We are ecstatic to introduce you to our new webinar host… UNIFI’s very own BIM Specialist, Jay Merlan. Jay’s knowledge, passion, experience, and outstanding personality distinguishes him in the BIM industry. We are confident you will see exactly what we mean when you join us for our live webinar August 7 at 11 AM. Until then, let’s get to know a little bit about him. 

Jay has spent the vast majority of his career across California from San Diego, to Los Angeles, to the San Francisco Bay Area. He was initially exposed to the AEC industry about 15 years ago as a drafter for a global fire alarm systems manufacturer. He quickly became an AutoCAD expert and progressed up the rank to Senior Fire Alarm Designer. While Jay enjoyed AutoCAD and appreciated the benefits it offered at the time, he started to wonder, “What’s next?”

Shortly thereafter, Jay’s question was answered by a colleague when he introduced Jay to Revit in 2005. The discovery of this cutting edge software inspired Jay to transition to the MEP engineering side of the business. His impressive success thereafter proved his choice to be the right one; he was the National BIM Lead at a Top 500 ENR Design Firm, Affiliated Engineers, Inc. He earned this accolade by working as a BIM Manager and successfully leading four engineering firms in their adoption and implementation of BIM.

In the meantime, Jay couldn’t resist the booming construction industry, tech culture, and fresh air Seattle had to offer. Furthermore, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to learn more about all aspects of the AEC industry. In conjunction with his move to Seattle, he made a career move into the construction side of things at Lease Crutcher Lewis to model concrete and steel for a 13 story high-rise, Seattle Children’s Research Institute.

Throughout Jay’s ever evolving career across AEC’s, his intense passion for BIM remains steadfast. He describes BIM as two key pieces; visualization and data. The data side is especially thrilling to Jay because without the data that BIM offers, users are simply generating 3D models. In short; the data aspect of BIM is what makes it truly revolutionary according to Jay.

While Jay’s experience with BIM thus far has certainly been noteworthy, he is confident the best is yet to come. He envisions limitless potential with BIM as the background for several technologies currently in the works. Particularly, Jay foresees an increased use of artificial intelligence to design buildings using BIM that will bring endless possibilities to the building design process. He predicts a bright future and is excited to be apart of it.

Speaking of excitement, the team here at UNIFI is thrilled to have him on board. We are equally as thrilled for you to join our webinar where you will have the chance to meet him virtually, ask him questions, and take advantage of his acclaimed expertise. Thank you for taking the time to read and we look forward to seeing you there!