Construction industry looks to training, technology to build things better

Construction work requires workers, cranes and power tools. But what about advanced technology?

San Diego State University has received a to train people for careers in the industry, with a focus on how technology can solve problems. One of the problems is the low productivity in construction work.

“Labor productivity has grown only about 1% annually for the past two decades. This compares to 2.8% average for the entire economy. But if you want to compare it to a sister industry, manufacturing, that number is 3.5%,” said Reva Akhavian, an engineering professor at SDSU and the lead researcher for the National Science Foundation grant.

Akhavian said robots can work 24/7, and can do physical tasks that would be unsafe or injurious for humans. He said robots are making their way into cons