BIM in brief 9.5.25: DCW reveals main stage speakers

Digital Construction Week has revealed the 14 speaker sessions on its main stage with big names tackling big issues. The sessions focus on mental health, productivity, AI geospatial skills, the UK’s infrastructure challenge and plans for the National Data Library.

Speakers include George Mokhtar from Turner & Townsend, Dale Sinclair from WSP, Nathan Marsh from Bentley Systems, and Fred Mills from B1M.

DCW revealed the bulk of its speaker programme a fortnight ago. Head to the DCW website to view the programme in full. The event is free to attend: register here. There will be more than 150 exhibitors at the show.

Scottish Water is deploying up to 3,500 AI-enabled devices to help it predict when equipment in its wastewater network is about to fail, avoiding potential loss of services.

The technology is installed on Scottish Water’s wastewater submerged pumps to spot early signs of mechanical issues, electrical faults and blockages.

Following a successful trial, Scottish Water is using the SAM4 condition-monitoring tool from Samotics. The devices work by collecting information on how machines operate under normal conditions, so that once patterns of unusual behaviour occur, an alert is sent to Scottish Water technicians to investigate, to head off any potential loss of service.

The technology takes measurements of the equipment’s condition at a resolution of 20,000 datapoints per second, noting signs of wear and tear, and general performance anomalies.

Qflow has received the King’s Award for Innovation. Qflow’s platform automates data capture and analysis directly from the construction site. With a photo from a mobile phone, the platform digitises and verifies critical information on materials and waste, providing real-time insights into their quality, cost and carbon footprint that help teams make faster, smarter decisions.

The tracking and the visibility it provides has helped project teams avoid more than 250,000 tonnes in embodied carbon emissions and 100,000 tonnes of waste.

Founded in 2018, Qflow has since been deployed on £15bn of construction value across the UK and US, including HS2.

Brittany Harris, CEO at Qflow, said: “Construction is one of the oldest and most foundational industries in the world, and it must now become one of the most progressive. At Qflow, we are proud to be driving that transformation by equipping project teams with the tools they need to make more sustainable, data-led decisions every day.”

Aecom has promoted Lilian Ho from senior BIM manager/digital lead to associate director – digital and BIM.

Digital project and programme consultancy Proicere Digital has launched Proicere Digital Canada, headquartered in Vancouver.

Stephan Triendl, CEO of Proicere Digital Canada, said: “Canada faces a familiar challenge: doing more with less, while demand for infrastructure continues to grow. There’s an urgent need to shift from reactive planning to data-led delivery. That’s where we come in – helping clients remove inefficiencies, anticipate disruption, and streamline project controls from the outset.”

Last year, Proicere acquired Physical2Digital, an AI-driven technology and digital implementation consultancy. Proicere was shortlisted at the Digital Construction Awards 2024.