aecXML Project Elects Working Group Leaders.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 1999

The aecXML Project today announced six chairs to lead the Project's six working groups.

The chairs are representatives of leading software vendors, owner/operators, service organizations and building products manufacturers focused on creating XML-based communication standards.

Each of the six working groups will focus on the development of the aecXML vocabulary in the areas of their domain expertise. In addition to development of the individual working groups, these chairmen will be responsible for the coordination of the aecXML vocabulary as a whole.

Jerry Laiserin, the Project's Interim Director comments, "To succeed, the aecXML Project must move at Internet speed, with the six working groups as the driving force. Our industry is fortunate to have as chairs of these groups six outstanding technical leaders of software development in their respective fields. The energy and expertise of these dedicated volunteers will propel the AEC industry into the next millennium."

Larry Chen, CTO of Bidcom says, "From Web-based communication and collaboration, to information gathering and materials procurement, building industry professionals will benefit from the common data exchange standard captured in the forthcoming aecXML schema. Bidcom is pleased to be able to contribute to this process by chairing the Construction/Project Management working group of the aecXML Project."

The Working Groups and their Chairs are:

-- Catalogs Working Group

Chair: HeavyWare.Com, Ari Gordon-Schlosberg, chief technology

officer (CTO)

www.heavyware.com

-- Construction/Project Management Working Group

Chair: Bidcom, Larry Chen, chief technology officer (CTO)

www.bidcom.com

-- Design/Specification/Schedule/Cost Working Group

Chair: Bentley Systems, Incorporated, Tom Chmielenski, P.E.,

software engineer, www.bentley.com

-- Facility Management Operations & Maintenance Working Group

Chair: Viscomm, Mehdi Khalvati, Ph.D., P.E., vice president,

RELMS & trade

www.viscomm.com

-- Plant Design Working Group

Chair: InStep Software LLC, Pat Cichanski, CAD professional

developer

www.instepsw.com

-- Procurement Working Group

Chair: John Twigg, president/CEO, Twigg Consulting

www.twiggconsulting.com

The aecXML Project and the chairs have established a Majordomo server http://majordomo.aecxml.org/majordomo.cgi to automate the management of aecXML-related Internet mailing lists and provide Project members and other interested parties with the aecXML information most relevant to them.

Interested companies can contribute proposals to the respective working groups to enhance the aecXML vocabulary via the newsgroups news://news.aecxml.org or by contacting the chairmen directly.

More about aecXML

aecXML is designed to facilitate communications and e-commerce among the various organizations involved in A/E/C projects. These include architects, engineers, contractors, owner/operators, estimators, consultants, materials suppliers, building product manufacturers and others.

aecXML uses the XML-standard revolution and the BizTalk Framework to remove the current barriers to exchanging A/E/C-specific information in electronic business-to-business conversations.

More about the aecXML Project

The aecXML Project, directed by noted architectural technology consultant Jerry Laiserin, is a collection of independent, interested parties whose purpose is to review and exchange ideas on aecXML's initial specification. Since its inception in August of 1999, the aecXML Project has gained interest from 450+ interested organizations on six continents. For more information, visit www.aecxml.org.

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