What Technology Do You Expect at Work?

When I graduated from college in 1998, I fully expected that wherever I wound up working, I would have a computer on my desk and it would be an integral part of my job. If I walked into a company for an interview and they didn’t have any computers in the office, I probably wouldn’t be interested.

I had grown up with computers in the house. I spent high school figuring out how to get Excel to do the menial number crunching and graphing for my biology, chemistry and physics homework so that I could see trends faster and explore more experiments. (That is what I told my Dad, anyway.) I was completely sold on the value of computers and would have been very frustrated by a firm that didn’t also see that value.

For my job now, I would feel lost without some sort of a smartphone, and liberal access to the internet during work hours, but I realize that not everyone in traditional engineering environments feel the same way.

I saw this video in my ENR links this morning about a ready-mix operator who couldn’t imagine doing his job without an iPad, and it made me wonder if things are changing in the fields of engineering and construction.

 

Is your firm embracing new technology? Obviously there is new new software to embrace. Civil 3D being the beginning, with momentum building quickly in the other pieces of the Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite, like Navisworks and 3DS Max Design, but what about tablets, smartphones, other mobile technology? Laser scanning equipment and software? Machine control construction? What are you really seeing out there? Leave me a comment and start the conversation.

What do you think of the vision of a tech savvy, mobile enabled design process like the one in this video? Autodesk BIM for Infrastructure: Sustainable Cities

Comments

[Forest Peterson]

In my opinion, the trade schools will add a technology course as part of their apprentice and certificate schools. It is clear the field hands have the technology - I have given out the wi-fi password to several of the field hands here - what is interesting is to visualize the impact this will have on the need for office staff and oversight. will there be a PM, super, and project engineer on civil projects in 10 years? Will there even be an 'office'?