As the VP of Product for 3D Robotics (3DR), Daniel McKinnon works at the bleeding edge of UAV technology and AEC. 3DR recently raised US$53 million with which they will continue to develop their flagship product, Site Scan, an intuitive application for autonomous drone scanning that seamlessly integrates with the Autodesk software ecosystem. McKinnon made the leap from attending AU to speaking at AU in 2016 with the class, From Site Scan to InfraWorks 360: Aerial Drone Scans for Planning and Design. READ MORE >

We’ve talked about why speaking at AU is great for your career. We’ve told you what we’re looking for. We’ve even given you tips for how to impress the panel. There’s nothing left for us to do but remind you that time is running out to submit a class proposal for this year’s conference. The AU Las Vegas 2017 CFP closes May 17.  That means you have just a few days left to submit for a chance to speak at AU—and attend the conference on us. If you’re still on the fence about speaking, check out this quick video with UAV designer and AU attendee-turned-speaker   and find out what inspi... READ MORE >

If you’ve attended AU Las Vegas before, you know just how inspiring it is. Not only do you get the chance to connect with and learn from industry experts and peers from around the world, you also get to see new and exciting technologies and workflows firsthand—and in many cases, you can actually get your hands on them. While our first priority is to help you get better at your job, if we can inspire you to make the leap from AU attendee to AU speaker, all the better. READ MORE >

For Topcon's Ed McCaffrey the goal is “continual representation of reality in heavy constructions projects” as he explains in this Innovation Zone video from AU 2016.  Watch now. 2. “There’s always more stuff to learn about AutoCAD.” How about learning to automate tasks using macros? READ MORE >

When it comes to getting the lay of the land on your infrastructure construction site, more options are available than ever before. There are traditional surveying techniques, drones, and LIDAR scanning, which can create an accurate digital model of its surroundings in a few minutes. There’s also mobile mapping, which can gather more than a million data points per second while travelling up to 40 mph. But the real advantage, according to Topcon’s Ed McCaffery, comes from integrating data from these technologies quickly and easily to get a single cohesive picture. For the first time, that give... READ MORE >