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Sharing the Honor Flight experience through Virtual Reality

March 19, 2019
Chad Knutson
Virtual reality (VR) has a lot of different uses – training, gaming and even healthcare. At Gilbane we use it to deliver higher quality buildings while decreasing construction costs, enhancing project schedules and improving job site safety. Our teams develop models to help hospitals understand how their patients and doctors will experience a space before its built. We create virtual walkthroughs of apartment buildings to help developers sell units before completion. These are all extremely valuable uses of this technology, but how can you take it to the next level?

One way is to integrate VR with something you’re passionate about. For me, that’s supporting veterans. I joined Gilbane’s Military Advantage employee resource group, which was created to help veterans inside and outside Gilbane. To support our mission, we chose to focus our efforts on a single, non-profit organization, the Honor Flight, to maximize the value we could provide to veterans outside of Gilbane. With 142 Hubs and a mission to honor veterans from all Services, we realized we could support the Honor Flight from our offices across the country.

Lucas Richmond, manager of Gilbane’s media studio, was the reason Military Advantage got involved with Honor Flight. After his wife’s grandfather went on an Honor Flight she suggested Luke pair his work with his passion for helping veterans. His work on his free time lead to the creation of a virtual reality model of the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington, D.C. What he was doing was inspiring, so I helped him carry his message and vision to Honor Flight. After all his hard work, we finally got the opportunity to see the model in action. We debuted the VR model to a group of veterans at the “Celebrating Our Vets” event, where we witnessed firsthand the impact this project could bring to local veterans. With this first event under our belts, we saw an opportunity to support more Hubs across the country.

So, this past February, Lucas and I flew to the National Honor Flight Summit in Baltimore, MD to share with Hubs across the country! With the support of Gilbane, the Military Advantage group, and many of our colleagues we now have a chance to impact countless Veterans around the country.

How can you make an impact on your community?

  • Find something you’re passionate about – choose a cause or an organization that aligns with your own values.
  • Enlist support – nothing is more powerful than a group of people with a mission.
  • Implement – Using your skills and the skills of your team develop and implement an action plan.
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Chad Knutson

Chad Knutson is a virtual design and construction (VDC) manager. His VDC efforts help many clients to better envision their projects, while realizing cost savings and improved schedules. Chad utilizes various technologies to increase effectiveness of design, construction and operation of a building. Going beyond the reach of the construction industry, Chad, a military veteran, has been instrumental in developing ideas on how to use virtual technology to share the Honor Flight experience with veterans who are unable to make the trip to Washington, DC.
Read more posts by Chad Knutson

One Reply to “Sharing the Honor Flight experience through Virtual Reality”

  1. Vicky Warren
    • July 4, 2019

    My Dad is a Vietnam Vet he is bed ridden. Last wish is to see the Vietnam Wall.

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