ADDD’s weekly video is all about construction technology!
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TIPS FOR WORKING IN DIGITAL CONSTRUCTION
Someone asked me this week how I got into construction technology and the role of me now, and I thought it’d be useful to share some of my thoughts about how I’ve got here and how you may be able to do the same if that’s what you want. I’m going to share what I think her top tips to get into construction technology and how you can improve yourself, learn and develop the role that you really want in the industry.
RANGE
I think it’s really important to have a broad range of skills. I’m an architect by background, but I’ve also developed into BIM management, which I think is really important, really interesting and I have consistently researched, learnt by attending conferences to broaden my own experience. I think a good range within construction is going to really help you.
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CODING
Is coding needed? Possibly. It depends on the role you want to pursue. I don’t know how to code in detail, but I do know the principles of visual scripting. I do know some Python And I am really keen on this, but I don’t necessarily know in a deep level. I’m not a specialist so I think it’s really important to look at coding but understand it. If it’s something you really enjoy and get a lot from, by all means go ahead and look into it further. I think just having some principles of coding some really helpful.
KNOW YOUR CONSTRUCTION WORKSTAGES
I think it’s really useful to have an idea of all of the work stages within a construction project. So if you can get experience at the inception and client advisement right at the beginning, moving into design stages and detailed design, technical design, understanding what that looks like and understanding how a building goes together, I think that’s really useful. Experiencing things on site, what goes well, what doesn’t go well, meeting a program, the press and the strange. I think that’s really helpful as well. And then upon completion, what happens to a building when it’s finished? How is that managed? What does that look like? It’s really important to understand these things.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF ORGANISATION
I’ve had the benefit of working different organization types and I would recommend that others can do that as well. So you’re looking at working in an architects office, working in public sector, private sector, working for a contractor, subcontractor, supplier, maybe an Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) supplier or offsite construction manufacturer. I think a broad range of environments that you work in small teams, medium teams and larger teams is going to really help you to understand as much as you possibly can within the industry and how it works. And again what doesn’t work!
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES
Recently I’ve been looking at a lot of software development and understanding the principles of software development are really good. I’ve been looking at Agile and understanding what that looks like, how to manage a project, and not necessarily doing the coding work obviously, but understanding the principles of how you get from A to B, what Sprints are, how Agile works is going to be really useful I think. And then there’s loads of other stuff within software development that you may find yourself really drawn to.
WHAT INTERESTS YOU? DEVELOP YOUR NICHE
I think one of the other things is to really understand what your area of interest is. You may have a specific area that you really enjoy and really get a lot from. So develop that niche, really go into it, really find as much as you possibly can because it’s only the areas that you really enjoy that you’re going to keep up with and keep developing it and keep her trying to find out more about. I think there’s no point in trying to engage with an area which you think actually, I’m not 100% sure on this, but I’m meant to be looking at this, you know, find the things which you are.
FOLLOW INDUSTRY UPDATES
There’s a couple of things about keeping up with the information within the industry. I use LinkedIn, I use Twitter, I use Instagram. Social media platforms are a brilliant way to understand and find information from like minded people or people who are working in your area. So I would definitely recommend engaging with that and talking to people on there as much as possible.
RESEARCH
Really looking at researching as much as possible different areas. So I have lots of alerts that I use on Google so that they can tell me about what’s coming up recently. Look at publications; magazines, newsletters, I subscribe to loads of different construction companies, software on YouTube. So all of those updates are continually feeding me with what’s going on and what’s interesting in the industry at the moment.
SUBSCRIBE TO ADDD
Finally, the best thing you can do to find out about construction technology is to follow ADDD! What I am doing here is all about construction technology. I am really interested and really engaged in this area and I really want to push people forward in this area.
If I could help at all, please reach out to me. I see endless advancements in the next few years in this, and I would really like to take you along that journey with me.
Resources and Reference Material
How To Get Started In CONSTRUCTION Without EXPERIENCE [AND BE SUCCESSFUL]
5 Construction Engineering Tips for Entry Level Construction Management and Construction Engineers
What is Digital Construction? | The B1M
BIM Talks | EP 02 | How to Grow Your Architecture Career with BIM – Key Skills & Online Courses
Top 5 specializations for Architects
That’s it for this week! See you next time.
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