EXTRA! EXTRA! CEO Tech Forum Makes News (Pt 2)

Extra! Extra! CEO Tech Forum Makes News (PT 2)

Miracles & wonder: Autodesk's Stacy Scopano set a tone of humanity with opening night keynote stressing safety.

by ROB McMANAMY and JOHN GREGERSON | April 27, 2016

In addition to all the inspiring words and dazzling demos on display last week, several speakers and attendees at BuiltWorlds' first-ever CEO Tech Forum also made news worth noting. Here are the top five announcements in the order they were made:

DAY ONE - April 20, 2016

1. THERE'S A NEW INDEX IN TOWN TO MEASURE INDUSTRY VITAL SIGNS

Even before the opening bell last Wednesday, the Carpinteria CA-based tech firm unveiled its new Procore Construction Health Indicator (PCHI), which the company says will provide daily measures and insights on national and regional factors driving economic movement in our industry. Procore even hired Anirban Basu, longtime chief economist at Associated Builders & Contractors, to help provide those insights. Basu now also becomes Procore's chief economist. For more, read our story here.

DAY TWO - April 21, 2016

2. BRANCH TECHNOLOGY ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

On Jan. 29, Chattanooga-based Branch Technology released the official competition brief for its first Freeform Home Design Challenge. The online contest invited any and everyone to start designing with "Cellular Fabrication" for the chance to win cash prizes and build the world’s first freeform 3D-printed house. "We were overwhelmed by the response, especially internationally," said Branch CEO Platt Boyd. The online "polls" stayed open until midnight April 20. At CTF last week, Boyd announced the winners. Coincidentally, the first prize went to Chicago-based WATG Urban Architecture Studio for its submission, Curve Appeal. For more info, click here.

And the winner is... Branch CEO Boyd announces winners last week at CTF. (Seated: Newforma CEO Ian Howell.)

DAY THREE - April 22, 2016

3. THORNTON TOMASETTI ANNOUNCES NEW TECHNOLOGY ACCELERATOR

The NYC-based international structural engineering giant unveiled TTWiiN (@ttwiin_inc), a new technology accelerator intended to drive innovation in the AEC industry and beyond. Thornton Tomasetti CEO Tom Scarangello and outside director Grant McCullagh both attended CTF last week and the big announcement came Friday morning. According to its release, TTWiiN will "leverage the deep and diverse technical expertise across the parent firm's 10 centers of excellence." Through collaboration with its in-house CORE Studio, TTWiiN will develop "nascent advanced technologies and techniques and pursue promising ideas wherever they lead." The accelerator will be overseen by a board of managers who will help coordinate collaboration among Thornton Tomasetti professionals, industry colleagues, leading academic researchers, and members of the venture capital community. For more details, click here.

4. HARD HAT HUB JOB SEARCH ENGINE UNVEILS NEW VIDEO, APP

The industry job search engine unveiled the above video at CTF, highlighting its new employer dashboard in the H3 web app that highlights the ability to perform an Advanced Search. "We feel our new video really captures the hard working, hard hat community that we serve and the need for innovation when it comes to finding great talent," explains Monique Filardi, H3's marketing director. "It goes with our mission to provide a niche-specific resource that helps everyone build their best career in construction." For more, click here.

Mapping Paris 'live': Smart 3D dashboard of Paris, a streaming map created by CC3D and the digit group.

5. THE DIGIT GROUP, CYBERCITY 3D ANNOUNCE NEW PARTNERSHIP

Globetrotter Paul Doherty, CEO of the digit group, now based in Chicago, announced that his firm has signed a development, sales and marketing agreement with CyberCity 3D, Inc., a geospatial 3D modeling and streaming services company bed in Los Angeles County, CA. The move is in keeping with the digit group's aim to be "a Smart Cities solutions provider, supplying greater security, increased safety, lower energy use, and a better urban experience." The two companies, jointly developing 3D applications for Smart Cities, are focusing on 3D dashboards and 3D construction monitoring tools powered by CyberCity 3D streaming building server technologies – coupled with an open architecture 3D globe application platform. For more, click here.

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Stay tuned for additional CTF coverage, as more stories and video highlights are posted. 

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Don't forget to sign up for next year's CEO Tech Summit, tentatively set for Spring 2017. For more details, including Early Bird Registration deals and discounts, click here.