Engineering Management Institute

Nick Heim

AECT 01: 5 Steps to Successfully Introduce New Software to Your Company

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Introduce New SoftwareIn this episode, I introduce you to the host of this show, Nick Heim, P.E., a field and virtual design and construction (or VDC) engineer at StructureCare, and we outline five steps that you can take to choose and introduce new software in your company.

Engineering Quotes:

Introduce New Software

Introduce New Software

Here Are 5 Steps to Successfully Introduce New Software to Your Company:

1. Identifying software that can make a difference. Envision what the business will look like in the next few years, and then find the technology to fit it.

“The most important part of making a business case to use new technology at your firm is to start with a problem, then point out the inefficiencies that technology is designed to improve. Tracking things such as expanding collaboration from Project Services teams to the field, or qualitative feedback such as a better client experience, can begin to make the technology a business decision rather than a nice-to-have.” ~ Brian Vizarreta, Solutions Marketing Manager, StructionSite

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Technology’s Role in Civil Engineering Inspection — Autonomous Drafting

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Autonomous DraftingCivil engineers are designers and builders of everything related to infrastructure: roads, bridges, dams, ports, and many others. While new construction of any asset gets a lot of attention for several reasons, that asset must be maintained over its lifespan — and civil engineers play a critical role in the inspection of it. As the third in a multipart series on technology’s role in civil engineering, I would like to talk about autonomous drafting and how it can improve your civil engineering inspections.

Note: The examples used in this month’s article relate to parking structures, because that is what the author specializes in. The author’s intent is that the technology showcased through these specific examples can be applied broadly to other civil engineering projects.

1. Inspection Drawing Creation

One of the first steps in any inspection is creating an accurate set of plans. Often, requests for existing drawings are not fulfilled, leaving us to create our own. This process is often very tedious and time-consuming due to the scale and repetitive nature of the tasks required.

To remove as much of this manual and laborious effort from your workflow as possible, consider use of software such as Airworks. Given inputs in the form of aerial imagery (Airworks also accepts three-dimensional data, but my experience was limited to 2D imagery), Airworks uses artificial intelligence to identify and autonomously draft common features of civil engineering projects.

Obtaining aerial imagery of your project site can be done in multiple ways, including:

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Technology’s Role in Civil Engineering Inspection: Live Remote Inspection

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Live Remote InspectionCivil engineers are designers and builders of everything related to infrastructure: roads, bridges, dams, ports, and many others. While new construction of any asset gets a lot of attention for several reasons, that asset must be maintained over its lifespan – and civil engineers play a critical role in the inspection of it. As the second of a multipart series on technology’s role in civil engineering, I would like to talk about the advantages of live remote inspection and some tips to help your firm implement the process. 

Note that remote inspection is often spoken about in terms of either live/real time, or post-processed (to be viewed later). This article will be focusing on the former. The latter will be discussed in another part of this series. 

Note: The examples used in this month’s article relate to parking structures, because that is what the author specializes in. The author’s intent is that the technology showcased through these specific examples can be applied broadly to other civil engineering projects. 

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Technology’s Role in Civil Engineering Inspection – Aerial Imagery

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Civil Engineers are designers and builders of everything related to infrastructure: roads, bridges, dams, ports among others. While new construction of any asset gets a lot attention for several reasons, that asset must be maintained over its lifespan – and Civil Engineers play a critical role in the inspection of it. As the first of a multi-part series on technology’s role in Civil Engineering, I would like to talk about the advantages of aerial imagery and how it can improve your Civil Engineering inspections.

Note: the examples used in this month’s article relate to parking structures, because that is what the author specializes in. The author’s intent is that the technology showcased through these specific examples can be applied broadly to other Civil Engineering projects.

1. Image Clarity

Have you ever been awarded a project, and wanted to do some reconnaissance prior to inspection? I have, and often have been met with disappointment as the quality of free imagery was lacking. Details critical to reconnaissance are typically unclear and do not provide the desired level of clarity.

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Thinking Like an Owner in Your Civil Engineering Projects

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Our civil engineering careers revolve around project work. We or our firms tend to be solicited by a client, and perform professional services based on some end goal that the owner establishes. We run calculations, create models and drawings, and package everything up that eventually makes its way back to the owner to fulfill their initial vision. 

This process may involve interaction with other parties, but our work tends to be relatively self-contained and often viewed from our own internal lens — that of the engineer. Today, I would like to share one tip with three examples that can help you think more like an owner — and increase the effectiveness of your civil engineering project work. 

Understand What the Owner Cares About 

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Successfully Navigating a Civil Engineering Career Change

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Change is not easy, especially when it is such a large part of your every day and life in general. Taking on a new position or responsibilities can be overwhelming, but there are a few things that one can do to ease the transition. Today, I would like to talk about career changes — and how to make the most of them in your civil engineering career.

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The Benefits of a Career Coach in Your Civil Engineering Career

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Many situations in life have us seeking the opinion of others, our careers being no exception. Instead of asking a significant other, coworker, or friend – what if instead we could have someone who is vested in the advancement and growth of our careers give us advice? Today, I would like to talk about some of the benefits of a career coach, and what they can do for your civil engineering career.

1. Providing Unbiased Input

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Increasing the Efficiency of Your Civil Engineering Firm’s Field Work

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Whether it be construction administration for a new design project or gathering information about existing conditions on a renovation project, some amount of field work is required on most civil engineering projects. From notes to photos, a large part of field work is data collection and interpretation that can be streamlined depending on what is to be accomplished. Today, I would like to share three tips on my field workflows — and how they could help you increase your efficiency in the field:

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Three Tips to Drive Innovation in Your Civil Engineering Firm

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

As technology continues to move forward at a breakneck pace, so do the speed of civil engineering projects. Clients are expecting their consultants to complete projects faster today AND provide more value for the fee being paid. One of the ways that civil engineering firms can stay competitive is adaptation and use of technology in their daily processes and workflows. Today, I would like to share three tips on how my firm is driving innovation — and how yours can too:

1. Set Aside Time for Innovation

At THP Limited, we schedule monthly innovation meetings to discuss development of projects aimed at making our day-to-day tasks simpler and more efficient. Team members take turns sharing updates on their research/projects and provide each other with feedback throughout the development process. The last 15 minutes of the meeting is dedicated to bringing forth new ideas — no matter how wild or outrageous they may seem. Employees outside the innovation group are encouraged to bring forth ideas that can be pushed into the development pipeline. All this information is organized in a Trello Board that can be referenced or updated by a team member at any time.

innovation

A snip of our Trello board that is used to catalogue potential ideas and track progress during ongoing innovation projects.

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The Importance of Soft Skills in Your Engineering Career

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This is a guest blog by Nick Heim, P.E.

Soft skills are important to every engineer’s career — and in this article, I share some great examples to help them stick with you! Learn from my missteps!

Armed with a great education from an excellent institution, I thought I knew it all. I just started my first post-graduate, full-time position with a reputable engineering firm. I was ready to conquer the world … or so I thought. Through some much-needed trial and error, I have learned several valuable lessons over the first few years of my young career. At EMI, we understand the importance of soft skills, and are always trying to reinforce the lessons we teach.

Below are three personal anecdotes relating to soft skills that I think will help you to retain some valuable lessons:

1. Humility: Trust Your Leaders

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