Building Team

Construction Disruption at AECX: Technology, hackathons and the promise of change in LA

Related To:  Bluebeam
July 11, 2016
2 min read
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The view from the 30th floor of the USC Building in downtown LA is downright breathtaking. Not only because you can see all of LA, from the iconic Hollywood sign to the Santa Monica Pier, in one panoramic vista, but because of all the construction currently underway. From the skyline-defining Wilshire Grand to the four-tower Metropolis project, Downtown LA News is currently tracking 102 new building projects in the LA city center. And all that activity made the perfect backdrop for the AECX event, held this past spring on that same 30th floor.  

AECX is a new kind of event, a "premier tech expo for AEC professionals," which is for industry professionals, by industry professionals. As such, it drew a distinct cross section of architects, engineers, construction professionals and solution providers to talk about emerging technological innovations in our industry. The entire event was charged by the sense of purpose that can only come from having a group of like-minded individuals with a shared vision representing a microcosm of the change our industry is experiencing. AECX allowed us to look at the challenges we know all too well through an entirely different set of lenses—not only focusing on what is, but what will be, and most excitingly, what could be.

Before the event kicked off, I had the pleasure of hosting a thought-provoking group discussion featuring AECX co-founders Cody Nowak and Kameron Burk, as well as noted construction-tech luminaries Digit Group CEO Paul Doherty, IDEAbuilder co-founder Damon Hernandez, and SpectrumAEC founder and CEO Nathan Wood. We filmed this discussion, and I believe it provides deep insight into the current state of the AEC technological revolution by exploring the opportunities, the challenges and the choices we have to face head on in order to make actual progress in the midst of all this technological disruption.  

Watch the full video below:

 

About the Author

Sasha Reed

As Vice President of Strategic Development at Bluebeam, Inc., Sasha Reed collaborates with leaders in the architecture, engineering and construction industry to guide Bluebeam’s technology, partnerships and long-term goals. She joined Bluebeam in 2007 and co-created the Concierge Approach, a distinctly branded process of customer engagement, product feedback and solution delivery to which much of Bluebeam’s success is attributed, and which today is replicated at every organizational level.

Sasha is known industry-wide as a “conversation facilitator,” creating platforms for exchanges necessary to digitally advance the industry, including the BD+C Magazine Digital COM Blog, which she authors and manages. She’s been a featured presenter at numerous national and international conferences, including the 2014 Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), Federal Project Delivery Symposium and NTI Danish BIM Conference. Sasha also co-chairs the Construction PDF Coalition, a grassroots effort to provide a common industry framework from which to create and maintain construction PDF documents, serves on the City College of San Francisco BIM Industry Council, and is Advisor to the Board of Direction for the National Institute of Building Sciences BuildingSMART Alliance.

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