Invest in Digitization, Inspire Your Designers

Training, mentorship, and knowledge sharing are as important as innovation

Technologies like BIM and generative design can help us build better, faster, and more sustainably, but only if we can get designers and engineers to use them. To do that, companies need to support knowledge sharing, encourage mentorship, and invest in training. François Appéré has been part of the training process at Arcadis and has watched engineers and designers face the challenges of BIM adoption firsthand. Initially, they found the workflows cumbersome and disconnected from the daily projects they were working to deliver. But gradually, once they understood the possibilities of modeling objects and then letting the software handle the drafting, they embraced the technology. When Arcadis first implemented BIM processes for infrastructure projects in the late 2000s, they brought in experienced engineers from outside the company and from other offices around the world to help their teams develop the necessary skills. The result? Thousands of hours of design time saved.

About the speaker

François Appéré is the global Autodesk platform lead for Arcadis. He is an expert on all things BIM and is passionate about leveraging new technologies to improve the design and construction process and reduce environmental impact. He has studied at the MIT Sloan School of Management, the École des Ponts ParisTech, and INSA Rennes.

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