Articles by Tom Sawyer

After five years of PhD research and two years of software development, a start-up enterprise that applies parallel computing and artificial intelligence to construction planning and scheduling is ready to go to work.

Using artificial intelligence to scan construction-site photos and video to spot issues that can affect performance, quality and safety, a tech startup has landed a strategic investor with millions of such images that can be used to improve the technology.

In a catalogue that offers specialized lighting and power equipment for use in hazardous locations, a company now is offering an explosion-proof drone with an impressive range and flight  time, a useful payload capacity and a high price tag to match.

A “shark tank” panel of private equity investors at the American Society of Civil Engineers innovation awards celebration in June shed light on how they evaluate prospects, what red flags they look for and how innovation is likely to advance in an industry whose customers are dominated by public sector owners predisposed to “say no.”

Announced enhancements to a cloud-based project management service and its growing integration with external products holds promise for an easy exchange of construction data between independent products within the system, say contractors and third-party app vendors who attended a software users conference in Austin, Texas, in March.