Upskilling for tomorrow

Digitisation means the construction industry is rethinking how it works. To keep up with the pace of change, and anticipate future project needs, building services engineers need to upskill fast, writes digital specialist Peter Brickell.

Digital advances are producing a seismic shift in building design and construction, improving the delivery of projects by driving efficiencies from initial concept design right through to building operation and maintenance.

Moving from the drawing board to AutoCAD and on to Revit, engineering software, user interfaces and supplementary equipment have improved significantly. 3D software tools linking to low-cost 3D printing capabilities allow engineers can produce 3D models as early as concept stage and provide brilliant ways to communicate complex engineering solutions in a physical form. Virtual reality (VR) is also taking off and is rapidly becoming a regular feature across the industry in the evolution of design communication and modelling: once the whole industry embraces it, we could easily see a shift to the regular use of augmented reality for installations on site and buildings being designed completely in VR.

With these digital possibilities, comes the chance to revolutionise the way people interact with buildings throughout the design, construction and operation lifecycle. This step change, driven by the next generation of engineers, will see a shift in working methods far greater than those created by the original introduction of AutoCAD some 34 years ago.

So what needs to happen to be ready for future projects? Ultimately, if building services design is to really progress into the digital world, and lead to future-proof, efficient buildings, the next step is not just to upgrade to the latest piece of software. The future truly lies in a new generation of engineers who are capable of upskilling in some key areas.

Programming

The new generation of engineers will need the programming skills to harness software advancements: there is already a grassroots transformation happening among our next generation workforce, with more and more graduates making job applications with some form of programming capability on their CVs. In a world where there is an app for everything, this next generation — who have the ability to access and harness the technology available through tailored programming — are really the experts. Once companies actively invest in the development of the next generation and encourage them to explore their ideas, true innovation can be discovered.

Through our business-wide digital transformation initiative, which we launched in 2017, we are supporting the next generation of engineer and driving the adoption of new digital technologies across the industry by providing our teams with a forum to share ideas and initiatives where they can gain the programming and digital capabilities they need to deliver cutting-edge solutions, while exciting our existing workforce to look at new ways of working.

Data analysis

Now we have the tools to collect huge amounts of powerful data about buildings and the world we live in through software models, drone surveys and scans and the use of mobile apps. It’s the use of this data that counts when it comes to improving the delivery of projects. By knowing how to interpret, organise, store and apply vast amounts of data, we can design smarter, more efficient and more sustainable buildings. Ultimately, the teams of people who can create a digital way of understanding, controlling, organising or operating building design from concept to construction, and increasingly after the keys have been handed over, will be the new market leaders in the building services industry.

We’ve helped deliver a ground-breaking, web-based Building Information Model (BIM) interface that links a geo-spatially accurate model of the Sydney Opera House building and site to existing engineering documents, maintenance and building management control systems. The resulting information management tool provides a single source of data for regular building maintenance and operational requirements. The implementation of the interface will be critical to effective asset management and future development of the Opera House, and will result in time and cost savings along with better performance outcomes for the client.

Multidisciplinary

We are seeing a new generation of engineers whose skill sets both bridge, and therefore break down, the traditional job specs in the office such as CAD technician and engineer: digital processes blur barriers between ‘types’ of engineers, and disciplines. Tomorrow’s engineers will need to have multidisciplinary skills and the ability and willingness to work in increasingly interdisciplinary teams: it is these engineers who will be able to provide a holistic approach to building design from the very outset, the ones who can design solutions, think in 3D and work in various analytical and geometric modelling software programmes to provide new solutions to our ways of working and client challenges.

This a wide-ranging set of skills to try and teach and manage the development of large teams through: could it be that training processes need to be less structured? Should the next generation of engineers be given the freedom to problem solve and innovate with the digital skills they already have, letting their thirst for personal development drive the training systems of our businesses? This would be a very different model for most in the industry and is all part of a bigger picture of digital transformation that AECOM is exploring.

Ultimately, the rapid pace of change in digital processes means engineers will need to be capable of using new tools, systems and programmes quickly, and have the willingness to continually learn.