Woolpert, a global firm that specializes in architecture, engineering and geospatial solutions, has now opened an AI and Technology Hub in the former Fort Pitt Brewery Building in Sharpsburg.
Pittsburgh native Neil Churman was appoint president earlier this year after joining the company two and a half years ago. Churman described himself as a "Pittsburgh boomerang," having originally been from Latrobe and attended the University of Pittsburgh and CMU. As his role with Woolpert expanded, he crossed paths with entrepreneur Aaron Morris, who was building an AI platform using LIDAR for digital mapping.
"We were mainly focused on what you can acquire from a vehicle," Morris said. "I met Neil and he said 'do you want to take that to the next level?"
This led to the formation of the AI and Technology Hub. Now, Morris serves as Woolpert's Innovation Principal, leading a team of roboticists and machine learning experts to utilize a fleet of planes, boats, drones and more to map complex locations using LIDAR sensors.
Morris noted that the company has benefitted from advancements in LIDAR and artificial intelligence, several of which have been bolstered by the autonomous vehicle industry, which maintains a cluster in the Pittsburgh region alongside its broader robotics sector.
"When it comes to robotics in the real world, Pittsburgh's it," Morris said. "There's all kind of AI, but processing an image for finding a cat in a picture versus trying to process a LIDAR finding an asset and taking measurements is completely different. That's a skill set that's uniquely in Pittsburgh."
The firm, which is headquartered in Ohio, has scaled from approximately 800 employees in 2018 to the now approximately 2,500. Churman, who is located in Pittsburgh, said that he sees further growth in the region.
"To me, Pittsburgh is an extremely logical place for us to focus on growing the business and we're really committed to doing that, not just because I'm here and I happen to sit here, but it's kind of a no brainer market for us to really give back to the needs of this area," he said. "We've got water problems, we have infrastructure problems, we have mapping and geospatial challenges to solve. We've got to design tons of things. It's a market that we can thrive in."
