BIM Forum Brasil builds new relationships during first mission to Oracle in Chicago

The first technical mission of BIM Forum Brasil recently journeyed to Chicago to explore the future of the engineering and construction industry in a three-day summit in partnership with Oracle.

Twenty-three associates, customers, and partners of BIM Forum Brasil participated in two days of informative sessions at the Oracle offices in downtown Chicago’s world-renowned Willis Tower. The first two days of presentations included a session titled, “Digital Twins: Innovation leading the industry into the next step with AI and IoT;” a talk on the levels of digitization in architecture and engineering in Brazil; a roundtable discussion focused on the value of an integrated approach to capital planning and project execution; and an in-depth look at the Oracle Smart Construction Platform presented by Roz Buick, senior vice president of product, strategy and development, Oracle Construction and Engineering.

The contingent followed up their two days of meetings and networking with a full day’s visit to the famed Oracle Industry Lab in suburban Chicago. The group got a behind-the-scenes tour of the 30,000-square-foot facility, heard from Burcin Kaplanoglu, vice president Oracle Industry Labs, who discussed “Reality Mapping Experiment at Oracle Industry Lab,” and enjoyed two separate hands-on construction challenges.

The first series of challenges focused on Energy and Water Smart Studio, and Progress Measurement using Computer Vision.

The second set of challenges showcased design collaboration using virtual reality; project scheduling and risk management through spatial technology; worker safety innovations through artificial intelligence and machine learning; and jobsite robotics.

Following the visit, four construction executives who made the trip to Chicago reflected on their visit.

José Mario Fernandes Donato is head of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the construction group of Bild Desenvolvimento Imobilario.

Rodrigo Broering Koerich is president of BIM Forum Brasil and portfolio director for AltoQi, a Brazilian BIM software company.

Sergio Leusin is an architect with Gerenciamento e Desenvolvimento de Projetos—a small office of project management.

Natália Magatti is Oracle CEGBU LAD team sales consultant Oracle Industry Lab ambassador and regional lead of Women in BIM.

In separate interviews, they related their thoughts about what they experienced and what they brought back to their organizations.

QUESTION: Why did you make this trip?

NATALIA MAGATTI: This was the first technical mission for BIM Forum Brasil. As a BIM specialist, I represented Oracle in the group. Because I had visited the lab last year, my group knew about it and how it matches their goal of bringing information about digitalization in engineering and construction companies. We were really excited to finally make this happen and bring this group here.

SERGIO LEUSIN: Visiting Oracle was very interesting. At the time, I was already in Toronto, and Chicago isn’t far, so I made the extra trip. This was the first technical mission for BIM Forum Brasil, a new organization with about 100 company members. It’s growing very fast, and I was very impressed by how it's grown in just two years. It was great to have the opportunity to meet with Oracle!

JOSE MARIO: The main goal of the visit was to network with people from different places, backgrounds, and industries. And we discovered that we have similar problems, like processes still conducted in old-fashioned ways and people resisting changes, even though they would make us more productive. To learn from different people how to overcome these challenges was very enlightened and a highly positive experience.

QUESTION: What impressed and surprised you during the visit?

NATALIA MAGATTI: The first two days of the construction summit surpassed my expectations. They were amazing. Oracle executives Roz Buick, Eilish Nolan, Ray Roske, and Eileen Schurmann shared their knowledge with us, and we had many interesting conversations. We were expecting it to be an event in which they could learn from us, but actually, everyone was learning from and teaching each other. It was a very interesting exchange of experiences.

JOSE MARIO: BIM stands in a very small community here in Brazil, in a way that every major player in the construction sector is experiencing the same problems. In that matter, I was surprised to see a very successful and open ecosystem collaborating on solving those problems, with a broad approach. That’s what BIM is all about—collaboration.

SERGIO LEUSIN: I'm always on the lookout for new technologies. I work mainly as a BIM consultant, so it's my job to know everything about it. What really impressed me was a company called AI Clearing, which has a partnership with the Oracle Industry Lab and gave a great presentation. I wish I could learn a bit more about that system.

RODRIGO BROERING KOERICH: I was surprised by the similarities between the Brazilian market and the US market—although of course, there are a lot of differences between these markets too. But in terms of technologies, what we can access here in Brazil is not so different from what you have in the United States. That was a surprise: we have good technology here, too.

QUESTION: How will you use this newfound knowledge at your job?

NATALIA MAGATTI: I love sharing everything we learn with important customers—and especially with BIM Forum Brasil. And being from Brazil, the possibility to discuss innovation with great Brazilian BIM leaders makes me feel that I can better help my own country to develop digitalization and technology.

JOSE MARIO: As head of BIM, my goal is to ensure a process transformation of the engineering team to support our expansion strategy and scale our operation in the most sustainable and efficient way. The trip was a great opportunity to benchmark and evaluate the state of the art in the industry toward collaboration, tools, and problem-solving solutions.

QUESTION: After reflecting on the visit, what are your takeaways?

NATALIA MAGATTI: From an event perspective, we understand better what we need in order to grow our solutions in our region. The event turned out to be an experience to learn BIM Forum Brasil’s point of view toward Oracle, and how we can improve for the next event that we do. We also have the benefit of looking at this from the Oracle perspective. For me personally, I enjoyed the opportunity to meet people that I worked with only via Zoom calls. And visiting the lab is amazing—I have loved innovation and technology since I was young. To come to the lab and be surrounded by technology, with so many experts, was amazing for me. This was a wonderful experience, not only professionally, but personally as well.

SERGIO LEUSIN: In Brazil, contractors are very conservative. They don't like to be very innovative. It would be very beneficial if we could send people to the Lab to better understand the innovations that Oracle is creating, especially in the construction field.

"Oracle is an important company in terms of construction around the world, and it has important solutions. With this event, we now better understand what Oracle does."

—Rodrigo Broering Koerich, President of BIM Forum Brasil

JOSE MARIO: We have so much to learn and do back here in Brazil when it comes to construction and digital processes. And we can improve company relations. We can exchange ideas, points of view, ask for help and insights, and that it’s OK even if it doesn't work out from a commercial standpoint. Most construction software solutions are developed outside of Brazil. It's kind of hard to sell a bigger investment to senior management to do it now and maybe in two, three years get a return on their investment. So in time, if we can smartly get the right investment, the right consultancy, the right path, it'll be easier and healthier to develop long-term relationships.

RODRIGO BROERING KOERICH: It was a great opportunity to connect our associates with new technologies. Oracle is an important company in terms of construction around the world, and it has important solutions. With this event, we now better understand what Oracle does, how Oracle is looking at their next steps in the market, and how to connect all that with BIM Forum Brasil—this was an important takeaway for us. It was also good for me to network, and I believe that it was good for the other BIM Forum Brasil associates too. They could see what Oracle was and could develop relationships with the companies and participants of the mission.

QUESTION: If a colleague or a peer was interested in visiting with Oracle and visiting the Oracle Industry Lab, what would you tell them?

JOSE MARIO: I would tell them, definitely go there. It was a very pleasant experience. It's a game changer for networking and seeing solutions in action, and I would definitely recommend it.

RODRIGO BROERING KOERICH: It was an important opportunity for us. It was a really nice visit, and it brought a lot of value to us. We got a lot of information and made many contacts. We discussed topics such as digital twins, levels of digitization in architecture and engineering in Brazil, and we had a powerful presentation on Oracle's Smart Construction Platform directly from Roz Buick, Oracle Construction and Engineering Senior VP of Product, Strategy and Development. It was a really important experience also because we are looking to organize another technical mission and explore the future of the engineering and construction industry in a three-day event.

Contact your local Construction and Engineering account manager if you’d like to organize your own visit to the Oracle Industry Lab. If you don’t know your account manager, send an email to this account: chi-innovation-lab_ww@oracle.com.