Jonathan Ingram

Jonathan Ingram (born 23 June 1961 in Kiribati) is a British inventor, businessman and author. He is particularly associated with development of early building information modelling (BIM) applications, including Sonata, Reflex and ProReflex. He was awarded the British Computer Society Medal for Outstanding Innovation in 1990, and the Royal Academy of Engineering's Prince Philip Medal in 2016 for his "exceptional contribution to Engineering" in BIM.

A civil engineer, Ingram has a PhD in computer science.

Early BIM image from SONATA, St Patricks Cathedral with the city of Melbourne background 1987 Sometimes called the 'Father of BIM', Ingram worked on developing a precursor of BIM called RUCAPS while working at GMW Computers in the early 1980s. Envisaging a better software, he quit working at GMW, got a bank loan so that he could purchase a workstation, and began two years of development.

Ingram released Sonata in 1985, the first system that brought the characteristics of modern BIM together in a single application, allowing users to create a single model of a building in a single file. Ingram says he came close to an acquisition agreement with Autodesk in 1987 but the deal collapsed following the Black Monday financial crash. He subsequently sold Sonata to GMW which had rebranded to T2 Solutions in 1987.

The second generation software, Reflex was released in 1992. After he sold Reflex for $30m to PTC in 1996, Ingram became Chief Technology Officer at PTC, and taught Harvard University's first courses in object modelling. In 1998, ProReflex was licensed to Charles River Software, later (2000) renamed Revit Systems; two PTC employees had left to develop a BIM application called Revit, working with access to a non-exclusive licence of Reflex, which is said to have inspired some of Revit's features.

Ingram also created one of the earliest examples of a digital twin in 1996 during construction of the Heathrow Express facilities at Heathrow Airport's Terminal 1. With consultant Mott MacDonald, Ingram connected movement sensors in the cofferdam and boreholes to the digital object-model to display movements in the model.

Ingram wrote a book, Understanding BIM: The past, present and future, published by Routledge in 2020. In this book he describes the origins of BIM and its development leading to modern systems such as Revit and Archicad. It shows his work and innovations in BIM in areas including architecture, civil and structural engineering, electrical and mechanical services, construction management and retail. He shows that BIM has been in existence since 1985. Ingram has been referred to as the “Father of BIM” in the press. Much of the material for his early innovations is archived in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London including the first architectural animation of a real street scene from 1976.

Awards

• The British Computer Society Medal for Outstanding Innovation, 1990.
• The 2016 Prince Philip Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering for his "Exceptional Contribution to Engineering".

Companies

• Chief Technology Officer 345 Holdings (2017)
• Author Understanding BIM: The Past, Present and Future (2010 — 2020)
• Founder CTO Steel Eel Ltd (2012 — 2016)
• Founder Silent Sensors Ltd (2012 — 2015)
• Researcher Galatea Machines (1998 — 2006)
• Lecturer Harvard University Graduate School of Design (1999 — 2000)
• Chief Technology Officer Parametric Technology Corporation (1996 — 1998)
• Owner/Founder/Inventor Reflex Systems Limited (1992 — 1997)
• Owner/Founder/Inventor Sonata BIM software (1982 — 1990)