Musician, author and civil engineer Griffin Furlong knows what it’s like to prioritize education. In 2014, Furlong became his high school class valedictorian after overcoming a history of homelessness throughout his childhood.
Perhaps it was this experience that led Furlong to his passion for sharing his knowledge with others. Although he has more than enough work to keep him occupied, Furlong devotes time to educating college students on the ins and outs of Bluebeam via a surprising medium: TikTok.
An engineering background
Furlong has been a professional engineer for a year now, but he’s been working with Bluebeam much longer. “I’ve been a civil engineer in the land development industry now for about six years,” he said. “I had three internships prior in the industry, and ever since I was an intern, I’ve been using a lot of Bluebeam.”
As a civil engineer, Furlong is passionate about the complexity of his chosen career. “Land development’s very intricate,” he said. “We’re constantly working with a large team of environmental scientists, geotechnical engineers, lawyers, counties, municipalities—so we really bring a whole project to life. We’re usually the first step in a civil engineering process of designing everything under the ground. So, if you have a residential neighborhood, you need utilities, stormwater infrastructure—that part’s on us.”
Throughout his career, Furlong said Bluebeam has been instrumental in his ability to accomplish critical tasks. “AutoCAD and Bluebeam, in my opinion, are industry standard nowadays,” he said. “Bluebeam is really important, because we’re constantly marking things up. It’s just such a clean and easy way, especially in this day and age of PD, FS and electronics.”
Furlong appreciates how Bluebeam has brought his processes into the 21st century. “It used to be old school, all handwritten stuff, red lines—there’s a certain process there,” he said. “But we’ve moved into a different age and Bluebeam has allowed us to be a little bit more efficient with markups and communicating ideas on a plan set to a contractor and vice versa. Technology has played a big role, especially Bluebeam.”
Bringing Bluebeam to a new generation
Furlong knows firsthand how critical Bluebeam can be to career success, and he’s made something of an online career sharing his knowledge with others. Across a variety of platforms, Furlong shares entertaining videos on topics like how to become a civil engineer, humorous skits about working as an intern in the AEC industry and, of course, Bluebeam.
“I’m probably the biggest on TikTok, and I get so many questions about Bluebeam,” he said. “A lot of it is college students.” With more than 56,000 followers on his TikTok channel, Furlong’s latest video on Bluebeam tips has racked up nearly 20,000 views, with commenters chiming in asking for tips and support.
Inspired by his audience’s curiosity, Furlong decided to host a workshop on Bluebeam, which drew a rapt audience. Clearly, young people understand the importance of this software—and there’s a real appetite for the type of knowledge Furlong has been motivated to share.
“I was so surprised that there’s a lot of students out there that really want to learn Bluebeam,” he said. “But it makes sense, because it goes beyond my industry of land development. Bluebeam can be used in any industry, so it wasn’t just civil engineers that were logged into the workshop.” Speaking to a diverse group of young people just starting out in the AEC world, Furlong gave a helpful walkthrough of his Bluebeam expertise.
As his platform continues to expand, Furlong hopes to increase his educational impact. “The age group ranging from my audience is typically 18 to 30,” he said. “There’s a lot of concentration between ages 18 to 25, so most of my viewers are either college students or interns.”
Within that audience, Furlong said interest in Bluebeam seems to be growing stronger. “I feel like I make a Bluebeam video every other week,” he said. “Bluebeam is a program that I would definitely recommend.”
Sharing his wisdom
When asked what advice he had to share with college students preparing to go into civil engineering or construction management, Furlong had a lot to say.
“I was once an intern that was completely lost,” he said. “I had no idea what I was doing.
“And there were nights after work where I would be really down on myself. I just feel like sometimes it really is all part of the process. It’s about how you’re able to take those difficult situations and move forward instead of just getting down in the dumps and not thinking that you’re worth anything.”
Furlong wants the students who come after him to know that self-doubt is normal. “If I have anything to say to anyone, it’s ‘you can do it,” he said. “It really is a matter of how you want to control that journey that you’re about to face. But I promise you, I’ve been there before where I’ve been lost at my desk, not knowing how to do something.” Ultimately, Furlong said, professional success comes down to the people you surround yourself with. “My message is to just stick with it and find the right people. The people who you work with are actually everything.”
