Asking the Glanville team what skills they feel are needed for their role at Glanville and how new technology will change things. 

In July 2024, the Glanville team embarked on their annual Team Conference, where they engaged in some networking, personal development, bonding with other departments and had a chance to learn something new from other Glanville members. As part of this, we held a panel discussion about what skills someone might need for different departments and how new technology might impact that.   

This article is a summary of the panel discussion, held by: 

• Benjamin Hextall – Technical Director, Geomatics 

• Kate Hince – Senior 3D Studio Manager 

• Matt Calvert – Structural Engineer 

• Chaired by John Hanlon – Director Civil Engineering 

John Hanlon – Director, Civil Engineering 

John has been with Glanville for 10+ years and is a Director of Civil Engineering at Glanville. “The Only Constant in Life Is Change” is one of his favourite maxims and he believes that companies that fail to embrace new technology, risk being left behind; that the long-term success of any business is invariably linked to a cultural awareness and willingness to adapt to changing circumstances.

“During my time as an Engineer, I’ve seen the service and consultancy industry evolve, especially over the past few decades where a lot of this change has been driven by technology. 

The opportunities presented by new technology are exciting and terrifying in one. AI and particularly ChatGPT, is proving to be a very effective assistant – producing drafts and helping to brainstorm and more widely we can expect to see a lot more automation of routine tasks, freeing up time to focus on more strategic or creative endeavours. Drones and laser scanning technology allow us to survey sites with unprecedented speed and accuracy. But as we become much more reliant on what machines do, we as people need to learn, adapt and evolve alongside the technology. 

Building Information Modelling (BIM) and 3D modelling in general has revolutionised the way we approach design and construction. No longer are we reliant on 2D drawings; now, we can create detailed models that enhance collaboration and accuracy. But with this new technology comes the challenge of ensuring that our teams are proficient in using these advanced tools as well as making sure that our Engineers understand what the software is doing, how to check and challenge results and outputs – as the need for human understanding has not changed. 

With that in mind, let’s hear from our panelists.” 

Benjamin Hextall – Technical Director, Geomatics 

Ben is a chartered surveyor who measures land and buildings for various purposes: planning, design and development. Ben has been working at Glanville for almost 20 years and has witnessed the evolution of surveying techniques and tools, such as laser scanning, drones, and digital mapping. 

Question – What are the key skills that a surveyor needs to have today to do their job in Glanville and how do you see that changing in the future; what new skills are likely to be required of a Surveyor in the next 3-5 years in light of the emerging technology? 

“In my opinion, these are the traditional and core skills a surveyor needs: 

• To be good at math and geography. 

• A good understanding of survey principles and accuracy. 

• Have strong analytical thinking. 

• A good attention to detail. 

• The ability to analyse and interpret geographical data. 

• A strong knowledge of survey technology. 

• Must be able to Work as part of a team. 

But at Glanville, we believe a surveyor also needs to: 

• Work on their own and as part of a larger design team. 

• Be a great communicator – not just with management and colleagues but with other engineers and designers. 

• Be solution-focused and adaptable – sites, schedules and clients’ needs evolve and change, often at short notice. 

• Be able to use their initiative and operate both with autonomy and under guidance. 

With regards to how things are changing, it can be hard to see progress and change because it’s often incremental and so the change is slight. For example, when I first started out 20+ years ago, we were a 2-man team with manual instruments. A day of surveying would capture 300-500 points and the GPS would be running for several hours. Then came along the robotic instruments allowing you to work independently capturing around 1000 points a day until GPS evolved to allow control points to be captured in real time within 3 minutes. With the introduction of the laser scanner, it meant thousands of points of data could be captured in a matter of hours, and then it evolved again to capture hundreds of thousands of points in minutes.  

Nowadays, we have UAVs and LiDAR that cover huge distances producing 3D data. As a result the client’s needs have changed, gone are the days when we used to only output 2D drawings of above-ground features.  

Rightly, clients now try to better understand the built environment they are interested in. That includes underground features and the deliverables are now 3D drawings and 3D Models. 

So where do I see us headed in the next few years? Well, in my opinion, the technology is ahead of the software. Laser scanning has already reduced site time, but not office time and clients are going to want more data in their models. 

I think it is inevitable that AI will play a big part in bringing this together by reducing office time. It will take over the data processing and interpretation and will automate the drawing and modelling processes. It will reduce project time significantly and introduce smarter workflows. 

With this in mind, I think future surveyors will need the following skills: 

• A deeper understanding of the technology, software, and survey principles behind them. 

• Implementation of robust quality checks and procedures relying on the surveyor’s analytical skills and attention to detail. 

• Increased levels of independent working. 

• Development of project management skills as we balance multiple projects at a time. 

• Collaboration with other sectors, designers, and industries. 

• And we need to be adaptable and open to changes. 

We have seen that as we can capture and produce more data, the client’s desire to have more of that data has also increased. On the surface it would appear that the role of the surveyor will become diminished, but I don’t believe that will be the case as smarter workflows lead to reduced project time and increased productivity which should reduce fees helping to generate more work. 

Inevitably the role of the surveyor will change, in the last 20 years it has changed significantly, and it’s exciting to think that throughout our careers we get to be part of that change, that will help to innovate and drive the industry forward.” 

Kate Hince – Senior 3D Studio Manager 

Kate is a 3D Revit modeller who prepares models of buildings in 3D using software such as Revit and Twin Motion. Kate joined Glanville this year and has been involved in several projects that require high-quality visualisation and coordination of design information. 

Question – What are the key skills that a 3D Studio specialist needs to have today to do their job and how do you see that changing in the future; what new skills are likely to be required of in the next 3-5 years in light of the emerging technology? 

“The 3D Studio team is a relatively new but growing department within Glanville. I previously worked for a design-and-build construction company where I initially focused on 2D construction drawings, but this role quickly evolved into the 3D realm, involving measured building surveys, 3D modelling, and visualisation. 

Some of the core skills I believe a 3D Studio Specialist needs are: 

• To be creative and technical with an eye for detail. 

• Since each site and building is unique, we need to think outside the box and understand building construction. 

• Be able to consider how architects or engineers will use our ‘as-built’ survey models during the design stages. 

• As the 3D studio also focuses on creating visualisations for proposals, we must stay updated with the latest technology to ensure Glanville clients can easily view and interact with their designs and projects. 

When I look into how the future is changing the role, I’ve already witnessed the shift from 2D drawings to 3D models in measured building surveys, and it’s clear that technology will continue to advance quickly due to the number of benefits clients are recognising. 

As design teams work together on a 3D cloud-based federated model, I think there will be a shift into the likes of the Metaverse and VR. The Metaverse is a virtual world in which users represented by avatars interact, usually in 3D and focused on social and economic connection. The metaverse will allow you to explore virtual 3D spaces where you can socialise, learn, collaborate and design. 

 I think with the natural development of AI through automatically generated 3D models from point clouds and real-world rendering processes speed up, we’ll also see a shift in how we work, making us ‘work smarter, not harder’.  

Nonetheless, human interaction will remain essential, as we are constructing and inhabiting the real world.” 

Matt Calvert – Structural Engineer 

Matt is a Structural Engineer who has witnessed significant change in what a Structural Engineer is required to do and the skills that an Engineer has had to develop. 

Question: What are the key skills that Structural Engineers need today to do their job and how do you see that changing in the future working at Glanville; what new skills are likely to be required in light of the emerging technology? 

“There’s lots of overlap between the different disciplines in terms of the tools we use, but a Structural Engineer will likely come at it from a different angle as we’re often using tech to enhance our design work and showcase it from 2D into 3D and illustrate how it would fit or impact the surrounding environment. 

Before we model anything up in Revit or CAD, we have to perform our analysis and calculations of the forces and stresses in the members. Often, this involves using technology to build a separate analytical model which isn’t client or team focused. However, with this, there is always a drive for efficiency by combining the analysis model and the final output model together, using technology.  

Traditionally, Structural Engineers needed to be good at maths and physics (which is the core of what we do) but also chemistry (understanding how materials interact), but I believe the best are also creative and have an appreciation of architectural requirements.  

You also need to be good at communication (orally, written and sketching) and be able to work as part of a team, especially when it comes to understanding how your work impacts others, but with good attention to detail. 

With regards to technology, tasks once completed by hand and a calculator are now done using computers and software to help us perform the structural analysis and calculations. What was a time-consuming task now takes minutes.   

Another previous task, now completed by computers and technology is the way we build these models for design analysis. Back in the early 2000’s, we would have mocked up the building one floor at a time using the finite element analysis model for bending movements and deflections and we had to perform the punching shear calculations separately each time. We’d then need to work out the loads in the columns and foundations and add up the results from each floor part in a spreadsheet. It was slow, painful work that felt disjointed and open to human error. 

Nowadays, because computers are more powerful and software has developed, we can have an analytical model of the whole building that can focus on one specific part, or the whole build, how and when required. This means we can spend more time looking at the options quicker, but at the same time, a rigorous approach is needed to check the model is indeed, correct. 

That said, you do still need to be good at maths so you can understand what the technology is doing for you. 

This technology hasn’t been sudden, it’s gradually been introduced over time, and I expect it will continue to grow the same way. In the not too distant future, it looks like technology will become even more advanced and 3D models will be dynamic so you can change the basic requirements and calculations in real-time on screen. This could potentially give Structural Engineers a bit more time to be creative and provide additional options with less laborious number crunching involved.  

Then, if the analysis model and the output model are the same thing (or linked), one model would need to be made that can be shared with the rest of the team.” 

Closing statement – John Hanlon 

“The future looks to be an exciting one but also not without risks; it sounds like we’ll be working much closer with technology, using it to inform decisions and improve the speed and accuracy of our work, it feels like there is no going back either and that will need to embrace AI, VR and 3D visualisation to remain relevant in this industry. The changes, when compared to the past will be different, and positive for both Engineers/ Surveyors and our clients. 

When John Glanville set up this company over 50 years ago, he always had an eye for new opportunities and wasn’t afraid of change. There is nothing new about what we have to do at Glanville as we have always championed the need to continuously upskill ourselves and our teams and improve our offering to clients by becoming more efficient and competitive. 

We will continue to listen to our clients and keep an ear to the ground around what is happening out there, and how other consultants are taking change forward. 

Change is inevitable, but how we respond to it defines how we will succeed in our personal and professional lives.” 

You can learn more about our Geomatics, 3D Studio and Structural Engineering teams on our website. 

If you have a project that could benefit from our expertise, get in touch today.