Associate member wins Rising Star of the Year at Digital Construction Awards

Ben Hardie ACIAT, a digital engineer at Laing O’Rourke, was crowned Digital Rising Star of the Year at the Digital Construction Awards 2024.

Ben Hardie, an Associate member of CIAT, joined Laing O'Rourke straight from sixth form as part of the organisation's school and college leaver programme, where he went on to study for his degree. As he progressed his career in the company, he transitioned to digital engineering, which is where he found his passion, citing its multi-disciplinary nature and presence across business functions.

Ben gained a first-class degree from the CIAT Accredited programme BSc (Hons) Architectural Technology at London South Bank University and won the CIAT Outstanding Graduate Student Award. This recognition was predicated on his modelling, drafting and research skills during his final design project.

At Laing O'Rourke, Ben has used his time to advance the industry, attending numerous STEM events and careers fairs where he has demonstrated the built environment through a virtual reality headset. He is an evangelist for digital tools and technology in construction, learning coding and developing the Power BI dashboards for project data management on The Whiteley project in London, where he is based.

On his first project, Soho Place, he created several 4D animations that were used to illustrate key build sequences to the project team, client and subcontractors. 

He has also delivered numerous Navisworks training seminars, contributing to the digital literacy of his team. His ability as a mentor was recognised in his admission to Laing O'Rourke's digital engineering 'buddy' scheme. This scheme was set up to help new starters from the graduate programme by pairing them with more experienced digital engineers.

Despite his recent transition from academia, Ben did not waste any time in sharing his knowledge. He delivered lectures to engineering students at Exeter University, leading Navisworks fundamentals training sessions and providing technical support as students engaged in coursework.

He is deeply committed to leveraging digital construction enhancements, such as migrating 2D drawings to data-driven 3D models and creating accessible visual method statements. His diverse digital skillset earned him the affectionate moniker “The Swiss Army knife of digital engineering” on site, reflecting his versatility and largely self-taught expertise.

Ben said: 

It feels incredible to be named Digital Rising Star of the Year. It is really special to be recognised for the work that I’ve done over the last couple of years. Being part of digital construction means you are able to effect a lot of change. It is really exciting. I also have to give a lot of props to my team – Laing O’Rourke has been a great support in terms of my career progression.

 You can also catch Ben in our new aspiration film.

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