Reality Capture and CAD Integration Specialist

The APS Engineering Support Division (AES) provides reliable operations and technical support to the Advanced Photon Source user community. AES works to ensure that the Advanced Photon Source maintains its status as a preeminent scientific user facility.

This Reality Capture and CAD Integration Specialist will execute end-to-end 3D area scanning, registration, and CAD integration workflows. They will capture complex facility environments using Leica BLK360 scanners, align point clouds to the APS survey control network, and deliver high‑fidelity CAD references for engineering design using AutoCAD, CloudWorx, and PTC Creo.

Key Responsibilities:

• Field reality capture

  • Plan and execute 3D area scans using Leica BLK360

  • Utilize existing Survey & Alignment (S&A) mounted control points to insert and align scans within the APS network; or establish a standalone local scan.

  • Ensure robust geometry and redundancy by triangulating setups with a minimum of three referenced scans per setup.

  • Maintain safe, efficient field practices; document setup locations, control usage, and environmental conditions.

• Registration and alignment

  • Register and align scan data in Leica Cyclone Register 360 to produce accurate, consolidated point clouds.

  • Constrain registrations to S&A control; monitor registration quality (target residuals, bundle RMSE, cloud-to-cloud error).

  • Post-process registered scans into required/compatible formats (e.g., LGS/LGSx, E57, RCP/RCS, LAS/LAZ) per project needs and data governance.

• CAD integration and modeling

  • Create a CloudWorx project in AutoCAD and load point clouds against:

    • APS Site Control Map

    • APS Facilities Structural Grid

    • Storage Ring straight section center points

  • Align visible S&A control points in the point cloud to APS network points; verify and document alignment residuals.

  • Create clipping planes and sections to isolate required areas and reduce data volume for design workflows.

  • Trace structural, mechanical, electrical, and utilities components in 3D for CAD reference.

  • Export 3D tracings as STEP files and import into PTC Creo skeleton files for downstream engineering uses.

• Quality assurance and documentation

  • Produce clear registration reports, alignment summaries, error metrics, layer/sectioning schemes, and data dictionaries.

  • Adhere to APS/Argonne data management standards, file naming conventions, and version control.

  • Coordinate closely with S&A, APS engineering, and stakeholders to validate deliverables and resolve issues.

Position Requirements

• Minimum Required Education and Experience Level: Bachelors and 4+ years’ experience, Masters and 2+ years’ experience, or equivalent

• 3+ years of hands-on laser scanning and point cloud registration experience in industrial, AEC, or laboratory environments.

• Proficiency with Leica BLK360 and Leica Cyclone Register 360 (or Register 360 PLUS).

• Working knowledge of survey control principles, including use of control networks, target constraints, and georeferencing/transformations.

• Demonstrated experience integrating point clouds in AutoCAD via CloudWorx and producing clean, sectioned datasets for modeling.

• Proficiency exporting 3D geometry to STEP and integrating models into PTC Creo skeleton workflows.

• Strong understanding of spatial accuracy, error propagation, and QA/QC metrics for registered datasets.

• Ability to model Argonne’s core values of impact, safety, respect, integrity, and teamwork.

• Interpersonal skills, oral and written communication skills, and ability to interact with people at all levels both within and outside the laboratory.

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, and Experience

• Experience collaborating with Survey & Alignment teams and interpreting control network specifications.

• Experience with additional Leica ecosystem tools (e.g., Cyclone CORE, JetStream, TruView) and Autodesk toolchains (e.g., Civil 3D, Navisworks).

• Experience with clash detection and model coordination workflows.

Tools and Technologies

• Leica BLK360; Leica Cyclone Register 360

• CloudWorx for AutoCAD; Autodesk AutoCAD (and/or Civil 3D)

• PTC Creo (skeleton modeling)

• Point cloud formats: LGS/LGSx, E57, RCP/RCS, LAS/LAZ; 3D exchange: STEP

Phy