Autodesk University is coming up soon (November 17-20) —and registrations are now open. Throughout the course of the week, there will be hundreds of classes available, both on-demand and live options. These sessions are suited to professionals from all across the construction industry, and they care completely free for all attendees. Project managers, architects, designers, specialty contractors, and other construction professionals will benefit from the variety of learning taking place at this year’s Autodesk University.
At each of these sessions, expert speakers dive into Autodesk technology, construction insights, the latest in technologies and more. It’s all about building for success and reimagining what is possible with new workflows and modern innovation.
From risk to bid management, Autodesk University offers a variety of sessions designed to help specialty contractors fulfill their business needs. Additionally, these sessions will bring to you the most up to date information about emerging technologies, such as Autodesk Construction Cloud and other innovations. You’ll learn how to create more efficient workflows, connect the office and the field, and more.
Below, you’ll find a listing of some of our favorite sessions specifically for specialty contractors—but you’re free to attend any sessions that interest you. Be sure to register today and choose from among the online offerings most relevant to your business’s needs.
Note this current session list is a preview only and is not comprehensive. Check our full list here.
What is Autodesk Construction Cloud?
Speaker: John Sanner, Technical Marketing Manager, Autodesk
Introduced at Autodesk University 2019, Autodesk Construction Cloud brings together the most powerful portfolio of construction management software products in the industry. Autodesk Construction Cloud’s tools supports workflows spanning all phases of construction from design and planning to building and finally, operations. This is a tool that gives you breadth of workflows and deep capabilities through each of the software products—plus connected data between each of those products.
In this session, you will get a firsthand look at how Autodesk Construction Cloud has advanced over the past year. You’ll also learn how teams can use this tool, and you’ll learn about the road map for future Autodesk Construction Cloud products.
PlanGrid: Advanced Field Workflows
Speaker: Jackson Sensat, Construction Technology Implementation Specialist, Applied Software Technology, Inc.
PlanGrid has been taking the construction world by storm ever since its creation in the early 2010s. Thousands of projects throughout the world have utilized this product—and it is widely used by both general contractors and specialty contractors.
Here, attendees will go through custom field workflows for PlanGrid, and the session will be centered around the PlanGrid mobile app. We will touch on a variety of field workflows that are being used in the construction industry today and how these workflows can be used within PlanGrid’s mobile app. This session goes beyond the basics of PlanGrid, enabling you to see how easy and intuitive this software is, even when performing advanced field workflows. Some of the specifics you will learn include executing a daily sheet metal progress report, successfully completing a pre-pour checklist, generating and closing out tasks in the field, and placing videos on a 2D sheet.
Centralize Bid Management: How Subcontractors Can Ditch Spreadsheets
Speaker: Marlo Aghazarian, Technical Sales Specialist, Autodesk
For too long, subcontractors have been stuck managing job opportunities and bids using manual processes and outdated digital systems—none of which were built for the modern construction professional. People spend hours manually creating and updating spreadsheets and keeping track of projects, resources, files and deadlines. That’s a problem as time and resources are increasingly in short supply for subcontractors—and these inefficiencies add risk to projects.
BuildingConnected offers a better way. This session will show you how BuildingConnected’s world class technology centralizes and streamlines the bid management process. Using this platform, you can track bid invites, who is working on what, bid analytics, and due dates across the entire office while quickly generating 2D takeoffs and bidding out work to vendors. This reduces manual entry and tracks business performance in real time, empowering you to bid smarter and secure desired work more efficiently. Here, we will address common bottlenecks in managing new job opportunities using real time technology, learn how to improve labor management using tools that track collaboration, learn how to bid projects out to specialty contractors in the same space that you use to track bids, and learn how to validate the quality of your bids using 2D takeoff tools.
The Breadth & Depth of the Autodesk Ecosystem
Speaker: Anna Lazar, Strategic Alliances & Partnerships, Autodesk
Autodesk Construction Cloud has more than 150 technology partners with integrations. All four products in Autodesk Construction Cloud—Assemble, PlanGrid, BuildingConnected, and BIM 360—have direct integrations with common office and construction software or can be hooked into using Autodesk Construction Cloud Connect.
At this session, you’ll listen to an in-depth discussion from our key partners across industries such as mixed reality, reality capture, financials, budget planning, data, and analytics. We’ll talk about partnering with Autodesk, the breadth and depth of these integrations, and the workflows possible with our ecosystem. Here, you’ll discover the different ways to integrate with Autodesk Construction Cloud, learn best practices for developing an integrated construction technology stack, and learn how to identify process inefficiencies and data silos than can be eliminated with integrations.
Field and Project Management with Autodesk Construction Cloud
Speaker: John Sanner, Technical Marketing Manager, Autodesk
Every construction project team needs the right tools to support key workflows like QA/QC, safety, RFIs, costs, and progress. Today, teams use a number of different tools and techniques in support of these workflows—but the risks of using various applications and processes for these things include poor information access, lack of connectivity and collaboration between the office and the field, and tools that are built for either field workers on mobile devices or office workers on laptops.
The vision of Autodesk’s Construction Cloud is to enable connectivity across the project. This session will update you on the future product road map for field and project management capabilities. You’ll learn about the tools available in Construction Cloud, the benefits of using a single platform, you’ll have a chance to engage with the Autodesk team to provide your input on the platform’s future, and you’ll learn about upcoming Construction Cloud updates.
Tracking Assets and Equipment in BIM 360
Speaker: Krystian Macek, Senior Product Manager, Autodesk
Construction teams need tools that allow an asset, such as equipment, and its data to flow seamlessly from design to handover and operations. This session explores how to use BIM 360 as a means to track key milestones in the lifespan of an asset, from design and fabrication and beyond to delivery, installation, commissioning and ultimately, the handover.
Here, you’ll learn about workflows surrounding building commissioning and creating repositories for asset-related documentation including product information such as cut sheets and warranty documents. You’ll also learn how to create links to checklists RFIs, submittals, and other workflows related to the asset. Other topics will include setting up asset categories for field tracking, creating barcodes and assigning them to assets, tracking issues against assets and assigning them to responsible parties for resolution, and filling out asset tests and inspections during the asset’s lifecycle.
Whether you’re a specialty contractor or a professional from elsewhere across the construction spectrum, these classes—and hundreds more—will be available soon. They’re free for all registrants to join, too, so make sure to reserve your place as soon as possible. Autodesk University begins on November 17, and this digital event features both live and on-demand sessions. Click here for registration and join us at Autodesk University!
Looking for more curated class views? Take a look at our Autodesk University blogs.
