FIATECH Salutes Innovators in Capital Projects Industry

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Thursday, 07 May 2009 12:21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Austin, TX, May 5, 2009--FIATECH recognized and honored nine organizations and individuals for their extraordinary work in developing and deploying innovative engineering and construction technologies, April 7, at the annual CETI Award Gala in Henderson, NV. FIATECH established the CETI Award--Celebration of Engineering & Technology Innovation--in 2006 to promote and showcase innovative construction-related technologies that benefit the capital projects industry.

The panel of jurors who reviewed and evaluated the nomination included Steve Makredes, Director, Construction, Target Corporation (Chair); Sami Kazi, Ph.D., Chief Research Scientist, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland; Ed Koch, Construction Automation Specialist, Bechtel Corporation; Tom Sawyer, Information Technology Editor, Engineering News-Record; Duane Toavs, Director, Ease of Use Center of Excellence, Emerson Process Management and Iris Tommelein, Ph.D., Professor, University of California Berkeley.

Scenario-based Project Planning Category

The Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley IPD Team

Projects as Laboratories: Early Results from Sutter’s $320M Hospital Replacement Project in Castro Valley

The Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley (SMCCV) is a new 130-bed hospital, which will replace the current Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, California. An Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) team that includes the owner, the design teams, the general contractor, and trade partners is working on designing and planning the construction activities for the $320 million project. The team is challenged to design and deliver a complex facility that will offer the highest standards of healthcare delivery and operational efficiency within an extremely accelerated schedule and aggressive budget targets. To achieve those goals, the team is utilizing various combinations of lean design and construction project management methodologies enabled by emerging 3D virtual design and assembly technologies to plan, design, coordinate, detail, fabricate, and pre-assemble the various facility components. Notable among those is Value Stream Mapping which enables the team to visually represent their workflow processes and continuously look for opportunities to streamline them to deliver value faster, better, and less expensively.

Automated Design Category

Alliance Engineering

Fast-Tracks World’s Largest & Deepest Energy Projects with AVEVA PDMS

’s impressive portfolio of projects includes some of the world’s largest and most visible onshore, deep offshore, and Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) projects such as Perdido and Magnolia. One example of this is the ConocoPhillips Magnolia TLP Project, the world’s deepest TLP at the time of installation (August 2004; 4,744 foot depth). Alliance Engineering’s responsibilities included conceptual and detailed engineering and design, procurement, and fabrication and construction support. Alliance Engineering was also responsible for equipment layouts, piping design, stress analysis, piping isometrics, construction drawings, safety and materials handling, and operability (HAZOP) analysis. Magnolia was designed for 50,000 BOPD and 150 million SCFD of gas. “Alliance Engineering’s mission is to improve our client’s competitive position in the marketplace. AVEVA PDMS is an essential technology that allows Alliance to execute innovative solutions offshore and on, which helps our customers meet their business goals,” states Ron Bohannan, Vice President of Engineering, Alliance Engineering. Ron goes on to say, “For Alliance Engineering, on most of our projects, all of our disciplines are involved – electrical, instrumentation, piping, and structural. AVEVA’s technology helps us streamline our engineering process and contributes to Alliance Engineering’s ability to deliver projects at a lower weight thus at a lower cost and ahead of schedule.”

Intelligent & Automated Construction Job Site Category

Latista Technologies

LATISTA Field

LATISTA Technologies, Inc., was founded in 2001 and introduced LATISTA Field, the construction industry’s first job-site total quality automation solution, in 2006. LATISTA Field replaces a project manager’s notebook, pencil, spec-sheets, tube drawings, and camera with software specifically designed to run independently on a portable tablet PC in the field. Users can enter construction issues or deficiencies directly into a database, illustrate them with photos or marked-up plans, synchronize information with other users, and organize results into reports for owners and subcontractors. LATISTA Field also improves communications as owners can follow progress and performance, and subcontractors receive deficiency notifications faster and with more detail. On the Washington Nationals’ new ballpark in Washington, D.C., Clark Construction, LLC, used LATISTA Field to help manage its quality and punch list processes and expedite work on site in an effort to complete the stadium on schedule. Nationals Park seats 41,000, comparable in both size and scope to other recent Major League Baseball stadiums. It is unique, however, in that it is the first LEED-certified pro-sports facility and that construction would last only 23 months instead of the average 36 in order to deliver the park in time for opening day 2008. Using LATISTA Field, Clark managed tens-of-thousands of punch list issues, reduced issue resolution time from one week to two days, and reduced its transcription team by 50 percent—saving time and money as Nationals Park was delivered on time and within budget.

New Materials, Methods, Products & Equipment Category

U.S. Army ERDC, ElectroTechCP, The Structural Group

Electro-Osmotic Pulse Control of Moisture in Below-Grade Concrete Structures

EOP technology combines the novel application of an asymmetric, dual-polarity pulse and innovative ceramic-coated electrode materials. The anodes are inserted into the concrete wall or floor on the inside of the structure; cathodes are placed in the soil directly outside the structure; a direct current (DC) power supply produces a low-voltage, dual-polarity pulse. This sets up an electric field between the electrodes that creates an electro-osmotic pressure sufficient to overcome the external hydraulic pressure. The dual polarity pulse provides the ability to control water movement throughout the concrete wall or floor between the electrodes while the use of ceramic-coated electrode material extends system reliability and service life. The basic research for optimizing the EOP process also led to significant advances in the field of electro-kinetics for systems containing multiple material interfaces. For example, initial results of laboratory scale testing have shown the feasibility of soil strengthening through adjustment of the soil moisture content and chemistry by moving water and delivering stabilization compounds to prescribed locations in the soil. This has possible applications in rapid airfield construction and below-grade hardened structures. This technology transfer collaboration has yielded a system that will revolutionize the structural waterproofing industry. Field applications have confirmed an upfront cost savings of 40 to 50% over conventional exterior waterproofing. EOP offers continuing direct economic benefits to federal and private building operators through lower maintenance costs and the reclamation of sub-grade spaces for use. Moreover, an ability to control seepage-related humidity permits mitigation of occupant health risks from mold, mildew, and bacteria, with associated health and lost work-time costs. Cost comparisons between EOP and conventional basement water intrusion rehabilitation methods have shown up-front savings of up to 49%. A recent cost analysis for rehabilitating two identical basements at Fort Bragg, NC, using EOP and conventional methods, showed the cost of EOP to be $133/linear foot and the cost of conventional water intrusion rehabilitation to be $262/linear foot. The calculated ROI for the project at Fort A.P. Hill, based on current best practices, projected maintenance, and rehab cost, is 8.32. Estimated EOP technology cost savings to homeowners, private industry, the Department of Defense, and other government entities are expected to exceed $100 million nationwide.

Technology- & Knowledge-enabled Workforce Category

FIGG

The New I-35W Bridge

Designed and built in just 11 months, the new 10-lane interstate 35W Bridge spans the great Mississippi River with a 504’ span. This remarkable bridge achieves the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s vision of safety, quality and innovation through the use of sustainable materials and state-of-the-art technologies. Smart Bridge technology consisting of 323 sensors embedded in the concrete of the new bridge provides real time monitoring of bridge behavior, offering valuable information for the future of bridges. Low-energy, low-maintenance LED highway lighting, its first use on a major US highway, was installed on the new I-35W Bridge. In partnership with the Department of Energy, this innovation is being studied for many future applications. Gateway sculptures were created using a new, environment friendly cement with a nanotechnology that creates a photo catalytic reaction with UV light to remove pollutants from the air. The American ingenuity displayed by the design/build team of Flatiron-Manson, JV, with FIGG as the bridge designer, led to the successful completion of the new I-35W Bridge three months ahead of schedule while incorporating a progressive design of new materials and technologies that demonstrate benefits to the owner and community. The 120 segments of the 504’ main span were assembled over the Mississippi River in just 47 days. Opened to traffic on September 18, 2008, the bridge set an example of rebuilding of America’s infrastructure. Collaborative planning balanced the needs of Mn/DOT and the community with the functional requirements of the bridge to meet the project schedule while ensuring more than a 100-year life. Community involvement throughout the project helped to shape the aesthetics of the elegant design during an interactive design charette, provided educational opportunities for local students, and kept the public informed about construction progress. Followed around the globe, the story of this modern concrete segmental bridge, has been highlighted in numerous publications, included in conference proceedings, and is the recipient of 10 awards.

Life Cycle Data Management & Information Integration Category

ARX (Algorithmic Research)

Braun Intertec’s Implementation of the CoSign Digital Signature Solution

Braun Intertec, a geotechnical engineering and environmental consulting and testing firm, implemented the CoSign digital signature solution in order to facilitate secure collaborative work and streamline processes by allowing engineers to digitally sign e-drawings, as well as Excel, Word, PDF and other electronic documents. Since CoSign’s signature verification doesn’t entail any software installation on the receiving end, the company uses it in their communication with partners, in addition to their internal needs. Today, CoSign is a key component of the Braun Intertec overall paperless solution. By their own assessment, Braun Intertec returned their investment in CoSign within 12-15 months of implementation, and they estimate their overall savings at well over $100,000 in about 2.5 years. Moreover, their average cycle time for the delivery of one key report went from 6 weeks to 3 days and, in some cases, report turnarounds have reduced from days to minutes.

Outstanding Student Researcher Category

Dr. Amir H. Behzadan

Ph.D. degree received August 2008, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Advisor: Vineet R. Kamat, Ph.D.

ARVISCOPE: Geo-referenced Visualization of Dynamic Construction Processes in 3D Outdoor Augmented Reality
Visualization of simulated operations has traditionally been achieved in Virtual Reality (VR). In order to create VR animations, detailed information about an operation and its environment has to be obtained. The data must describe the simulated processes, and provide 3D CAD models of project resources, the facility under construction, and the surrounding terrain (Model Engineering). As the size and complexity of an operation increase, such data collection and 3D modeling become arduous, impractical, and often impossible tasks. This directly translates into loss of financial and human resources that could otherwise be productively used. In an effort to remedy this situation, an alternate approach of visualizing simulated operations was developed in this research, in which Augmented Reality (AR) is used to create mixed views by combining real existing jobsite features with virtual 3D CAD models of construction resources. The designed AR-based visualization methodology is comprised of two primary components: 1) ARVISCOPE, a general purpose AR animation authoring language; and 2) ROVER, a mobile computing AR hardware framework. When used together, ARVISCOPE and ROVER can create 3D AR animations of any length and complexity from the results of running simulation models of engineering operations (e.g. construction, manufacturing, aviation, etc.). ARVISCOPE takes advantage of advanced Global Positioning System (GPS) and orientation tracking technologies to accurately track a user’s spatial context, and geo-references superimposed 3D graphics in an augmented environment. In achieving the research objectives, major technical challenges such as accurate registration, automated occlusion handling, and dynamic scene construction and manipulation were successfully identified and addressed. This research concluded that the addition of contextual, computer-generated information spatially located relative to the user has significant potential of improving the performance of several scientific and engineering tasks.

Outstanding Early Career Researcher Category

Dr. Carlos H. Caldas

Assistant Professor, The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Carlos Caldas is an Assistant Professor at The University of Texas at Austin Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering. He has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and more than fifteen years of construction management experience. Dr. Caldas’ research focuses on essential challenges related to data, information, and knowledge management in construction engineering and project management. His current research efforts can be divided into three main interrelated and complementary themes: intelligent and automated construction job site, leveraging information technology to improve construction processes, and knowledge discovery and transfer techniques. In his 6 years in academia, Dr. Caldas has conducted more than 15 research projects with a total funding of approximately $5 million. These studies generated more than 50 peer-reviewed publications. His diverse project portfolio has been supported by a combination of federal agencies, state departments, and industry consortiums, including FIATECH, CII, NIST, NSF, NIST and TxDOT. One of his current research projects is identifying and validating initiatives, technologies, or methods that, if implemented would result in significant improvements in craft productivity. This productivity improvement would help to reduce project costs, mitigate skilled labor shortages, and improve project schedule performance. Dr Caldas is a Past Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Technical Committee on Database and Information Management and a member of the ASCE Construction Research Council, the ASCE Technical Committee on Intelligent Computing, and the CII Academic Committee. Dr. Caldas is a member of the Board of the International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction. He is also a Specialty Editor for the ASCE Journal of Construction Engineering and Management and a member of the Editorial Board of the Automation in Construction journal.

Outstanding Researcher Category

Arto Kiviniemi, Ph.D., M.S. Arch.

Vice President for Innovation and Development Olof Granlund

Arto Kiviniemi has 13 years experience in R&D of Information and Communication Technology for built environment after his career of 24 years as a building design architect in which he won 12 first prices in architectural competitions as the main assistant of Arto Sipinen. He worked at VTT in Finland as a Senior Research Scientist (1996-1999), Chief Research Scientist (1999-2006) and the Research Professor for ICT in Built Environment and Research Coordinator for ICT and Processes in Built Environment (2006-2008). 1997-2002 Arto Kiviniemi led the Finnish national technology program ”VERA” with a total budget of $ 62 million. The program established Finland’s position as one of the leading countries in utilizing integrated BIM in Real Estate and Construction industry. In this period Arto Kiviniemi established a leading role in the global development and deployment of the integrated Building Information Modeling concept. Arto Kiviniemi has been in an active and influential role also in the international BIM development and standardization, especially in IAI/buildingSMART; 1st Chairman of the International Council and Executive Committee 1998-2000, Deputy Chairman 2000-2002, Chairman of the International Technical Management Committee 2005-2007, and member of Technical Advisory Committee since 2005. Arto Kiviniemi has been the Chairman of the Steering Group of Salford Centre for Research and Innovation since 2002, a member of Industry Advisory Board and Technical Advisory Committee of CIFE 1999-2005, and a member of the Scientific Committee of the BuildingEnvelope.org project at Harvard University 2001-2004. In addition he has been a member of 19 Scientific Committees, and had 22 keynote and 45 invited presentations in international Conferences since 1996. In September 2008 Arto Kiviniemi returned to the industry to lead BIM development and implementation in Finland’s largest building services engineering company Olof Granlund, which, citing Professor Martin Fischer, is ”one of the most innovative companies globally in the AEC industry”. Arto Kiviniemi holds a M.S. degree in Architecture with honors from Helsinki University of Technology (1982) and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University (2005). His earlier awards are Confederation of Finnish Construction Industries’ Grant for Ph.D. studies 2002, UICB Building Information Award with Hannu Penttilä 1996, Medal of Merit from Association of Finnish Architects SAFA 1990, and Väinö Vähäkallio Foundation Award 1984.

"It was an honor chairing this year’s CETI Award program,” says Steve Makredes. “I and the other jurors were impressed with the caliber and level of innovation the recipients submitted this year. The competition for this award is a testament that profound and significant technological achievements are occurring in our industry. By their example, these early adapters are paving the road that the rest of us will follow. We are very proud of their leadership and commitment to the industry."

For more information, contact Nicole Testa Boston at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit www.fiatech.org. The 2009 CETI Awards will be given out March 30, 2010 in Austin, TX.

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