Engineering Management Institute

Nick Heim

Use of UAVs (Drones) in Civil Engineering Projects

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

UAVsCivil engineers are designers and builders of everything related to infrastructure: roads, bridges, dams, ports, and many others.

While construction and maintenance of any asset happens in the physical world, there is a lot of work in the digital world that accompanies it.

Today, I would like to talk about one of the tools that is changing the way data is captured in the field: unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, also known as drones).

1. What Is a UAV?

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. (Wikipedia).

The primary benefit of a UAV is in its name. The lack of need for an on-board pilot means that the aircraft can be relatively small, light, accessible, and inexpensive to operate. This allows for quick adoption on civil engineering projects.

This does not preclude the need for an experienced operator, however. Like any other pilot in the United States, UAV pilots are licensed through the Federal Aviation Administration.

UAVs

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro, an example of a consumer-grade drone

2. Use Cases for UAVs

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Use of 360-Cameras in Civil Engineering Projects

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

360-CamerasCivil engineers are designers and builders of everything related to infrastructure: roads, bridges, dams, ports, and many others.

While construction and maintenance of any asset happens in the physical world, there is a lot of work in the digital world that accompanies it.

Today, I would like to talk about one of the tools that is changing the way data is captured in the field: 360 cameras.

Note: For more information and insights related to this blog post, please refer to Episode #05 of the AEC Engineering and Technology (AECTECH) Podcast.

1. What Is a 360-Camera?

An omnidirectional camera (from “omni,” meaning all), also known as 360-degree camera, is a camera having a field of view that covers approximately the entire sphere—or at least a full circle—in the horizontal plane (source: Wikipedia).

The primary benefit of a 360-camera is that, unlike a conventional camera with a field of view less than 360 degrees, the entirety of a scene or area can be captured with one instead of multiple photos.

This can have a multitude of benefits and use cases, which we will talk about next.

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Leveraging Social Media to Boost Your Personal Engineering Brand

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

Social MediaCivil engineers bring a diverse set of viewpoints, skills, and knowledge to the table.

Because of the impact our work has on society, there are many benefits to sharing our expertise outside of our day-to-day work – for our professional colleagues, our clients, and the general public.

Today, I would like to give some tips on how you can build your personal brand as a civil engineer using social media.

1. Establish a Niche

Social media is a tool that, to this point, has not been utilized very heavily by engineering professionals. I have heard and seen several reasons for this.

One way I have gotten past my personal reservations about the use of social media is by talking about topics that I feel that I can speak confidently about, or have something to share that others would find valuable.

social media

Some niches that I have seen executed successfully by Civil Engineering professionals:

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The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Civil Engineering Asset Management

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

artificial intelligenceCivil engineers are designers and builders of everything related to infrastructure: roads, bridges, dams, ports, and many others.

While construction and maintenance of any asset happens in the physical world, there is a lot of work in the digital world that accompanies it.

One emerging trend we are seeing in the industry is applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in the maintenance of assets that civil engineers support.

artificial intelligence

Note: For more information and insights related to this blog post, please refer to Episode #009 of the AEC Engineering and Technology (AECTECH) Podcast.

1. What is artificial intelligence (AI)?

Dictionary definitions as follows:

  • Artificial: “Made or produced by human beings rather than occurring naturally, especially as a copy of something natural.”
  • Intelligence: “The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills.”
  • Artificial Intelligence: “The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.” (Bolded emphasis is mine.)

Simply stated, artificial intelligence is the application of human intelligence, but through an artificial “brain” (computer).

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Tips to Run a Successful Software Pilot Project at Your Firm

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

Software Pilot ProjectCivil engineers are designers and builders of everything related to infrastructure: roads, bridges, dams, ports, and many others.

While construction and maintenance of any asset happens in the physical world, there is a lot of work in the digital world that accompanies it.

In my last blog post, we talked about a few tips to discover and ultimately implement technology in your civil engineering firm.

Today, I would like to go into more detail about running a software pilot in your civil engineering firm.

Note: For more information and insights related to this blog post, please refer to Episode 6 of the AEC Engineering and Technology (AECTECH) Podcast.

1. Understand What a Software Pilot Is

In the context of civil engineering firms, a software pilot is a type of software testing where a user group trials the software prior to it being deployed firm-wide.

Software Pilot Project

Due to the nature of our field (project work, field conditions, etc.), a software pilot is more involved than testing the technology 100% from the comfort of your desk.

This means that the software will need to be tested under a variety of conditions and may be more resource-intensive than a typical office-based pilot.

That being said, let’s talk about a few tips that can help your firm run a successful software pilot project!

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AECT 006: How to Run a Successful Software Pilot Program (for AEC Professionals)

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software pilotIn this episode, I talk about how to run a successful software pilot project at your firm by reviewing the three main stakeholder types, the design criteria for success, as well as the costs and other factors involved in this process.

Engineering Quotes:

software pilot

software pilot

Here Are Some Key Points Discussed in This Episode About How to Run a Successful Software Pilot Program (for AEC Professionals):

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Discovering and Implementing New Technology in Your Civil Engineering Firm

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This is a guest post by Nick Heim, PE

New TechnologyCivil engineers are designers and builders of everything related to infrastructure: roads, bridges, dams, ports, and many others. While construction and maintenance of any asset happens in the physical world, there is a lot of work in the digital world that accompanies it. 

Today, I would like to talk about a few tips to discover and ultimately implement technology in your civil engineering firm. 

Note: For more information and insights related to this blog post, please refer to Episode #1 of the AEC Engineering and Technology (AECTECH) Podcast. 

1. Identifying Technology That Can Make a Difference

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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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