The future of construction: From building booms to control rooms
July 11, 2024
UBC Okanagan’s Dr. Qian Chen knows firsthand the contrasts between China and Canada.
For example, the Civil Engineering Assistant Professor can’t keep a straight face when she describes her upbringing near Shanghai, a metropolis of 25 million people.
“I’m from a small town,” she says, then laughs as she raises quotation marks over “small.”
Canada may be small by Chinese standards, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t similarities. Dr. Chen arrived at UBC Okanagan to further her research into digital construction, a method she says can spur a dramatic shift in the construction industry.
She first became aware of the technology’s potential while watching China’s prolonged construction boom beginning in 2008.
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