These past 18 months have challenged contractors across the globe in more ways that anyone could have imagined. Managing pandemic disruptions and getting projects over the finish line has required a well-tempered balance of leadership, creativity, and innovation  to solve incredibly challenging problems. If the resilience seen this year has shown construction professionals anything, it’s that this industry, and the people who work in it, are remarkable.

One of the greatest things about AEC is how many talented people contribute to a single project. It’s the people serving this great industry that we are here to celebrate. The people who continue to see opportunity where others see challenge, and should be recognized for a job well done in 2021.  Whether you’re pouring concrete or tracking project costs, it’s a powerful thing when so many people can point to a single project and say, “we did that.” There’s nothing like AEC, and this year’s 40 Under 40: Champions of Construction have demonstrated their ability to inspire, educate, and advance the industry in ways worth admiring.

Every year, Autodesk receives hundreds of nominations for this program from across the globe, representing thousands of years of AEC industry experience. Narrowing the list down is not a task we take lightly, and I’m proud to share Autodesk’s 2021 40 Under 40: Champions of Construction.

 

40 Under 40: Champions of Construction 2021

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The list appears in alphabetical order by company/organization name. Click on a name to jump to the individual, or scroll on.

1. Nima Jafari, Amazon
2. Justin Maryak, Auld & White Constructors
3. Katy Johnson, Balfour Beatty Construction
4. Jonathon Feldotte, Barton Malow Company
5. Christian Franz Hammerl, Bremer AG
6. Jessica Henri, Canadian Turner Construction
7. Giana Morini, DPR Construction
8. Christine Joy T. Asiatico, EEI Corporation
9. Adolfo Gutierrez Sanchez, Ferrovial Construction
10. Christian Paul, Gilbane Building Company
11. Darrah Leach, Granger Construction
12. Isabel Harlan, Hatch LTK
13. Kyle Spitznagel, Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company
14. Andrew Cameron, Hensel Phelps
15. Dwayne Jeffery, Howard S. Wright (a Balfour Beatty Company)
16. Brady McKinney, Huston Electric
17. Yoanna Ruseva, ISG
18. Marcus R. Thomas, KEi Architects
19. Ahmad ElMani, KEO International Consultants
20. Amira ElSaeed, Khatib & Alami
21. Yesenia Rivera Martinez, Largo Concrete, Inc.
22. Jessica Allin, Ledcor Construction Limited
23. Brant Fischer, Messer Construction
24. Jay Mathes, Miron Construction
25. Eoin Prunty, O’Mahony Pike Architects
26. Ryuji Taniguchi, Obayashi Corporation
27. Karina Delcourt, Omicron
28. Lou Varni, Pankow Builders
29. Sarah Watte, Phoenix Civil Engineering, Inc
30. Caleb Wohletz, Precision Precast Erectors, LLC
31. Matthieu Desvignes, Sanergy
32. William Senner, Skanska USA
33. Mark LaBell, SSOE Group
34. Derek Mosiman, Swinerton
35. Timothy Jarvey, The Neenan Company
36. Marcus Kratz, The Tri-M Group, LLC
37. Adam Derx, The Walsh Group
38. Kristopher Dane, Thornton Tomasetti
39. Betsy Bice, Truebeck Construction
40. Dakota Clifford, Virginia Department of Transportation

 

1. Nima Jafari

Senior BIM Manager
Amazon
Verona, New Jersey

Regarded as a pioneer of BIM technology at Amazon, Nima Jafari currently serves as the company’s Regional Senior BIM Manager, where he’s building the Emerging Technologies Department in Amazon TES from the ground up. Nima also plays an important role in building new distribution centers and sortation centers— a critical part of the business, particularly as Amazon continues to innovate and expand. 

Nima is no stranger to BIM. Prior to Amazon, he was the Senior BIM-VDC Manager at Schiavone Construction Co. LLC, a firm that focuses on complex, fast-paced, and heavy construction projects like the award winning East Side Access Project (Grand Central Terminal) and 2nd Ave Subway expansion.

He’s tackled several impressive construction jobs throughout his career. He was the lead BIM Coordinator for the Hudson Yard project in Manhattan, Coordinated the MEP utilities for the Potomac Yard Metrorail Station Project (Washington DC), Science Building Rehabilitation in West Point and 86th Street Subway Station.

“He is never afraid of facing any kind of complications and finds solutions with minimal losses. In my opinion, he is the pioneer of BIM technologies for Amazon and I am sure it will only benefit his employer.”

 

2. Justin Maryak

Director of Project Management and Division Leader
Auld & White Constructors
Jacksonville Beach, Florida

Justin Maryak is the Director of Project Management and Division Leader at Auld & White Constructors (AWC), where he oversees the direction and leadership of project execution for the firm. 

A graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, Justin is passionate about the AEC industry, and he strives to do what is best for his clients and community. Because of his leadership and dedication, Justin has quickly risen through the ranks of AWC. 

With more than 17 years of experience, Justin has been instrumental in the success of a wide range of projects in the commercial, institutional, and healthcare sectors. The projects he has overseen have ranged from $150,000 to $33 million. 

Some of the notable projects Justin has worked on include the Baptist Medical Center, the North Florida School of Special Education, and the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge at Mayo Clinic.

In addition to overseeing numerous projects, Justin has also been a champion of construction technology at AWC. He encouraged the firm to adopt new platforms that would enable teams to communicate better and resolve issues more efficiently. Because of his work, the teams at AWC have improved day-to-day productivity and have seen massive time savings. 

“With his forward-thinking mindset, he continually explores innovative ideas and processes. Then, he incorporates those into best practices to empower his team to work more effectively and efficiently.”

 

3. Katy Johnson

Senior Construction Project Manager
Balfour Beatty Construction
San Diego, California

As the Senior Construction Project Manager at Balfour Beatty, Katy runs multiple projects at once. She ensures teams are aligned, clients are happy, and projects are delivered on time and within budget. Katy has done a tremendous job engaging clients and cultivating strong relationships that have resulted in securing long-term contracts. Her leadership skills, along with her professional yet engaging personality, make her a joy to work with. 

Katy is incredibly dedicated, and she’s been with Balfour Beatty Construction for more than 15 years. She was an early employee at the company and one of her key accomplishments has been helping Balfour Beatty level up their construction technology. 

In addition to overseeing projects, Katy is highly involved in initiatives that promote social good. She’s part of various internal groups within the organization, including the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, and notably a board member on both the Connecting Women and Building PRIDE affinity groups. 

Katy’s drive, leadership, and compassion make her a truly inspiring figure not just in Balfour Beatty, but in the AEC industry.

“Katy has a very high level of patience and professionalism. She’s a helpful leader who pays attention to the needs of the team, the client, and the company. She also has a great sense of humor and the ability to turn difficult conversations into friendly ones.”

 

4. Jonathon Feldotte

Vice President of Preconstruction & Work Acquisition
Barton Malow Company
Southfield, Michigan

Jonathon started as a Project Engineer at Barton Malow and worked his way up to Vice President in just 10 years. He established new and innovative processes that helped the firm increase customer satisfaction and win more work. With his help, Barton Malow surpassed its revenue goals, despite the global pandemic. The industrial side of the business, which closed out 2019 at $750 million, generated $1.2 billion in 2020.

Jonathon is also a champion of technology, and he has led several digital transformation initiatives that enabled Barton Malow to keep up with the pace of change in the industry. Thanks to his leadership in the adoption of the latest construction technology, the firm is poised to remain on the cutting edge in a rapidly evolving industry.

Beyond his work in improving the technology and processes at Barton Malow, Jonathon cites employee development and community engagement as personal achievements. He’s helped create new jobs and enabled the firm to retain top talent by creating an environment where employees can thrive. 

To top things off, Jonathon also leads Barton Malow’s volunteer efforts that support local workforce development and fundraising initiatives for charities in the area.

“Jonathon’s goal is to transform the image of the construction industry from one that over-promises and under-delivers to one that embraces technology and delivers quality work on budget and on time.”

 

5. Christian Franz Hammerl

VDC/BIM Manager
Bremer AG
Germany

As VDC/BIM Manager at Bremer AG, Christian leads a part of the firm’s innovation team in finding the right tech solutions, managing IT, and educating internal teams on how to leverage construction technology. 

Chrisitan is currently executing his vision for digital transformation at Bremer. This year, he introduced and established a company-wide common data environment (CDE) that would enable teams and partners to have better access to information so they can stay in sync.  For this purpose, he developed and programmed an interface website as middleware between many internal and external services, such as BIM360, in order to integrate them seamlessly into the historically grown IT infrastructure at Bremer.

He’s also working on several initiatives, including implementing technology across all construction sites for Bremer’s team and project leads, as well as improving collaboration through digital tools. 

Christian is truly an asset at Bremer, and there’s no doubt that he will continue to take the company’s tech initiatives to new heights. 

“Christian leads a part of the innovation team to evaluate solutions and manages the IT administration. He’s led the company through many different digital transformations and communicates his vision clearly.”

 

6. Jessica Henri

Project Manager
Canadian Turner Construction
Vancouver, British Columbia

Only one word comes to mind when colleagues describe Jessica: leader. As Project Manager at Canadian Turner Construction, she constantly steps into leadership roles both within the company and in the projects she oversees.

Jessica has been involved in various jobs, ranging from $20 to $60 million, and she’s also been part of three of Turner Vancouver’s largest projects to date. 

She is known for supporting innovation and developing strong working relationships with clients, consultants, and contractors. Her teams are even recognized for being high-performing, cohesive, and innovative—a testament to her strong leadership style. 

A great example of one of the challenging projects she has recently managed involved the construction of a new power plant for a local hospital. The project required a live and seamless switchover from an existing facility power plant to a newly constructed power plant without stopping or impacting hospital activities. Jessica was able to navigate the complex coordination between the hospital stakeholders, consultants, and trade contractors to deliver a successful project without impacting the hospital and its patients.

Jessica has demonstrated strong leadership and project management skills, which is why it’s no surprise that she’s been selected as the manager for these large, complex projects at her firm.

“Jessica’s top-tier technical expertise, problem-solving abilities, and organization, combined with the kindness, fairness, and diplomacy she demonstrates on a daily basis, make her one of the best champions of construction I’ve had the pleasure to work with.” 

 

7. Giana Morini

National Operations Technology Leader
DPR Construction
Ashburn, Virginia

Supporting the AEC industry for more than 15 years, Giana uses her knowledge and skills to promote both innovation and social good across projects. Leveraging those skills she has built a career, currently serving as the National Operations Technology Leader at DPR Construction.

Giana started her career in civil and structural engineering, working on both domestic and international programs. For ten years she delivered significant projects, proving her construction prowess and gaining experience across the engineering and construction industry. During this time Giana also supported Engineers Without Borders USA where she oversaw a team of 25 to develop a water storage system for a village in northwestern Thailand. This combined experience provided the foundation for Giana’s transition into a technology and innovation role, where she focused on digitalizing the engineering and construction industry.

Today, at DPR, Giana works with multiple stakeholders across our organization to determine which technologies the company should invest in, adapt, and implement across the enterprise. She leads a continuously growing team that supports all field operations, self-perform work, risk, insurance, safety, and quality enterprise technologies.  

Giana has already created a lasting impact at DPR, bringing processes and standardization to the way the organization evaluates and implements technology. Through her leadership, this team ensures DPR has cross-work group process alignment and takes a programmatic approach, strategizing to find and implement new technologies that ensure DPR’s implementation meets the needs of its customers. Her biggest accomplishment to date has been baselining the approach, so that DPR can provide consistent delivery with repeatable results for technology solutions and deployments. Giana is currently supporting DPR’s approach to evaluating Autodesk products to execute projects more efficiently.

Beyond her professional life, Giana is a proud wife and mother of two, soon to be three.

“Giana is deeply passionate about construction technology at a strategic level. Her level of detail and understanding (both high and low) of how each application connects or should connect blows me away. To me, she’s truly a champion for all user levels at DPR.” 

 

8. Engr. Christine Joy T. Asiatico, MSCM

Group Supervisor
EEI Corporation
Metro Manila, Philippines

To say that Christine cares about the success of her teams through digital transformations would be an understatement. She recognizes that rolling out technology initiatives is 90% change management and 10% tech—and she’s adopted this mindset throughout her work. 

Elaborating, Christine has led project teams in the development and implementation of digital collaboration workflows, thus helping EEI Corporation digitize its paper-based and manual processes.

Prior to taking on a key role as one of EEI’s “digital evangelists”, she had spent a majority of her career in EEI’s field operations and intimately understood the challenges of construction teams and the pain points around manual and paper-based workflows. This background enabled her to identify the process improvements that can provide tangible value to project delivery teams.

She also successfully developed a repeatable Common Data Environment (CDE) rollout plan.  It clearly defines the roles of different stakeholders, the tools they need to use, and the change management activities that must be carried out at the job site.

In addition, Christine supervised a team of four (4) engineers in reviewing an entire library of paper-based project procedures and policies, replacing them with tech-enabled workflows to streamline projects and improve efficiency. 

She and her team also train and educate end-users on how to use the technology they implement. They do a tremendous job engaging both digital natives and older generations, encouraging everyone to embrace the change, and the technology that comes with it. 

Needless to say, Christine’s dedication to her projects and teams have helped EEI Corporation improve its processes, culture, and business as a whole. 

“Engr. Asiatico’s impact has been widely felt across a very broad set of stakeholders in the organization. Her passion to see project teams succeed, and her effectiveness in developing implementation plans, have enabled her and her team to deploy digital collaboration workflows to five (5) ongoing projects.”

 

9. Adolfo Gutierrez Sanchez

Head of Digital Construction
Ferrovial Construction
Madrid, Spain

Adolfo is an expert in all things digital construction. He joined Ferrovial Construction as an Innovation Specialist in the HS Railway Department, and within five years, progressed to Head of Digital Construction at the company.

In a short span of time, he has become the go-to reference for all things digital in the company, including information management, BIM, technology, devices, data, IoT, and BI—focusing on the bidding, design and construction phases.

In his current role, he defines the digital construction strategy for Ferrovial and leads the integration of Office 365 with BIM implementation and Information Management. He’s also a SharePoint and Office 365 internal consultant and an expert in database management and ETL processes, data visualization, and standardization.

With a background in education, Adolfo also spent four years as a trainer at IDESIE Business School. There, he prepared specialized courses on BIM tools, project management, and coordination. 

Because of his dedication as an educator, strategist and thought leader, Adolfo has emerged as a champion of, and authority in, digital construction.

“Adolfo is leading Digital Construction in one of the biggest construction companies of Spain, becoming a reference in the sector internationally.”

 

10. Christian Paul

Senior Project Manager
Gilbane Building Company
Atlanta, Georgia

With more than 16 years of experience handling day-to-day construction operations, Christian is a seasoned and highly knowledgeable Project Manager. Her key areas of proficiency include project planning and scheduling, engineering analysis, budget and cost control, and project quality assurance. 

She’s a skilled communicator and has the ability to effectively interface with stakeholders on all levels within the AEC industry. So whether she’s dealing with Trade Contractors, vendors, consultants, or user groups you can rest assured knowing that Christian will deliver. 

She is well-versed in projects related to K-12, higher education, and healthcare. Currently, she’s involved in the Georgia Tech Campus Center project and is working to facilitate a smooth collaboration between the design-build team and GT’s project team.

Beyond construction project management, Christian is passionate about guiding and educating others in the industry. She actively mentors through National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) and Gilbane mentor-mentee programs. Plus, she has hosted numerous on-campus tours at Georgia Tech and served as a liaison to provide teaching and learning opportunities within the university’s building construction programs.

There’s so much to admire about Christian, and we’re positive that we’ll continue to see great things from her. 

“Christian has been in the construction industry for 16 years and is dedicated to excellence, continuous improvement, and diversity within the industry.”

 

11. Darrah Leach

VDC Manager
Granger Construction
Lansing, Michigan

Darrah is Granger Construction’s VDC Manager and her colleagues commend her ability to learn quickly and manage multiple projects simultaneously. She actively champions technology at the company and works closely with different stakeholders to help explore the different tools they can utilize, as well as the benefits they could gain from adopting new solutions. 

When she’s not encouraging teams to adopt technology, Darrah mentors Granger Construction’s interns. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and playing a part in advancing the careers of future VDC engineers. 

Prior to joining Granger Construction, Darrah was a VDC and 4D Delivery Specialist at RockRidge Professional Services. 

Darrah’s accomplishments, experience, and can-do personality make her a valuable member of Granger Construction’s team, and definitely a great addition to Autodesk’s 40 Under 40 list. 

“Darrah has an insatiable hunger to grow personally and professionally. Her adaptability is a key strength and allows her to quickly adjust to emerging technology.”

 

12. Isabel Harlan

Civil Engineer and Project Manager
Hatch LTK
Boston, Massachusetts

Isabel is a champion for both technology and women. With nearly a decade of experience in the AEC industry, Isabel began her career in Kansas City with Burns & McDonnell as an Environmental Engineer focusing on water and wastewater treatment and distribution design. 

Isabel then moved over to the construction industry in New York City as a Civil Engineering Estimator at the Spanish-based contractor, Dragados USA, and quickly grew into a successful Proposal Coordinator; working on proposals that won her company nearly $7.8B of work for projects involving tunneling, highway reconstruction, and rail transit design. She then pivoted her talents to the position of Engineering Coordinator with the Third Track Constructors Joint Venture for the $2.6 Billion Long Island Rail Road Expansion Project before finally landing with Hatch LTK in Boston.

As a Civil Engineer and Project Manager at Hatch LTK, Isabel is heavily involved with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Red and Orange Line Transformation Program in Boston, one of the largest infrastructure improvement programs in the Northeast. Through this Program, she is helping the MBTA implement a new audio frequency-based signals system, among other upgrades to the two rail lines, in order to improve system performance and reliability.

With her diverse background of skills, Isabel is able to approach the needs of transportation authorities from an integrated system level perspective. She has a keen ability to manage contract execution and optimize project delivery across various disciplines.

Isabel has continually demonstrated leadership in the industry by helping talented women pursue a path in construction and engineering; leading panels that tackle the issues women face in STEM-based careers. She is an active participant in the Diversity and Inclusion efforts within the Hatch LTK organization; focusing on empowering and enabling minoritized groups in the STEM community to break into the industry and reach leadership positions as well as educating her peers on issues minoritized communities face in and out of the workplace.

The construction field is fortunate to have people like Isabel. She enables the industry to be tech-forward and diverse—an excellent combination with the right advances in the right direction.  

“Isabel has continually demonstrated leadership in the industry by pioneering technology initiatives within the organization. She has the fortitude to push technology and provide value to the client.” 

 

13. Kyle Spitznagel

BIM Coordination Manager
Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Company
Los Angeles, California

At Hathaway Dinwiddie, Kyle is known for being the biggest advocate for new and innovative technologies. During his 11 years at the company, Kyle has led virtual construction efforts for multiple award-winning projects, including Emerson College, USC Village, and the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.

Throughout his career, Kyle has been involved in over $2 billion worth of construction projects across California, spanning multiple industries, including higher education, pharmaceutical, healthcare, commercial offices, historic renovations, and institutional projects. He also works continuously to push the boundaries of what is possible – most recently by managing 38 different trade partners in the BIM coordination effort for a mega-project in Los Angeles, including the superstructure, interiors, exterior skin, MEP, and sitework components.

He also developed and implemented Hathaway Dinwiddie’s BIM Training Program, an intensive one-week crash course on construction solutions. He and his team have successfully used it to train every coordinator in the company since 2013.

Kyle cares deeply about giving back by educating students and future construction professionals. In his free time, he volunteers with industry groups that focus on education and partnership. Currently, he sits on the board of The Alliance, a foundation for interdisciplinary studies that supports the students and faculty at the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

He also speaks at industry conferences around the country, helping to mold future generations. Just this year, Kyle ran a series of interdisciplinary webinars for students to learn more about architects, engineers, and construction. Previously he has given lectures on best practices for incorporating BIM into construction contracts, how to get started with programming with the Revit API, and how Hathaway Dinwiddie uses Revit for estimating.

Kyle’s dedication to helping others learn and embrace technology shines through in everything he does. The construction professionals of today, and for many years to come, will benefit from his work.

“Kyle’s pursuit of innovation and commitment to pioneering the best and newest technologies has fundamentally changed the way we plan and execute our projects.”

 

14. Andrew Cameron

Project Manager
Hensel Phelps
San Francisco, California

Andrew has been with Hensel Phelps for over 12 years, starting as a summer intern and working his way up to Project Manager. His long list of construction projects include working as an intern on the Pentagon renovation, being a Field and Office Engineer on the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington DC, and serving as Project Manager for the renovation of San Francisco International Airport’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1.

Andrew works to stay ahead of cutting-edge technology and is active within the AEC technology community using his knowledge to implement complex services and useful project workflows. 

One example where Andrew demonstrated his technology skills and resourcefulness was during the COVID-19 pandemic. During a period of rapid change, he led the development and implementation of an employee tracking system to comply with San Francisco’s rules for COVID screening.

Andrew integrated solutions allowed the jobsite screeners to log arriving workers, administer a daily COVID questionnaire, and provide a personal tag indicating that people passed the screening process. Andrew’s solution helped ensure that people could come to work in a safe environment. The process the team adopted was so smooth that there was no discernable impact on worker productivity.

“Andrew is a highly engaged leader in our industry. His tireless energy is infectious. He truly leads by example.” 

 

15. Dwayne Jeffery

Safety Director
Howard S. Wright (a Balfour Beatty company)
Seattle, Washington

As the Safety Director at Howard S. Wright, Dwayne manages the largest safety team out of all the U.S divisions of Balfour Beatty. He started at the company in February 2020 and moved into the role of Safety Director in June 2020, and in a short period of time, was able to implement policies and procedures that effectively keep teams safe and healthy. 

Dwayne protected Howard S. Wright’s construction sites during riots in Seattle, and he proactively prepared the firm’s project teams for the extreme air pollution from the forest fires in the south of Washington.

Dwayne has over a decade of experience in the realm of health and safety. He was the Health and Safety Manager at Parsons Corporation, then moved on to Odebrecht Construction as the Senior Environmental Health Safety Manager Transportation Sector. He also served as Senior Manager for Environment Health Safety at Balfour Beatty US before moving to Howard S. Wright (also a Balfour Beatty company).

When he’s not upholding health and safety policies, you’ll likely see Dwayne mentoring his team. His colleagues appreciate Dwayne’s leadership and the fact that he makes time for each team member despite having such a busy schedule. 

There’s no doubt about it: when it comes to health and safety, Dwayne’s reputation is something to admire. 

“Dwayne has transformed the safety team. He supports each individual and promotes self-improvement. He’s a natural leader and mentor. Although he expects a lot, he always makes time for team building events and outings.”

 

16. Brady McKinney

Director, Electrical Contracting
Huston Electric
Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Brady proudly heads up the Electrical Contracting division of Huston Electric after starting as an intern ten years prior. He is applauded for continuing to push the envelope by taking an 80-year-old family-owned, electrical contracting business to the next level.

After coming back from a 2012 NECA show in Las Vegas, Brady saw incredible potential to deploy prefabrication technology in Huston’s operations. By integrating prefabrication and reworking the systems over the next several years, Huston was able to take back a great share of the multi-family, institutional dorm work over the last five years. This would not have been possible with Brady’s tenacity for innovation.

He has proven himself an asset and now runs a group of a dozen project managers and estimators across three office locations in Central Indiana. The technology he’s brought into Huston has been instrumental to the company’s success and is something they continue to develop and improve upon every day.

“Brady is a strong team member, a great leader, and ambassador for the next generation of Huston Electric. This will continue into the future as [he] is always looking for new ways to get better.”

 

17. Yoanna Ruseva

Senior BIM Manager
ISG
London, United Kingdom

Yoanna is a Senior BIM Manager at ISG. She’s part of a large in-house team that combines digital technology expertise with specialist built environment knowledge to optimise efficiencies across the lifecycle of construction and fit-out projects. Her MSc studies in Construction Project management have reinforced her strategic thought process in delivering above expectation and her understanding and importance of DfMA (pre-fabrication).

Yoanna is highly regarded for her ability to actively engage individuals at all levels of the business, sharing best practice solutions and tools that consistently drive ISG forward as a technology-led contractor. An Architectural Technology and Construction Management graduate from VIA University College, Yoanna utilises her previous consultant and main contractor experience to great effect as a champion of operational efficiency at every stage of the project process.

“Yoanna’s impact has been infectious to the point of teams requesting her on projects. A true integrator of people and technology.” 

 

18. Marcus R. Thomas, AIA

Managing Principal
KEi Architects
Charlotte, North Carolina

When Marcus joined KEi Architects in 2019, the firm was already quite successful and had a reputation for being an award-winning, client-driven practice. Under his leadership, KEi Architects started gaining traction in new segments and localities, beginning to reshape the firms image.

Over the past fiscal year, Marcus secured projects that have required KEi to rethink how the firm produces, coordinates, and delivers professional services. He understands the value of his team and continually explores opportunities to leverage technology that will help them continue to perform at high levels.

Marcus strives to put the firm in the best position for growth by developing the company’s strategy, policy, core values, and long-term goals. He oversees KEI’s offices, maintains quality controls, and coordinates with the company’s officers to ensure profitability. Marcus coordinates KEi’s marketing strategy and sees to it that the firm is able to capitalize on opportunities for growth and marketplace expansion. 

The fact that Marcus was able to achieve so much for KEi Architects in a short period shows how talent, when combined with drive, gets impressive results.

“Marcus’s acumen for business development and project delivery is beyond his years. This has begun to show in the types of projects the firm is involved with and the high caliber of his teams.”

 

19. Ahmad ElMani

BIM Manager
KEO International Consultants
United Arab Emirates

As BIM Manager at KEO International Consultants, Ahmad supports the company’s BIM teams and ensures that projects are delivered on time and according to KEO’s vision and digital strategy. He takes charge of the BIM task force and sees to it that VDC technologies are implemented consistently and adhere to the company’s BIM roadmap. 

The people who work with Ahmad will tell you that he constantly pursues innovation and promotes design excellence, high standards, and delivery quality in everything he does. 

Thanks to him, KEO’s processes, standards, and procedures are tightly aligned and unified. In fact, the company’s ISO 19650 kitemark certificate by BSI demonstrates this, and Ahmad played a significant role in its implementation and audit process. 

It’s also worth mentioning that keeping KEO’s teams aligned is no easy feat, considering that the company has offices in 7 cities, 6 countries, and 2 continents. Not only that, but the firm collaborates with partners, clients, and consultants from all over the world. Under Ahmad’s guidance with verifying and administrating the right permissions, the company can ensure that stakeholders can access the necessary information and coordinate with one another. 

Simply put, Ahmad is doing amazing things for his firm, and the results speak for themselves. 

“Ahmad is a highly committed and hard working person who is leading a team of 180+ people in the implementation and management of BIM. He is helping our teams and clients by taking them from inspiration, through conceptualization to realization of planning, design and project delivery.”

 

20. Amira ElSaeed

Technology & Innovation
Khatib & Alami
Egypt

Amira looks after Technology & Innovation for Khatib & Alami, a multidisciplinary urban and regional planning, architectural and engineering consulting company.

She helped develop an auditing system that can monitor modeling quality issues automatically, thus streamlining the process for the teams at the firm. She also contributed to generative design approaches, which enabled the team to mass-produce models.

Amira also develops and implements technology to improve collaboration and information exchanges for BIM projects at Khatib & Alami. She’s someone with extensive knowledge of computer languages, and she uses that know-how to improve modeling approaches.

Because of her standout work, Amira was assigned to handle the process for all Khatib & Alami design centers—spread across three different countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

“Amira’s forward-thinking nature and passion for innovation helps Khatib & Alami work efficiently and deliver superior outcomes. By developing plug-ins, macros, and stand-alone programs, Amira is using innovative solutions for BIM and engineering disciplines.”

 

21. Yesenia Rivera Martinez

Senior BIM/VDC Engineer Manager
Largo Concrete, Inc.
Tustin, California

Yesenia is a Senior BIM/VDC Engineer Manager for Largo Concrete, Inc., one of the nation’s largest structural concrete contractors with over $600,000,000 in annual revenues with several offices in the United States. 

She plays a pivotal role in the preconstruction process. In this position she works closely with the field teams and project executives. Yesenia’s role is to build computer models of the concrete frame that is to be constructed in order to minimize risks and issues before breaking ground. 

She has an uncanny ability to dissect complex design documents and to provide clear construction details to the field supervisors. Yesenia’s efforts also enable the team to identify conflicts, mistakes, and potential problems. She coordinates the architectural, structural, and civil drawings. She submits clarification requests for the information that is lacking or where the design drawings are in conflict. Yesenia then works closely with the field teams to ensure they understand precisely how to use the Concrete Models of what they are to build.  

Yesenia has helped Largo Concrete improve the level of service we provide to our customers, and this, in turn, has led to our continued growth. With Yesenia’s help, the teams at Largo Concrete are able to make decisions with greater confidence, increase production, and improve the quality of their work.

“Yesenia makes your job easier—and more successful—when she is part of your team.”

 

22. Jessica Allin

Senior Superintendent
Ledcor Construction Limited
Toronto, Ontario

Jessica is a skilled and experienced construction pro. In her role as Senior Superintendent at Ledcor Construction, she’s taking charge of an approximately $400 million project on airport grounds, coordinating with trades on site, while leading teams of her own. 

She’s adept at identifying and resolving inefficiencies in construction processes and procedures and offers solutions to consultants and owners to improve design issues. Jessica also uses the latest technology to keep projects up to date, ensuring that Ledcor keeps up with industry demands. 

Jessica’s colleagues also commend her management style. She leads all her projects with enthusiasm and a smile that encourages collaboration and keeps everyone motivated. When faced with stressful or difficult situations, Jessica is able to remain calm, thus helping teams find solutions quickly. In addition, she never fails to lift others up and promotes constant learning to all her staff.

Before joining Ledcor, Jessica served as Superintendent at Turner Construction Company. Prior to this role, she was Assistant Superintendent at EllisDon for five years.

Jessica’s superintendent skills, combined with her strong leadership abilities make her a fantastic addition to any AEC team. 

“Jessica has the skill of bringing our team together and bringing the best out of us.”

 

23. Brant Fischer

Project Solutions Executive
Messer Construction
Cincinnati, Ohio, US

As the Project Solutions Executive for Messer Construction, Brant is hailed for his exceptional leadership, training capabilities, and rapid implementation of a massive, company-wide technology adoption.

In February of 2021, Brant started a pilot program for Messer to start using Autodesk Build. In an effort to get Messer and its clients onboarded with the new technology, Brant led an extremely in-depth “teardown” of the construction software to expedite the evaluation process. Within about 48 hours of sending his findings to colleagues, he had received pages and pages of feedback which would inform the company’s approach to adoption of key construction technologies. He even developed a grading scale to compare Messer’s current tools against popular market options.

Once the tools were graded, Brant had a good understanding of what Messer needed. He assembled a committee of 20 of the company’s top employees from all over the US, for a week-long in-depth look at all the tools to get direct feedback. 

As a result of Brant’s research and rigorous QA/QC, Messer went ahead with a full company rollout of the committee’s recommended construction technologies across $1.6 billion in projects that started in June of 2021.

The Messer team now relies on Brant as the primary contact internally and externally for all questions, concerns, and feedback regarding Autodesk Build. He also leads training and onboarding for all new projects using the tool. His eye for detail and ability to inspire technology adoption is appreciated by his colleagues, the firm’s customers, and industry peers.

“In all my years, I have never been a part of such a well-organized, comprehensive, and effective evaluation. I’ve seen $50m GC’s struggle with this. Brant is an industry pioneer who has implemented or managed technology with a major impact on a project and their company.”

 

24. Jay Mathes

Virtual Construction Lead – Civil
Miron Construction Co., Inc.
Neenah, Wisconsin

Jay Mathes has a unique combination of an engineering background, project management experience, and a drive and passion for BIM. This unique combination is noticed by his Virtual Construction team as well as the craftspeople in the field. In his role as the Virtual Construction Lead – Civil at Miron Construction Co., Inc., Jay leads by example, helps establish best practices, manages workflows, and is continuously researching new technologies.

He recently led the BIM coordination on a large healthcare project that involved prefabricated MEP rack systems—a first for many of our partners. As a result of Jay’s leadership, the BIM coordination was completed and the prefabricated racks were installed with no issues, which saved the project considerable time and effort.

Jay is also a champion of construction technology, and he uses innovative tools to tackle various challenges at Miron. For example, he was part of an IPD project for a large healthcare client in Wisconsin. This project demanded an impossible timeline and extensive upfront coordination between the design and construction teams. Because of Jay’s efforts and utilization of technology, the project was not only completed in time, but considered a major success.

Because of his work ethic, drive, and leadership abilities, his teams have quickly identified Jay as an industry leader. Jay has become the “go-to VDC guy” for many of Miron’s high profile clients such as the Green Bay Packers, Fincantieri, and ThedaCare.

 “Jay’s leadership has helped establish Miron’s Virtual Construction team as a pioneer in Wisconsin and the Midwest as it relates to VDC. He is continuously pushing the envelope when it comes to construction technologies.”

 

25. Eoin Prunty

Associate, Practice BIM Manager
O’Mahony Pike Architects
Dublin, Ireland

At O’Mahony Pike Architects, Eoin is considered the point person for implementation of BIM in recent years. Not only has he helped roll out the technology, but he sees to it that the firm stays up to date with the latest BIM standards and digital technologies.

Aside from leading a team of BIM Coordinators, Eoin empowers the entire team to adopt the right workflows to increase efficiencies across the variety of project types within the company.

Eoin’s work transcends the four walls of O’Mahony Pike Architects; the things that he has accomplished have influenced the industry in general. He’s a member of the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland’s BIM subcommittee and has been a key person involved with standardizing BIM processes across the country.

Eoin’s colleagues also credit him for helping O’Mahony Pike Architects navigate the pandemic. He implemented cloud-based technology across the firm, allowing projects to move to the cloud immediately. Thanks to him, the company was able to streamline its processes throughout the entire project lifecycle. 

Eoin has clearly added tremendous value through his work. As long as there are people like him, the AEC industry will continue to make strides in construction tech. 

“Eoin has been the main person responsible for the implementation of BIM over the last few years and ensures that the company always remains up-to-date with the latest BIM standards and digital technologies. Aside from this, he is extremely professional, patient, and kind. Overall, is a wonderful person to work with.”

 

26. Ryuji Taniguchi

Technology & Innovation Lead
Obayashi Corporation
Tokyo, Japan

Ryuji is the Technology & Innovation Lead for Obayashi Corporation. Ryuji has been with Obayashi Corporation for over 15 years and has a deep understanding of BIM and the construction industry. His skillset covers various disciplines, including design, architecture, and software development.

BIM modeling, which involves huge amounts of data, requires strict rules for element classification. He built a classification process as a BIM modeling solution in which the elements are gradually subdivided over time. Thanks to his contribution, Obayashi Corporation’s BIM runs as a BIM which is easy to change and from which data can always be extracted.

On the other hand, one of the challenges that arise in the use of BIM is to ensure that the correctness of the information contained in the model is conveyed. To solve this problem, Ryuji devised a way to integrate Level of Development management into the modeling process and succeeded in its systematization. This system enables accurate and rational communication to confirm the correctness of input information.

Obayashi Corporation released this system as “Smart BIM Connection” in 2021 with the conviction that it would help all BIM users.

Ryuji unveiled this concept at Autodesk University 2020 and won the Top Speaker Award in the On-Demand Video Session APAC Region.

He is also learning data management skills in manufacturing industries such as Bill of Materials (BOM) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and one of his goals is to redefine BIM from a broad perspective.

“Ryuji is a rare person, with a perspective that embodies the benefits that BIM brings to the construction industry.”

 

27. Karina Delcourt

Digital Integration Manager
Omicron
Vancouver, British Columbia

Karina is the Digital Integration Manager for Omicron where she facilitates the firm’s digital transformation initiatives. When Omicron’s CEO challenged the company to embrace technology in 2018, she more than rose to the challenge.

She helped digitize the firm’s practices by overseeing the rollout of technology to support adoption by the entire team. With her steady guidance, everyone from both the office and field had a single source of truth for project data, as well as tools to manage costs, budgets, and schedules.

Karina also handled the cultural changes required in digital transformation. She stepped up as an advocate and liaison between leadership and business units. She would provide ongoing support and training on technology to ensure that everyone is on board any time changes are made. This involved process groups and technical deep dives, governance committees, and business case development.

In addition, Karina made sure that everything the team did was measurable. She identified the right performance metrics and used BI and analytics tools that gave the team access to information about KPIs and project updates. She then leveraged the development of Omicron KPIs to win work through business development efforts. 

Karina and the Omicron team have worked on high-profile projects all over western Canada. A few noteworthy jobs include The James at Harbour Tours, The SAP “Remainland” Project at SAP Vancouver, First West Credit Union Head Office, Molson Coors Fraser Valley Brewery and more.

Her ability to develop and execute measurable digital transformation initiatives is admirable and there’s no question that she’s an asset to any team. 

“Karina’s passion is in how things get done. She has been instrumental in transforming the way Omicron designs, develops, and builds.” 

 

28. Lou Varni

VDC Manager
Pankow Builders
San Francisco, California

As VDC Manager at Pankow Builders, Lou works to improve the company’s coordination and issue tracing procedures. His work has made a significant impact on numerous big-ticket projects, including the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 1951 Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda, 500 Broadway in Santa Monica, Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar, and 550 O’Farrell in San Francisco. 

One example in which Lou’s work shines can be seen in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music project, which involved collaboration between Mark Cavagnero Associates and the Pankow Builders. The teams had to deal with challenging constraints, and overcoming them required close coordination between all members of the design and construction teams. 

Lou’s efforts in improving the coordination process enabled the team to identify and resolve over 850 constructability issues ensuring that the design would fit, function, and meet the design intent set forth by the Cavagnero team. Nevermind the avoidance of costly rework down the road. The BIM coordination process allowed the team to prefabricate many of the larger MEP systems from the model ensuring better accuracy and a more efficient install. 

Because of Lou’s commitment to improving processes in the company—and the industry as a whole—the teams he works with, and the projects they tackle, are incredibly successful.

“Lou demonstrates a commitment to improve the industry by searching for better ways to design and build. He is not satisfied by the status quo, he leans on innovation to help tackle some of the industry’s biggest challenges during design and coordination”. 

 

29. Sarah Watte, PE

Associate Civil Engineer
Phoenix Civil Engineering, Inc
Santa Paula, California

Sarah is an Associate Civil Engineer at Phoenix Civil Engineering, where she develops project plans for a wide range of jobs, including water and wastewater infrastructure, road improvement, stormwater management, agricultural facilities, and more. She’s well-versed in construction management and site inspection. She’s also skilled in design optimization, value engineering, and cost estimating.

As part of a small office, Sarah is engaged in all aspects of Phoenix’s civil engineering projects from design to construction observation. People love working with Sarah because she’s supportive and dependable. She’s an astute field engineer and team members can rely on her to work with contractors and make real-time field decisions. 

When she’s on the field, Sarah doesn’t hesitate to share her ideas on how to streamline processes and communication between the site and office teams. 

And when the company decided to adopt a new project management platform, Sarah stepped up to test the program and ensured that it worked well for Phoenix Civil Engineering. She is a true team player and makes life easier for everyone she works with. 

“Sarah is never afraid of getting her hands dirty or tackling a new challenge. Sarah exhibits professionalism and confidence while in the field and has earned the respect of the construction teams she has worked with. Not only is she a great engineer, but she is also friendly, welcoming and vibrant.”

 

30. Caleb Wohletz

Operations Leader
Precision Precast Erectors, LLC
Post Falls, Idaho

Caleb is an inspiring example of someone who has worked their way to the top. Throughout his AEC journey, Caleb continues to demonstrate admirable values in the form of strong leadership, hard work, and resilience. 

His first job included hands-on labor for an architectural sheet metal fabrication company. He also received mechanical experience working with CNC machinery doing maintenance repairs, swapping out parts, and ensuring the equipment ran smoothly.  

In 2012, he was hired at Precision Precast Erectors (PPE), where he joined the Local 14 Ironworkers Apprenticeship Program and became a journeyman steelworker.

Caleb continued to add to his skill set by learning how to successfully manage projects and people. In 2015, he realized the importance of technology in construction and developed PPE’s IT initiative. The firm started adopting various construction software, and Caleb oversaw the use of these programs for various projects.

Because of his accomplishments, Caleb was promoted to a General Superintendent position, and then to Operations Manager a year later. Today, his responsibilities include project planning and scheduling, as well as collaborating with GCs, clients, and suppliers to ensure that projects are all completed on time and within budget. 

Caleb also demonstrated strong, and much-needed leadership skills amidst the pandemic. He implemented various procedures that enabled teams to work remotely with minimal disruption. And for those who had to come into the office, they were able to do so safely, thanks to Caleb’s guidance. 

Fast forward to 2021, and PPE continues to thrive—with many thanks to Caleb’s meaningful contributions. 

“Caleb’s work ethic is noticed by all employees, and they recognize that Caleb values their time. He truly leads with a servant’s heart.”

 

31. Matthieu Desvignes

Project Execution Lead
Sanergy
Nairobi, Kenya

Matthieu is a Project Execution Lead at Sanergy, an insightful and promising organisation in Kenya providing sanitation and waste management solutions for these booming cities. There he empowers his colleagues to embrace innovation by championing, training, and upskilling users on construction solutions. His colleagues praise his ability to read the room and nurture relationships that foster success. 

As a result of his hard work and intuition, the teams at Sanergy are able to collaborate more effectively with much smoother processes. 

Matthieu’s construction education and career have taken him all over the world. From his engineering school ESTP in Paris to his first internship as a Production and Process Engineer at the Canadian company Lassonde Inc. in Montreal, and followed by a Site Foreman Trainee role at Colas, a road construction firm in France. He then worked as a Safety Department Research Assistant at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he studied his Master of Science in Civil Engineering and Management.

After graduating in 2014, he moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to take on his first managerial role in Safety, Quality, Environment for 2 years within VINCI Construction before moving back to France to develop an Operational Excellence branch within the same company.

In 2021, he moved again to Nairobi, Kenya this time to start working as the Project Execution Lead at Sanergy. 

Matthieu’s diverse and global experience has allowed the development of high-value people skills—ones that enable personal and professional prosperity. 

“Matthieu takes on construction challenges head-on without fear, making use of tools available to him to ensure quality, safety, and performance.”

 

32. William Senner

Vice President – Preconstruction
Skanska USA
Durham, North Carolina

Will is the epitome of being data-driven in construction. He invested heavily in the continuous development and improvement of Skanska Metriks, the company’s proprietary benchmarking tool, which has driven analytical insights to improve cost certainty for clients and facilitated enhanced collaboration with our design partners.

Metriks arms teams with the data they need to fully understand projects, enhancing their ability to find value added solutions and optimize designs. It also helps teams develop with more accurate estimates by drawing insights from detailed data on similar historical projects. Will understood just how valuable the tool could be for Skanska, and he championed it’s development and use within the company. 

He is a true early adopter, not just with technology, but also when it comes to finding creative approaches to the same old problems. According to his colleagues, he quickly becomes a “superuser” of new techniques, and walks his team through the integration process to ensure they are comfortable and set up to succeed. 

He also excels in leadership roles. He prioritizes his staff’s wellbeing and goes out of his way to check on each individual to ensure they’re happy, engaged, and understand the value and purpose of their day-to-day efforts. A simple thing, and because of this, Will has garnered widespread respect among the teams that he works with. 

“Will has been an impactful and driving force. He uses data and new technology adoption to improve workflows, and adds value for clients in areas such as enhanced cost certainty.”

 

33. Mark LaBell

Head of Innovation
SSOE Group
Detroit, Michigan

As Head of Innovation at SSOE Group, Mark has organized, delegated, and tracked the firm’s digital transformation initiatives. 

Most notably, he led a team of AEC practitioners through a massive change management and process improvement. This was no easy feat, as it involved upending legacy methods and bringing 1,100 engineers, architects, designers, and clients into a digital platform—and the effort was worth it. It gave SSOE a more transparent and data-rich environment that everyone now benefits from. 

Beyond this, Mark also implemented advanced Reality Capture practices into the company’s BIM environments. Over 50% of SSOE’s projects involve renovation, so Mark’s initiatives have transformed the company’s deliverables, advanced output quality, and expedited complex project schedules. The work of the many passionate change agents across the SSOE organization, along with Mark’s technical creativity, has sped up the process of using Reality Data in new and exciting ways for our clients. This has led the teams to work with several leading technology solution providers in the reality capture space to bring best practices and cutting edge solutions to market faster than our competition.

While other companies spent time remodeling scan data, Mark aggressively capitalized on speed, quality, and technology integration, thus delivering a better experience to the firm’s clients. Today, Reality Data is a key component in many of SSOE clients’ Digital Twin experiences and redefining deliverables required to accelerate start-up of new production lines.

“Mark’s commitment to advancing technology, people, and process is unparalleled in the industry.”

 

34. Derek Mosiman

Director of Special Projects
Swinerton
Atlanta, Georgia

Derek Mosiman is the Director of Special Projects at Swinerton, a general contractor that provides commercial construction and management services throughout the United States. He champions the use of innovative technology in construction as a way to increase value for clients and is always looking for ways to improve processes and gain operational efficiencies. Starting with Swinerton as a Project Engineer over eleven years ago, Derek’s strong leadership, focus on accountability, and forward-thinking attitude have positioned him well as Director of Special Projects.

A key accomplishment for Derek over the last several years has been leading Swinerton’s Atlanta Division towards greater market diversity. As a result the team has experienced significant growth and has expanded its reach to include corporate interiors, aviation, healthcare, industrial, hospitality, multifamily, commercial office, and senior living.

A proven leader and innovator, Derek has made his mark on Swinerton, and he’ll undoubtedly continue to accomplish great things in the future. 

“We are a young group that’s constantly inspired by Derek’s leadership and work ethic. He challenges and empowers us to be better versions of ourselves every day and we are grateful for it.”

 

35. Timothy Jarvey

Superintendent / Regional Safety Manager
The Neenan Company
Fort Collins, Colorado

Tim goes above and beyond his role as Superintendent and Regional Safety Manager at The Neenan Company. In addition to running day-to-day operations on construction projects, Tim strives to be an advocate for training and technology adoption. 

He set up learning paths for field staff through LinkedIn Learning and helped establish the firm’s drone program by becoming Neenan’s first FAA-licensed Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) pilot—something that would allow him to better leverage drones for the company’s projects. On top of that, he participated in document control subcommittees, took an active role in the safety department, and trained the field staff on the use of Trimble robotic total stations. 

He also advocated for standardization across projects with the use of technology, thus improving efficiency across the organization. 

Tim continued to shine throughout the pandemic. He implemented better ways to communicate and ensured that the company’s processes were consistent. He helped transition the firm away from disconnected systems, instead implementing a platform to improve collaboration across the different business units.

As a result of Tim’s hard work, The Neenan Company’s teams are able to work more productively and deliver stronger outcomes. 

“Tim has gone the extra mile to take his knowledge from the field, and work across disciplines, to help our company grow.”

 

36. Marcus Kratz

Director of Electrical Construction
The Tri-M Group, LLC
Kennett Square, Pennsylvania

Marcus is currently the Director of Electrical Construction at The Tri-M Group, a firm that has been providing electrical and facility solutions for more than 50 years. In his role, Marcus has helped Tri-M streamline its construction operations, manpower efforts, and prefabrication production. Thanks to his efforts, the company’s estimating team can now work more cohesively.

Marcus also spearheaded the firm’s technology adoption, helping Tri-M migrate its drawing management system to more advanced construction platforms. Thanks to his passion for establishing efficient techniques and processes, the teams at Tri-M are able to be more data-driven and collaborative  across an entire project lifecycle, from estimating to closeout.

He has been with the company for over five years. Prior to Tri-M, Marcus was an Electrical Engineer and Project Manager at Electrical Design Build Inc. He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Temple University.

More than just an AEC professional, Marcus is an excellent leader with a strong drive to improve and innovate. 

“Marcus’ data-driven approach and appreciation for the future of the construction industry has positioned Tri-M to be a leader moving forward.”

 

37. Adam Derx

Senior BIM and Construction Technology Manager
The Walsh Group
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

As Senior BIM and Construction Technology Manager at The Walsh Group, Adam oversees the company’s National Building Group – Federal East division working on close $1B worth of current projects in various stages of design and construction up and down the east coast. Aside from leading a team of his own, he makes it a point to assist and educate members outside of his division to help elevate their knowledge and skill sets. With a passion for teaching, Adam strives to expand BIM and construction technology solutions to everyone at his company and encourage best practices throughout the industry. 

With over 17 years in the AEC industry, Adam has a background in Architecture from Alfred State College. Adam spent the first part of his career working for 3di Architecture, who were the second firm in Buffalo NY to adopt Revit as their main design tool, before making the move to the construction side with The Walsh Group for the last 10 years. At Walsh, Adam started off as an on-site field BIM expert on the $120M Iowa State Penitentiary project, where he coordinated 12 buildings and led the team to deliver an LOD500 Facilities Management BIM.  

Since then Adam moved to an office management role and became the Sr. Construction Technology Manager for his group. He has worked on numerous projects for both public and private clients with similar high level BIM to FM deliverables, and is an expert at various BIM data requirements including COBie, eOMSI, FAA, and USACE BIM standards. Additional notable projects include American Greetings Headquarters in Cleveland, Charlotte NC Air Traffic Control Tower, C-17 Hangar for Pittsburgh Air Force Reserve, along with many other offices, mixed-use developments, schools, aircraft hangars, and other DOD facilities. 

Spearheading the implementation of construction technologies for his group, Adam led his team to early adoption of many common tools such as Revit cloud collaboration, cloud-based model coordination solutions, and all other tools now included in the Autodesk Construction Cloud. Implementing Revit models in the cloud 7 years ago became an integral part of how his team operates and communicates across the country. Using Revit and BIM 360 Collaboration, connecting the Pittsburgh office to job sites and other offices all over the east coast, was already standard operating procedure for Adam and his group; so when the pandemic hit last year, his team did not miss a beat and were able to work from anywhere.

Adam also focuses on the importance of the “I” in BIM, and has transformed that passion for information into leveraging data analytics to help manage, maintain and audit projects. Because of this, Adam’s team is able to meaningfully increase the productivity, quality and safety of its projects while providing his clients exceptional services. 

Adam’s dedication and work ethic shine in everything he does, and this makes him an excellent addition to this year’s 40 Under 40 list. 

“Adam is a relentless pioneer in the BIM/VDC space. He constantly seeks to understand, develop and improve industry standards as well as educate and enable those around him to be better equipped for the future of the industry.”

 

38. Kristopher Dane

Vice President and Director of Digital Design
Thornton Tomasetti
Seattle, Washington

Kristopher is VP and Director of Digital Design at Thornton Tomasetti, where he leads a team that’s charged with improving BIM workflows across the company’s 40+ offices.

Colleagues applaud Kristopher and his team for delivering on two major standardization efforts: design documentation standards and data integration standards. The former simplifies the day-to-day tasks of Thornton Tomasetti’s designers, while the latter helps the company unlock corporate data and improve data visualization.

In his role, Kristopher also helps direct strategic investments in future technology, ensuring that Thornton Tomasetti stays competitive in the years to come. He coordinates the firm’s research and development group and represents Thornton Tomasetti as a thought leader in external organizations such as the Engineering Executive Council, AISC BIM Guide Development group, and the SEI Digital Design Committee. Kristopher also serves as the BSI technical expert representing the UK.

In addition to his firm-wide technology work, Kristopher has supported major projects including Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena, where he was responsible for collecting and consolidating laser scans to support the existing building assessment ahead of the $1-billion historic building renovation. Kris also developed a Revit add-in that allowed the geotechnical team to automate the modeling of hundreds of tiebacks in the 3D model to aid in design coordination and construction sequencing.

Kristopher’s leadership was largely felt and appreciated during the pandemic. He advocated for developing solutions that would help the firm’s design teams transition to remote work while continuing to drive progress on key initiatives.

“Kristopher is a key technology leader at Thornton Tomasetti. He leads the Digital Design team that bridges between design practices, corporate information technology, and the CORE research and development group.”

 

39. Betsy Bice

Director of Preconstruction
Truebeck Construction
Portland, Oregon

Betsy has an accomplished tenure in the industry, and has risen to Director of Preconstruction ahead of most. As Head of Preconstruction at Truebeck, she and her team have earned the reputation of always providing top-tier preconstruction services. As such, she continues to win projects and grow opportunities in the Portland market. 

Aside from overseeing preconstruction at Truebeck, Betsy is a co-leader in the day-to-day operations of the firm’s newest regional construction office in Portland, which has continued to thrive since its opening.

She’s a leader at Truebeck’s internal Women in Construction events and often represents the company at speaking engagements and market events. 

Prior to managing Portland, Betsy impressively managed preconstruction for some of the most complex projects in the San Francisco Bay Area. This includes Twitter’s Headquarters in Market Square, Uber’s Mission Bay HQ, and the Alexandria Real Estate Equities Center for Life Science in San Carlos.

With such an impressive work history, Betsy will undoubtedly continue to do great things in the realm of preconstruction. We’re looking forward to seeing what she accomplishes next. 

“Betsy has become a well-respected expert in the construction industry, a mentor and coach to a highly effective team, and has worked tirelessly to create more opportunities and benefits for women in the construction industry.”  

 

40. Dakota Clifford, PE

Senior Construction Engineer
Virginia Department of Transportation
Richmond, Virginia

Dakota serves as a Senior Construction Engineer at the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), where he implements new construction technologies for the organization.

People who work with Dakota will tell you he’s been integral to VDOT’s rollout of their digital initiatives—known internally as eConstruction—over the past four years. 

After personally researching and evaluating over two dozen potential solutions for digitizing VDOT’s procedures, he carefully managed several pilot programs across the Commonwealth of Virginia to determine the efficacy of each solution before ultimately working to implement a successful tablet-based inspection program.

Dakota also trained over 450 construction personnel throughout the Commonwealth, both in person and through a series of innovative webinars that walked personnel through the technology. 

Aside from his responsibilities around technology implementation, Dakota also works as part of VDOT’s construction divisions project controls and construction management teams. He oversees change order management, contract claims defense, quality assurance audits, and safety and environmental compliance, among other things. He is a graduate of Old Dominion University and earned his Professional Engineering License in the spring of 2021.

Thanks to Dakota’s leadership and deep understanding of construction technology, he’s brought VDOT’s eConstruction program to life while upskilling much of the workforce the program relies on.

“Dakota has been an integral part of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s eConstruction rollout. His leadership has significantly accelerated the delivery of the program.”

 

Continued celebration for Champions of Construction

Autodesk’s 40 Under 40 Champions of Construction list is so much more than a roundup of admirable AEC professionals. It highlights key insights from respected leaders that, as an industry, we can all learn from.

One of the persistent themes from this year’s class is the importance of education when it comes to construction technology. Investing in technology, and training people how to use it, can do wonders for an organization. It can unlock productivity gains, improve collaboration, and help you deliver better outcomes. 

Another key learning? The AEC industry is filled with intelligent, resourceful, and innovative individuals. Many stood against the challenges of this past year and proved to themselves, their companies, and the industry that resilience is alive and well.

That’s a wrap on Autodesk’s 40 Under 40 Champions of Construction 2021! We hope you enjoyed getting to know the individuals on this year’s list. If you’d like to revisit last year’s Construction Champions list, you can do so here. 

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The post 40 Under 40: Champions of Construction 2021 appeared first on Digital Builder.

Sensible guidance for adopting Autodesk Construction Cloud

New technology adoption presents some unique challenges, especially when it comes to actual implementation. In recent years, especially due to the pandemic, the construction industry has more readily embraced innovation. In many cases, business models have been quietly shifting because of it.

However, any time you change the way someone has been working for years (or even decades), overcoming related obstacles is par for the course. That’s why it’s important to understand common implementation challenges and best practices when deploying new technology or construction software. 

During a great industry talk at Autodesk University this year, Ivana Tudja, BIM and Digital Engineering Lead (Senior BIM Manager) at Mace, shared common blindspots and lessons learned for making new technology implementation a success. Ivana is a 40 Under 40 Champion of Construction (2020), and we’ve compiled some of the best tips from her session Implementing Autodesk Construction Cloud Across a £1.8billion Business. You’ll hear about the drive for change within Mace, the journey and processes her team followed to roll out Autodesk Construction Cloud, and how they improved on-site coordination and efficiency.

 

1. Start with a vision for implementation of construction software

What do you want to achieve by implementing Autodesk Construction Cloud? What pain points are you trying to solve? 

Push yourself to explore possibilities outside the status quo. Go beyond the way things have always been done. Ivana explains, “You’re not going to change the industry without thinking out of the box. So try thinking about how you want your teams to operate in the future. And please, don’t limit yourself with what’s happening just right now.” By removing self-prescribed limitations, you’ll find strategic navigation flows much more naturally in the exploratory stages of implementation.

Know that as you push for changes and challenge limitations, you’ll be driving a cultural change.

Next, do research and explore the market as much as possible. As the market is ever-changing, it’s important to understand the latest technology available. Being knowledgeable of progressive industry innovations is a great first step to building a vision. Then when you keep up with the industry, and really stay at the forefront of the future-friendly technology, you’ll give your firm a competitive edge over others. 

As you explore potential construction management software options, always test your products and get hands-on experience. “I wouldn’t just rely on what you read about the product because that can be really misleading. Nothing can replace hands-on experience, and that’s why it’s important to have it, even if you’re not someone who is using the product on a day-to-day basis yourself,” shares Ivana. 

Know that as you push for changes and challenge limitations, you’ll be driving a cultural change. That’s why Ivana emphasizes the importance of winning people over. You’ll be questioning your team and pushing them to go further. So establish connections, build relationships, and understand their needs so you can support them along the way. Do this with your team on-site as well. That way if they have any issues, they’ll know who to call. 

Finally, be a rebel. As Ivana puts it, “How else are you going to change [an] industry that hasn’t changed for so long? Sometimes, you really need to make bold decisions if you want to make a real impact.” Realize you may hear “no” over and over again. However, don’t let those “no’s” serve as permission to give up. Keep going and look for ways to build common ground.

 

2. Pinpoint top use cases for Autodesk Construction Cloud

Mace decided to implement Autodesk Construction Cloud and Assemble due to internal and external pushes toward modernization. The firm needed to meet the BIM Level 2 mandatory requirements as well as complex project requirements from advanced, highly technical, and educated clients. Ivana and her team wanted to build higher levels of consistency into Mace and be able to compare projects as well as analyze data to make better business decisions. They turned to Autodesk Construction Cloud, specifically BIM 360 Next Generation and Assemble to meet those objectives. 

Mace uses BIM 360 for a variety of purposes, including document management, effective design management, and coordination as well as managing quality assurance and quality control on-site. Using this unified platform has improved the quality of data analytics for Mace significantly. Ivana notes, “Data analytics was a big driver behind the implementation of the platform. And we are now able to get easy access to all the information via Insights, Construction IQ, and Power BI integrations.”

“One of our commercial managers [sic] recently told me that this is the best BIM tool he’s ever used. Believe me, commercial managers are normally the hardest ones to convert.” —Ivana Tudja, BIM & Digital Engineering Lead, Mace

The team recently added Assemble to their portfolio for information-sharing and to break down silos. Before Assemble, BIM managers acted as the go-between for users and project and platform. Every time a project needed data, they would have to request that it be exported by the BIM manager. 

With Assemble, the project teams now have direct access to data, which has been favorably received. “One of our commercial managers [sic] recently told me that this is the best BIM tool he’s ever used. Believe me, commercial managers are normally the hardest ones to convert,” explains Ivana.

By knowing their top uses for Autodesk Construction Cloud and Assemble, Ivana was able to score early wins and further drive adoption across the firm. 

 

3. Prioritize on-site coordination and efficiency 

Mace currently runs over 100 projects on Autodesk Construction Cloud and has over 2,500 users using the platform. Understandably, complexity is always present and the risk for inefficiency is always there. To drive greater design management and coordination, Mace has leaned on BIM 360 to simplify the clash detection process. This process takes place in the cloud and offers automatic grouping of clashes. “For those who are not aware, it’s really important to mention that model coordination now includes tolerances, which was a really long-awaited feature,” emphasizes Ivana. “We’ve established workflows which also help us to manage and analyze project risks through BIM 360 Docs and Power BI.”

As an open platform, BIM 360 can cover every single project activity through integrations. Mace regularly connects the platform to over key tools during projects. As for Assemble, the tool has been beneficial in pre-construction for progress tracking or a tagging and track system. The data fits right into Mace’s objectives to gather more insights from analytics: “The platform enables us to do asset data checks and ensure that we are meeting client requirements at the right stage. We can also provide data from models to our sustainability specialists to support them with achieving our net-zero carbon goals.”

 

4. Deliver the right training to your users

Once you’ve planned for implementation and identified your top use cases, take time to understand training requirements. You can succeed at every other phase in this journey, but won’t be able to move forward unless your end-users know how to use the software. Ivana recommends creating a company-wide survey to assess and evaluate your staff in terms of their digital skillset. This survey can serve as your starting point for customized training. 

Mace’s Digital Training Academy is a critical aspect of bringing every stakeholder into its digital construction journey. To customize the training, offerings vary for leadership, direct end-users, roles, and external consultants. However, training doesn’t end once users complete the academy. As Ivana shares, “If I had to choose one thing that’s a key for success, that would be continuous support. Don’t just assume that you can provide training and leave. There are always questions that will arise when users start using the product. It’s critical that you provide them with support when that happens.”

 

Charting a path to construction technology adoption

Adopting new technology is about more than leveraging great features. It’s about pushing a cultural change forward and helping others succeed in their roles through innovative, intuitive solutions they want to use. As Ivana has shared, implementing construction software effectively requires a strong vision, proper planning, careful research, empathy with users, and a robust training program. 

If you’re considering implementing a new construction software solution at your firm, we’d love to show you exactly how Autodesk Construction Cloud can help with a free demo.

The post Expert Tips for Rolling Out Autodesk’s Construction Software appeared first on Digital Builder.

POB is a building contractor focusing on turnkey projects where they work in collaboration with their clients to find the best possible outcomes. With a work culture which mixes professional pride and outstanding results, the team has expertise which covers the entire value chain of a construction project. POB delivers new build projects, rehabilitation projects, concrete work, smaller service projects as well as repair services to their varied client base in Norway.

The company started in 1992 with just three employees and in the nearly thirty years it has been operating, the company has grown significantly in size. They now have approximately 120 employees and offer support and services to small and large projects simultaneously. Over the years, the company has expanded quickly. With their rapid expansion, the teams still mainly relied on verbal communication as their main method for collaboration on their projects. These ways of working were not only risky but also meant that email soon became the primary way in which important project data was being shared. This was not reliable and left the company vulnerable when it came to data security.

As POB grew rapidly, some teams started using smaller digital collaboration tools and solutions. However, there was no common platform and no central storage place for all important project documents. Various levels of functionality for these platforms were being used in different ways, so POB could not establish clear and defined digital workflows for the company despite the fact they had slowly begun using digital solutions. Different projects all had different workflows and different priorities when it came to what was important to do, to document and to store. Collaboration with partners and clients was still unreliable and employees struggled to find the information they needed at any given time.

 

Standardising solutions to support a more unified company

During the annual POB Christmas party in 2019 the CEO and part owner Morten Vilhelmshaugen announced that POB was starting their journey into digitalisation with a direct challenge. Earlier that same year, Roger Feste, BIM Coordinator and IT Manager, and Hege M. Paulsen, Quality Manager, had been asked to explore how POB could improve their ways of working and improve the quality of their projects through improved and enhanced collaboration practices. “Email was our main way to share project data which brought a level of unnecessary risk to POB,” says Hege, Quality Manager at POB. “There were potential huge financial consequences when information was not shared in the right way and at the right time to our partners and clients. We wanted to use a solution that helped us distribute the responsibility and accountability on our projects to our supply chain partners too.”

For Roger, this wasn’t a simple fix that any technological solution alone could solve. “The digital solutions POB was using when we started working there didn’t meet the quality standards required by regulations in Norway on our projects,” affirms Roger, BIM Coordinator and IT Manager. Employees struggled to get an overview of the current stats of the projects due to fragmented workflows and processes. “Our server remained the same from when the company was first created in 1992. Some people stored project documents on their personal drives, some on the server, some on multiple different platforms – there was no common and standardised ways of working,” says Roger.

For the building, concrete and construction teams at POB, finding the latest and most up-to-date documents related to their projects was time consuming, complex and frustrating. “It soon became obvious to us that a more standardised approach could improve our efficiencies and give us greater results,” reflects Hege. We saw the need to renew the way we worked and to join the digitalisation wave in our industry. Due to earlier experience POB was mindful of the need to completely implement a whole solution, and not only parts. They also prioritised making ‘life easier’ for employees on their building sites. To simplify, POB decided they would adopt one solution for all of their projects moving forward. Many different solutions were researched but after a great presentation and excellent follow-up from Symetri AS, Autodesk Construction Cloud’s BIM 360 platform was chosen as the most suitable solution to meet the needs of POB.

 

Reducing time lost searching for documents

To get started, POB implemented BIM 360 with one department, the subcontracting concrete team. Roger reflects: “We used BIM 360 for the first time on smaller projects that weren’t as long in length so that we could develop some learning points to help us with our wider rollout of the solution.”

“We used BIM 360 for the first time on smaller projects that weren’t as long in length so that we could develop some learning points to help us with our wider rollout of the solution.” —Roger Feste, BIM Coordinator and IT Manager, POB

This approach helped POB realise that they would need to prioritise their folder structure conventions and permission settings throughout their rollout. “We learnt that it’s really important to take time at the start of your project defining the structures and workflows you want to use in BIM 360,” says Hege. For Hege and Roger, visualising how the solution would look and work before implanting it was difficult, so using an iterative rollout approach helped to refine the technology to suit the needs of POB and their projects on an ongoing basis.

 

Intuitive navigation resulting in requests to use the solution

Within the subcontracting department, many of the teams on site were using BIM 360 for the first time. The feedback received was around ease of use and how intuitive the solution was to learn quickly from a project site. “Before we implemented the technology, I was told that I’d really struggle to get our teams on site engaged with using it, but I found the complete opposite,” says Hege. “Once we implemented using BIM 360 on one project, I had site team members of other projects asking me when they would get to use it as they had heard how beneficial it was to project execution,” reflects Hege.

“Before we implemented [BIM 360], I was told that I’d really struggle to get our teams on site engaged with using it, but I found the complete opposite.” —Hege M. Paulsen, Quality Manager, POB

The construction teams on site liked the functionality that BIM 360 offered and many of them used the solution through the app on their mobile phone or device. “Using BIM 360 on site replaced several separate systems that our teams were previously using,” says Hege. When it came to implementing the technology further, Hege showed the benefits of each feature and functionality one at a time building iteratively so that project team members did not become overwhelmed. Hege also worked with site project team members to understand the pain points they faced when it came to executing tasks on site and showed them which features in BIM 360 would help them overcome each problem.

 

Building solid foundations

For POB, BIM 360’s document management capabilities is the foundation on which other digital workflows are built on. Having a solid and collaborative way to share documents means the project teams can remove the complete responsibility of information management on a project to a joint responsibility between all project stakeholders. “It’s now very easy for us to share documents with our subcontractors and supply chain partners in BIM 360,” says Roger. “Prior to using BIM 360, we really had no overview on the health of our projects as we lacked the information and data we needed about our projects,” continues Roger.

Spending hours trailing through various documents trying to ascertain whether it is the latest and most up-to-date version is a thing of the past for employees at POB. “BIM 360 supports our team to feel confident in the status of a project. Navigating and implementing version control is now much easier as all project collaborators know where the most accurate and up-to-date documents are and can see the versioning history,” reflects Roger.

POB’s on-site teams link documents and drawings into their checklists with BIM 360 to support with build activity. The issue handling functionality is also actively in use to track progress when it comes to resolving challenges within the project. “Automating the issues management functionality using BIM 360 has revolutionised the way in which we approach this important project activity by speeding up the managements and allocation of issues. We mark the exact location of the issue on our drawings in BIM 360 which also helps our team navigate our construction sites easily.” Says Hege

 

Better insights lead to better outcomes

Better insights captured from project data can not only improve the construction process, but it can support the health of a business and improve the way POB interacts with its partners and clients. “Complying to government regulations, simplifying everyday tasks, as well as delivering better quality for our clients is a big priority,” says Hege. “We now also have a standardised way of reporting and get better use of our data,”. Transparency on projects and better data has meant that POB’s previous manual ways of reporting that were lengthy and not wholly accurate have been replaced by dashboards in BIM 360.

Looking to the future, POB plans on ensuring all their teams across the entire company are getting the most from BIM 360 using the functionality available. They continue to actively work with digitalisation and aim to integrate Power BI with BIM 360. This will provide even more detailed analysis which will help manage and monitor project progress and proactively identify concerns. POB believe that all construction companies are responsible for driving the digital agenda. “Working with more digital workflows is not only more sustainable and timesaving, but they will also help us to create a more productive and efficient industry” says Hege. “With better project insights and a more collaborative industry we get more content and engaged employees, a more open supply chain and ultimately happier clients.”

If you’d like to see how BIM 360 connects your workflows, teams, and data so can you build better, please contact us. We’d love to show you how it works.

The post One Source of Truth Enabling Better Collaboration and Quality for POB in Norway appeared first on Digital Builder.

The construction industry’s COVID-19 recovery across Asia Pacific including Japan (APIJ) can be classified into three phases: “response”, “adaptation”, and “acceleration”. A recent IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Autodesk, Road to Recovery: Overcoming COVID-19’s Impact on the Construction Industry with Digital Technologies, looks at each of these phases including the top technology investments at each stage of recovery.

We’ve talked previously on the blog about how the industry is building resilience and future-proofing through digital technologies, as well as how construction companies in the “response” phase of COVID-19 are using technology to ensure the workforce is connected, engaged and safe.

The “adaptation” phase is the next stage of recovery, in which construction companies must secure and create a well-adjusted workforce regardless of their location. These organisations are supporting a hybrid workforce, characterised by effective management of policies, processes, and technologies. They have moved beyond simply responding to the crisis and are actively bolstering themselves to operate in a new world, one where COVID could still impact them – but they will respond more quickly than the first time, and one where they are setting themselves up for future unforeseeable crises.

Whilst the companies in this group, just over 63% of survey respondents, have not hit peak acceleration – they still have knowledge to share. They are likely now set up to support a remote workforce, have implemented health and safety processes and technology, and have started to make a solid plan to accelerate themselves into the next phase.

The focus for companies in the “adaptation” phase

Companies in this phase must focus on investing in technologies more selectively in a move towards building resiliency for the business, especially since they are experiencing the impact of recession due to a prolonged decline in revenue and are looking to overcome this situation.

The InfoBrief found that among APIJ construction companies:

• 65% show very effective or highly effective adaptation of technologies
• 62% say that they have very effective or highly effective processes
• 59% believe they have been very effective or highly effective in implementing policies in a hybrid workforce

Top three technology investments in this stage of recovery

As construction companies in the “adaptation” phase anticipate the increase of onsite operations, technology investments must be made to ensure safety and security amongst employees. The key to a successful reopening are smartphone apps to communicate with employees and capture feedback on health and wellbeing (52%), touchless fixtures (45%), and temperature sensing technologies (43%).

For construction companies in the adaptation phase, the primary consideration is to capture feedback on a real-time basis, to ensure that any break in workforce safety is captured immediately to avoid possible disruptions in the workplace and in operations.

Preparations for a hybrid workforce

While preparations are being made for a safe return to work, construction companies in the adaptation phase are likely to retain a portion of their employees working primarily from their homes because of the benefits experienced by both the business and the workforce, as well as potentially during future COVID-19 outbreaks in which working from home is mandated or encouraged for short periods.

By supporting a hybrid workforce, 50% of construction companies in APIJ have seen improved employee health and safety, 43% realised higher employee retention, and 41% noted improved employee experience.

Autodesk Construction Cloud supports COVID-19 recovery

With the construction industry facing a new era of convergence and evolving challenges for processes and teams, innovation is essential to create streamlined workflows and maintain competitiveness in today’s marketplace.

Software like Autodesk Construction Cloud, which integrates a cloud-based portfolio of products used to manage construction projects, enables connected workflows, teams and data at every stage of construction to reduce risk, maximise efficiency and increase profits; supports companies into the future.

The unified technology offered by Autodesk Construction Cloud is becoming increasingly important for companies to support COVID-19 recovery, and we are working with our customers to support them through their journey to recovery, growth and beyond.

To download the IDC InfoBrief, click here. To find out more about how Autodesk Construction Cloud can support your business, contact us or get your free trial.

The post Construction Companies in “Adaptation” Phase Use Technology to Support Hybrid Workforce appeared first on Digital Builder.

When we think of someone who works in construction, what are the first images that pop in our head? Are they usually male or female? Many of us might immediately picture a male since the construction industry is primarily male — with women representing just around 10% of the workforce — and this is usually what is depicted in the media as well. Does this also mean that job listings are tailored towards male candidates? We decided to do research on construction job listings to find out. 

We analyzed 600+ job listings in some of the world’s largest cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, London, Sydney, and more. We looked at a large range of job roles to identify any gender bias that may exist in construction job descriptions. We also wanted to identify if there may be a gender bias in specific roles. Are administrative roles more female-centric? Or were trade roles more male-centric? 

Here’s what we discovered. 

About Our Research

In our research, we pulled a range of job listings across locations and roles and ran each post through TotalJobs’ Gender Bias Decoder to determine whether construction listings today are more male coded or female coded. We looked at many different types of roles including: Construction Laborer, Project Manager, Foreman, Project Engineer, Construction Administrator, Construction Estimator, Electrician, Pipefitter, Carpenter, Plumber, BIM Manager/ VDC Manager, Construction Director, and Machine Operator. We also looked at listings across various large metro areas and cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Washington DC, Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix, London, Dublin, Sydney, and Auckland. 

What does it mean to have gendered wording in job listings and why does it matter? When creating their gender bias decoder tool, TotalJobs adapted insights from a notable research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

According to the publication, “Women were more interested in male-dominated jobs when the advertisements were unbiased, making reference to both men and women as candidates, than when the advertisements made reference only to men (Bem & Bem, 1973).” So by identifying gender biases in construction job postings, we can see whether the gap of women working in construction compared to men has to do with the wording of the job postings itself. 

You may be wondering what kind of words are considered female coded or male coded. According to research from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, women are perceived as more community- and interpersonally-oriented than men. Whereas men are more often attributed with traits associated with leadership and agency. “A job advertisement for a company in a male dominated area might, using masculine language, emphasize the company’s “dominance” of the marketplace, whereas a company in a less male-dominated area might, more neutrally, emphasize the company’s “excellence” in the market.”

The Findings

Given the fact that construction has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, our initial hypothesis was that certain jobs like trade roles would have more male-coded words. We also speculated that administrative jobs would potentially have more female coded words. But what we found surprised and encouraged us. 

We discovered many job posts feature both male and female coded words, and most job posts are actually slightly more female coded — including listings for trade roles such as journeyman and electrician, fields where women only represent about 1% of the workforce. 

Our findings indicate that the construction industry is making progress in connecting with female candidates and presenting inclusive work opportunities.. 

Steps in the Right Direction: How Construction Is Becoming More Inclusive

Our findings mirror some of the recent momentum we’ve seen companies and associations take to make the construction industry more inclusive. For instance, Laing O’Rourke has set itself the target of employing equal numbers of men and women among its 5,500 global staff by 2033. 

Another example is from construction workforce intelligence solution, Bridgit, which is making a push for more inclusive terminology. When Lora McMillan, Senior Superintendent at Ledcor, challenged Lauren Lake, COO & Co-Founder at Bridgit, and other leaders at the women-owned company to consider more inclusive alternatives to words such as “manpower” and “foreman,” it sparked a call to action that they are taking to the entire industry.

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Autodesk also recently launched the Construction Diversity Image Library to increase representation of industry diversity. The library provides media imagery of diverse talent in the construction workforce, including women, people of color, and people of varying ages.

How to Bridge the Gap

 Considering construction is still predominantly male, a gap remains between who jobs are marketed towards and who is actually filling the positions. To help understand why this is the case and what can be done to close the gap, we spoke with two industry talent experts from DPR Construction: Alison Tripp, National Talent Acquisition Leader, and Stacee Barkley, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leader.

“There has been focus and intentionality in the talent acquisition space to have more gender neutral and gender inclusive language. However, the language (gender coding) of job descriptions, does not address the potential perceived value proposition (or lack thereof) for women entering or staying in the construction industry,” said Barkley. 

So what steps should companies and the industry take to help bridge the gap? Tripp and Barkley say we need to address the “elephant in the room” as it pertains to jobsite culture, build awareness around bias and misogyny via training and education, and hold people accountable for cultivating and maintaining cultures of inclusion and belonging. 

“Build a better mouse-trap,” said Tripp. “In other words, enhance the value proposition of careers in the construction industry for women. Identify the barriers: pay, healthcare, childcare, eldercare, remote/flex work, etc., then mitigate if not eliminate those barriers. Give women a reason to come to this industry and stay in this industry.”

Lastly, We discussed what hiring managers should keep in mind to ensure job postings or other recruitment strategies are as gender-neutral as possible. “Unconscious bias education, hiring best-practices and cultural agility” are of chief importance. “Ensure talent acquisition has an embedded DEI strategy and practice,” said Barkley. “Diversity is insufficient if people don’t feel like they are welcomed and belong. It is not enough to attract talent, you want talent to stay. A talent acquisition and DEI strategy applies to the kaleidoscope of diversity and is not exclusive to gender.”

The reputation of construction being an “old-boys club” “must be deconstructed and reimaged through the lens of possibilities — recognizing both the business and human cases for a diverse and inclusive workforce.” 

Bias in the interview process can be mitigated by, “providing your teams with standardized interview questions and a comprehensive definition of candidate competencies so all interviewers follow the same framework when assessing and ranking candidates. Also, evaluate the diversity of your interview teams,” said Tripp. 

 There are clear efforts being made in the construction industry when it comes to diversity — but there’s still a long road ahead. With more time, effort, and action, we will begin to see more diverse groups of people working and thriving in construction in the years to come. 

We all have a role in creating a better, more inclusive construction industry. If you are looking to join the conversation and lend your voice, learn more by exploring Autodesk’s Advancing the Industry initiatives for resources, upcoming events, and more.

 

The post We Analyzed 600+ Construction Job Listings for Gender Bias: What We Found Surprised Us appeared first on Digital Builder.