Agenda

7:00 am Breakfast & Registration

8:25 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

8:28 am
Organizational Communication Structures

8:30 am Integrating Your Team Into the Fabric of the Organization to Foster Symbiotic Relationships with End-Users

  • Alan Cation Director of Computational Design / Senior Associate, Ennead Architects

Synopsis

• Analyzing the relationship between a computational designer and an architect: How can  you best integrate efforts of the two when solving design challenges? 

• Strengthening communication between technical and non-technical personnel to bring  them onto the same page

• Structuring teams to better integrate computation with other functions 

9:10 am Building Knowledge Sharing Systems Between Project Teams to Enhance the Efficiency with Which Computational Is Being Adopted Firm-Wide

  • Steven Purcell Design Professional, Rogers, Lovelock & Fritz, Inc.
  • Brian White Director of Computational Design, Rogers, Lovelock & Fritz, Inc.

Synopsis

• Examining the various means through which architects can share best practices and increase visibility over the various applications benefiting projects

• Discussing how you can develop clearly structured tool repositories for knowledge sharing

• Promoting robust knowledge sharing mechanisms for continued adoption of computational tools 

9:50 am Morning Refreshments & Networking

Track 1:
Computational in Action

Track 2: Strategic Leadership & Development

Improving Model Quality

Evaluating Off-The-Shelf Tools

10:30 am Establishing Robust Quality Control Practices to Increase Reliability of Computational Models

Synopsis

• Identifying the most common quality challenges and root causes of these with computational outputs

• Benchmarking the most effective approaches to minimize human error in model creation and how you can streamline final quality checks before publishing design options

• Confronting the current limitations of the software in creating high quality models and how teams are trying to combat this

11:10 am Harnessing Computational Capabilities for Tracking 2024 Reducing Embodied Carbon of Your Designs

Synopsis

• Overviewing the increasing demand for embodied carbon tracking in the industry: How can you get ahead of the curve and educate your firm on successful tracking strategies? 

• Understanding how material selection and quantities directly impact embodied carbon in building structures 

• Harnessing computational capabilities to link external carbon data to your models to make more informed design decisions

• Developing carbon accounting workflows that allow for flexibility at various stages of design

10:30 am Panel: Considering the Landscape of Off-The-Shelf Add-Ins to Select the Best Tools for Your Organization

Synopsis

• Surveying the range of computational tools on the market today: What are the strengths and limitations of each tool?

• Reconciling potentially limited applications of off-the-shelf tools that aren’t workflow-specific

• Assessing the catalyst for making an investment decision for in-house development versus off-the-shelf solutions 

11:10 am Case Study: Build or Buy?

Synopsis

• Discussing the paradigm shift from manual to programmatic tool operation and how this enables business logic automation, generative design workflows, and integration of AI models 

• Considering how purchasing a “manually operated” third party tool may achieve short-term benefit at the cost of long-term innovation and discussing how firms should balance this trade-off

• Outlining why CRB decided to build its custom DataSync platform rather than use a third party solution and showcase the current and future workflows this tool enables

• Exploring the ideal end-state where internal computational design teams build custom workflows that leverage licensed third party APIs

11:50 am Lunch Break

Driving Process
Efficiency

Computational & Design Team Cooperation

12:50 pm Creating a Centralized Database of Multi-Family Residential Unit Layouts to Empower Designers & Unlock Value From Past Work

  • Matthew Breau Design Computational Specialist, Beyer Blinder Belle

Synopsis

• Moving from problem identification to full roll-out: How do we build trust and co-ownership with design staff to obtain buy-in and drive adoption?

• Levaraging custom code to extend Revit’s capabilities and develop workflows that incentivize data standardization, allowing for collection of valuable design data in a usable format

• Maintaining focus throughout tool development to ensure we are solving practical problems, engaging staff in brainstorming to identify potential additional use cases, all while maintaining a big picture view and moving towards the horizon

• Strategically aligning pluralistic R&D efforts within a development pipeline to translate success into momentum

1:30 pm Case Study: How We Applied Computational Scripts to Multiple Design Disciplines to Fully Optimize Cost Savings & Design Outcomes

Synopsis

• Highlighting the additional technical requirements of multi-disciplinary design optimization outside of just architecture and structures 

• Bringing together a multi-disciplinary team from external stakeholders to map out a highly collaborative approach 

• Working holistically as a team to define project goals and constraints

• Aligning data and strategies across all parties to make sure that every team member is working cohesively towards end goals

12:50 pm Collaborating with End-Users to Translate Design Challenges Into Innovative Computational Tools

  • Zaki Mallasi BIM Director, Computational Designer, Hickok Cole Architects

Synopsis

• Working with end-users in developing the necessary paradigm-shift when articulating their design challenges to someone without design expertise

• Evaluating the role of the computational designer as an extension to the architect for shaping a clear fit-for-purpose computational design solution

• Refining the development process to seamlessly incorporate end-user input at each phase, guaranteeing the tool’s maximum optimization

• Highlighting the benefits from automating repetitive design tasks and impact on ROI as a strategic business goal

1:30 pm Agile Methodology for Computational Design Tools: Give Your Users the Tools They Need Faster & More Efficiently

Synopsis

• Overviewing how to implement agile methodologies and tools to plan, track, and release computational design tools

• Ensuring continuous improvement of computational design tools to deliver value and increase adoption

• Establishing effective communication and feedback mechanisms to foster team collaboration, learning and enhance user satisfaction

2:10 pm Afternoon Refreshments

2:35 pm
Looking to the Future

2:40 pm Case Study: Discussing How We Maintained Process Innovation Despite Limited Internal R+D Resource to Keep Up with the Competition

Synopsis

• Identifying workflow bottlenecks by evaluating the time associated with each task

• Utilizing free collaboration tools to document testing and time estimates for improving  resource management

• Looking for the required skillsets within the existing staff base to maintain R&D efforts

• Developing a roadmap for automation and intelligent communication with senior  management

3:20 pm Panel: Exploring the Future of Computational Technologies & Applications to Stay Ahead of the Curve In 2024 & Beyond

Synopsis

• Discussing the broadening landscape of computational applications to unlock new design possibilities

• Exploring the evolution of software infrastructure and the developments necessary to facilitate the scalability and robustness required for computational technologies to thrive

• Analyzing how teams are adapting and evolving to harness the full potential of computational tools, enabling organizations to derive maximum benefits from these technologies

4:00 pm Chair’s Closing Remarks

4:10 pm End of Main Conference