Zachary is an Innovation Manager at Burns & McDonnell with a focus on extended reality, wearable, and GIS technologies. Zachary has been leading the wearable technology program at Burns & McDonnell for four years and has successfully deployed an enterprise wide wearable solution with over 900 users. Prior to his Innovation Management role, Zachary was a substation design engineer for five years. His substation work includes five design-build substations and power plants across the United States and Canada. Zachary is a Professional Engineer in the state of Kansas and has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Kansas State University.
Today, there is an emergence of wearable AR solutions attributed to their ability to solve unprecedented safety and efficiency challenges during this pandemic.
When it comes to augmented reality (AR) wearable technologies, the utility industry is ripe for positive disruption. In fact, AR wearable technology has been found to increase safety, address the knowledge gap, and improve efficiency and effectiveness of employees.
A pilot program experimented with augmented reality (AR) technology to improve the efficiency of utility field visits. Beginning in 2018, the pilot aimed to identify whether AR wearable headsets could efficiently view and document site conditions and enable effective communications. While the pilot focused on the utility market, the effort aimed to address common challenges across many industries.
