AEC TECH NEWS: WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff to present digital planning tech at APA conference

Phoenix — WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff will collaborate with Autodesk, Inc. to present “Tech Zone: Technology for Planning Excellence” at the American Planning Association’s (APA) National Planning Conference, April 2-5 in Phoenix. This technology exhibit will create a hands-on environment for conference attendees to explore innovative digital planning technologies and hear from leading industry experts.

“We are thrilled to be teaming with Autodesk for the second year to present Tech Zone at the APA’s national conference,” said Tom Coleman, senior supervising planner at WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff. “Our planning professionals will lead several key technical sessions on emerging planning approaches and technologies and the Tech Zone will showcase a host of innovative digital tools that can be used across a wide variety of planning disciplines to communicate the overall scope, scale and vision of a project.”

Among the WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff speakers featured at the TechZone are:

• Michael Mondshine, vice president, sustainability and energy, who will discuss Providing Multi-sector Integrated Solutions for our Future Urban Centers on Sunday, April 3 from 10 to 10:30 a.m., and Monday, April 4 from 4:30 to 5 p.m. His presentation will address how new technologies and approaches will support converged networks within population centers, transportation hubs and commercial venues that work as urban cells which share heat, power and other resources, while improving facility management, security and asset utilization.

• Steve Burrows, U.S. buildings director, will present Back to the Future on Monday, April 4 from 1:45 to 2:15 p.m., highlighting how we can learn from history and nature using technology to create a sustainable future, including the use of cutting-edge 3D laser-scanning technology to put history’s building wonders to the test, exploring the secrets of how the world’s most iconic engineering creations were constructed. 

• Lauren Isaac, manager of sustainable transportation, will highlight “Driving Towards Driverless: A Guide for Government Agencies,” on Monday, April 4 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. This new guide, researched and written by Isaac, helps state, regional and local government officials respond to the infrastructure and policy changes that the advent of driverless vehicles will require.

Technologies to be demonstrated in the Tech Zone include digital city modeling, forecasting and analytics, augmented and virtual reality, mobile and social outreach, 3D printing and city models, and geospatial and smart city planning tools. Other topics to be addressed by WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff planning professionals at the conference include the planning of the Northeast rail corridor of the East Coast, possible high-speed rail between Phoenix and Tucson, transportation planning in Cleveland, and planning before and after community unrest.