Arup associate director Martin Simpson will be specialising in the university’s drive to promote building information modelling (BIM) to the construction industry ahead of major government reforms that will require up to three million workers to be retrained in the technology.
He will join the university’s School of the Built Environment, which has the UK’s largest team of researchers devoted to BIM. At Salford he’ll be spending the majority of his time linking businesses to this research as they prepare to meet a government requirement that all public sector building projects must use BIM by 2016. He’ll also use his industry knowledge to influence the teaching of students and the design of courses.
Mr Simpson brings experience of using BIM on some of the world’s most iconic buildings. He specialises in sports stadia, including the Bird’s Nest in Beijing, the Donbass Arena in Donetsk and the City of Manchester Stadium.
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He said: “I’m passionate about the philosophy and technology of BIM, as it is emerging as a new paradigm to reduce waste and increase efficiency within the construction industry. I am looking forward to working closely with the BIM experts at the University of Salford and bringing these together with the knowledge and experience of Arup as a world leading consultant in the built environment.
“Together we can build many links with the construction industry in training and research, which will ultimately lead to improvements within the built environment and make the UK more competitive globally.”
Head of the School of the Built Environment, Professor Mike Kagioglou said: “We’re working hard to take a lead in helping industry realise the benefits of BIM and this appointment is a major step along this path. We’re very much looking forward to working on the many opportunities that this appointment will create.”
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