Courtesy AOC AOC just released a thinner, brighter version of its 16-in., USB 3.0 mobile monitor. Related Links: AOC's Monitor on Amazon https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-display/id368158927?mt=8 Air Display App An electronics manufacturer just released a lightweight, high-definition flat-screen monitor that increases in-the-field workers' screen real estate.The 16-in., 2.3-lb screens, made by AOC International, Taipei, Taiwan, are "just fabulous," says Connie Fuller, operations analyst at Hollywood Woodwork, a Hollywood, Fla.-based architectural firm. "I work on the West Coast and in Florida, and I travel back and forth," she says. "I had a big Dell monitor before this, and it wasn't convenient for travel."Now when

Related Links: Read the CII Study Corps Delivers 100-year Protection Plan Long before statistical whiz Nate Silver predicted the outcome of the 2012 presidential election and "Moneyball" became a household word, structural engineers employed the Monte Carlo method of simulating failures to fine-tune their designs of tall buildings and other critical structures. Now probabilistics is finding broader use among project estimators, planners and risk managers looking to cut down on schedule and cost variables that can suck valuable time, money and profit out of construction work.Roughly 56% of firms involved in construction use probabilistic methods to manage risk, according to

Photo by Tudor Van Hampton All Smiles Patrick Allin, Textura CEO and co-founder, met with upbeat investors on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 7 to watch the company trade its first shares on the open market. Related Links: Textura IPO Turns Up the Heat on Construction Tech Startups Textura Buys GradeBeam, Plans New Bidding Platform Before the opening bell rang on June 7, it took about 20 minutes for traders at the New York Stock Exchange to agree on a fair price for Textura Corp.'s initial public offering. The problem was a gap in supply

Image Courtesy Autodesk Inc. Anywhere App for the iPad will let InfraWorks Pro users view scenarios in 3D for collaboration anywhere, anytime. InfraWorks 360 Pro Hangout Related Links: WeoGeo, Map Data on Demand First came 3D modeling to the paper-based world of civil design and construction. Now, project stakeholders are beginning to picture their highways in the cloud.One new addition comes from the San Raphael, Calif.-based design software vendor Autodesk Inc., which released a cloud-enhanced version of its InfraWorks Civil 3-D Modeling package, named Autodesk InfraWorks 360 Pro, on Aug. 7. It brings to Autodesk's Civil 3-D modeling new abilities

Courtesy of Lloyd Wright This Texas-based wind research lab is designed to explore how an array of wind turbines affect one another and discover best design practices for turbine placement and blade design and angle. Related Links: SWiFT Construction Time Lapse Texas Tech National Wind Institute T he United State's first public-operated, multiple-turbine wind-research test facility recently completed its first phase of construction. It is designed to test the physics of how wind turbines interact in a wind array.The $4.5-million facility, dubbed SWiFT for "scaled wind-farm technology," is the result of a partnership between the U.S. Dept. of Energy, Sandia

Related Links: GitHub Browser-Based Version of Build-A-Bolt The American Institute of Steel Construction is offering cash prizes for developers who create apps that it deems useful to the steel design and construction industry.Also, the AISC just released an app of its own to help workers, for any given job, select the correct bolt, washer and nut combination of the right material, steel grade, finish and manufacturer."There are only a handful of steel apps currently available," says Erin Criste, an AISC staff engineer. "So the AISC saw a need for more apps to assist with the design, construction, fabrication and erection

Courtesy Bentley Systems Bentley's Map Mobile displays geospatial data, such as fire hydrants and underwater pipes, overlayed on a map. Related Links: Bentley Picks Up Ivaras Asset Performance Management Tools Bentley's Developer Network Bentley's Map Mobile in Google Play When Thomas Kaufmann, an engineering-plans design supervisor at the Philadelphia Dept. of Water, sends engineers out to the field to look for underground water pipes, he says they typically have to take more than 120 maps in the truck to help track down the pipes. Once at the location in question, the engineers must rifle through countless paper maps to locate

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows an increase in the rate of IT job creation, with 88,900 IT jobs added in the last 12 months, but analysis of a mid-year IT salary survey by an consulting firm that tracks issues for CIOs and CFOs, shows that hiring is not really robust, and IT salaries remain flat. “Based on our interviews with over 96 CIOs in the last 30 days, we concluded that CIOs are not in a great hurry to hire new staff except to meet short term needs until they see a clear trend as to what is

Image Courtesy of PCI Geomatics The visual search function of Geomatica Discover eases management of geospatial data. Related Links: Geomatica Discover A new browser-based, stand-alone software released in late June searches local, system and removable drives to discover and index the geospatial data of more than 100 formats. It creates a graphical geospatial data catalogue from vector and image files."When I started in this industry, you were lucky to fit two satellite images on your hard drive," says David Stanley, chief technology officer at PCI Geomatics, the Ontario, Canada-based photogrammetric software development company that released Geomatica Discover. "Now, people pass

By Luke Abaffy New app allows remote access to smart devices. Related Links: LogMeIn Rescue LogMeIn Rescue for Android LogMeIn Rescue is a new app for the iOS platform that supports any IT help desk by allowing remote access to iOS mobile devices. The new app is released in conjunction with a redesign to the existing Android app of the same name, which has been out since February."We allow you to remotely configure and chat with the iPad and iPhone," says Lou Orfanos, product manager, LogMeIn Inc., Boston. "Once you request a support session, you end up with a chat