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Hosted at the HKS MADE space in Culver City, Calif., AECtech brings together architects, designers, engineers, fabricators, and constructors across the built environment to explore how design, technology, materials, and fabrication are reshaping the future of architecture and construction.
The event features a mix of symposium presentations, collaborative workshops, prototyping sessions, and networking opportunities designed to foster learning, experimentation, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
For Zahner, this sponsorship and participation in AECtech reflect a broader commitment to collaborative problem-solving and knowledge-sharing within the architecture, engineering, and construction community. The event creates opportunities to exchange ideas, explore emerging processes, and strengthen partnerships that ultimately improve project outcomes.
Representing Zahner at the event will be members of the company’s product, fabrication, and innovation teams. Zahner’s participation will include a symposium presentation and two hands-on workshops focused on fabrication systems and material experimentation.
Symposium Presentation Brief: “Connected Systems, Shared Intelligence, and Better Designs”
Zahner Lead Research and Development Engineer Burcin Nalinci will explore how the AEC industry has successfully reduced the cost and complexity of geometry through digital tools, coordinated systems, and advanced fabrication, but has also created new forms of fragmented knowledge across people, platforms, and processes.
Her thesis argues that greater geometric control isn’t needed as much as greater connected intelligence: linking designers, fabricators, materials, and construction teams into more integrated systems where knowledge is shared, collaboration is expanded, and outcomes are co-authored rather than recreated.
Workshop #1
“Combinatorial Tooling: From Few Molds to Many Panels”
Led by HKS Principal and Regional Practice Director James Warton, Zahner Robotics R&D Engineer III Ethan Kerber, and Burcin Nalinci, this workshop investigates alternative approaches to panel fabrication and hydroforming. Rather than relying on a one-to-one relationship between molds and panel geometries, participants will explore how reusable modular tooling systems can generate a wide variety of panel configurations from interchangeable components.
The session highlights how adaptable tooling strategies may help reduce fabrication constraints while expanding opportunities for variation and customization in architectural metal systems.
Workshop #2
“Selective Patina: Programmable Surface Design”
Led by HKS LINE Regional Practice Director Tim Logan, Zahner Project Engineer II Dan Rothbart, and Burcin Nalinci, this workshop focuses on metal finishing and material expression. Participants will examine how process variables, including toolpaths, motion control, applicator methods, and chemical behavior, can serve as active design inputs that produce varied surfaces from identical geometries.
The workshop encourages designers and fabricators to think beyond geometry alone and consider how fabrication processes themselves can influence architectural expression.
Are You Interested in Meeting at AECtech + Los Angeles? Get In Touch
The Zahner team welcomes the opportunity to connect with other attendees before, during, and after the event. Learn more or register for AECtech+ Los Angeles here.
Learn more about Zahner here, or connect with our Zahner presenters and attendees:
