INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY IN PRACTICE
At SmithGroup, we believe that technology is not only a tool, but also a catalyst for innovation and creativity. A proliferation of powerful tools enable us to work smarter and more efficiently to gather data, visualize ideas, share knowledge, manage workflows, and enhance performance for our teams and our clients. Today’s ever-evolving technologies help us do more on our projects, supporting innovative design solutions that solve our clients’ biggest challenges.
Our Technology in Practice (TIP) group ensures that we leverage and improve the latest tools to support innovation at every step of the design process. The team comprises a diverse set of backgrounds, from architects and engineers with a passion for using technology to improve design decisions, to developers, sociologists, and data scientists who are experts in analyzing information and building custom tools for our clients. The TIP group currently numbers more than 30, and we continually seek out new talent dedicated to researching, leveraging and refining the latest technologies to support project teams across the firm. That value-added expertise allows SmithGroup to expand our scope of inquiry and investigation beyond what more traditionally IT-oriented design firms can provide, equipping us to partner with clients on their most sophisticated, complex projects.
OUR PROCESS
SmithGroup doesn’t just adopt new technology to keep up; we actively adapt that technology to push ahead. Our integrated team model is highly collaborative, bringing together a broad spectrum of viewpoints to inform and guide what technology we need to help us accomplish our projects. The TIP team is dedicated to understanding and customizing the latest tools and technology to improve project workflows and outcomes. This R&D mindset establishes a foundation of exploration and experimentation with new technology that expands and elevates our planning and design capabilities.
TOOLS & TECHNOLOGY
Our TIP team is well-versed in the industry’s latest technological tools, and how they can be customized and implemented to achieve our clients' goals. As industry leaders, we engage with software companies to impact the development of their tools. If a tool can’t quite tackle the challenge we’re facing, we modify it or build our own.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
The Role of Tech Adaptation in Design Innovation
Technology continues to impact the AEC industry. Years ago, it was Building Information Modeling (BIM) and advances in design documentation; now it’s the growing incorporation of Artificial Intelligence/AI and Machine Learning. Staying in front of these advancing technologies requires more than being an early adopter of new tech as it emerges. AEC IT professionals must look for creative ways to adapt and extend emerging technology to advance design innovation and drive better performance and outcomes.
OUR WORK
UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center Expansion
UC Davis required a new wing that would bring pediatric and adult patients, clinicians and researchers under one roof. Our team integrated VR/AR mockups and custom BIM 360-Sharepoint integration to help peer review workflow.
Integrating scripted form optimization and panelization, led us to utilize AR-based QAQC workflow during construction administration for this civic DC building.
Virginia Tech - Innovation Campus and Academic 1 Building
Through generative form finding/analysis and collaborative virtual reality, our team helped advance this project's design to reflect its goals of becoming part of a new emerging tech hub for talent and innovation.
American Family Insurance Real Estate Assessment
Workplace strategy and data modeling come together to reimagine the future of work for this leading insurance company. Through data analytics, visualization and creating a custom space planning calculator, our team was able to bring change as the firm embraced a hybrid work model across its many locations.
The Power of AR & VR in Healthcare Design
A large part of the design process for any healthcare facility is examining how the space will function for its clinicians. While healthcare planners have developed numerous methods for road-testing design with clinical care teams and support service members, augment reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are emerging as a must-have tool for the design process of any new healthcare facility.
Contact Us
Derek White
Vice President, Chief Information Officer
(734) 662-4457
derek.white [at] smithgroup.com