HDR’s Alexa Mitchell Elected to buildingSMART International Infrastructure Committee
Infrastructure Room Steering Committee Advances Global Open Data Standards for Digital Design and Construction
OMAHA, Neb. — Alexa Mitchell, HDR’s transportation BIM program manager, has been elected to the steering committee of buildingSMART International’s Infrastructure Room. This influential group of global industry leaders is developing, sharing and promoting the open data standards that will define how the world’s infrastructure is designed and built in the coming decades.
Digital delivery is quickly changing how tomorrow’s roads, bridges, ports, tunnels and more are created. But much of the design is now created in proprietary formats, which complicates the exchange of digital data used during planning, design, construction, and operations and maintenance. BuildingSMART is the international non-profit authority for open standards that seeks to resolve this difficulty and allow designers, contractors and fabricators to reliably and consistently pass detailed 3D model information and attributes seamlessly across software packages.
The 12 members of the Infrastructure Room steering committee serve for four years and oversee the buildingSMART projects and activities that move forward open standards in infrastructure. The global steering committee includes representatives from Australia, Sweden, Japan, the UK and beyond. Mitchell’s term began April 1, 2023.
“I’ve dedicated most of my career to the advancement of digital delivery and invested a great deal of sweat equity in trying to advance this practice,” Mitchell said. “Broader adoption of open standards in the U.S. is just around the corner, and I’m excited to be part of that journey and an agent of change.”
Mitchell has led cutting-edge research on digital delivery for several state DOTs, authored multiple technical guidance documents and facilitated workshops and webinars for the Federal Highway Administration related to 3D model-based delivery. She co-authored the first ISO-compliant and AASHTO adopted information delivery manual in the U.S., laying out data exchange specifications for highway bridges. And she has served as technical lead on the ongoing HDR-led effort to develop an open, national standard for the design, fabrication and construction of U.S. bridges and structures.
“This election is continued proof of Alexa’s extraordinary thought leadership in digital delivery, in the U.S. and globally,” said HDR Highways Director Will Sharp, who co-chairs buildingSMART USA’s Roads and Bridges Industry Committee. “Her expertise will be invaluable as buildingSMART sets a new foundation with enhanced digital workflows for how we design, build and maintain the infrastructure the world uses every day.”
About HDR
For over a century, HDR has partnered with clients to shape communities and push the boundaries of what’s possible. Our expertise spans more than 11,000 employees in more than 200 locations around the world — and counting. Our engineering, architecture, environmental and construction services bring an impressive breadth of knowledge to every project. Our optimistic approach to finding innovative solutions defined our past and drives our future. For more information, please visit www.hdrinc.com.
