Model Citizen: The Brain Behind the BIM

Sep 15, 2026
Ipad with 3D model on screen navigated by RO employee.
Maddie Smith
VDC | Project Manager
4-minute read
Maddie Smith solves the problems that matter — and how that keeps RO construction projects on track.

Every RO project gets built twice by our award-winning teams. First, our Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) team develops a fully coordinated 3D model. Then, our project teams build it in the field. The model becomes the prototype, where we test the sequence, resolve clashes, and prove the design before a single piece of steel is set. By mobilization, the teams are aligned on key decisions and ready to adapt.

Making those decisions is detailed, technical, relentlessly logical work. It falls to people like Maddie Smith, a member of RO’s VDC team, who found her calling at the intersection of architecture, engineering, and software.

From a UT classroom to the model

Maddie was an Architectural Engineering major at UT when a single class on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and VDC changed her trajectory. She discovered she was naturally fluent in the software and, more importantly, that she loved the problem-solving it demanded.

Her straight-up definition of the job is the best one we’ve heard: the VDC team “takes models of all the systems that go into a building and figures out how to make them work together in the field.” Simple to say, enormously complex to do.

What “building it twice” actually looks like

The work typically starts in Revit, where disciplines such as structure, ductwork, plumbing, and electrical are built as intelligent 3D models that provide far more context than a flat drawing. Those separate models are then combined into a federated model and run through clash-detection tools such as Navisworks or Revizto. When a duct tries to occupy the same space as a beam, or a sprinkler main crosses a cable tray, the software flags the conflict. Working alongside our trade partners, the VDC team resolves these issues on screen weeks or even months before they can become expensive stop-work moments in the field.

As the project moves through spatial coordination and work begins taking shape in the field, the model is used in a variety of ways that connect to the rest of the build. Reality capture tools, including 360-degree software and laser scanning, document existing conditions and track as-built progress, allowing the team to compare what was installed against what was modeled. 4D scheduling connects the model to the construction schedule so the team can see and refine the sequence before crews begin their work. Model-based quantification pulls material quantities directly from the model, sharpening estimates, reducing waste, and helping create more predictable outcomes. The result is a model that shows the team what to build, when to build it, and how to get it right the first time.

Two RO employees verifying work in the field with a 3D model.

Coordinating multiple discipline models to a single shared coordinate system is one of VDC’s most persistent challenges — “alignment is almost always a problem,” as Maddie puts it. On a recent project, unusual constraints meant none of the standard fixes worked. It took methodical trial and error to crack, and the solution she landed on is now part of the team’s playbook for the next time it happens.

Why it matters to our clients

All of this rigor has a straightforward payoff for owners. Resolving conflicts in the model dramatically reduces coordination in the field, saving both money and time — the two things always in short supply on the jobsite. It’s also a powerful communication tool.

Three RO employees looking at a 3D model in the field.

“Not everyone can look at 2D drawings and picture how it will actually come together. With a 3D model, it’s very clear where everything goes, which helps with accountability,” Smith said.

That clarity extends all the way to the client experience. Virtual mockups let owners walk through the project before a single piece is ordered, so decisions happen on screen rather than in the field. And with 4D scheduling and live progress tools, clients get full visibility from foundation to closeout.

The VDC toolkit keeps evolving, and Maddie helps push it forward. She regularly tests new software and takes part in beta programs, sending feedback that shapes the platforms before they reach a jobsite.

“It’s been really rewarding to see my feedback actually go into shaping tools we’ll use,” Maddie said.

That’s innovation at RO summed up: curious people improving the tools of their trade, then putting them to work for clients.

A team that wins together

For all the technology, Maddie is quick to point to the people. What makes RO’s VDC team click is a shared mindset: “we win together, we lose together.”

VDC team on job site. 5 people smiling in a selfie wearing hard helmets
Austin VDC team on site at the ESB-MACC project in Austin

When one person hits a wall, the whole team lines up behind them — and with such a range of experience, someone has usually solved a similar problem before. They’re detail-obsessed by nature and care as much about each other as they do about the outcome.

“Talent solves the problem in front of you. Leadership makes the whole team better at solving the next one. Maddie does both.”

Bruno Chiquini, VDC | Regional Manager
The payoff

Strip away the software, and the reward Maddie describes is deeply human: pride and excitement that a building she helped model now serves her community.

That’s the brain behind the BIM: a problem-solver who’s never bored, backed by a team that never lets anyone solve it alone.

Interested in joining RO’s tight-knit, award-winning VDC team? Click here to see how you can build a career like Maddie’s at RO.