BIM and drones inspiring next generation of engineers

Costain and Highways England have recently delivered presentations on BIM and drones to inspire next generation engineers.

A series of presentations which are aimed at inspiring the next generation of civil engineers, have recently been delivered by Costain and Highways England, at an Academy School in Lincolnshire.

The presentations coincided with British Science Week and National Apprenticeship Week.

Graham Starkey from Costain and Connor Walls from Highways England spoke to students at the Oasis Academy Immingham in Lincolnshire about Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Paul Goergie from drone company SenSat, about how drone technology is being used on an £88.4M Scheme.

The presentations, which were organised by Steven Ellis, Community Relations Officer on the A160/A180 Port of Immingham Improvement Scheme, focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

Highways England are carrying out work which involves upgrading 5km of the A160 from single to dual carriageway, and constructing a number of new structures, including a new bridge.

Aimee, the first fixed-wing drone suitable for use over areas in the UK, was taken into the school for a planned demonstration but this was not possible due to adverse weather. However, SenSat’s Paul Georgie described how the ultra-lightweight 700-gram drone has helped to survey the project.

Within the construction industry, drones have become useful, with data from the drone able to capture highly accurate geo-referenced topographic surveys in a fraction of the time of a manned team, achieving a resolution of just 3cm.

BIM has become a vital part of the design, engineering, construction and maintenance project.

Paul said: “This is the first time we’ve been able to go to a school and demonstrate this technology. We call it 21st century geography. It’s all down to three main pillars – technology, hardware and software. Much of the technical work used to be done on huge computers but now we’re seeing powerful desktops and smartphones.”

Steve Ellis said: “People won’t even have to go out and get their shoes muddy as they can get everything they need from these drones. Hopefully, this will get them interested in construction.”

He said that he hoped the high-tech presentations would help to inspire students to consider a career in the industry, and with drones becoming a big part of BIM, children at schools should become familiar with the technology as early as possible in order for them to gain an understanding of the progression in construction.

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