A project’s success is often dependent on completing it on time and within budget. The construction phase of the project is usually the one that consumes the most resources, and it’s often the stage when projects can go off track. Earned value tracking—a methodical approach to keeping your projects on track to meet tight deadlines—can help overcome these challenges. Earned value tracking helps the project teams answer tough questions regarding the health of the project and schedule. In this session, CJ Best, construction technology program manager, and Spencer Hobson, senior project engineer—both from leading MEP specialty contractor McKinstry—will share their approaches to accurately tracking field productivity. You’ll see how McKinstry uses the 3D model, project data, iPads, and software systems, including Assemble Systems, to manage project costs, material delivery, installation, scheduling, and inventory on multiple projects, including an innovative cancer treatment facility.

Come and discover the easy way to visually audit your fabrication database without opening a single file. This class will be an introduction to Microsoft Power BI and how it can be used for fabrication content managers. Power BI is a business intelligence software that can aggregate and visualize data from hundreds of different sources and formats to let creators view and share their content like never before. By the end of this class, you’ll understand the steps that you need to create a live, interactive, and shareable dashboard to make your content auditing more efficient at your workplace.

This lab will walk students through an introduction to some advanced AutoLISP concepts and practices. Students will get a taste of reactors, VBA-style programming in AutoLISP, and advanced function and processes.

Are you an experienced AutoCAD user? Do you want to get even better and faster with the software? Have you looked at other sessions about coding or customizing AutoCAD and thought they seemed too complicated? This session is for you! Learn how to do simple automation tasks to save time and increase productivity. Even though we’ll use LISP, this is not a coding class. If you can type some commands at the Command Line, we’ll use that knowledge to help you build some simple automated routines. For example, what if you could just type in 4 and you’re automatically offsetting 4”, or type in ZZ and you zoom to extents and then back out 10%? You’ll learn many, many more of these simple tools and how you can set them all up in one or two text files to take with you for the rest of your AutoCAD career.

Have you experienced any of these issues with AutoCAD products: slow opening of drawings, crashing, pausing within AutoCAD, and slow plotting? Clients, subconsultants, and approving agencies often have DWG™ files that get corrupted. This can cause loss of work and missed deadlines. Drawing corruption can range from small, annoying issues to being unable to open or print files. This corruption can affect your files and spread across your projects rapidly. In this session, we’ll explore methodologies and workflows to prevent files from getting corrupted due to internal and external factors. We’ll review eight things that cause drawing slowness, and we’ll show how to repair the drawings.

In this class we will present how to define your electrical design in Revit software. We will explore the advantages of using a Building Information Modeling (BIM) model for an electrical installation, and address electrical families and connectors, electrical systems, light calculation, and documentation.

Being an AutoCAD® Architecture or AutoCAD® MEP user is like being a younger sibling of a over-achieving brother or sister. However, we've got some tricks up our sleeves and AutoCAD has some tools and features that the Revit® world doesn't have yet. In this hands-on lab, we cover tips for creating and maximizing projects using AutoCAD Architecture, Revit, or plain AutoCAD for MEP design; key features for AutoCAD MEP users that aren't available in Revit MEP; using MEP models for energy analysis and other external applications; and creating custom content quickly for 3D projects. Join us for this information-filled class that helps you be competitive in the BIM world, featuring the longest-tenured MEP modeling product in the Autodesk lineup. And get your hands on some of my tools to help you get started.

ObjectARX technology is the premier API (application programming interface) that is supported by AutoCAD software, AutoCAD for Mac software, and the industry-specific AutoCAD software systems. If you need to access APIs that aren't exposed through AutoLISP programming language, if you want to create applications that are optimized for large data sets, or if you need to build efficient applications for Windows and Mac OS, ObjectARX technology may be the most effective API for you. This lecture will help you understand the basics of ObjectARX technology. We will discuss which development tools you need, how to interact with AutoCAD software, and how to create a very simple 'Hello World-esque' project. ObjectARX technology utilizes the C++ programming language, but this session does not require that you know C++. Prior AutoCAD software programming experience with AutoLISP programming language or Microsoft .NET is highly recommended. The second session of this series is a hands-on lab.

We can extend AutoCAD software in a number of ways, but many users are unsure of where or how to get started. In this lab you will create custom desktop icons, modify the ribbon and Quick Access toolbar, create and modify command aliases that you can use to start commands, and define tools and tool palettes to reduce repetitive drawing tasks. This lab will give you a solid foundation in some of the available customization features that AutoCAD software offers to help you become more productive when you return to your office.

ObjectARX technology is the premier API (application programming interface) that is supported by AutoCAD software, AutoCAD for Mac software, and the industry-specific AutoCAD software systems. If you need to access APIs that aren't exposed through AutoLISP programming language, if you want to create applications that are optimized for large data sets, or if you need to build efficient applications for Windows and Mac OS, ObjectARX technology may be the most efficient API for you. This session provides hands-on experience using Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft Visual C++ to create and build an ObjectARX technology project that can be loaded into AutoCAD software. Prior experience with C++ programming language is helpful, but it is not required. However, you should have experience with AutoLISP programming language or Managed .NET. This is Part 2 of a 2-part series.

Specialized toolsets for architecture, electrical, mechanical, plant design, and more are now included when you subscribe to AutoCAD software. How is the new, unified AutoCAD changing how you work? Now that you can access every toolset, what can you do that you couldn’t do before? Do you know that you can use AutoCAD MEP software to create cable tray, hanger, conduits, pipe fitting, and MvParts that you can use in AutoCAD Plant 3D software? Getting started with the parametric parts can intimidate a new AutoCAD MEP user, so this class will walk you through—from a beginner level until you know everything required to be an expert in content creation. By the end of the class, you will have the knowledge to create your own custom cable tray, hanger, and pipe fitting, which means that you will be able to make anything you need in AutoCAD MEP for AutoCAD Plant 3D.

You’ve been using AutoCAD software to produce your drawings for some time and you have a huge library of details. Now that you’re moving to Revit software, what happens to all these details? You don’t what to just trash them, and you don’t want to re-create them in Revit. In this class, we'll look at the next step in your transition to Revit. We'll see how you can still use details right in your Revit projects, straight from AutoCAD. We’ll look at how we can bring those existing details into Revit and have them be referenced as correct in our projects, as if they were created there. We’ll even look at how to Revit-ize your AutoCAD details to start building a true Revit detail library. So, if not being able to use your details is holding you back from switching to Revit, or you're just not sure how to do it, don’t let this stop you. You don’t have to throw them out—they’re still good.

This lab will walk students through an introduction to some advanced AutoLISP concepts and practices. Students will get a taste of reactors, VBA-style programming in AutoLISP, and advanced function and processes.

AutoLISP programming language has been around for decades, yet there are many functions that often go undiscovered or forgotten by veteran AutoLISP programmers. While there are hundreds of AutoLISP programming language functions (thousands, if you count ActiveX), this class will focus on 21 functions that new developers often overlook and that veteran programmers often forget. All of the functions fit into 1 of several different themes, including function execution, object creation and manipulation, and error handling. We will also discuss loading LISP files, accessing variable values, and configuring contextual help.

Turning a design-stage MEP BIM model into a fabrication-ready (LOD 400) model using Fabrication MEP parts is one of the most critical and complex phases in the project lifecycle. Once IFC files and construction drawings are handed off, the responsibility shifts to general contractors and subcontractors to ensure constructability, meet engineering standards, and align with fabrication requirements. This session will demonstrate how Autodesk Forma , AutoCAD or Revit with Fabrication MEP parts, curated MEP database sets, custom scripts and powerful add-ins enhance model refinement. You’ll discover how early modeling decisions reduce waste, improve rerouting, and accelerate field installation. By resolving fabrication needs in the model, teams reduce material use and empower crews with ready-to-build content. Whether you're a GC or MEP subcontractor working toward high-detail prefab, this session offers the tools to bridge design and construction empower by the cloud base tools.

Discover how leading MEP contractors are using fabrication metrics—powered by Autodesk tools and Stratus—to improve throughput, reduce waste, and drive continuous improvement. This session will explore key shop KPIs—like labor use, equipment leveling, and station productivity—and show how to track and act on them using connected workflows, from order to delivery. Learn how to surface real-time data from Autodesk tools on the shop floor—like Autodesk Forma, Fabrication CAMduct software, and Stratus—to identify bottlenecks, improve predictability, and build a high-performance culture. Whether you’re starting your data journey or refining an existing system, you’ll walk away with practical strategies to scale your use of metrics and improve production output.

Why continue to struggle with outdated design tools when a more efficient approach is within reach? Embracing fabrication tools—like Fabrication Parts in Revit software—P&ID Modeler for Revit allows engineers to focus on engineering rather than spending excessive time on modeling. By starting with fabrication, designers can model faster and seamlessly transfer design intent Mechanical systems that actually work! This “backward” process significantly enhances efficiency, enabling engineers to dedicate more time to engineering rather than laborious modeling. The approach also accelerates the design-to-construction workflow and proactively resolves MEP coordination challenges—even before trade partners are onboarded. As its adoption grows, this strategy is proving to be a game-changer for speeding up the engineering design process and optimizing project delivery.

If you already have the basic knowledge of the Sheet Set Manager and want to take it to the next level, then this class is for you. We will build on the basics of sheet sets and move into more-advanced topics of the software. The Sheet Set Manager (SSM) in AutoCAD software is your ultimate document management tool. In this advanced class, we will create a standard template using fields and links to populate the data throughout the entire design package. We will organize all of the sheets, add views including labels, and publish the entire set to a PDF, DWF, or plotter output when complete. At the end of this class, you will be able to take your existing company title blocks and create a template to use on all projects, increasing your productivity and efficiency on all current and future design projects