Autodesk University 2024: The Design & Make Conference is officially a wrap with Day 3, and we are thrilled that so many of you were able to attend in person and virtually. With three days of classes to help you work better and more efficiently, and inspire change, we hope you got the most out of each day.
If you couldn’t attend AU in person, you’re still able to access many classes on-demand. Plus, be sure to check out the recap from day 1 and day 2 to see what else took place this year.
You can also check out the Digital Builder podcast to hear day 3 of our AU recap episode.
You can also watch highlights from Day 3 Ariel Castillo, Innovation Director at Miller-Davis Company.
Also, Sarah Keyte, Technical Director at HKA, gave us an inside look at her time at AU!
Day 3 covered an array of really interesting topics, such as AI, the ways that it can help or hinder you, the future of construction, VR implementation, and much more. Read below to check out some of top sessions that covered these topics.
This session was led by Ousama Lakhdar-Ghazal, Director of Trusted AI & Privacy at Autodesk, Melissa Darr, Global Water Optimization Program Manager at Arcadis, and Joachim Viktil, CEO of Reope. These experts covered key aspects of AI adoption and implementation, while also sharing Autodesk’s commitment to transparency in your AI journey.
The session started with Melissa Darr explaining how water infrastructure around the world is in bad shape. Over time, regulations have been established to improve these conditions. However, we are still relying on water infrastructure systems that were built in the 1970s, predating many of today's water regulations
“Some of the pipes still used today were put in the ground before the Civil War,” Sarah shared.
She shared how more organizations are turning to technology such as AI to better understand the state of water and wastewater systems. AI has the potential to be a great tool for utilities, but for AI to be successfully implemented, teams must address certain challenges. This includes being able to train models on robust data sets. She further explained that in order for AI to help you achieve your specific goals, you need to train the model with large and robust data sets.
“While AI can be an extremely powerful processor of data, the data sets we feed our models matter. It is up to us as human users to think about what we are putting into our AI systems, and we are asking them to produce for us,” Sara emphasized.
Later on, Ousama addressed the critical importance of trust for companies to confidently adopt AI in their work. He acknowledged that building trust can be challenging due to the inherent human fear of the unknown. However, he emphasized Autodesk’s commitment to fostering trust and transparency to boost your confidence in the AI adoption journey.
“Many people were initially unsure of the adoption of the cloud, but today that’s exactly where our data lives. The same is with AI,” Ousama shared.
Ousama stated that the key to developing trust in AI is you, the user. He then shared Autodesk’s key trust principles for AI: Responsibility, Transparency, Accountability, Reliability, and the assurance of safety and security. He highlighted how Autodesk continuously tests each AI feature to ensure that it follows these principles.
Ousama also explained the rollout of the Autodesk AI transparency cards, which provide basic information on the features that are powered by Autodesk AI.
“These cards are meant to give you an idea of what is behind these [Autodesk AI] features and will release transparency cards for each of our AI features overtime.”
This session, hosted by Steve Jones, Senior Director of Industry Insights Research at Dodge Data and Analytics, covered crucial industry statistics regarding the construction industry's preparedness for industrialized construction. He delved into the specifics of prefabrication and modular construction, providing valuable insights into the industry’s trajectory over the next three years.
Steve started by sharing how most, if not all, construction professionals have some way, or another used prefabrication on their projects in the last three years. However, when comparing that to the use of modular construction, this number drops significantly to about 35%. He asked the audience how many of them have implemented prefabrication into their projects within the last three years? Nearly everyone in the room raised their hand in response.
“This is pretty much the standard now, as you can see here. Almost 90% of the people have had something done on their projects. Prefabrication is what we think of as a maturing market.”
Steve later shared some of the top benefits that architects and contractors reported when utilizing prefabrication on their projects. Up to 78% of these professionals reported that the most significant benefits of implementing prefabrication were improved quality and productivity. Additionally, they experienced increased client satisfaction and numerous other advantages.
Steve also addressed modular construction, noting that 97% of architects and contractors in the Northeast who use modular construction report increased productivity on their projects. Additionally, up to 69% of professionals in the South report reduced waste generated by construction. The primary goal with modular construction was not necessarily to reduce costs, but to make costs more predictable. Knowing your budget and having the confidence to deliver within that budget with modular construction is incredibly valuable. Steve also highlighted the scheduling benefits experienced by professionals using this approach.
“The fact that half the people in these reports say that ‘yeah, I have a whole lot more schedule certainty,’ that is so huge because it addresses a very real problem that everybody faces,” Steve said.
While Steve addressed these amazing benefits, but also noted the hurdles that professionals face when adopting prefab and modular construction. Design integration, workforce training, and sourcing reliable manufacturers remain issues that make this transition difficult. Notably, a significant knowledge gap and lack of training resources for industrialized construction adoption persist.
“This isn’t something you can just go to a four-year college for, you have to have the experience,” Steven noted.
Overall, the future of construction is trending towards industrialized methods to meet increasing demands. Industrialized construction continues to grow each year, shaping the industry's evolution.
Led by Youri Pieters, Technical Manager at Dura Vermeer, Nathan Cenovski, Product Specialist Sales Rep, XR at Autodesk, and Roald Luchtenberg, Digital Manager at Dura Vermeer, this session showcased how VR is integral to Dura Vermeer’s approach to managing safety on their extensive 2GW (Gigawatt) project. The ability to "experience" potentially unsafe conditions through VR has been crucial in ensuring the safety of all team members.
Roald kicked the session off with background on Dura Vermeer, highlighting the company’s dedication to sustainability, quality, reliability and most importantly safety. With over 2,800 employees and 165 years of experience, it's no surprise that they were chosen as partners for such a large-scale project as the 2GW initiative.
Youri then shared a video about 2GW, an offshore energy grid project, that will completely autonomously help produce power in both the Netherlands and the UK. He explained that the project has a seven-year framework agreement and a long-term objective of completing over thirty offshore stations by 2040.
“This is a long-term project so it's not just about money it's about collaboration and aiming to make a generic modular design so we can pick up the model and replicate it,” Roald explained.
Roald made sure to emphasize that to Dura Vermeer, safety is priority number one. They want to make sure that anyone who goes to work will come back safely, and although things are safer now than they were in the past, they want to keep going to make efforts in improving safety. This is what helped influence their decision to adopt VR into their project.
“One is just one too many,” Roald stated.
Roald shared that it's typically difficult to grasp the true scale of a project on a screen, but VR allows for a better understanding of size. Through VR, they were able to identify safety zones, simulate unsafe conditions, and prevent issues before they occur. During their AI adoption journey, they discovered that people were initially hesitant to use the headset. To ease this transition, they encouraged team members to play games on the headset first, which made it easier to integrate its use into their work.
Dura Vermeer is proving their dedication to safety for their teams by implementing VR. By getting to visually see the scale of their projects they can ensure that all members of their teams can get the job done and go home to their families at the end of the day.
We have reached the end of Day 3 and thus the end of Autodesk University 2024, but don’t worry, you’re still able to access many of the sessions that happened over the last three days on-demand. We hope you enjoyed AU as much as we did, and we can’t wait to see you all again next year at AU 2025!
