Whether he is a democrat or a republican, the new man in the White House got there touting the need for change. Decade-old problems of health care, job obsolescence, and crumbling infrastructure are just a few of the many difficulties that plague our great nation; the current burdens are complex with far-reaching implications. Americans are demanding from our political leaders smarter solutions to today’s challenges: the same old, ineffective responses are no longer acceptable!

Similarly in the AEC industry, how we design and construct projects has not seen much change in innovation or productivity for decades—and our constituents are demanding we do better. It is not only time that structural engineers re-think about the complex and challenging issues facing our profession, it is time we led the effort to change what is no longer working.

I believe that significant changes are about to take shape in our industry based upon how we design projects for construction and how we contract for their delivery.

Prefabrication and research—How we design and construct buildings and other infrastructure has to improve. The current disconnected, silo-driven design methods and piecemeal, manual labor-intensive process of construction is riddled with errors, losses, and litigation.

Last month at the Structural Engineers’ Buildings Conference & Expo in Atlanta, Conference Chairman Charlie Thornton, Ph.D., P.E., held up a copy of Refabricating Architecture: How Manufacturing Methodologies are Poised to Transform Building Construction, by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake as a must-read for structural engineers. The crux of this book is that AEC is going to have to rethink our time-honored, yet obsolete, linear process of design and construction. The authors implore designers to look to other industries—such as automobile and aerospace—for inspiration for improved efficiency and innovation.

For structural engineers, this translates into thinking about design in terms of construction and constructability. Many firms do this to some degree already, but to significantly advance the industry, consider prefabricated parts. Just as cars and airplanes are assembled from a series of well-designed, well-integrated components, buildings can benefit the same way. Prefabrication can improve construction, while producing a higher quality project.

However, to fully leverage any new opportunities—prefabrication or other—we need to invest in research. Did you know that the Charles Pankow Foundation funds research that specifically advances innovation in building design and construction? Did you know the Foundation is actively looking for ideas to support? Visit www.pankowfoundation.org for more details.

IPD and BIM—How we deliver projects is another process that is craving improvement. Integrated project delivery (IDP) and building information modeling (BIM) combine to enable teams of designers, contractors, and owners to collaborate for successful project delivery. The contractual relationship of IPD legally binds all of the design and construction team members together to share in the project successes as well as the project losses. By removing the fear of being sued, information is readily shared and combined for the unified goal of project success.

"Leadership is required for integrated design," said Glenn Bell, P.E., during his keynote presentation during last month’s Structural Engineers’ Buildings Conference, "But, we also need to tackle the liability monster that is hampering innovation." IPD may be one way to accomplish both of these.

It is time for the new president of the United States to roll up his sleeves and make progress toward the changes that he promised on the campaign trail. Likewise, it is time for structural engineers to re-think the outdated process we have been using for decades and, more importantly, lead the industry through innovation, integrated design, and change. Americans are counting on us.