FOCUS Digital engineering
Digitally driven The digital transformation of the construction industry is moving full steam ahead and McConnell Dowell’s digital engineering team is keeping pace, utilising a wide range of systems and technologies to deliver some of the most complex, large-scale projects around the country.
Tom Gill, Group Engineering Services Manager at McConnell Dowell.
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The fast-growing development of new construction technologies is changing the way the industry builds in terms of speed, efficiency and safety. As the release of artificial intelligence (AI), building information modelling (BIM) and automated data collection technologies heightens, McConnell Dowell’s digital engineering (DE) team is at the front line, leveraging new techniques, systems and technologies to take its operations to the next level. Tom Gill is the Group Engineering Services Manager at McConnell Dowell and oversees the company’s temporary works design and digital engineering capability. Joining the McConnell Dowell Group in 2008, he says the company’s DE capabilities have grown exponentially. “McConnell Dowell’s DE team has always been a driving force in adopting technologies that help us to deliver the best possible outcome for our clients,” says Gill. “Digital engineering for us continues to broaden in scope.” “DE has evolved from being very BIM centric, and today there’s a myriad of tools that are available to us that we’re either using or developing capability (for) – our approach today is much more progressive.” The construction industry continues to become more digitally enabled and companies in the sector are realising that without a strong, competent DE capability, they will fall behind. The complexities of construction and infrastructure projects are also on the rise, and with them the need for advanced and innovative solutions.
INSIDE CONSTRUCTION June/July 2023
A construction simulator developed using a gaming engine for a marine project in Tonga.
In March 2020 the Victorian Government released the Victorian Digital Asset Strategy (VDAS) along with the VDAS Guidance document in an effort to lead a consistent and modern approach to digital engineering and BIM, and to standardise technology adoption in major capital and renewal projects. Similarly, in Southeast Asia digital transformation has accelerated in many government agencies. For instance, McConnell Dowell’s client, the Land Transport Authority of Singapore has launched its Land Transport Master Plan 2040 that focuses on connected systems, autonomous and ondemand services, new technologies and the innovative design of local infrastructure. Government clients worldwide are increasingly including complex and detailed design specifications that can’t be outsourced, explains Gill. “The digital capability to deliver these projects needs to be embedded into how you do business, and that’s where I believe our DE team’s core direction is heading,” says Gill. “We have the ability to lead the charge in those complex markets, due to our open-minded and forward-thinking approach to DE.” Also in the engineering services team, Chris Theis, Senior Digital Engineering Manager at McConnell Dowell, works to develop the company’s DE standards, and repeatability and consistency in the way its teams implement DE on projects. He says to keep pace with the industry, or outpace where possible, McConnell Dowell is ramping up its digital capability.