Archive for the ‘Video Interview’ Category
Friday, August 16th, 2024
Locusview is at the forefront of digital construction management, offering comprehensive solutions tailored to the unique needs of electric and gas utilities. During a recent interview with Danny Petrecca, VP of Business Development at Locusview, we explored how the company is bridging the digitization gap in utility construction management, especially in the face of modern challenges such as grid modernization, distributed energy resource (DER) integration, and wildfire threat reduction.
Understanding the Digital Construction Management Gap
Danny highlighted that while utilities have made strides in many areas, there remains a significant gap in how they manage construction data in the field. Traditional methods, often paper-based or reliant on siloed applications, introduce inefficiencies and errors, particularly in the collection and management of as-built data. This is where Locusview steps in, providing a digital construction management (DCM) solution that transforms how utilities handle data from design to closeout.
Tackling Challenges in the Electric Utility Sector
Electric utilities, as Danny explained, are currently facing immense pressure to modernize the grid. This modernization involves various initiatives, from undergrounding power lines to enhancing grid resilience through advanced distribution management systems (ADMS). However, these projects demand accurate, up-to-date data, especially within a utility’s geographic information system (GIS). Unfortunately, many utilities still rely on outdated methods, which not only slow down the process but also compromise data quality.
Locusview’s DCM solution addresses these challenges by digitizing the entire construction workflow. By equipping field crews with easy-to-use digital tools, Locusview ensures that accurate spatial data, material data, and inspection forms are captured and efficiently integrated back into GIS and asset management systems. This digitization significantly improves capex efficiency and accelerates project closeouts, all while reducing the potential for human error.
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Tags: Digital Construction Management, GIS Integration, Grid Modernization, Locusview, Utility Operations, Utility Technology Solutions
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Monday, July 22nd, 2024
In the rapidly evolving field of location intelligence, Nearmap stands out as a pioneering force, reshaping how aerial imagery is captured, processed, and delivered to its diverse clientele. At the recent 2024 Esri User Conference in San Diego, I had the opportunity to sit down with Steve Santovasi, Director of Product ; Dan Maurer, EVP of Strategy & Operations; and Scott Townsend, SVP of Global Marketing at Nearmap. Our conversation illuminated Nearmap’s innovative journey, its strategic goals, and the remarkable technological advancements they have achieved.
The Nearmap Journey
Nearmap, founded 17 years ago, has revolutionized the aerial imagery sector. From its inception, the company has focused on bridging the gap between image capture and delivery, employing proprietary camera systems to collect high-resolution imagery across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. These camera systems, now in their fourth iteration, are installed on aircraft such as the Cessna 310, Piper Navajo, and Chieftain, and are managed by a survey operations team.
Dan Maurer explains, “We started by re-engineering the link between the capture of imagery and its delivery to customers. Our end-to-end process ensures that imagery is processed and delivered efficiently, whether through our web-based interface, MapBrowser, or via APIs.”
Initially focused on orthogonal 2D imagery, Nearmap has since expanded its offerings to include oblique 3D images and AI-driven insights, providing users with comprehensive tools to solve their specific challenges. Maurer adds, “We’ve moved from just delivering imagery to providing insights and answers, integrating this data directly into the workflows of GIS users across various industries.”
Expanding Capabilities and Humanitarian Efforts
Nearmap’s advanced imaging capabilities include near-infrared captures through their latest HyperCamera 3 systems, adding a valuable layer of data for environmental and urban analysis. “We are rolling out the HyperCamera 3, which captures four-band imagery, enhancing our ability to provide detailed and nuanced insights,” says Santovasi.
In addition to their regular data collection, Nearmap plays a crucial role in disaster response. They conduct post-disaster capture flights known as their ImpactResponse imagery, which provides critical data to aid recovery efforts for those that need it most. “Our humanitarian flights after disasters are part of our commitment to supporting communities in need,” notes Townsend.
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Tags: Aerial Imaging
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Friday, June 28th, 2024
In a recent interview with Sagar Dubey, Product Manager at ICEYE, I had the opportunity to delve into the remarkable advancements and contributions of ICEYE in the field of satellite imagery. ICEYE, known for operating the world’s largest commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation, continues to push the boundaries of what is possible in remote sensing and data acquisition.
The Power of SAR Constellation
ICEYE’s impressive SAR constellation is at the core of their innovative solutions. With a substantial number of satellites, ICEYE ensures unparalleled imaging frequency and data reliability. This extensive network of satellites allows for continuous monitoring and data collection, unaffected by weather conditions or time of day. Dubey emphasized the significance of this capability, stating, “Having the world’s largest constellation allows for the kind of imaging frequency that would be difficult to achieve with a smaller constellation size.”
The extensive constellation size not only enhances global coverage but also significantly improves revisit times. This means that ICEYE can provide more timely and reliable data, which is crucial for various applications ranging from disaster response to strategic site monitoring.
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Tags: ICEYE, SAR, Satellite Imaging
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Monday, February 19th, 2024
At the forefront of blending the historic with the futuristic in Sydney’s architectural landscape, Tony Owen, the creative mind behind Tony Owen Partners, is redefining the boundaries of design. In a revealing interview with Sanjay Gangal of AECCafe, Owen shares insights into his innovative projects, the challenges of integrating modern architecture into historic contexts, and the pivotal role of sustainability and technology in shaping the future of urban living.
Oxford Corner: A Modern Tribute to Historic Paddington
In the heart of Paddington, a suburb known for its winding streets and Victorian terraces, a new landmark rises. Oxford Corner, designed by the visionary team at Tony Owen Partners, is a testament to modern architecture’s ability to complement and enhance its historical surroundings. This project not only stands as a beacon of contemporary design but also as a bridge between Paddington’s rich past and its dynamic future.
 Oxford Corner (more…)
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Thursday, August 25th, 2022
Geospatial data and information is one of the most critical elements for infrastructure improvement projects and asset management. The GIS provides context for where infrastructure is placed, its attributes, topography, maintenance history, and much more. These attributes track an asset’s performance and catalog its proximity to other assets. Cityworks adds to this context by providing historical activity of when and how the infrastructure was placed, what type of work has been performed against the infrastructure, and the ability to identify the encompassing business risk should that infrastructure fail. With its platform architecture, Cityworks is able to consume various sources of data which inform organizations and assist with smart and efficient planning as stewards within their communities.
Cityworks was acquired by Trimble in 2019. It is built as a GIS-centric, platform-based, software for asset management and permitting. across the asset lifecycle with added capabilities for project management, contract management, and activity-based solutions. Cityworks, alongside e-Builder, a Trimble BIM Solution that integrates on the platform, provides comprehensive asset management from the permitting phase through building and inspection into operations and maintenance.
Recently within Trimble, a new sector was created that is specifically focused on owners of infrastructure and the public sector. The Owner and Public Sector includes Cityworks and e-Builder along with Trimble Utilities and Agile Assets, a pavement manager. They are positioned as part of the construction sector with a focus on the public sector and leverages these solutions that are focused on completing and fulfilling the different stages of the design, build, operate process to provide a comprehensive GIS-centric solution for the public sector.
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Tags: Cityworks, infrastructure, Trimble
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Sunday, June 5th, 2022
Sanjay Gangal, CEO and president of AECCafe, recently interviewed Jason Hallett, CEO of Digital Construction Works (DCW).
Founded in 2019, DCW is a separate services company offering digital automation, integration and digital twinning services and fit-for-purpose solutions. The aim is to simplify digital transformation for the construction industry. DCW solutions span every phase of the project – from planning to construction and operations through to asset management – creating a digital thread that connects technologies and workflows. Because DCW is a completely new separate company, it can be agnostic to technology and process improvement. This way, technology follows the operational process change but doesn’t lead it.
Sanjay: Thank you so much for joining us, Jason. Tell us a little bit about Digital Construction Works?
Jason: DCW was founded in 2019 as a joint venture between Topcon group and Bentley Systems. Our staff is comprised of construction industry subject matter experts and application developers. We’re focused on trying to really integrate the technologies that are out there used on construction projects and make the flow of information more seamless while executing construction.
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Tags: covid-19, digital twin, facilities management, Open BIM, Year In Infrastructure 2019
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Thursday, May 5th, 2022
President of AECCafe Sanjay Gangal spoke recently with Montreal-based Nick Fonta, General Manager, XR division at Autodesk about Autodesk’s XR immersive experience and the company’s acquisition of The Wild, an immersive remote collaboration platform for architecture, design, and enterprise teams.
Sanjay: Thank you so much for joining us, Nick. So, tell us about Autodesk XR Solutions.
Nick: For sure. Autodesk has an interesting journey or history when it comes to XR. We started in the 1990s with our first project around XR, and it was a full 3D immersive experience with AutoCAD data that people could navigate into, a little bit like a first-person shooter. You could interact with basic interactions with the AutoCAD scene at the time. That was a project in prototype. And since then, we’ve been doing a lot of things, we have a research group who continued testing the limits of those technologies, but more recently, we’ve had a few things maybe worth noting. The first thing being about seven years ago, we moved into the real-time engine business, if you will, with our own engine, which was called Stingray. And we also built a first product in our trying to understand what that meant phase for Autodesk, and the product was called Revit Live. And both Stingray and Revit Live were our first real experiments to try to understand how real-time technologies, VR, and AR can can add value and solve real problems for our customers in the AEC and manufacturing spaces.
We tried a lot of things there, and then finally, a lot more recently, we have products today that support mostly VR, a little bit of AR as well in a portfolio. We have VRED, which targets mainly the automotive industry. VRED is a very high end, high resolution, high level of fidelity when it comes to imageries and rendering. It comes with the collaborative VR experience, so you can bring multiple designers to review, do the design reviews typically on cars, but it’s also used in other manufacturing industries. So that’s one, as a product, it’s been around for about five years, maybe a bit more, and is still around. It’s very successful, we’re seeing a lot of adoption and growth there, and we also have a capability called Create VR that allows designers to sketch and ideate in VR from scratch in a 3D space for a very creative way of transferring your ideas as a designer into the 3D world. Recently we released a capability out of Fusion products, one of our Hero products in manufacturing that allows any Fusion model to be experienced in AR, experienced on iOS with a publish to a USDZ. This is what we have today. This is where this all journey started, maybe a couple of months ago, and I’m sure we’re going to talk more about that now.
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Tags: generative design
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Friday, April 15th, 2022
Sanjay Gangal, CEO and president of AECCafe recently conducted an interview with Hans-Martin Zogg, Business Director of Total Stations at Leica Geosystems, which is part of Hexagon. Zogg spoke about the new Leica AP20 AutoPole which is product solution designed to increase the productivity of Leica Total Station users, and boost speed, accuracy and safety on the jobsite.
Sanjay: Tell us about the Leica AP20 AutoPole.
Han-Martin: The Leica AP20 AutoPole is an absolutely unique solution, which we have just announced. The AP20 is an enhancement to the productivity of our Total Station users, and is easy to use. When we develop product solutions at Leica Geosystems, we always want to address actual customer challenges. And with the AP20, we actually address three main customer challenges, which occur when customers are using Total Stations in the Total Station workflow. The first challenge is, when you measure the Total Stations, actually you need to hold the prism pole always vertical. So this slows up the measurement process.
This is something found with every level, is that need to level up the level bubble that brings the bubble into the center so that the pole is exactly vertical and then the user can measure its speed. But it’s also limiting the measurement area, because you always set up the pole or a point which you want to measure and if you have an obstruct level you cannot measure the point. Thus the verticality of the pole is a big challenge today. The second challenge which we are going to address with our AP20 AutoPole is actually the automatic pole height reading, respectively when you measure the pole height, you always need to enter it manually into the field software. And that’s very error prone and can cause cumbersome and time consuming pole processing. If you can actually fix it in the pole processing, you might be even lucky. Quite often, you need to go again into the field and redo your measurements.
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Tags: Autopole, Leica, Surveying
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Friday, April 23rd, 2021
Dr. Biplab Sarkar, CEO of Vectorworks, Inc., in an interview with Sanjay Gangal, CEO and president of AECCafe, spoke about the company as well as latest announcements.
Sanjay Gangal: Tell us about Vectorworks:
Dr. Sarkar: Vectorworks is an award-winning design and BIM software provider, serving architecture, landscape architecture and BIM around the world. We have been creating software since 1985, building software with a design focus, and we have around 700,000 users around the world creating, connecting and influencing the next generation of design with Vectorworks, on Mac and Windows, headquartered in Columbia, MD. We have offices in Newbury, England and Vancouver, Canada. We are a part of the Nemetschek Group. We have sister companies like Allplan, Graphisoft, Maxon and other construction software companies.
Sanjay Gangal: How has Covid-19 affected your business?
Dr. Sarkar: It got affected like other businesses, we learned the importance of adaptability. We found new ways to support and connect with customers. We held our first-ever virtual Vectorworks Design Summit last year. One of the advantages was that people from all around the world were able to connect and talk to us during those events. Otherwise we would have had more localized events. The virtual nature helped us a lot. We are having more virtual firm visits, meeting with more customers. The recent Vectorworks Open House on April 21 allowed customers to talk to product experts as well as developers about Vectorworks feature sets, workflows, and the public Roadmap. We published our Vectorworks Roadmap product roadmap last November and are very excited about that. It is a 5-year roadmap.
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Thursday, March 28th, 2019
Don Davies, vice president of North American Sales and Application Engineering at DP Technology Corp., spoke with AECCafe Voice about DP Technology and their CAM/CAD system, which has been around for 36 years. AECCafe CEO Sanjay Gangal conducted a video interview at SolidWorks World with DP Technology’s Vytas Cijunelis, Midwest Operations Manager that is available below.
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Tags: 3D, building information modeling, CAD, CAM, collaboration, design, engineering, engineers, infrastructure, visualization
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