Name: Mike Burdett
Company: Alexander Symonds Surveying Consultants
A South Australian surveying and geographic information management consultancy

Since it was founded in 1932, Alexander Symonds has been involved in projects spanning most Australian States, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the United Kingdom and even North Yemen.

"We work on projects ranging from very small through to major 10 year land development projects. We use AutoCAD right across these, whether it is a $200 job or a $2 million project," said Mike Burdett, one of the directors of Alexander Symonds.

The organisation has always embraced the use of state-of-the-art electronic equipment and software. It has been an early adopter of new technology including digital data collection, analysis and presentation, Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and laser scanning and 3-D modelling.

In line with this philosophy of innovation, Alexander Symonds began using AutoCAD in the mid-1980s.

Mike has tracked the development of design software from its roots, and has seen the implementation of AutoCAD and its numerous releases since starting with the firm in 1990 as a surveyor.

He recalls the advent of electronic field measurements in surveying during the 1980s, which enabled this data to be integrated with a computerised mapping program provided by AutoCAD.

"Back in the '80s, in comparison with what AutoCAD is doing now, it was fairly basic stuff, but the newer versions have become increasingly sophisticated. It does the same thing but does it much better and much faster, saving us time and money," he says.

Around the same time as this revolution was occurring, Alexander Symonds began using AutoCAD as a presentation tool when demonstrating its survey calculations for clients. This client list represents some of the most prominent residential and commercial property developers in the country, including Delfin-Lend Lease, The Fairmont Group and AV Jennings.

Andreas Vasiliou, an Autodesk Authorised reseller & training centre instructor from Computer Supportworks, says "We have been customising Alexander Symonds AutoCAD since 1992 and to this day they are still adding to their AutoCAD automation by getting us to write additional LISP routines, menu items, toolbars, dynamic blocks and more - they are always up-to-date with technology".

Biggest developments in AutoCAD

According to Mike, the most significant feature added to AutoCAD was the ability to present images clearly in 3D, which came in the late '90s.

"Being able to present things well in 3D has been a massive step," he says.

Ranking a close second and third in significance, behind the addition of 3D were Autodesk's PaperSpace and Xref applications.

"It allowed us to structure data in ways we wanted to, in order to suit a multitude of different clients," Burdett says.

From drafting board to the PC

According to Burdett, the most seminal shift in the design industry was the move from the drafting board to CAD packages. He has watched with interest as those who started their careers using pen and paper have gradually adopted AutoCAD, and says most have been surprised at the ease of the transition.

"There's no turning back once you make the transition. It's really now the only way to work, it's very difficult to work without being in some kind of digital space."

Where to from here?

Mike predicts that as the technology supporting 3D design software improves, the uptake of 3D in creating virtual tours and modelling of projects will increase exponentially.

He also expects the use of laser scanner measuring devices to expand significantly, and to see more of Alexander Symonds' clients adopt this technology and use the Autodesk functionality which allows this data to be integrated with AutoCAD.

The Burdett home was built using AutoCAD

Mike used AutoCAD to design his home in 2003 and says "I found it just as well suited to a task of this size as to any of the multi-million dollar projects Alexander Symonds has worked on over the years."

Most notable projects

Being a South Australian-based surveying consultancy, most of its most significant achievements have been in its home State.

However, one exception was its award-winning Body Zone development, part of London's massive Millennium Dome project.

Some of its largest South Australian projects include:

• Mawson Lakes - a 3,000-allotment award winning housing development in Adelaide's northern suburbs.
• Adelaide Airport - involved with two major projects at the airport including boundary realignment surveys and the use of AutoCAD to facilitate the design for the resurfacing of the main runway and associated taxiways.
• Holdfast Shores - provided specialist advice to the Holdfast Shores Consortium in the land titling of this landmark South Australian project in Glenelg.