Construction Reimagined - Digital Catapult

About this event

Powerful XR applications beyond visualisation

Advanced digital technologies have revolutionised industries across the globe. The pace of technological advancement is unprecedented as the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and smart devices are ubiquitous within industry and our daily lives. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have been used in the entertainment industry for many decades.

Although innovation has accelerated a wide variety of sectors, the construction industry is considered to be one of the most resistant to change. Its innate job execution strategies and repetition of tasks kept this sector traditional for longer,; but things are changing as Extended reality (XR) is becoming popular for many construction operations.

XR, as a superset including AR and VR is rapidly making its way into the construction industry and has become a valuable tool for engineers, architects, project managers, and service providers.

Across the life cycle of the built environment, from designing, building and finally operating it, XR:

Enhances collaboration among project stakeholders even before the construction work actually begins
Allows detection of errors ahead of time
Avoids costly mistakes by generating real-time visualisations of projects
Improves safety standards as it increases the awareness of job-site conditions without physically subjecting managers or workers to safety hazards.

Restrictions on construction imposed during the pandemic, as well as considerations for sustainability and net zero build projects, immersive applications in construction have become even more popular as they can increase safety, accuracy, efficiency and drive down costs.

Due to the traditional aspects of the sector, there are numerous barriers to adoption to overcome, with affordability, interoperability, awareness, scaling, training and absence of eco-system to drive the adoption.

Join Digital Catapult and leaders from across the construction industry, to learn how immersive applications are disrupting one of the most resistant industries.

Why attend?

Discover how immersive applications are disrupting the construction industry and drive efficiencies
Get to know businesses that are already leading the way in adoption
Learn about practical, real-world examples
Discuss how immersive applications can get us closer to net zero
Dive into the key challenges and barriers to adoption

Agenda

14:00 – Welcome and introduction

Emily Savage, Head of Immersive and Creative Partnership – Digital Catapult

14:05 – UK Green Building Council introduction

Lucy Rees, Sustainability Advisor, Innovation and Solutions – UKGBC

14:10 – Design

Sukhmit Singh Chaggar, Digital Solutions Lead, Infrastructure – Atkins

14:25 – Upskill

Sam Watts, Immersive Partnerships Director – Make Real Ltd

14:40 – Build

Mark Enzer, Chief Technology Officer – Mott MacDonald

14:55 – Panel discussion: Strengthening the UK construction sector through XR technology

15:25 – Closing remarks

David Pugh, Manufacturing Market Lead – Digital Catapult

15:30 – End

Speakers

Lucy Rees

Sustainability Advisor – Innovation and Solutions at UK Green Building Council

Lucy Rees leads the Innovation and Solutions Programme at UKGBC. She focuses on showcasing solutions to sustainability challenges across the built environment, fostering collaboration between start-ups and corporates. With a background in sustainability consultancy, Lucy also has an interest in industry best practice and the circular economy.

Mark Enzer OBE FREng

Chief Technical Officer at Mott MacDonald and Head of the National Digital Twin programme (NDTp) at the Centre for Digital Built Britain

Mark is a keen champion of innovation in the context of collaborative delivery models and he is particularly interested in the transformation of the infrastructure industry, including: systems-thinking, digital transformation, connected digital twins, data infrastructure, low-carbon sustainable solutions and the circular economy in the built environment. As the Head of the NDTp, Mark is contributing to the leadership of this ambitious programme to enable an ecosystem of connected digital twins across the built environment.

Sukhmit Singh Chaggar

Digital Solution Lead at Atkins

Sukhmit Singh is Digital Solutions Lead with Atkins’ Building Design Research & Innovation team. Sukhmit has a background in mechanical engineering and has a focus on bringing relevant technology to enable design teams to push boundaries in different ways. Current areas of exploration includes the use of XR in design, cloud based technologies for analysis and data centricity.

David Pugh

Director of Sustainable Industry

Dr David Pugh is Digital Catapult’s Head of Sustainability. In his role David sits at the interface between advanced digital technologies and industrial adopters to provide real business impact.

Sam Watts

Immersive Partnerships Director at Make Real Ltd

Sam has over 20 years experience of enabling organisations to understand, embrace and adopt immersive technologies across a variety of sectors. Make Real Ltd has a specialist knowledge and focus on AEC, energy, utilities and telco (collectively known as the built environment) sectors, working with organisations including BAM Nuttall, CIOB, CITB, EDF Energy, Keltbray and many others, to create bespoke immersive learning experiences and construction orientated tools, utilising AR and VR, to improve training and development outcomes.