AEC Business

In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Fernando De los Rios, CEO and co-founder of Hyperion Robotics. The Finnish technology company was formed by experts in engineering, construction, 3D printing, and robotics. Their mission is to bring automation and sustainable practices to the construction industry.

Fernando has been building start-ups to disrupt the construction industry for the last six years. With a strong background in finance, he leads the company's business development.

In the interview, we discuss the following:

The journey of Hyperion Robotics and why the team is resolute about 3D printing

What makes the company stand out among other startups

The rationale for 3D printing building and infrastructure parts instead of whole buildings

What microfactories are

How to manage risks in 3D printing projects

What the Peikko pilot project taught Hyperion Robotics

How 3D printing and robotics innovation is a combination of software, hardware, and material development

How the new three-million-euro funding will boost the company's growth

You can learn more about Hyperion Robotics at https://www.hyperionrobotics.com.

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In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, Aarni Heiskanen interviews Jarkko Sireeni, CEO and Founder of xD Visuals. They discuss new ways of managing and sharing built environment information visually.

xD Visuals is a startup with a pedigree in visual data management. Jarkko has over 25 years of experience in using 3D, VR, AR, BIM, and VDC for planning, design, and construction workflows. His company has developed xD Twin, Software-as-a-Service that allows you to visualize and share massive amounts of data from design models and open data sources.

xD Twin reads common 3D and BIM formats, including IFC and LandXML, and integrates with city models. You can sketch in 3D, schedule in 4D, measure, clip, and collaborate with the app. It allows anyone with a Web browser to view designs in a city model or on-site with a mobile device.

xD Twin won the first prize in WDBE Awards' The Best Use of Open Standards category in September 2022.

You can learn more about xD Twin at https://www.xd-twin.io/.

Watch a video version of the interview

https://youtu.be/gobko1VDtJ8

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Shehzan Mohammed is Director of 3D Engineering and Ecosystems at Cesium. In this WDBE Talks podcast interview, he discusses with Aarni Heiskanen the innovations in geospatial technology, game engines, and the value of open standards to the developer community.

The discussion topics include:

Shehzan's career pathHis visionShehzan's most significant achievements so far at CesiumWhat have been his biggest challengesHow Geospatial and BIM work togetherHow game engines and extended reality technologies open new opportunities for built environment designers and their customersThe value of open standards for the geospatial ecosystem

Shehzan also shares thoughts about his WDBE keynote on the 28th of September, 2022.

You can connect with Shehzan on LinkedIn and visit cesium.com for more info on Cesium.

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How do you successfully digitalize a construction business and gain a competitive advantage? Aarni Heiskanen discusses these and other topics on WDBE Talks with Per-Erik Åstrand, Business Development Executive at SoftwareONE.

Per-Erik started as a civil engineer and moved to the software business. At SoftwareONE, he drives the digitalization of the AEC industry.

The interview covers:

Per-Erik’s journey from civil engineering to the software businessHis missionWhat Per-Erik considers his most significant achievements in digitalizationWhat companies need to become more strategic about their overall technological developmentHow to improve communication and collaboration between project participantsHow to use technology to gain a competitive advantage in the construction sectorWhat Per-Erik plans to cover in his WDBE keynote

You can connect with Per-Erik on LinkedIn and meet him at WDBE, where he will give his keynote speech on September 29, 2022.

Register to experience all the fantastic presentations and connect with leading digitalization experts at wdbe.org.

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Achim Menges is a world-renowned innovator of architecture and construction. He’s Aarni Heiskanen’s guest on WDBE Talks, discussing digital fabrication and the future of the construction industry in a world facing enormous environmental and social challenges.

Achim is a registered architect in Frankfurt and a professor at Stuttgart University, where he is the founding director of the Institute for Computational Design and Construction. In addition, he’s the director of the Cluster of Excellence, “Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture.”

On the podcast, Achim talks about

What led him into robotics and digital fabricationThe vision that’s driving him and his teamWhat he considers his most significant professional achievement so farWhat it takes to scale up ground-breaking experiments into commercially available applicationsHow the construction sector can become a positive force in solving our problems instead of creating new onesWhat he plans to cover in his WDBE keynote

You can meet Achim in Helsinki on the 28th of September at WDBE.

Connect online with Achim on LinkedIn. Register to experience all the fantastic presentations and connect with leading built environment digitalization experts at wdbe.org.

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Reid Senescu, Vice President of Product Management at Doxel, is Aarni Heiskanen’s guest on the WDBE Talks podcast. They discuss digitalization, the use of data, and situational awareness in construction.

The interview covers these topics:

What has inspired Reid most during his careerWhy Ben chose to join DoxelWhat kind of digitalization would give the highest ROI in constructionWhy do many construction companies still struggle to digitalize their on-site workflows, and what could ease their transition?How can you create value in such a construction environment with many, sometimes unforeseen, variablesHow to tackle challenges related to data quality over the project life cycleHow digitalization will change the construction industry over the next ten yearsWhat Reid is going to cover in his WDBE keynote

You can reach Reid on LinkedIn and at  doxel.ai. His keynote takes place on September 29, 2022.

Register to experience all the fantastic presentations and connect with leading digitalization experts at wdbe.org.

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Dr. Ben Guy, the founder and CEO of UC 3D Planning Technologies - Urban Circus - is Aarni Heiskanen's guest on the WDBE Talks podcast. They discuss the use of 3D visualization technologies to bring a human scale to urban development and construction. Ben is a keynote speaker at WDBE 2022.

Urban Circus is a family-owned, 20-years-old Australian business. Examples of their work include videos, stories, VR, AR, interactive models, gamification, simulations, and planning workflows.

The interview covers these topics:

What brought Ben into 3D technologyBen's guiding visionHow advances in technology have improved Urban Circus's capabilities over the yearsWhat makes 3D such a powerful way to communicateExamples of the results customers have achieved with 3D visualization and simulationHow Ben uses open dataWhat the future of 3D is, and what's Ben's take on the metaverseWhat can we expect to learn from Ben's keynote at WDBE

You can reach Ben on LinkedIn and at urbancircus.com.au. His keynote takes place on September 28, 2022. Register to experience all the fantastic presentations and connect with leading digitalization experts at wdbe.org.

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Aarni’s guest on this episode of WDBE Talks is Damon Hernandez, co-founder of the AEC Hackathon and an extended reality expert. Damon attends the 90 Day Finn program by Helsinki Partners. The three-month residence allows him to explore Finnish business and technology ecosystems and create new connections with built environment trailblazers.

Damon has worked with various industries regarding web-based 3D, virtual environments, mirror worlds, and other mixed reality/Metaverse related technologies for over 20 years. He is passionate about the web’s convergence with other technologies, including IoT, GIS, CAD/BIM/CAM, AR/VR, mobile, and wearable devices. To help adopt new tech, he organizes various events and hackathon communities.

Our discussion covers

Damon’s backgroundThe current state of the AEC HackathonThe impact the hackathon has had on the industry so farWhat Damon has learned from the many hackathons across the worldWhat the metaverse, his other passion, could be in the AEC sectorHow to start exploring the metaverseThe upcoming hackathons

You can meet Damon on September 28-29, 2022, at WDBE 2022, where he will be akeynote speaker. You can review the program and register for the event at WDBE.org.

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Niknaz Aftahi is the CEO and co-founder of aec+tech (aecplustech.com), an all-in-one innovation platform and community connecting AEC/O professionals with the latest tools and technologies. In this WDBE Talks interview by Aarni Heiskanen, Niknaz discusses construction sector innovation and technology and how she helps AEC professionals discover the right tech solutions.

Our discussion covers

Niknaz’s path to becoming a construction technology advocateThe vision that drives herThe best use cases of digital construction technologyAec+tech - why she started it up, what it is, who uses itThoughts about awarding the forerunners and her keynote at WDBE 2022

Before launching aec+tech, Niknaz practiced architecture in the bay area, California, both as a design professional and a design technologist. Niknaz is a member of the AIA San Francisco design technology committee and has also been developing curriculum and teaching architecture courses online to Bahai students in Iran who continue to be deprived of university access in their own country.

You can meet Niknaz at WDBE 2022 on September 28, 2022, where she will be akeynote speaker. You can review the program and register for the event at WDBE.org.

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I had the pleasure of meeting with Jacqueline Rohrmann to discuss the digitalization of the construction sector, her experiences as a design manager at Tesla, and the industry's future. We also touched on the themes of her upcoming keynote speech at the WDBE 2022 conference.

After completing her research project on Generative Design, Jacqueline kick-started her career with a job at Tesla. Being one of the first people on the ground at Gigafactory Berlin, she wore many hats and ultimately managed the design of the entire automotive factory. She now moved on to pursue her passion to make our industry greener with an MBA degree in Building Sustainability. If she seems familiar to you, you might have watched one of her videos about BIM or Sustainability that she posts on her YouTube Channel "That BIM Girl."

Our discussion covers

How Jaqueline became a world-famous YouTuberThe vision that drives herThe challenges of the Tesla Gigafactory projectHow Jaqueline would change the construction industryThoughts about her WDBE keynote speechWhat’s in the future for Jaqueline

You can meet Jaqueline at WDBE 2022 on September 28, 2022, where she will be akeynote speaker. You can review the program and register for the event at WDBE.org.

Connect with Jacqueline on LinkedIn.

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