Syska Innovations:
Update on Activities
A lot can happen in six months. Since our last issue of Connections, our Syska Innovations subsidiary has been keeping busy as it pursues its mission: to foster attitudes and behaviors that lead to innovation amid a supportive culture that prizes technology.
Here’s a summary of recent activities:
We launched our internal innovation management portal while creating systems for engagement with outside technology partners.
We started executing our first innovation projects, one of which was to create a predictive analytic based on 18,253 RFIs and machine learning tools from Amazon Web Services. The result? 92.4% accuracy!
We partnered with OpenSpace, a startup that develops technology for the construction industry, to address pesky challenges in the site capturing/reporting process. The traditional process involves traveling to a site, capturing its development, calling out potential problems, and generating a report. As you might imagine, the process is time-consuming, and the reports quickly become obsolete as work progresses. To improve efficiency, we started using OpenSpace’s site-capturing application, known as “The jobsite time machine.” Now we can compare captures from various times and view MEP systems prior to the construction of walls, ceilings, and floors. We can conduct virtual site visits, quickly generate integrated reports, and use a mobile device with LiDAR technology to create a 3D model of a scanned space. No more wasted time. No more frustration. And the software? Talk about cool!
We can conduct virtual site visits, quickly generate integrated reports, and use a mobile device with LiDAR technology to create a 3D model of a scanned space.
We launched our inaugural Idea-a-thon, a three-week internal competition for Syska staff to imagine, develop, and share their ideas for innovation projects. Assisting the participants were innovation coaches – employees trained to develop and communicate the value and potential of innovation applied to engineering consulting. A judging team with special guests evaluated and scored the sponsored ideas. On the last day of the competition, we named the winners.
They are:
Creativity Award: Building as a Battery – Kris Baker
People Impact Award: Employee Player Cards – Nico Ciacca
Client Impact Award: Syska’s Advance Cost Prediction Algorithm – Alex Myers
Project Delivery Award: Gamification of RFI Submittals – Clint Moreno
Sustainability Award: Become an Industry Partner with and Early Adopter of Modern Electron Company Technologies– Quindi Guiseppe
Central Region: Prediction Temperature Control for Smart Building – Stephen Ahlgrim
New York Region: Multiple PDF Searcher – Xu Xuechao
Northeast Region Award: Fully Autonomous HVAC Design in Revit – Mark DiPaola
Southeast Region Award: Advanced Space Calculations v1 – Giancarlo Thompson
West Region Award: People Ops – Lauren Wesson
Second Place and Honorable Mention: Syska’s Advance Cost Prediction Algorithm – Alex Myers
Grand Prize Firm: People Ops – Lauren Wesson
Rob Ioanna, Syska’s chief technical officer, says that the hard work to launch Syska Innovations has been well worth it. In a recent blog, he states: “Our commitment to investing time, money, and intellectual capital into innovation reflects our belief that digital transformation in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry will start from within companies while being enabled by outside technology. As we create an engaging, managed approach to innovation at Syska Hennessy, we think our project partners and clients will see a difference. Our engineers already implement innovation on our projects, and we know our clients see how innovation changes outcomes. But Syska’s corporate innovation program will broaden, expand, and improve our innovation so a great idea first applied on a project in San Francisco or Seattle will more quickly become standard practice in New York City, Boston, and every place where Syska Hennessy projects are underway.”
As we create an engaging, managed approach to innovation at Syska Hennessy, we think our project partners and clients will see a difference.