LISA is proud to debut our new video series: Excavate, Beyond Brick & Mortar.

The episodes showcase the stories of influencers who are shaping the future of the built environment and flourishing in the industry. We believe that by seeing the possibilities, new talent can envision and create their future.

A common theme we unearthed: the AEC industry is full of generational lineage. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it has its limitations for future growth and expansion of the workforce. Our videos have been created with a specific intent to spark the interest of a wider audience and offer a vision into the world of construction for those who may not have a family connection.

Another exciting discovery: the industry is shrouded in mystery, even to those on the inside. This may be due to the fact that it is not consumer-facing, like Apple or Google. The tech world certainly has its share of colorful media personalities that bright minds can easily seek out and model.

Not true in the built environment. As an entity, construction has yet to cultivate this incredibly powerful aspect of social media: a force that can be used for the common good to create change.

“How can we expect brilliant minds to seek out or enter an industry they have no knowledge or insight about?”

A student may walk past or enter a building many times without realizing the multitude of fascinating and complex systems involved in bringing that structure to life. However, if they begin seeing the daring architects, engineers and project managers behind the structures, it just might spark what the industry needs: a flood of curious talent with the mindset to envision and execute new construction methodologies.

The ecosystem of a building is an intricate world of many trades and skillsets. We’ve encountered people who started off in liberal arts majors and ended up as project managers, architects who are now sustainability consultants, tradespeople that shifted from other careers and engineers who are currently entrepreneurs.

Our first episode features Shane Flanagan, a project manager with a biopharma company. Despite his third-generation heritage, Shane intended to pursue another career path but the call of building beckoned, and he parlayed his liberal arts degree into a successful project management career.

His enthusiasm is evident about the opportunities in construction: