A part-time sponsored HR Master really only made me more dysfunctional. Fortunately, I found a far better home at AMEC in Preconstruction, where my eclectic outlook and love of all aspects of engineering became more of an asset. 

Moving to a Process and Project Management controls consultancy, in the late 00s, allowed me to work internationally and autonomously. A transition from Nuclear 7 years ago, to the world of international volumetric modular construction has offered me the opportunity to harness all of my background for what's a genuinely 'Jack of all Trades' and exciting industry."

You can find Henry on LinkedIn.

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Conventional business wisdom tells us that entrepreneurs are society’s main source of innovation. Young founders leave college with a big idea, get to work in a garage, and build something that changes the world. Typical corporate employees, strangled by slow-moving bureaucracy, are blocked from making transformative discoveries.

In this podcast, strategist and advisor Kaihan Krippendorff, will share insights from his latest book, Driving Innovation from Within, seeks to disprove one of today’s biggest business myths to highlight lessons for innovators and leaders. He reveals how many of the modern world’s most impactful creations were invented by passionate employee innovators. If it were left up to go-it-alone entrepreneurs, we would not have mobile phones, personal computers, or e-mail.

Distilling more than 150 interviews with internal innovators and leading experts along with insights from the latest research and today’s most successful companies, Krippendorff lays out a framework employees can apply to drive innovation from within and leaders can apply to unlock innovation from the inside, IN-OVATE:

Intent Need Options Value-blockers Act Team Environment

Kaihan was recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the eight most influential innovation thought leaders and one of 30 emerging thought-leaders to look out for. His book, Driving Innovation from Within, is meant to be a practical and inspiring guide to leadership from all levels for those who want the fulfillment of changing the world without leaving their job in order to do it.

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David Malott, the Founder and CEO of AI SpaceFactory, is my guest on the AEC Business podcast. We discuss the new robotized 3D printing technology that can make living and working on Mars possible but also help us build more sustainably on our planet.

AI SpaceFactory was founded in 2017 by David Malott to create technologies for long-term missions to the Moon and Mars, with the goal of revolutionizing the construction industry on Earth. The company's technologies won first place in the NASA 3D Printed Habitat Challenge in 2019.

Now, AI SpaceFactory is devising 3D printing buildings with recycled waste and local resources. These buildings, called TERAs, will reduce landfill waste and our collective carbon footprint, leading to carbon-negative construction. It relies on completely autonomously performing robots to keep construction workers safe from dangerous jobs.

In 2020, the company will begin a multi-year pilot program to build TERAs in locations across the US and globally.

Connect with David on LinkedIn.

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I had the pleasure of interviewing Rita McGrath about pivotal changes in business environments. That's the topic of her latest book Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen. I was interested in hearing what an inflection point could be in the construction industry.

In the interview, we discuss the following topics:

What are inflection pointsAre we going to see one in the construction industryHow should AEC businesses strategize in the changing business environment

About Rita McGrath

Rita Gunther McGrath is a best-selling author, a sought-after speaker, and a longtime professor at Columbia Business School. She is widely recognized as a premier expert on leading innovation and growth during times of uncertainty. Rita has received the #1 achievement award for strategy from the prestigious Thinkers50 and has been consistently named one of the world’s Top 10 management thinkers in its bi-annual ranking. As a consultant to CEOs, her work has had a lasting impact on the strategy and growth programs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide.

Rita is the author of the best-selling The End of Competitive Advantage (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013). Her new book is Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019). She has written three other books, including Discovery Driven Growth, cited by Clayton Christensen as creating one of the most important management ideas ever developed. She is a highly sought-after speaker at exclusive corporate events around the globe, such as the Global Peter Drucker Forum.

She received her Ph.D. from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) and has degrees with honors from Barnard College and the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

Follow Rita on Twitter @rgmcgrath. For more information, visit RitaMcGrath.com.

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Artificial Intelligence is finding its way into construction planning and simulation. I interviewed René Morkos, the founder and CEO of ALICE Technologies. ALICE combines a first-of-its-kind construction planning platform with a powerful AI engine and promises big savings on construction projects.

In the interview, we discuss, among others, the following topics:

René's professional experience and his PhDWhat is ALICE?The benefits of AI-based construction platformLean construction and AIThe future of AI in constructionHow to start using ALICE

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About René

René Morkos

René Morkos obtained his Ph.D. in artificial intelligence applications for construction as a Charles H. Leavell fellow at Stanford University. He is a second-generation civil engineer with over 15 years of construction industry experience that is divided between industry and academia.

René's professional experience includes working as a project manager in Afghanistan, underwater pipeline construction, automation engineering on a $350 million gas refinery expansion project in Abu Dhabi, ERP system implementations, and various Virtual Design and Construction projects.

ALICE Technologies

ALICE Technologies is the world's first construction planning and simulation platform that leverages artificial intelligence to dynamically generate and analyze millions of valid schedules for large-scale construction projects.   This enables contractors and owners to plan, bid, and build more effectively, reducing construction durations and labor costs by $30 million for a typical $500 million construction project.

ALICE: Analyze Schedule

The founder, René Morkos, completed his PhD in AI applications for construction at Stanford University, where ALICE was born. Current customers include some of the world’s pre-eminent construction companies including Mortenson, Parsons, AF Gruppen, and Katerra. The company is based in Palo Alto.

ALICE: Explore schedules

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Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation requires extensive computational power. Cloud-based services allow architects and engineers to do simulations without investing in high-end hardware. In this podcast interview, David Heiny, the CEO and Co-Founder of SimScale, explains how AEC firms can run simulations in a web browser.

David Heiny

David is Co-Founder and CEO of SimScale. SimScale is a web-based simulation platform bringing together CAE functionality, content and people. Prior to SimScale, David’s roles included mechanical and software engineering positions, among others Co-Founder of an engineering simulation service provider. He holds degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics and CSE from Georgia Tech and Technical University Munich.

In this interview, we discuss

Where the idea of providing simulation tools online came fromWhat types of simulations SimScale providesAt what stage of the design process simulations are usefulHow to do wind analysis with SimScaleWhat are the prerequisites for cloud-based simulationsThe learning curveWhat are the benefits of using the cloud

You can find more info at www.simscale.com and connect with the company on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

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