Three recent app releases aim to raise the bar on roof-estimating tools. Two of them are free and modest in function, although one reaches for the stars. The other is pricey and complex by app standards. Photo by Tom Sawyer PITCH PERFECT Pitch Gauge 2.0 has a calculator that converts measurements into estimates of materials. One roofing contractor calls it a must-have. At the modest end of the spectrum is a roof-pitch-measuring app called Pitch Gauge 2.0, which came out this month for Android smart phones. The app, also available for the iPhone, uses the smart phone's gyroscope to read

A first-of-its-kind automatic, multisensor system for finding the safest escape routes in buildings is slated for installation in three Iowa campus structures this fall.

Inspired by the need to prevent employees who are working on far-flung project teams from entering inaccurate time and deficient information, the developer of a punch-clock application has linked its newest version to an evolving security feature. “The biometric fingerprint technology is our most important update. It adds the security of knowing an employee must be present to log their own hours,” says Michael Fullerton, president of CyberMatrix Corp., Vernon, British Columbia, Canada. “A lot of mobile tablets already have this fingerprint hardware built into the device.”The seventh version of CyberMatrix's Employee Project Clock, which has been out for two

Of all professional groups, architects and engineering and construction firms spend the least on marketing (3.1 percent), according to a 2008 study by Hinge, a marketing services firm.

 While the building professions are loathe to print brochures, nearly all have websites. And nearly all operate on a local or regional level. Given how easy and inexpensive it is to optimize a website for local search to help prospective clients find you, it's hard to understand why engineers and builders wouldn't take advantage of local search engine optimization.

 As far back as 2004, local search accounted for up to 25 percent of

In the last (and first) issue of ENR’s FutureTech newsletter (which went out June 14), I discussed key pricing and compatibility issues to consider when buying new design software. But there are other issues to consider, which can include the usability of your drawings. Related Links: Before You Upgrade CAD: Questions to Ask (Pt. 1 of 2)  A key test is a simple one: print out a detailed set of drawings for a job, in different sizes, on paper and in PDF or other format you might use for portable tablets and laptops. Is everything there? In the second half

Engineers who need to integrate river-flow analysis data with 3D civil design models recently got a boost with the release of a new extension that ties them together. Until the end of the year, Autodesk Labs is offering Project River Analysis Extension software for free as a sort of trial balloon. The software integrates with AutoCAD Civil 3D and AutoCAD Map 3D for 2012. Photo courtesy of Autodesk, Inc. A screen shot of Autodesk's new River Analysis Extension, which is on Autodesk Labs' site and free until the end of this year. The latest extension can overlay one-dimensional data from

A new app displays the load capacities of various shackles and slings, such as wire rope, chain, nylon web and round. Screen shot courtesy of RigIT. A new app displays the load capacities of various shackles and slings, such as wire rope, chain, nylon web and round.RigIT LLC, San Francisco, released the app RigIT for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch on June 8, 2011.“I have my rigging charts on a sticker inside my hardhat,” says Perry Churchill, safety manager with Bragg Crane Co., Long Beach, Calif. “But some of my charts only go up to a certain width, like

Image courtesy of Mesuris VISIBLOC's 3D feed is displayed to crane operators and the foreman in real time. The bull's eye in the bottom-right corner helps guide the block to its target. Monsoon season in the Arabian Peninsula's Sultanate of Oman goes from early June to mid-September, bringing with it predictably rough weather that can stir up the seas. For workers building a 3-kilometer-long breakwater at a $3.25-billion greenfield port at Dugm, this could hamper their work a bit.The stormy forecast led Muhammad D. Suleiman El Dawood, the site project manager, to adopt a GPS- and sensor-aided system for underwater

During his tenure at the National Aviation and Space Administration, Craig Collier helped develop the software that would become HyperSizer, a computer-aided program for designing with composite laminates. When he left NASA, his brainchild followed him, as the first ever software allowed to be commercialized by the space agency. The latest version, HyperSizer v6, was recently released. Image courtesy of Collier Research Corp. Different composite laminates overlap in this model of a wind-turbine blade. Each color represents a different laminate zone and often depicts one or more overlapping composites. Related Links: Interactive Screens For Less, To Go HyperSizer is designed

Utilities that allow users to view and control web-connected computers from a range of mobile devices—for example, smart phones and tablets—are some of the most popular applications. Woburn, Mass.-based LogMeIn, which makes the free screen-sharing service join.me, is among the more successful app makers in this category. Photo: Courtesy Of Log Me In LogMeIn has released a new version of join.me for iPhones and iPads. The company says the free app now features a Voice-over IP (VoIP) option that lets users converse during their screen-sharing sessions. A zoom feature for closer screen inspection is also available. On join.me’s Facebook page,