Preparing Today’s Students to Create a Smarter Tomorrow
There is a great deal of buzz in recent years about the concept of “Smarter Cities.” Despite increasing numbers moving to urban areas, there is significant concern that our nation’s infrastructure still ranks woefully behind the rest of the world in terms of quality. With no solid long-term plans to fund required repairs and renovations, much less building the new infrastructure required to support our evolving needs, the conversation is sharply focused on how to do more with less by leveraging...
Three Ideas That Are Likely to Change the Way DOTs Work
It has been 100 years since the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or AASHTO, was conceived by visionary leaders. In this significant anniversary year, we acknowledge innovations and achievements that have changed the way transportation projects are planned, designed, built and managed. More change is on the way and many people would say we are on the brink of technological and process changes that will transform the industry. While civil engineers may not like...
Technology-Enabled Organizational Efficiency with Greater Field-to-Office Connectivity
Higher efficiency and quality are equally needed across different industries. The global financial crisis has tightened its grip on professionals and organizations in almost all fields. As a result, several economic and environmental challenges are at play. Sprawling patterns of development, aging infrastructure and resource limitation are the symptoms of this global crisis. Governments and businesses alike strive to cut costs and maintain quality in light of resource limitations. Connecting...
WaterCAD Helps Sabesp Identify Optimal Hydraulic Strategy, Solving Water Supply Issues
Sabesp MA is a mixed-capital company that provides water and sewage services to the 364 municipalities in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. It is considered one of the largest water and sewage service providers in the world, supplying potable water to 27.7 million people. Two pump stations, Vila Bela and Jardim da Conquista, pump water from the Rio Claro aqueduct, each through an 800 millimeter pipe. The Vila Bela pump station supplied the Jardim da Conquista tank with an average flow of 708 lite...
Autodesk Excellence in Infrastructure 2014 Awards Spotlight the World's Best Civil Infrastructure Projects
The crisis facing the world’s transportation, energy and water/wastewater infrastructure has been thoroughly documented, most recently in the USA-focused Making the Grade report. In keeping with the spirit of the Making the Grade report’s push to go beyond citing problems to offering concrete solutions, Autodesk’s Excellence in Infrastructure Competition seeks to highlight extraordinary examples of practical, cost effective and inspiring solutions that show how the latest in technology can make...
Precision Valley Communications Accelerates Broadband Services for the U.S. Capital
Precision Valley Communications (PVC), a premier supplier of communications network mapping and engineering to the broadband industry, was five months into a project to survey and redesign a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network for a major cable company in Washington, D.C. Despite over 25 years in the business and 400 years of combined field mapping experience, things weren’t going well. “We had four highly productive drafters using software that competes against Bentley’s hybrid fiber-coaxial (HF...
Scan to BIM Still Requires Expert Modelers
It is interesting how an entire 3D space can be scanned into a point could model, replete with intrinsic geometry details. This technology is popularly and very efficiently used to represent the ‘As built’ environment for both new buildings and refurbishment/renovation projects. BIM point cloud technology might sound very costly, but for large scale renovation projects, it is extremely useful and cost effective. Why has Scan to BIM gained popularity? BIM has become an integral part of building...
Geodesign Summit Europe Comes Into Focus
What better place to be in September than the historic city of Delft, the Netherlands? Famous for its canals and blue pottery, Delft is also a place steeped in the study of technology and engineering, as it is home to universities that specialize in those fields. One of the city's most famous residents was Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, the lens maker whose improvements to the microscope revolutionized the instrument and allowed him to be the first to observe and then describe single-celled organisms....
Manufacturing a New Kind of Construction
What comes to mind when you think about modular design? Did you come up with an image of half a house on the back of a flatbed trailer, or one of a modern high rise? While most people these days still have memories of the double-wide’s on the highway, there are more and more projects appearing in unexpected places that are incorporating modular design, and in most cases you wouldn’t even know it when you see it. What makes something modular? Modular design by definition is the breaking down of...
Autodesk Acquires David Benjamin's Architecture and Design Studio to Create a new Autodesk Studio
Autodesk continues to expand the boundaries of design tool capabilities with close collaboration with designers that are pushing the use of computer hardware, software and materials exploration. Continuing along this path, the company announced the acquisition of David Benjamin's architecture and design firm, The Living, to create an innovative, first-of-its-kind Autodesk Studio. According to Autodesk: As part of Autodesk Research, the studio will create new types of buildings, public instal...
Stormwater Interview with Robert Page, P.E., Vice President, HNTB
Santa Barbara County North Branch Jail Expansion
February Issue 2026
