TOLEDO, Ohio, November 19, 2013 – SSOE Group (www.ssoe.com), a global engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) firm, is proud to announce John Gill’s appointment as SSOE’s Director of Virtual Design and Construction (VDC). In his new role, John will be responsible for implementation of SSOE’s VDC program.
VDC represents a substantial evolution in how construction projects are delivered. VDC is a process and delivery approach that fully engages and integrates the capabilities of digital multi-disciplinary models from design through construction and ultimately facility operations. Current delivery methods allow each participant in a construction project — the designer, constructor, and fabricator — to separately apply the benefits of 3D/BIM design to their specific aspect of the project. However, in the traditional practice the models are not integrated through the course of the project, resulting in disjointed efforts, wasteful re-work, and stranded opportunities to improve a project’s outcome VDC removes the barriers to information flow between the parties, replacing inefficiency with integration. The benefits include schedule compression, higher quality design, and cost savings.
SSOE is currently implementing VDC for clients in the semiconductor, automotive, healthcare, food, pharmaceutical, education, and data center industries and has documented quality improvements, cost savings, as well as schedule compression.
John Gill, PE, LEED AP previously served as a senior project manager in SSOE’s Birmingham, Alabama Office. Over the course of his 20 year career, John has been involved in the design of a variety of projects including hospitals, universities, and industrial manufacturing facilities. John is a licensed electrical engineer in 9 states across the country. In addition, he achieved his LEED AP certification in December 2007.
Mary Stepnick, Director of Quality Processes and Systems at SSOE stated, “John’s experience and leadership in his previous positions have more than prepared him to take on the responsibilities of this new position. He has been recognized within the organization as a groundbreaker in the utilization of BIM—implementing aspects of VDC well before it was recognized as a defined delivery approach. John’s passion for the value this approach can bring SSOE’s clients, along with his experience across a range of SSOE’s markets make him the perfect fit to head up our VDC efforts.”