In the constantly-evolving AEC industry, the importance of continuing technical education is difficult to understate. Yet learning opportunities for design and construction professionals tend to occupy two extremes, explained Thornton Tomasetti’s Jonatan Schumacher. “You can take a class, which is a long undertaking,” he said. “Or you can watch online lectures, which require self-motivation.” The Facades+ conference series offers a happy medium in the form of day-long tech workshops, providing hands-on exposure to new tools under the guidance of subject specialists.
“The tech workshop is a unique opportunity, especially given how busy AEC professionals are,” said Schumacher, who will co-teach “Responsive Facade Prototypes” at next month’s Facades+ NYC with colleague Grace Koerber. “It’s just long enough that you get a good understanding of what the topic is, but short enough that if it’s not for you, you haven’t committed a lot of time.”
Schumacher, who has participated in past Facades+ tech workshops both as a student and as an instructor, points out that the courses meet a range of needs and levels of experience. “The workshop we’re about to teach is to explore something new, and hopefully whet someone’s appetite,” he said. “Other workshops are designed to help you freshen up on the topic, or add skills.” As for the tempo of the day, “it’s usually pretty fast paced, such that you get quite a good amount of exposure to the subject,” explained Schumacher.
Participants in the tech workshops can expect to learn from each other as well as their instructors. “It’s a real community,” said Schumacher. “You can meet new people in your city that are interested in the same things. It’s nice to create that network, and hopefully stay in touch afterwards.” The facilitators, too, get something out of the courses. “It’s a lot of fun because we can teach subjects that we can’t necessarily do in our day to day jobs,” said Schumacher. “It’s usually something that we’re passionate about. I always enjoy spreading the word.”
Other tech workshops on offer at Facades+ NYC include “Photogrammetry: Scanning to 3D Models,” with Justin Nardone and Ben Howes, also of Thornton Tomasetti. SHoP Architects’ John Cerone, Victoire Saby, and John Guilford will lead Parametric Facade Systems & Logic Sequencing,” and Matt Jezyk and Colin McCrone, both of Autodesk, will co-teach “Dynamo Tools for Facade Design in Revit.”
For more information or to register, visit the Facades+ NYC website.
