Borst started using Autodesk BIM 360 back in 2008 (before the product changed hands from Vela Systems to Autodesk) and is currently one of Skanska’s northeast regional superusers. On jobsites, he started out the old-school way: following an architect around with a laptop on a pushcart and typing outstanding issues into Microsoft Excel. These days, he always has his Apple iPad with him, and he’s skilled at showing his colleagues how they can also use them onsite.
Here, Borst shares his experience as a construction superintendent, from pioneering technology to acting as an on-the-job therapist.
Lance Borst (right) and his team manage punch lists via tablet at the Novartis site in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Image courtesy of Skanska.)
How do people enter your line of work? Do you have family in the business?
My father was an electrician, and I grew up a stone’s throw from Purdue University, so it was a no-brainer for me to go there. I was going to be a mechanical engineer, but as my freshman year progressed, I found out about their College of Technology, which had a building and construction management major. I went to a half-hour session where they give you a synopsis of the careers you can have if you go into this field. It struck me that, as an engineer, you’re going to be designing and working a lot in the office—thinking of things and solving problems on paper. With construction management, you’re in the field touching, feeling, and putting all…