NYU adds hub to connect, educate construction industry

New York University's Tandon School of Engineering is creating a center to promote efficiency, sustainability and safety in the construction industry. It will also collaborate with industry executives to find solutions to the issues that can make a project late or over budget. Staff and researchers at the Institute of Design and Construction (IDC) Innovations Hub, which is described as "an industry-supported, membership-based entity," will help members solve design and construction issues; provide experts for consultations; offer training and seminars on topics ranging from leadership to material selection; and serve as a national clearinghouse for information on consulting and construction opportunities. Michael Horodniceanu, who last served as president of New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Construction, will lead the IDC Innovations Hub. The implementation of new technology will likely factor into the relationships forged at IDC. As an industry, construction has been slow to take up new technology. That's changing in part from collaborations between higher ed and the private sector that are designed to explore and support the use of new materials, systems and workflows.One such effort comes from Georgia Tech. Launched in 2009, its interdisciplinary Digital Building Laboratory (DBL) connects academic departments (including architecture, civil engineering and computing) with relevant areas of industry (such as construction firms, government and trade groups) to explore new design and construction technologies and workflows