For 2022, it looks like construction trends are improving, with expectations high for increased infrastructure spending. Trimble is looking forward to increased collaboration capabilities, BIM models and digital twins amassing enormous quantities of data to provide a more streamlined construction experience, and what it takes to attract the next generation of workers.
Pete Large, Senior Vice President, Civil Infrastructure Sector at Trimble
And of course, sustainability and environmental concerns for the construction industry are an urgent focus for all aspects of the industry moving forward.
Predictions for the coming year are shaped by history and the current moment, and where we see the future unfolding. Both Adam Klatzin, vice president, Business Development for the iTwin Platform at Bentley Systems and Allison Scott, director of Construction Thought Leadership, Autodesk Construction Solutions, write about what realities have shaped catalysts for current and future development.
At the heart of content creation are the machines that we run programs on.
On the cutting edge as usual, NVIDIA presented at CES a couple of weeks ago in Las Vegas, bringing with them a plethora of new developments. Jeff Fisher, senior vice president of NVIDIA’s GeForce business, announced more than 160 thin-and-light laptops using RTX 30 Series GPUs in a smorgasbord of mobile designs.
Jeff Fisher, senior vice president of NVIDIA’s GeForce business
This year’s online Bentley Year In Infrastructure Conference has a somewhat different format, with the emphasis being on the awards distributed from the get-go, rather than at the end of the event. Replicating the experience of finalists’ presentations and speaking to the finalists in person were part of a tradition at YII. Not to mention an awards dinner that we all used to look forward to in person pre-pandemic, in such exotic locations as Singapore, London or Amsterdam.
CEO Jensen Huang presented the keynote at the recent GTC21 NVIDIA Conference, November 8-11, sharing with the audience the importance of accelerated computing and much more. The announcements were so prolific and not all pertinent to the AEC industry, thus I will share those that would be of most interest to our audience. One of the most profound announcements came at the end of the talk, wherein Huang announced that they are building a digital twin of the earth.
Zac Hays, head of product, preconstruction for Autodesk Construction Solutions, spoke this week with AECCafe Voice about Autodesk’s new BuildingConnected, a building platform to which new building project data can be posted and shared.
Zac Hays, head of product, preconstruction for Autodesk Construction Solutions
Andrew Anagnost, President and CEO of Autodesk gave the keynote at the general session of the second Autodesk University 2021 Virtual in October. He spoke of how customers and employees had to experience a decade of change in 18 months that some were not ready for. “Even before social distancing and remote – platforms were connecting consumers and producers, and mobile devices were bringing everyone together,” said Anagnost. “Sometimes it’s felt like technology has kept us apart. We saw human ingenuity at a greater pace and scale. We face uncertainty. You make things that make tomorrow a better place. Everyone here are innovators and solve big and small problems, and technology is a force multiplier of your ingenuity.
This week at Autodesk University 2021 (Virtual) IMAGINiT Technologies showed off their new task automation Space Programming Module add-on for IMAGINiT Clarity that tackles common space planning challenges that firms face on complex architectural projects. In addition to this optional, add-on module, the new 2022.1 version of IMAGINiT Clarity also now features a variety of tools that enhance integrations and model metrics for Autodesk Revit and AutoCAD users.
As we approach the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we can see how much progress has been made on rebuilding the site where the World Trade Center once was, before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. For many who were charged with rebuilding, the past 20 years has been a process that involved not just sorting through what remained but creating new structures that would not only commemorate the site, but add beauty to the New York skyline and be structurally stronger than the original.
Studio Daniel Libeskind World Trade Center Master Plan
Deltek announced recently its acquisition of ArchiSnapper – a SaaS and mobile application designed to help architects and engineers automate field reports, easily create digital site inspection and improve collaboration.
