Text taken from www.tekla.com

Tekla's Canadian reseller Dowco Technology Services recently arranged a conference to introduce a new approach to BIM (Building Information Modeling) for engineers. The luncheon seminar took place in Vancouver in the beginning of December 2009. Its agenda gathered attendees from dozens of companies and educational institutions.

Despite the downturn in the economy and its effects in the construction industry, engineering companies have thrived and succeeded in the global market. Although there is a buzz on BIM technologies, engineering companies are trying to cover the early ground it has lost in learning and adapting to this new way of working. The conference sought answers to questions such as what is BIM, who is it for, why should companies go for BIM, how is BIM better than CAD, and how to know one's BIM tool is the best there is available.
 
Wayne Kassian, principal at Kassian Dyck Associates, was the keynote speaker in the event. His topic was 'Precast Concrete, Reinforcing, and Total Concrete Structures – From Virtual Design to Fabrication/Construction Drawings'.

Other speakers on Tekla Structures software, BIM, and its return on investment for engineering offices included Mike Samilski and Sanjay Prasad from Dowco and Michael Evans from Tekla Corporation.