In Another Life I was a Project Engineer
My wife and I left the US in 2009. The decision has had such a profound impact on our lives that I sometimes refer to things I did before the move as having occurred in my previous life.
- In my previous life I was an avid skier.
- In my previous life I was a Project Engineer and worked on commercial high-rise construction projects.
- In my previous life I loved beer (Oops! How'd that get there? I still love beer)
Our first stop after leaving the US was Guatemala. I really didn't speak Spanish at the time and the construction industry was dramatically different than what I was accustomed to, thus the move fated me to a slow and steady departure from the career I had known. For the most part I was okay with this. I genuinely enjoyed 80% of the job, but the other 20% made it easy to walk away from.
Despite the fact my previous life is over, there are many aspects of it that I look back at with fondness. Regarding my construction career, modeling was without question my most favorite responsibility. It offered me a chance to focus my attention and find a distraction free space without worrying about money, or contracts, or whichever subcontractor was flaking off at the time. It was also an area of the industry undergoing dramatic change, thus each model gave me the chance to play with some new piece of technology.
I am going to share several models I created from the same construction project, which should paint a picture of how modeling technologies evolved while I was working in the industry.
Construction Modeling
Modeling with Microsoft Excel
My first internship was as a cost estimator. I had an amazing mentor who was both extremely talented and a little unconventional with his work. He taught me most of what I know about estimation, but he also taught me something else I will absolutely never forget - modeling with Excel. You see this was before any of the amazing software we have today and my supervisor was a creative guy. One of the first things he did was give me an Excel file that outlined how to develop isometric drawings using Excel and by the end of the summer I had created a full model of a proposed project (Terminus).
Below are screenshots from the model created entirely with Excel.
This is the parking structure. As you can see each level is drawn in its own layer and they can be shifted and stacked to help visualize the construction process.
Completed model with an exterior curtain wall hiding the inner super structure.
Of course nowadays you would be completely mad to ever attempt this as it would be a complete waste of time, but back then it was a unique method for developing a construction model that anyone could open on any computer.
Physical Models
Everyone is familiar with the physical model and it is a form that I don't think will ever completely go away despite advances in technology. The ability to consume a 3D physical model is simply too universal. For this project I was tasked with modeling future phases of the Terminus master plan, which was an absolute blessing because I got to work from home for 2 days.
Virtual Models
Virtual models and building information modeling (BIM) are completely transforming the construction industry. BIM is vastly superior to the old system, but unfortunately this wave of advancement has mostly occurred after I left the industry. I was able to develop several virtual model in my final months on the job which I have saved and reminisce over every couple of years.
Terminus Project
I confess that in my last weeks on the job I had pretty much checked out, so much so I created this fly over of Buckhead in Atlanta where the project was located.
Over the years I almost lost these files on several occasions.
I am glad to say that I did not since they bring back fantastic memories. I even have the urge to do some modeling which of course I will not do. However, it makes me realize that perhaps my previous life and this one are not so separate.