We are back for a very special joint SDE and LRUG event which also marks the 80th edition of LRUG!
This time, we’ve teamed up with the Society of Digital Engineering and Kinship, who are kindly sponsoring the beers and pizzas, to bring you two fantastic presentations:
- Mairead
Morgan, Autodesk – The Autodesk Forma Ecosystem and Data Flow: Connecting
Early-Stage Design
- Mike
O’Reilly, Zaha Architects – Building Digital
Adaptability for an Age of Technological Uncertainty
There
will also be some Autodesk merchandise available at the event!
You can register here:
If
you’re planning to attend in person, please make sure you book a ticket. If
you’d prefer to join remotely via Teams, just drop me an email and I’ll send
you the link.
Looking forward to seeing you there!
These
are the details:
BIO:
Mairéad Morgan is Head of Community
for Autodesk Forma, where she leads a global community around AI, data-driven
design, and the next generation of tools shaping the AEC industry.
With more than 20 years in
architectural practice, her path to the role runs through senior BIM leadership.
As BIM Lead Europe and Middle East at Grimshaw, she led digital excellence
across the London, Paris, and Dubai studios. Before that, as Specialist UK BIM
Innovation Lead at Buro Happold, she led the Specialist Consulting BIM team
across 14 disciplines, driving digital, computational, and technological
innovation. Her project experience spans aviation and transportation, education,
justice, commercial, high-end residential, build-to-rent, retail, culture, and
interiors.
Today she applies that same rigour
hands-on, designing and running multi-agent systems and helping AEC teams make
agentic workflows work in practice.
Mairéad has been a Women in BIM
Mentor since the programme's inception and is a current WIB Regional Lead,
championing diversity and inclusion across the industry. She is a RIBA Judge
2026 and a 2026 Top 50 Contech Judge, and a regular keynote speaker, panellist,
and judge across the UK, Ireland, and US construction tech scene.
TITLE:
The Autodesk Forma Ecosystem
and Data Flow: connecting early stage design
DESCRIPTION:
Explore how Autodesk Forma
supports outcome driven design from the earliest stages of a project, enabling
architects and engineers to evaluate site context, test design options and
assess performance against project goals. Discover how data flows between
Forma, Revit and Civil 3D can connect early stage design decisions with
downstream workflows, maintaining design intent and project context across
disciplines to support better informed decisions, reduce rework and improve collaboration
throughout the project lifecycle
BIO:
Michael O'Reilly is an
Architect and BIM specialist working across practice and education. As a Senior
Architect on ZHA's BIM team, he has delivered BIM across projects in 9
countries, including leading BIM delivery for 'Oystra' on Al Marjan Island.
Alongside this, he leads digital training initiatives across the practice,
including building ZHA's digital learning platform, and engages with applied
research into emerging technologies.
Michael also tutors at
Manchester School of Architecture's Atelier [CPU]ai, where he develops
computational and AI-driven approaches with the next generation of architects.
Splitting his time between industry and academia gives him unique insight into
where BIM in practice and BIM in education diverge, and where the profession is
heading next. He is particularly interested in building the kind of digital
adaptability that survives technological disruption.
TITLE:
Building Digital Adaptability
for an Age of Technological Uncertainty
DESCRIPTION:
Software now changes faster
than architects can master it, with more tools available than ever. In this
talk, Michael argues that in an age of accelerating technological change, the
practices that thrive will be the ones who build real digital adaptability: a
culture of learning and experimentation that outlasts technological disruption.
He grounds the argument in a
live case study: ZHA's Oystra project on Al Marjan Island, delivered by a team
largely new to Revit, which became a testing ground for building capability
under real project pressure. Skills workshops reached 90% engagement and
completion within the team, run alongside project leads to shape culture and
expectations, and backed by being upfront about what Revit can and can't do.
He'll also introduce ZHA's
digital learning platform, currently being built to extend this approach
practice-wide, and draw on his dual role: BIM team member at ZHA, and tutor at
Manchester School of Architecture, to look at the gap between how architects
are taught and what practice now demands.
One thing is certain: software
will keep changing faster than architects can master it. Digital adaptability
is what decides whether a practice keeps up or gets left behind, because tools
only get adopted when people want to learn them. So build great tools, and a
culture that encourages learning and rewards curiosity!
The address:
Buro
Happold
Levels
5-8, The Featherstone Building
66 City Road
London
EC1Y 2AL
Michael Bartyzel MCIBSE
Global BIM Lead | Global Automation Lead | Director
Buro Happold
T: +44 (0)20 7927 9700
M: +44 (0)7912 971 026
