AI Applications in the A/E/C Industry
Moderators
Lt. Cmdr. Tim Dahms, P.E., USN
Lt. Cdr. Tim Dahms earned a BS in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and MS in Civil Engineering with a focus in Sustainable Design and Construction from Stanford University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Wisconsin. Lt. Cdr. Dahms took over as the Operations Officer for OICC China Lake in 2022 and was named the NAVFAC Military Engineer of the Year for 2023. He currently serves as the SAME National YP COI Vice Chair for Credentialing and is the Incoming Chair for the YP COI.
Col. Sal Nodjomian, P.E., F.SAME, USAF (Ret.)
Sal is the Chief Executive Officer of Matrix Design Group, a 200+ employee consulting firm specializing in planning, engineering, environmental, and program development. Prior to joining Matrix in 2012, Sal served in the United States Air Force for over 20 years, retiring as a Colonel out of Wing Command at Eglin AFB, Florida. Sal is a Distinguished Fellow within SAME and a current member of the SAME Foundation Board of Directors. He is also a past National President and a Young Professional for life.
Heather Wishart-Smith, P.E, F.SAME, LEED
Heather Wishart-Smith advises corporates and investors on strategy, growth, leadership, and innovation. She is on the boards of Orion (NASDAQ: OESX) and Group PMX, served on the limited partner advisory committee and as a global expert for Blockchain Founders Fund, and previously was the Senior Vice President, Technology & Innovation for Jacobs. An integrator of digital disruption and innovation, Ms. Wishart-Smith is a registered Professional Engineer and certified Project Management Professional with proven experience managing large design programs and developing, managing, and turning around troubled offices in the architectural/engineering professional services market. A former Navy Civil Engineer Corps officer, Ms. Wishart-Smith served at the Presidential Retreat, Camp David. She has published and presented articles on leadership, architectural, engineering and construction topics in the military and transportation sectors.
Ms. Wishart-Smith holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Virginia. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a member of the National Academy of Construction, and holds Director Certification with the National Association of Corporate Directors. She is a Fellow of Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) and was its President for the 2020-2021 centennial year.
Pooja Jain, P.E., S.E.
Pooja Jain is Senior Vice President of Strategic Innovation at WSP. She has 23 years of global infrastructure development experience across all continents in climate sensitive environments. During this time, she has led 200+ developments through various stages with planning, design and construction. Pooja founded WSP’s first accelerator and partnership ecosystem for built environment focused early and growth stage technology companies and has onboarded 8 partnerships over 18 months (50% founded by women or BIPOC). As Chair for WSP’s internal investment fund, Pooja led 10 new investments in 2023. As an advisory board member, Pooja advises two technology startups (Series B and Series A) that are developing breakthrough technologies for the built environment. She is a visiting scholar at the Stanford University School of Engineering and mentor to the AI for A/E/C course for graduate students. Pooja earned her MS in structural engineering from University of California, Berkeley and MSx (Executive MBA) from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Presenters
Kaushal Diwan
Kaushal is Portfolio Manager and Sponsor for DPR’s Innovation Group and leads the strategic investments and partnerships for WND Ventures. With nearly two decades in the industry and previously serving as the innovation leader for DPR Construction, Kaushal has spent much of his career helping identify opportunities for improvement in the AEC industry and converting concepts into measurable results for projects and customers. Kaushal regularly speaks at industry events and is an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley. Kaushal completed his BS in Management (with technology focus) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He also received his certification in Program Management and Government Contracting while previously serving as a Captain in the USAF.
Tristan Randall
As a Strategic Projects Executive and LEED AP BD+C for Autodesk, Tristan is responsible for managing project engagements with the world’s most innovative architecture, engineering, and construction firms. Tristan is an experienced designer, engineer, and technologist with expertise in helping companies design and build faster, better, and cheaper. Tristan leads projects driving technology adoption including artificial intelligence, reality capture, and industrialized construction. Recent examples include managing the first commercial drone flight at the world’s busiest airport, sequencing construction for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and digitizing 3000-year-old ruins in Italy.
He is a regular speaker who has presented on emerging technologies across the US and internationally, and has been interviewed as a subject matter expert on construction technology for publications including USA Today, Fortune, Bloomberg, ReCode, and Architect Magazine. In 2018, he was awarded the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Innovation Award, the top award in industry for technological innovation, for his work on digitizing historical sites. Tristan has an academic background in engineering and construction management, with a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from University of Colorado at Boulder and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Stanford University. Tristan has also achieved a certificate in Artificial Intelligence: Business Strategies and Applications from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.
Nick Bowden
CEO of Replica, Nick Bowden has spent his career building companies in the urban tech space. Prior to Replica, Nick founded MindMixer and mySidewalk—two govtech companies focused on improving data and communication with and across government agencies. Both companies were used by more than 1,000 government agencies and eventually acquired. Nick studied geography and played golf at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, started his career with the City of Phoenix, AZ, planning department, and spent five years working in the A/E/C industry.
Sean Griffin
Sean Griffin is CEO and co-founder of Disaster Tech. Before founding Disaster Tech, Sean served as Director for Incident Management Integration Policy on the U.S. National Security Council at the White House and is an active-duty veteran of the U.S. Navy and Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.
During his White House term under two U.S. Presidents, Sean led the Executive Office of the President and inter-agency policy coordination for major disasters and incidents. Additionally, Sean led emergency management, training, and exercise programs at the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of State, Defense Logistics Agency, and National Institutes of Health.
Fauzan Reza Maulana
Fauzan Reza Maulana is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rekava delivering AI powered information search in construction. He received a master’s degree in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford School of Engineering and an Engineer Degree at Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability in 2023. He graduated from Institut Teknologi Bandung with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 2015. Before attending Stanford, he primarily served as a tunnel engineer and was involved in the design of underground infrastructures across Asia-Pacific, including the Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 5 and the Jakarta Mass Rapid Transit, where he developed tools to increase efficiency in design and project delivery.
René Morkos, Ph.D.
René Morkos, Ph.D. is an inventor, founder, adjunct professor at Stanford University, and CEO of ALICE Technologies. He invented the world’s first Generative Construction Simulator and Optimizer and obtained his Ph.D. in artificial intelligence applications for construction as a Charles H. Leavell fellow at Stanford University, where he currently serves as an adjunct professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department. He is a second-generation civil engineer with over 15 years of experience in construction, divided between industry and academia. His operational experience includes working as a project manager in Afghanistan, underwater pipeline construction, automation engineering on a $350 million gas refinery expansion project in Abu Dhabi, ERP system implementations, and various Virtual Design and Construction projects.
He founded ALICE technologies, the world's first construction optioneering platform, in 2015 and continues its mission of reducing the cost of construction by 25% globally to allow for lower costs of living. Morkos is a researcher and adventurer, continuously exploring and teaching the theoretical boundaries of construction management and the evolution of future industries to better the world.
Michael Costas
Michael Costas serves as general manager and principal vice president of Bechtel National. He is responsible for a global portfolio worth $1.3B in annual revenue and more than 6,000 direct and subcontract employees. Costas served for eight months as the president and general manager of the Waste Treatment Completion Company, a nuclear waste management joint entity formed by Bechtel and Amentum. He was previously a senior member of Bechtel’s Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant Team.
Prior to joining Bechtel, Costas served for five years as VP of quality and mission assurance at Raytheon Technologies’ missiles business, where he was responsible for an international market portfolio. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business and Management from the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.
Karl Jensen
Karl is an accomplished senior executive and board member, with demonstrated success leading global organizations. Karl joined AECOM in 2020 to lead the National Governments business line, tasked with supporting governments around the world with solutions for some of their most complex infrastructure challenges. Additionally, Karl oversees AECOM’s Disaster Resilience Solutions practice, a team dedicated to responding to natural and human-caused disasters, restoring affected communities, and developing mitigation and resilience solutions to protect against future events. Throughout his career, Karl has held leadership positions in engineering and construction, defense, and aerospace.
Prior to AECOM, he led strategy and sales for the National Governments Sector of CH2M / Jacobs, with more than $2 billion in annual revenue and a sales team of nearly 100. His other roles within the defense industry have included Deputy of Corporate Strategy at Raytheon and Senior Vice President of Business Development at CACI. Prior to his roles in industry, Karl was a Naval Officer in the U.S. Navy. He was part of the Navy Space Cadre, a designated Acquisition Professional, and led procurements within the Intelligence Community. He was a Naval Aviator with more than 40 combat flights in Iraq and Somalia. Karl holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the US Naval Academy, an M.S. in Astronautical Engineering, and an Aerospace Engineers’ Degree from the Naval Postgraduate School. He also completed the Advanced Program Managers Course at the Defense Services Management College.
Doug Wignall, FAIA, LEED AP
Doug Wignall has devoted his entire career to HDR, from his first job as an intern architect in 1991 to his current role as a member of HDR’s Board of Directors and President of its worldwide architecture practice, a role he has held since 2012. He has been instrumental in the firm's expansion into new global market segments, and championed the evolution of "non-traditional" design and consulting services to keep pace with the challenging and diverse architectural field. Over the past decade, Doug has continuously looked for ways to evolve HDR’s architecture practice through the use of technology. This includes transformative ways in which HDR both produces and delivers work for its clients. Under his leadership, HDR’s architecture practice has nearly doubled in size, with over 40 offices in the US as well as in Canada, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, and Australia. His commitment to design excellence has created a culture of innovation and increased HDR’s design profile, exemplified by more than 50 AIA awards in the past five years.
