Brent Billington Joins Freese and Nichols to Advance Virtual Design Expertise
Brent Billington has joined Freese and Nichols as the Applied Technology Leader in our Frisco office. He brings 15 years of experience in transportation, stormwater and municipal infrastructure design and a longstanding passion for improving how engineers work.
Leading the Applied Technologies team, Brent’s work advances the firm’s Virtual Design and Construction, Geographic Information Systems and data science capabilities. He will also help guide how project teams adopt artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies, establish firmwide technology standards and partner with practice leaders to develop solutions that help teams work more efficiently and deliver greater value to clients.
“Brent brings an incredible level of energy, passion and commitment to everything he does,” Strategic Initiatives and Applied Technology Director Troy Schmidt said. “His understanding of engineering, BIM and CADD, combined with a genuine desire to help others succeed, makes him a valuable leader and a great partner in advancing technology across our industry.”
A licensed professional engineer, Brent most recently led a municipal infrastructure design team and developed technology standards and tools that improve efficiency. His engineering background gives him firsthand insight into the challenges project teams face and the opportunities technology can create.
“Engineering has always been important to me because of how it improves society and helps us build infrastructure,” Brent said. “But I’ve also had a personal interest in how we do engineering, whether that’s improving an existing workflow, finding a better way to do something or delivering higher quality to a client.”
Throughout his career, Brent has used technology to automate tasks, streamline workflows and create practical tools. At a previous architecture, engineering and construction firm in North Texas, he developed tools to improve design workflows, automate portions of cost estimating and simplify business development research. He also developed a mapping application for a local school board campaign that helped volunteers coordinate outreach in real time using local property and voter data.
While Brent embraces emerging technologies, he believes successful innovation starts with understanding the people who perform the work and the challenges they need to solve. In his new role, he will connect that perspective with Freese and Nichols’ engineering expertise to help teams apply technology in practical ways that improve project delivery and client service.
Brent earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Florida.