Sam Stacey
Sam Stacey is challenge director for Transforming Construction at UK Research & Innovation (UKRI). He’ll be appearing in two sessions at the Main Stage theatre at next week’s show, provide an insight into The Transforming Construction challenge programme.
Tell us a bit about your background and how you came to join Innovate UK.
I have had a passion for transforming construction dating back to my teens. I knew by then that I wanted to work in construction and I particularly felt that post-war construction was not responding to the needs of society – poor planning, poor design and leading to crime and urban decay.
Over the course of my career I’ve gradually pieced together the skills and experience that enable me to help lead the change we need. I’ve worked as an engineer, architect, design manager and most recently innovation director at Skanska.
At Skanska, I was able to apply many of the techniques referred to as Industry 4.0 – interoperability of components, digital modelling, robotic assistance and distributed autonomous machines. I saw that they represented a fantastic set of tools to improve construction.
I had been involved in the development of the construction sector deal proposals for a while, so when the opportunity to lead the implementation came up, I leapt at it. I have been in post at UKRI since September 2018, and have loved every minute of it.
What is the most exciting thing about your role?
We at UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) have this incredible opportunity now with the technology, along with industry and the government support, to fundamentally improve what we build and the way we build it. Construction industry turnover in the UK, at £110bn, is bigger than aerospace and automotive combined, but has been trapped in a cycle of low innovation and low productivity.
Construction is one of last great unreformed industries, and the Sector Deal is enabling us to address that. There is ongoing attention given to Building Information Modelling (BIM) and to site safety – the UK is already a world leader in construction performance – but there is the opportunity to do much more. The Sector Deal has brought the industry together as never before, aligning the aims of clients, suppliers, designers and the users of buildings, and this is why I am so excited.
And the most challenging?
It would have to be overcoming the fact that construction has long had an image of being slow to innovate and even resistant to change. The main barrier to innovation in construction has been lack of integration, so we are addressing that by supporting value-based procurement, developing digital configurator tools and demonstrating the use of industrialised techniques across the value chain.
In order to encourage companies to collaborate, systems for the collection and sharing of data are being implemented, including the use of the internet of things. UKRI is also helping to develop artificial intelligence in construction and the enhancement of skills, particularly in the digital arena.
Can you tell us a bit about the projects you’re working on and what role innovation and technology is playing?
We’re making great progress. UKRI has so far provided £129m of funding to the industry with a further £36m upcoming for collaborative research and innovation, and development projects.
Funding is being used by over 100 companies of all sizes to work on solutions in collaboration with academia and particular highlights include the SEISMIC project, which has developed standard frames for schools that will meet the targets set. These are already being procured at scale as part of the Department for Education’s Generation 5 programme. Another highlight is the Advanced Industrial Methods for the Construction of Homes (AIMCH) – a collaboration that will improve the delivery of over 35,000 homes per year.
Tell us about a recent innovation or technology that you’ve been most impressed by.
One of the projects we’re sponsoring is CORE: Concrete curing prediction and schedule Optimisation for Resource Efficiency. Sensors and AI are used to provide accurate real-time readings of concrete strength during the curing process. A prototype developed by Converge and BAM has recently been used in the construction of the new taxiway at London City Airport, resulting in a reduction in programme time and the cost of prelims.
Can you tell us a bit about your session at Digital Construction Week 2019?
The construction sector is a big part of our economy – roughly 9% of it – and employs around 10% of the UK workforce. Its output – the built environment – enables the services that drive around 43% of the economy. From roads and rail to offices and factories. However the way we produce buildings has not changed in over 40 years.
Imagine if you ordered a new car and it came in a series of deliveries and put together by a series of different workers on your driveway. They work from a sheet drawing and can’t tell you exactly when it will be ready. They throw away 10% of the bits that are delivered and it ends up not looking exactly like what you ordered or performing as you specified either. You wouldn’t be happy, but that is exactly how we build the majority of buildings now.
In my session I will provide an insight in to The Transforming Construction challenge programme and how it is helping industry overcome the innovation barriers in moving to a greater use of digital, manufacturing and integrated energy technology approaches when delivering new buildings and infrastructure.
This session will cover why the UK is a leader in digital construction, and how we plan to move out in front, plus:
• Track record of support for digital construction
• The 2018 Construction Sector Deal
• Wider investment in digital techniques inside and outside the industry
How important is Digital Construction Week to the industry?
Digital Construction Week is a great way to get informed about what’s changing in the industry. As we know, there’s a lot happening – DCW is a really intense way to get up to speed and make the all-important connections to implement new technologies.
What do you see as the most interesting and exciting future applications for digital technology in construction?
Longer-term, it is through the application of machine learning (AI) that digital technology will have the greatest impact on construction. Today we navigate our way through construction projects like a driver who has a long journey to make, some knowledge of the route and an out of date map.
In the future, construction will be carried out as though we had a state-of-the-art Sat Nav to guide us. Continuously updated information will be fed into the system, covering everything relevant to the success of the project. Powerful computers will process that data to provide clear guidance to everyone working on the project about what they should do at any given moment. We will always know exactly where we are going!
What piece of advice would you give to someone starting out on a career in digital construction?
Choose an employer that is really committed to working at the leading edge of digital construction. Many companies will say they are, but only where there is proper engagement from boards and senior management will you get the support and career progression you need.
Sam Stacey – The Transforming Construction Challenge; Funding digital construction at the Main Stage at 9.20am on Wednesday 16 October
The Transforming Construction Challenge (Panel) at the Main Stage at 9.40am on Wednesday 16 October
This panel session also features Rosemary Nunn (Chair), Founder and Managing Director of I&K, the Innovation and Knowledge Agency; Keith Waller, Programme Director at Construction Innovation Hub; Jacqueline Glass, Principal Investigator at Transforming Construction Network Plus; and Ahsan Khan, Director of Research and Innovation at Active Building Centre.
