DALLAS, Feb. 24, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TestFit Inc., the world’s first building configuration software to leverage practical generative design, today announced a technology partnership with the structural engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti bound to revolutionize the architecture, engineering and construction industry (AEC): data-sharing that reduces time on task from what typically takes weeks to only a few seconds.
Working in close collaboration, the companies developed an API connecting TestFit’s design and visualization platform with Thornton Tomasetti’s CORE studio Asterisk structural optioneering tool. Developed by the firm’s CORE studio, Asterisk uses computational geometry and artificial intelligence based on Thornton Tomasetti’s extensive structural engineering experience.
The new integration enables users to solve a variety of design challenges. For example, an architect or developer contemplating the design of a parking garage might want to optimize the sizing of columns to maximize the amount of parking stalls in that garage. Laying out the design in TestFit, the user can get an instant answer via the knowledge embedded in Thornton Tomasetti’s Asterisk Structural AI. The user can then see how the columns’ width and shape would change as variables are modified – a critical task that previously would have required a coordination meeting, adding costs and delays to the project.
The column-width AI for parking structures is available now, with many more collaborations on the horizon. “In 2020, we developed the first IBC compliant core and shell generator for office buildings,” said TestFit CEO Clifton Harness. “Working with the Thornton Tomasetti team in 2021, we hope to bring structural optimization to our office offering, as well as to coordinate structural systems in our industry-leading multifamily building configurators.”
Thornton Tomasetti’s Rob Otani, senior principal and chief technology officer in charge of the firm’s CORE studio, said he is excited about the synergistic effects of combining the two platforms. “Using the API to link the knowledge represented by TestFit and Asterisk results in processes that are a hundred times faster than today’s standard,” said Otani. “This is just a hint of what we believe is to come with this partnership, resulting in far more efficient, reliable and proven solutions to architectural challenges – all while driving down costs by saving time and effort.”
TestFit has expanded its multifamily housing customer footprint in architectural, real estate developer and general contractor markets with its ultra-efficient solution for rapid design in feasibility studies without the need for generative design programming knowledge -- essentially cutting out the need for designers to use cumbersome visual design tools.
Thornton Tomasetti, founded in 1949, has been associated with architectural projects of note worldwide, including skyscrapers such as The Jeddah Tower and Comcast Tower; stadiums such as AT&T Park, U.S. Bank Stadium and Yankee Stadium; and renewal projects including the Chrysler Building and United States Capitol dome.
“We’re thrilled to have this new partnership with Thornton Tomasetti not only because of how it will help us quickly address structural engineering issues, but because it reinforces our conviction that our approach to generative design is the wave of the future,” said Harness.
About TestFit Inc.
TestFit Inc. provides a radically new approach to solving site feasibility studies. Harnessing the concept of co-creation, TestFit combines user knowledge with the power of proprietary AI algorithms into the first building prototyping solution using generative design that produces compliant results in milliseconds. Architects, real estate developers and general contractors rely on TestFit to bring their designs to life in a manner more efficient, sustainable and imaginative than ever before.
About Thornton Tomasetti
Thornton Tomasetti provides engineering design, investigation and analysis services to clients worldwide on projects of every size and level of complexity. An employee-owned organization of engineers, architects, scientists, and sustainability and support professionals, the company has offices in North America and in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.
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