Pasadena, CA (October 30, 2020) Bluebeam, Inc., leading solutions provider for the global architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industries, and part of the Nemetschek Group, today announced the recipients of the 2020 Academic Research Grants sponsored by Bluebeam and the Construction Progress Coalition. The four graduate and undergraduate students were recognized by a panel of industry experts from Zachary Construction, the Walsh Group, Bluebeam and the Construction Progress Coalition (CPC) for their original research on specific construction industry challenges including quality inspections, RFI management, production tracking and document control.
“Through this academic grant program, these students were able to bring new perspectives through their research to some of these established industry challenges,” said Kellie Ward, senior community development manager at Bluebeam. “The work these students have completed is inspiring, and further illustrates the importance of investing in the next generation of industry leaders. We’re incredibly proud to work with these students and promote their research, while partnering with the CPC and the program’s mentors, Todd Sutton from Zachary Group and Dan Smolillo at Walsh Group, to bring this opportunity to life.”
The recipients of the 2020 Academic Research Grant are Abdullah Alsuhaiban, a graduate student at the University of Texas, for his quality inspections analysis, Trina Cook, Purdue University Northwest, for her RFI process research, Andrew Foley, Purdue University, for his work on production tracking, and Jenna Levi, Ohio State University, for her investigation into document control.
“The CPC and its members are focused on addressing the shared pains resulting from data interoperability challenges between architects, engineers and contractors,” added Nathan Wood, CPC executive director. “These research grants provided a great opportunity for young construction technologists to improve their understanding of these common issues in a more systematic way, revealing new ways to streamline processes using open data standards. I was super impressed and really in awe at what all perspectives were able to learn through this program about the digital foundations required to unlock collaboration technology.”
“Both as a construction technology manager and an internship mentor, I have to say it was very rewarding experience,” continued Todd Sutton, Zachry Corp construction technology manager. “We were able to not only guide and help Abdullah along with the CPC, but then actually leverage the conclusions to improve our own quality control management process. I think that’s the whole point. Research like this is not only for us at Zachry, but because it’s available through the CPC it’s for the industry as a whole.”
“This opportunity really made me realize how much of a communication problem we have today in the construction industry,” said Trina Cook, undergraduate at Purdue University Northwest. “Working with [the CPC] on my research helped me understand the details of the workflow and discover possible ways to improve it. The whole process really opened my eyes to the ways that technology could be used to solve a lot of everyday problems with workflows. I definitely think this work gives me a head start.”
The grant recipient’s research, data tables as well as video explanations of each student’s work can be found at the CPC website here.