Digital Builder

Intuitive Machines aimed to be the first private, US commercial company to send a spacecraft to the moon. On February 22, 2024 they accomplished that goal. Helping Intuitive Machines realize their dreams was today’s guest, Stephen Brooke, a Digital Delivery Manager at Burns & McDonnell. 

With the recent completion of the SuperBAB operations and testing facility in Houston, TX, Stephen joined us at Autodesk University to share how the project was brought to life, how Burns & McDonnell approaches value delivery and client success, and how data and AI will continue to impact the future of the AEC industry. 

We also talk about: 

• Stephen’s career journey through the industry 
• Intuitive Machines’ testing facility 
• How to encourage an innovative mindset in the next generation 
• Collaborating with vendors to bring value to clients 

 Assets Mentioned: 

• The Mural 

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk. 

One of the most exciting ways the AEC industry is continuing to find new ways to increase sustainability and safety is through mass timber construction. That’s why we’ve invited Ariana Cohn, a Digital Construction Engineer at Timberlab, an organization dedicated to advancing the mass timber’s mainstream adoption.  

Whether it’s mass timber’s impact on the environment, or its ease of use in prefab and modular construction, there is so much potential for it to be a game changer for the industry.   

Here are some of the topics you can look forward to in this episode:  

• The top misconceptions about mass timber 
• Timberlab’s approach to its mission 
• A day in the life of a Digital Construction Engineer at Timberlab 
• The biggest obstacles for mass timber’s mainstream adoption 

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk. 

This week, Autodesk’s Chief Marketing Officer Dara Treseder, joins Eric at Autodesk University to break down the 2023 State of Design & Make report, including the key focuses of the study, narrative shifts across the AEC industry, and the competitive difference between Digital Transformation and Digital Maturity. 

In this episode, you will learn: 

• How companies across the AEC industry are experiencing the benefits of converging technologies 
• Why companies focusing on Digital Maturity are maintaining a statistically significant competitive advantage 
• How to engage the next generation of talent 
• Why the future of AEC innovation is going to focus on augmentation in our workforce 

Assets Mentioned: 

• The 2023 State of Design & Make Report 

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk. 

The rise of Gen AI has put organizations in a race to remain competitive. Those who are successfully integrating AI into their processes are seeing improvements in efficiency and output quality, but that rush to adopt AI carries some significant risks, ones that can spell disaster for companies if they are not careful about their approach to using AI.  

 We've invited May Winfield, Global Director of Commercial, Legal and Digital Risks, at Buro Happold, to reveal what some of the biggest risks are when using Gen AI, what questions organizations should be asking as they adopt AI, and why sometimes the best way to move quickly is to slow down. 

We discuss: 

• Identifying AI’s five biggest risk categories in AEC: reliance, confidentiality, copyright, personal data, and ethics 
• Why copyright and content attribution are such tricky issues with AI 
• The limitations of using in-house AI models trained on proprietary data 
• Why client requests are becoming more informed and specific (and why this is good!) 

Assets Mentioned: 

• Joint Study from the Harvard Business School & Boston Consulting Group  

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk.

One of the most exciting ways that innovation is taking construction to the next level is when companies like DPR Construction implement new and innovative strategies into their culture. We’ve invited Jacob Skrobarczyk, VDC Technology Lead at DPR Construction, to share his experience with data visualization and how he is using it to shift the narrative around Construction careers and changing the way the next generation is learning about Construction.  

Listen to hear about: 

• Construction’s perception problem  
• Why data visualization is so impactful 
• How DPR is approaching innovation and the adoption of new technology 
• Keeping people as the center of the industry 
• Improving benefits and apprenticeship programs for craft workers 
• How to better highlight non-linear career paths in Construction 

Assets Mentioned: 

• Jacob's Presentation
• https://www.dpr.com/company/careers 

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk. 

The landscape of construction is changing, and technology is at the helm. How can your organization stay on top of that changing landscape to remain competitive throughout 2024? 

Ariel Castillo, Innovation Director at Miller-Davis Company, and Brad Buckles, VP of Technology and Innovation at Charles Perry Partners, Inc., join the show this week to explore the latest trends in construction, from AI and data-driven insights to the importance of tech literacy and collaboration.  

We discuss: 

• Which trends are real and which are all hype? 
• How 3D modeling, wearables, and robotics are increasing field safety 
• How the latest trends are allowing the industry to move from reactive processes to becoming proactive decision makers. 
• Why modern technology is enabling multigenerational knowledge sharing experiences, giving experienced and new workers opportunities to learn from each other 
• How new technologies can reduce waste and increase sustainable construction practices 

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk. 

Content warning – this episode and description has some heavy conversation topics including a discussion on suicidal feelings and mental health struggles. 

Construction has a mental health crisis. According to research from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the CDC, the rate of suicide among US construction professionals is five times higher than the number deaths caused by workplace and safety-related accidents. Across the industry, companies cannot afford to talk about safety, innovation, and growth without also addressing the need for real, practical, and immediate solutions to the mental health crisis facing our people.  

Mark Dyke, Licensed Professional Counselor and Tenured Associate Professor at Ferris State University, joins Eric Thomas during Autodesk University for an intensely practical conversation about the mental health crisis, burnout, and how addressing the mental health crisis can help secure a bright future for the AEC industry. We will share not just why mental health needs to be addressed, but we will also give specific, practical advice for workers to identify and address mental health issues early and effectively. 

We discuss: 

• How to identify internal and external symptoms of burnout 
• How the leadership culture sets the tone for organization-wide mental health 
• How managers at all levels of an organization can support their team members 
• How Millennials have changed the way we talk about mental health 
• Why mental health and emotional wellbeing need to be top priorities to convince the upcoming generation to join Construction. 

 If you or someone you know are having trouble coping with work-related stress, talk with someone who can help: In the United States, call 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Hotline or visit https://988lifeline.org/.  

For those living outside the United States, you can find local resources here: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/.  

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk. 

As more BIM mandates are being put in place around the world, impacted organizations are working to ensure they are BIM compliant—while many in the construction industry are still trying to figure out not just if BIM and other digital tools are right for them, but how to begin even implementing them in their business operations.   

Digital tools are transforming the way construction companies are operating, demonstrating countless benefits to adopting them, but there are still many unanswered questions for companies and contractors who are trying to find the most cost-effective strategies for managing all these new innovations and requirements. 

That’s where our guests come in. David Purdon, Technical Director at Diatec, and Marek Suchocki, Head of Industry Associations Strategy at Autodesk, are two industry veterans who have seen first-hand the rollout of Europe’s BIM mandates and how companies are responding. In this episode, they will break down some of the myths around BIM mandates, what the true intent of the mandates are, and much more. 

We discuss: 

• The rollout of BIM mandates in the UK faced challenges in managing the information exchange process 
• The complex intersection of BIM modeling and the production supply chain 
• How BIM modeling and technology integration ensures the longevity of construction organizations 
• The difficulty many organizations face in balancing the long-term vision of digital tools with their immediate needs 
• Why BIM allows organizations to derive better value from public construction investments 
• How to get started on your BIM journey if you’re impacted by a BIM mandate. 

 Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk. 

While AI continues to take the world by storm, most companies are still trying to figure out exactly how it fits within their operations and how it will impact their teams, workflows, and revenue.  

In this episode, Eric talks with Tonya Custis, Director of AI Research at Autodesk, all about AI’s proper place in the Construction ecosystem, how to make sure AI is the best solution to the problems you are trying to solve, and much more, including: 

• How AI can fill in the gaps when assessing risk and improving safety on project sites 
• How a focused data strategy can alleviate decision paralysis 
• The most important elements of data strategy for proper AI utilization 
• AI as a replacement versus acting as a collaborator with human workers 

Assets Mentioned: 

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk. 

Nick Hull is an Associate Director at Deloitte Access Economics, which was commissioned by Autodesk in 2023 to research data capabilities in construction. This effort revealed that 4 out of 5 construction companies have room to improve how they manage data. Deloitte surveyed about 1,275 global respondents to get a global view of data usage in construction and discover what defines data leadership. 

In this episode Eric talks with Nick to get a breakdown of the report’s major findings, what leaders can learn from it, and how the industry can move forward with data. 

We discuss: 

• How construction leaders are estimating their data capabilities 
• Retaining the human side of construction while integrating data and AI 
• How good data strategy maintains competitive advantage 
• How implementing data strategy impacts your bottom line 
• The ongoing issue of talent in construction and how data & AI can alleviate it 
• Balancing digital assistance with data-driven decision making. 

Assets Mentioned: 

The State of Data Capabilities in the Construction Industry Report 

Digital Builder is hosted by Eric Thomas of Autodesk.