Drones in Civil Engineering (multi-interview)

<p>Today’s episode touches on the ever recurring, and fascinating, topic of drones, both in relation to their potential general uses and their particular, and very niched, uses within civil engineering. Even though the specific terminology for this type of hardware has not yet been officially reached, ranging from <em>Quadcopters</em>, <em>Unmanned Aerial Vehicle</em> (UAVs), etc., the name that seems to have caught up among professionals and the general public is <em>Drone</em>. In this multi-interview episode, Sam sits down to talk to Wayne Sullivan and Victory Igbinobaro about the changes that the utilization of drones brought to the AEC industry, as well as the future of this fascinating and paradigm-shifting piece of technology.</p> <p>Wayne is a project manager at <a href= "http://www.civilfx.com/">Civil FX</a> and he’s been working in the field for some time, which allowed him to gather a great amount of knowledge and experience, as well as live the transition from old methods to the utilization of drones. Victory, on the other hand, has just graduated with a degree in architecture from the <a href= "https://www.unlv.edu/">University of Nevada, Las Vegas</a>, and has also recently received his drone license earlier this year. Thus, this episode combines two different perspectives on how civil engineering can benefit from drone technology.</p> <p>Wayne and Sam dive deeper into the different applications of drones, ranging from aerial photography and photogrammetry to survey applications, in addition to discussing a particular use of drones that does not necessarily involve a camera attached to it, which is <em>Light Detection And Ranging</em> (LIDAR). The latter consists of a method for measuring distances by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor, and it’s being pushed forward by the advancement of self-driving cars.</p> <p>Victory, in turn, presents a niched perspective focused on civil engineering. He exemplifies how drone technology can be used in all major p