Houston, TX (March 22, 2011) – The eighth annual SPAR International 2011 conference on 3D imaging for design, construction, manufacturing and security planning took place at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas. Following a day of workshops, user meetings, and primers yesterday, the conference opened with a stimulating keynote presentations from Brian Matthews of Autodesk Labs, David Lafferty of BP, Robert Green of Vectors, Inc. and Ruth Parsons of Historic Scotland.
Tom Greaves, managing director of SPAR Point Group, welcomed the conference attendees and moderated the session. In his opening remarks, Greaves observed that innovative 3D technologies improve productivity and safety as well as mitigate risk in markets as diverse as industrial capital project execution, law enforcement and security planning and digital preservation of historic assets.
Greaves was followed by an impressive roster of panelists:
• Brian Matthews talked about the newest technology trends that are revolutionizing the design process, including 3D printing and cloud computing.
• David Lafferty shared the diverse ways in which BP is using 3D scanning and visualization to create efficiencies and add $50 million to the bottom line—from using 3D visualization to demonstrate to store clerks how to properly make hot dogs to employing laser scanning to do virtual run-throughs in the field.
• Robert Green presented numerous photos and scans to enhance his presentation about the innovative combination of GPS, GNNS and laser scanning being used to help border officers model a drug smuggling tunnel.
• Ruth Parsons discussed the use of cutting-edge technology to create accurate digital models of world heritage sites.
Following the presentations, Greaves (left) recognized the contributions of Bernd Becker, Director of Marketing & Product Management, Faro Technologies, Inc. for advancing engineering and construction technology and work processes by presenting him with the SPAR 2011 Distinguished Achivement Award. Becker’s team upended the 3D laser scanning market with the lauch of the Focus3D scanner last year.
“We’re galvanized by the response to the conference,” said Greaves, who said that more than 750 industry professionals had registered for the conference. “Attendees expressed great enthusiasm for the content and speakers, and our sponsors were very happy by the quality and quantity of attendees.” SPAR International has 68 sponsors, including leading suppliers of 3D imaging hardware and software, service providers, associations and media.
Next year’s SPAR International will take place April 15-18, 2012 at the Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas.
For more information, contact Lee Corkhill, SPAR Marketing Manager, at lcorkhill@divcom.com, or +1-207-842-5520.
About SPAR Point Group and Diversified Business Communications
SPAR Point Group (www.sparllc.com) investigates and reports on 3D scanning, imaging and position capture technologies used to improve the productivity, quality, safety and risk profile of engineering, fabrication, construction and manufacturing operations. Wholly-owned by Diversified Business Communications, the company’s annual SPAR conferences in the United States, Europe and Japan attract project managers, engineering and technical leads, industrial metrologists and surveyors, security and law enforcement professionals and experts in historic preservation and documentation. The events showcase new data capture and processing technologies used for 3D surveying and dimensional control for work on offshore platforms, nuclear power plant modifications, refinery revamps, discrete and process manufacturing, transportation, building and civil infrastructure projects, historic preservation as well as forensic investigations and security planning.
Diversified Business Communicationsbased in Portland, Maine, US, provides information and market access through face-to-face events, magazine publishing, and online resources on four continents. Diversified serves a number of industries including: food, technology, commercial marine, oil & gas, and business management. Diversified operates divisions in Australia, Hong Kong, India, the UK and Canada. For more information, visit: www.divbusiness.com