Business Development Manager at VMG Group (VMG Building Systems)
Topic:
The future is ConTech with a 360-degree view
Paulius Milčius has been active in offsite construction for 14 years, working for the last 2 years at VMG Group on the development of a state-of-the-art engineered-wood-processing giga-factory to supply sustainable construction materials, components and building solutions. Before that he helped establish SBA Modular, a spin-off of the SBA Group offering climate-friendly modular solutions. Both VMG and SBA are major Baltic suppliers of IKEA. Previously, he helped to develop the structural design company Timber Design LT and the offsite timber construction company Effective Solution and to establish them across Europe as experts in their fields.
More generally, over the past 20 years Paulius has held management roles in business development, marketing and media. He has start-up and family business experience as well.
A master’s degree in international trade and marketing and a bachelor’s degree in international relations provide him with a 360-degree professional vision. He has keen interest in Scandinavia, the UK, and particularly German-speaking countries as some of the most advanced regions for construction innovations.
Ivan Rupnik
Founding partner, MOD X
Topic:
Modularization precedes digitalisation
In 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute demonstrated that construction productivity annually since 1968, while nearly every other sector of the economy including manufacturing, retail, and agriculture has grown. Why has construction been excluded from any appreciable productivity gains over such a long period of time while vast economic opportunity costs continue to accrue? Utilizing case studies from the US, Europe and Japan, Professor Rupnik will demonstrate how concepts like modularization and product platforms can be successfully applied to construction to increase the affordability, quality sustainability and equity in the built environment, particularly in housing delivery. Born of academia, MOD X ™ is a knowledge management enterprise, bringing applied research expertise, connections and experience to both new and established players in the industrialized construction sector. MOD X offers advisory services, exchange tours, and educationalsessions, live and virtual, regarding industrialized, offsite and volumetric modular using our broad network of affiliates and collaborators in academia and industry.
Jokūbas Vaišvila
Co-founder, Chief Technology Officer, Strato Group
Topic:
We are the robots
Jokūbas is a typical millennial – first generation that grew up in the age of the internet. Jokūbas started his engineering career at 15 as a structural design CAD draftsman in his brother’s company. After in-depth preparation for architectural studies, he decided to dive into building energetics and renewable engineering studies and currently holds a Thermal Engineering Master’s degree. Jokūbas carrier is closely related to buildings and computers – in 2008 started working in an international wooden house builder company and in 2012 started his BIM journey and worked hand-in-hand with such companies as MOE, AECOM, NIRAS, Mott MacDonald, etc. optimizing their BIM design phase processes. Jokūbas worked at Autodesk Authorized Developer company and was a product owner of the MEP product branch.
While the BIM process has massive potential to reconstruct the building industry, it has failed to deliver on its promise of improving industries’ productivity, error rate, environmental impact. The construction industry is ineffective and fragmented because of the lack of automation, digitalization, and innovation. Currently, Jokūbas holds a CTO position in a Lithuanian-based #ConTech Startup called STRATO GROUP – the sky has no limits, innovations have no boundaries! Jokūbas is pioneering innovative technologies for the design-built process, such as AI-driven building design software, off-site manufacturing technologies for modular and panel buildings, and large-scale construction 3D printing technologies.
Jokūbas’ millennial character traits like a mix of tech-savviness, combined with a need for personal interaction, help drive changes across multiple generations while infusing the industry with a fresh new perspective.
Tomas Uždanavičius
Owner Domingo Design AB, Sweden
Topic:
Trends in the digitalisation of the Swedish construction industry. What can we learn?
Tomas is currently working and living in Sweden. He works as a freelance project manager for large-scale and technically complex projects. Current projects include a new 35,000 sqm hospital building in Stockholm and a renovation of the Swedish Embassy in Poland.
Digitization has always played a significant role in Tomas career, and therefore, in addition to the main project development activities, he invests in and develops the product called Cployer, dedicated to digitization of construction business. Prior to starting as an independant contractor and IT developer, he has held project manager role at the project management company Forsen.
Among his responsibilities there was company’s digitalization as well, and Tom has been granted with Forsen’s Innovator of the Year award. He graduated from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and the Executive Education Program at the Stockholm School of Economics.
Aivars Alt
Estonia, Tallinn University of Applied Sciences, Director of Construction institute
Topic:
Estonian experience in framework of ConTech
After graduating, Aivaras has worked with a reinforced concrete company for nine years. Since then, he has been using 3D models in his day-to-day work with clients and partners. He primarily used Autodesk software.
In 2009, Aivaras started working as a lecturer at the TTK University of Applied Sciences. There he is actively involved in the development of BIM projects and organizes BIM demonstration events for the stakeholders of Estonian construction industry. Since 2011, he has been working according to the requirements of BIM. His main interests in BIM are energy analysis, laser scanning and architectural modeling and data management.
Moreover, since 2017 Aivaras is actively working with the BIM Requirements Cluster, which seeks to unify the BIM requirements in Estonia and deliver the value of BIM to the public and private sector. From 2018 onwards he is the director of the Institute of Construction.
Andrius Rimša
Sweden, Owner Loxus Consulting
Topic:
Challenges of the digitalization of infrastructure: construction, operation, renovation
Andrius Rimša, Doctor of Geology, holds a PhD from the Lund University (Sweden). His research, conducted 2002–2007, focused on zirconium U-Pb geochronology and metamorphic rock petrology in Sweden and India. In 2007, he worked as a field geologist at the Swedish Geological Survey and was responsible for field mapping and geochronological surveys.
Since 2008 he has hold different roles in various projects: a project/technical manager for the engineering firms, an expert in geology and tunnel engineering for the Trafikverket (Swedish Transport Administration) and other mining and industrial companies as well as municipalities. In 2014-2020 Mr. Rimša was the Head of Department for The Infrastructure Design and Tunnel Engineering. In 2020, he founded Loxus Consulting, which provides project and technical management services, including geological and tunnel engineering and ROV underwater tunnel inspection.
Edvinas Subačius
Malta, Rootz LTD, Chief Data Officer
Topic:
Modern information management
Edvinas gained masters degree in applied mathematics at KTU and worked on data analytics and business automation projects in fintech and online gambling sectors for the last 8 years. Getting his first exposure to complex data processes in Ukio bankas and SEB in Lithuania, he moved to Europes online gaming hub Malta, where he raised standards of insight analytics and analytics based automation in industry giants such as Betsson, LeoVegas and Gaming Innovation Group.
Currently Edvinas holds Chief Data Officer position in Rootz Ltd, an online gaming company which develops and owns unique online gambling platform and operates 4 outstanding online casinos. Edvinas is responsible for data warehouse, business intelligence processes, data team management, data protection and will be talking about importance of information management in the digital age.
Sampo Pilli-Sihvola
Senior Manager, Modeling Tools
Topic:
Building information model´s lifecycle
Sampo Pilli-Sihvola has been working last 16 years in BIM Building Information Modelling field. He has wide experience in national and global BIM requirements and workflows from various prefabricator and contractors around the world. Most of the BIM career he has been working in global software company Trimble with Tekla Structures BIM software.
BIM has evolved a lot in last 16 years. BIM is not anymore and acronym for 3D modelling as it was still decade ago. BIM and especially the Information in digital format has become more and more important in all construction project throughout the whole workflow. How the digital information can be used and how it can be shared. Digital twins are done and used in many construction projects. These and many other BIM topics has been the passion and leading star in his career.
Currently Sampo is leading BIM tools development at Peikko. Peikko is the Global Forerunner in Slim Floor Structures, Wind Energy Applications and Connection Technology for Precast and Cast-in-situ.
Christopher Raitviir
BIM Project Manager,
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Estonia
Topic:
BIM based building permit in Estonia
Christopher Raitviir is a Head of Digital Construction in Tallinn Urban Planning Department and BIM Project Manager in Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. At Tallinn he is leading digitalisation of built environment life cycle processes. At the ministry he is developing BIM-based building permit process which is being integrated to National Building Registry and giving his BIM experience to various other ongoing projects to help increase the productivity in the AEC industry. In last three years he has been also working in research group in the Tallinn University of Technology on the project of „Digitalisation of building life cycle using BIM processes”. Christopher has a master of science degree in civil engineering.
In his presentation Christopher will cover using BIM models in building permit process: demo of user interface; automated rule based and algorithm based checks against the building code; integration of surrounding environment of the building from national digital twin in case of correct geolocation of BIM model; importance of common BIM requirements.
Dr.-Ing. Andreas Niggl
Development manager, SOFiSTiK AG
Topic:
Integrated Structural Analysis – the future of working
The AEC sector in general and structural analysis in particular is still lagging in terms of digitization. Models are set up repeatedly, data is transmitted in formats with reduced information content like drawings or even on paper. SOFiSTiK as one of the leading software providers for structural analysis and detailing committed itself to overcome those issues by providing fully digital, BIM integrated workflows, enabling users to speed up their processes and to create designs of better quality.
The presentation will give an insight into what is already technically possible today and how we at SOFiSTiK see the future of structural engineering integrating into BIM workflows. It will cover aspects like parametrization, automatic generation of analysis models from architectural BIM Models or new data formats emerging in the community for the exchange of structural analysis data and results.
However, it will also rise questions. If the structural engineer will work more closely connected with other participants in a BIM process, not only the technical preconditions need to change but also the mindset and the workflows of the structural engineers itself. It will be discussed, for example, how important it is to have a common model of high quality and who should be responsible for it and how all this might affect the job description of the future structural engineers.
