Blog 6 - Course Reflection

Being an Electrical engineer, it was interesting to have another view of the technologies being developed. Most of our exposure during electrical engineering courses has been related to production lines and product development. However, this course clearly showed me how the advancements in one industry can come to play an important role in other industries.

At the beginning of the course I learned a lot about BIM and how AI is being implemented I the development of buildings across the world. It is interesting concepts like 3D printed to be brought to a bigger scale in which strong structures are precisely created in incredible shapes and form. From the class, my favorite section was the applications of AI to properly choose the best design of a building based on the ambient characteristics. I normally see AI in more controlled spaces, but using the data from the environment to be process to determine the best model is impressive.

On the other hand, this course gave me a big number of tools and skills on BIM, with the little exposure I had from previous years. I tried the most to make my project required me to use BIM. It was interesting to share my knowledge in controls with my teammates while they constantly teach me how to properly create and present a project at Revit.

About my professional career, this course gave tools to properly understand other industries. As well as provide more awareness of current technologies and different applications. I grow personally since taking the course because now I constantly review news about technology advancements to be up to date to up and coming technologies that I am interested in.

To improve this course, I would like to see more advancements in other industries not related to construction. After taking the course, I have come to realize that any advancement can be adapted to any industry. I believe that if these are shown, most of the students will come with new ideas to implements in their projects. I have taken a lot of knowledge and advancements in construction that I will surely apply to my career as an electrical engineer.

Reflection

This course was interesting and not at all what I expected when I enrolled to take the class. I was expecting more quantitative work with more homework and quizzes. I was pleasantly surprised at the way the course was run. I like when professors have the attitude that you get out of the class what you put in. It helps ease the immediate tension and set the term up nicely. I also enjoyed how the course set students up to learn more about intelligent systems, not just the math behind them, but exploring the new technologies that exist.

Being a part-time employee for an engineering firm, we heavily rely on AutoCAD Civil 3D as our base for all of our work. However, the company as a whole is making the push to start training employees on Revit. The first part of the course, where we reviewed Revit and made a family group was highly beneficial and helped me on more than one occasion in the work place. Completing that project gave me more information on the system and allowed me to be a step further in training than the rest of my team.

Even though our team doesn’t use sensors and data collecting software, learning about Microsoft Access was an interesting exercise for a project. I had never used the program before, but the tutorials were more than sufficient in helping students figure out their way around. In the future, I will be looking out for this type of software across our projects.

The individual or group projects was also interesting because of the concept behind it. In most of the courses here at Drexel, a lot of projects are dictated to students without the choice of topics. It was a nice change of pace to be able to select a paper versus deliverable and then also the topic of the paper. It was also nice that the submissions were spread out throughout the course, making it easier to coordination and spreading of the workload. Overall, I really enjoyed this class and the way it was run.

Comments:

Blog 6 - Course Reflection - Calvin Tang

This assignment required students to think about what this course has taught them and how it might affect their profession and future.

When I started this course, I was one of the people who assumed that the main topics would focus on how we may improve the user-experience of the clients or building constituents using new technology after a building has been constructed. So I guess I’m saying that I thought we were retrofitting buildings with new technology. I did not think that we would start integrating these technologies at the conception of the building.

AI generating building designs is a fascinating idea that I believe will make things more complex. But complex isn’t a bad thing. It allows for unique ideas to become reality.

Automation of building construction will lead to job layoffs. I cannot be so optimistic as to hope that we can save every worker’s livelihood by training them in handling machines. Only the most adept will be retained and the others will be fired.

Sensors have been important for a long time. The advancement of sensors in accuracy of lifespan will be crucial to gathering more data that we can use to change design codes so that future buildings can perform better. We can also use sensors to make user-experience in the building such as lighting and IAQ much better.

I am studying architectural and civil engineering with a concentration on structures. I think having BIM assist in structural calculations is a good thing as long as we can still check the calculations. The super complex structures that architects want will need to push the limits of structural analysis and design. For that purpose, we may need to make use of FEM. Moving forward, I think I need to quickly pick up a structural modeling software and become proficient with it.

B6- Course reflection

This class served as a good introduction to some of the new and upcoming technologies. There were some things that I had already known about which made the classes fairly simple. This included things like sensors, computers and how they work. I still believe that they were necessary to show for those in the class with less exposure to them. I felt like the discussions we had on robotics were interesting but kind of hard to grasp at points. The reason being that there were things which I got really excited for because I could see them on the horizon but there were also robots which seemed so far in the future that they were kind of irrelevant. The things that I will take away the most from this class were the BIM and database projects. The work in Revit served as a good refresher and introduction to family creation. I could felt that the BIM lessons created a strong foundation to build off of in the future. On the other hand this was my first time working with databases and I really enjoyed the experience. There was so much to learn and although it could be frustrating at times it was a powerful tool that I know will be using in the future. Overall this class served as a good exposure to many different technologies and the amount that anyone learned was totally up to them.

Course Reflection

This course opened me to the possibility of BIM and its potential to thrive even more in the future. Prior to, I didn’t fully grasp the concept of BIM or Revit, specifically how these technologies vary (i.e. Revit and AutoCAD are two different programs with minor differences in how they work and what they are capable of) and how they could evolve to become more interactive tools that my generation can use to implement building design. Learning about the BIM revolution and hearing different opinions allowed for me to relate the context of this course to experiences which I will likely have in the future.

I believe that this course and what I have learned will impact my professional career. Just recently, I went to an interview in which the company was adamant that their employees be familiar with Revit and gave less concern to the use of AutoCAD. At the same time, different companies are integrating the technology at varying rates, with some of them still only hand drawing their designs. I can identify with these traditional companies in that they embody the type of work that I always envisioned myself doing as an engineer and architect lover. While I understand the benefits of artificial intelligence, I am not passionate about using it because it is daunting to place reliance on machines. I have concerns about the security of information, both about buildings and the users within them, which could be compromised by using this technology.

I still see value in the human experience of reviewing building design, and I initially had a hesitancy towards technology due to the stereotypical depictions of machines overpowering humans which are portrayed in mainstream media. However, this class has addressed my concerns with a levelheaded argument which suggests that humans and technology can work alongside one another to maximize building design, speed up construction, and accommodate clients more completely. The predictive or automated abilities of the technology are most exciting to me because as humans, we are always interested in having answers and planning ahead—this technology permits us to do just that. Furthermore, these technologies should and probably will be monitored by people to ensure that their performance is consistent with the reasons for which it was designed.

Prior to this class, I had no understanding of the vocabulary and theory behind the systems like databases or sensors that collaborate to act “intelligently.” I think it is useful for clients and architectural engineers, even though they are not designing artificial technologies, to understand how they communicate with each other in order to be able to identify potential problems with the technology in application. Also, standardization of this technology is imperative to its success—my generation will be in a position to watch this change occur and help perfect the process of using this technology in traditional engineering and design fields.

To improve this course, I would delve further into existing intelligent buildings. While the technique and theory behind configuring artificial intelligence technologies gives a baseline from which to study intelligent systems, I feel that the course lacked connection to building design and focused more on the function of various technologies that could be used in buildings or other areas.

Reflection

Intelligent Buildings was a course in which I could explore the future of my chosen profession. I enjoyed learning about problems I will be faced with in the future and how professionals and researchers are already working on solutions to said problems. Using technology to solve current issues also gives rise to other difficulties. Through this course, I’ve been taught about the responsibilities I have as a prospective engineer to solve these new problems because of their impacts on society and my profession.

Additionally, this course allowed me to explore some of my weaknesses and work on them. For example, I knew about Revit families before this course, but I’ve never made my own furniture family. I also got to work with databases which was something I wasn’t familiar with. I’m hoping I can use them in the future professionally, although right now, I don’t know where they would fit in. I was also happy to use Revit because it is one of my strengths and I like being able to improve on my current skillset. I was also able to practice my writing skills since we were able to get feedback from the professor on our assignments.

I took this course because I was interested in sensor technology and I believed I would be afforded the opportunity to explore sensors. For my final project I researched CO2 sensors in depth as I believed them to be a viable solution to a serious problem facing the building systems industry. After conducting research, writing a paper, and creating a presentation, I still believe that CO2 sensors are the solution for supplying air on demand. I think my paper and presentation are interesting to read and do a good job at explaining the current status of CO2 sensor technology and their use in everyday applications.

This course touched a lot upon things I have learned in other classes and my Co-Ops. I think a lot of the topics gone over in the class will help me professionally and add to my abilities as an engineer. It also helps to hear about things other students are working on so that we can learn from them as well. Instead of just one teacher we get multiple! I’m looking forward to seeing the presentations in class so I can learn more about some of the topics we have gone over in class and possibly some new topics.

In conclusion, this course is beneficial to people who are new to building systems because a lot of the information presented in the class is common knowledge to people who have been employed by firms who work on buildings over their co-ops. I believe that the project was well geared toward a wide audience because it gave students the opportunity to research something they cared about. All in all, I think the course was beneficial to most students and I think we all took away some important lessons. I feel better prepared for my future in the industry and it was exciting to learn about emerging technology.

Comments:

Robert Borelli: I agree that Professor Mitchell’s videos helped a lot with the assignments. I think that if he hadn’t posted them, I would have had a much more difficult time completing the assignments. Particularly the database assignment. I had a lot of difficulty with that assignment.

Hanyan Chen: I think you have a point with gearing the class more towards digital buildings students. However, I think this class could also be used for students beginning in architectural engineering since it explains and goes over a lot of topics students will encounter on their co-ops.

Laney Fries: I think your “what could happen” comment was spot on. I think that we could have narrowed the topics down to “what is currently happening” instead. We went over a lot of technologies that are arising but not what problems they will solve really.

Course Reflection

Before taking AE410, I only had a brief understanding of intelligent buildings that buildings can take conveniences to people, and the buildings in the future. AE 410 provide me a deeper understanding of buildings in the future, and a basic understanding of artificial intelligence, the sensor applications, database, and Revit Family function. As an architectural engineer student, the BIM software, Database, and some detailed AI applications will help my future career directly. In the future, more skills will be required in the construction field, and with BIM software skill will increase my probability to get involved into more projects than others.

In this course, the most impressive knowledge will be the BIM, and forecast of future buildings. For the BIM, at beginning, I thought BIM is just a software like AutoCAD which is only for drawings with special 3D models. However, after taking this 410 I learned the BIM is not a design software and it also is a software will take many benefits to both owners and subcontractors. Because by using Revit, it will help with shorten the cost, providing a more accurate schedule, and easier for subcontractors to knowing the best position to install equipements. Due to the characters of BIM software, designers can store and change the file easier than the hand drawings.

As we known, people always talks about the future buildings: what should the buildings look like; what kinds of things will be involved; and How human builds it. In 410, Professor Mitchell gives us a general forecast of the future buildings. In the future buildings, BIM software will be used to design; the robotics will be used during the constructions; sensors and AI application will be installed in the building to provide a comfortable, convenient and efficiency living or working place.  Additionally, in the final project, we did some searches online about intelligent buildings nowadays and in future which could be defined into three main characters: Performance-based definitions, Services-based definitions and System-based definitions.

I really enjoy taking this course, and I learn real and useful things from this course. However, there are also some points confused me. For example, when talk about the robotics has been used in the construction, we did not talk about the weak points of using robotics. For example, the costs of building robotics, the energy consumptions, and how should we replace the human workers. Moreover, the BIM software should be talked more. Because nowadays, everyone uses computer and BIM really helps students in their career and professions.

B6 Course Reflection

As a civil engineering student, this is the first AE class I took. I think this class is especially helpful as I am preparing for my professional career as an engineering in the future. The course focused on several great topics that are essential for the future of the industry.

            First and foremost, the beam technology is an essential skill set as I am preparing for being a design professional. Professor Mitchell guided us to understand the use of the beam is powerful and will be a key tool to use in the future. The Revit assignment allows us to learn the different prospects of the tool. The use of both Revit and AutoCAD in the future is a good mix and can assist must of the projects in our future career.

            Database as another critical topic for this class is also beneficial for me. As intelligent building becomes more and more usual for the industry, understand the database tools will help me in the future of the designs. MS access is a great tool I used in this class and I know there are more and more database software with special focus. The project on the database allows me to study and give me an introduction for these kinds of tools.

            The term project as the final assignment is a great way to explore more on the subjects taught from this class. It is great for us to choose the specific topic we are interested in. For me, I chose the intelligent building versus the green building. At the end of the term, we are allowed to share our own research on our subjects benefits the entire class to be more informative on different topics the class introduced.

            The guest speakers professor Mitchell invited to this class is knowledgeable and shared a lot of their knowledge and experiences. It is always good for us to get more informative not only from the class but also from the professionals.

            Overall, this is a class I was always hoping to take during my years at Drexel. It provided us with the understanding of the impact of the technologies that are likely to produce significant change during our professional career.

Comments:

Yicheng: Just like you, I also didn’t know how to build a model using Revit prior to this class. I believe AutoCAD and Revit are similar and they can assist one another in the future designs for the project.

Hailey: I agree with you that the guest speakers are helpful in this class. Most of them are just a little bit older than us and they understand our needs and questions on the industry and our future career. They provided us with lots of additional knowledge to the course materials.

Matt: You mentioned some good points on the video professor Mitchell showed during the class. I remember the Boston Dynamics the most. These robotics will leave their footprints to all of the fields in the upcoming years and I hope construction industry can also benefits from it.

B6 - Class Reflection

Prior to taking AE 410/510, I was aware of Revit and databases as a concept, but I did not have a good understanding of what those systems were capable of.  Dynamo and grasshopper were also great software to get exposed to, as they allowed me to see where design firms in the architectural engineering and construction (AEC) industry is moving towards.  These, along with emerging technologies like robots, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality, can expedite construction projects and ultimately save money.

How this class exposed me to the Revit software I believe will significantly help me in the future.  At my job as a consulting engineer in the AEC industry, I am involved on some of Philadelphia’s largest and most forward-thinking design teams.  BIM360, as mentioned in this class, is one of the databases that I have been using, and on the same project, Revit is also being used.  Using these two software together has been extremely helpful, where Revit is being used in the design process and communication between various trades for coordination.  Then, BIM360 is being used to track problems with a system once it is installed on site.  Similar methods to issue tracking and design can be created using different software, but this concept is extremely helpful for projects with an integrated project delivery (IPD) method.  Dynamo and grasshopper are also clearly helpful to the design process, although for the specific career path that I am working towards, I do not believe they will be applicable.

Databases I believe are more applicable to my future career.  Occasionally there will be a project with hundreds or thousands of different buildings where data for each one must be collected.  Alternatively, there may be a single building, but thousands of photos that can be categorized by location in the building or what type of work is being photographed.  Larger projects like the second one mentioned can take years, or decades to complete, and with photos being taken daily, this can add up very quickly.  Towards the end of said project, finding specific photos can be difficult, but utilizing databases and queries, it could be possible to find specific photos much faster, saving time, and making the overall process less arduous.

Comment 1 Kunlun Ren:

Kunlun, it is great that you were able to get the opportunity to learn Revit and Microsoft Access.  I was in a similar situation where I have been putting off learning Revit and other software for years now, even though I knew I could learn it and that it would be helpful.  This was because I was either always too busy, and I knew that it was not an immediate concern, meaning I could learn it later.  I liked that this course forced me to learn the software, although I also wish that Revit were taught earlier in the AE curriculum at Drexel to help with junior design and senior design.

Comment 2 Harvin Bhandal:

Harvin, good points bringing up the novice level assignments versus the experienced ones.  I loved how Professor Mitchell allowed us to decide every assignment what level we were at, and be graded fairly and accordingly to our skill level.  Students who have used Revit over their co-ops obviously were more experienced with the software, and could complete the experienced task, while students like me who are not as familiar with Revit could do the novice level assignment.  The same can be said about databases.  This also allowed everyone in the class to learn more about databases and Revit, since everyone was able to expand into new areas of the software that they were unfamiliar with before.

Comment 3 Richard Kimball:

Richard, that is really cool that you have been teaching yourself to code and learn databases on your own.  I have also been meaning to begin watching videos online to teach myself specifically how to learn the command prompt on a computer, as I believe mass file edits are a common task that I will be given.  Learning the syntax and commands involved with the command prompt will help me streamline these processes, and save significant amounts of time.  Like you, I also want to learn databases and coding, and this class has been a great jumpstart to me gaining that knowledge.

B5-Reflection

AE 410/510, the Intelligent building, is one of my required class. My concentration is intelligent building for Architectural Engineering as well, so the knowledge for intelligent building helped me to get a basic idea about the technologies would be used in the future building. As a future engineer, this course gave me a primary guide for how the future building would be built, and how many other things I can do other than designing the buildings traditionally. The new BIM model programs, which were introduced in the course, such as the REVIT, Grasshopper, and other BIM programs, would be the most direct help for my future career because those programs would simplify the designing processes. Another helpful thing would be the MS Access database study. I am learning SQL by using Oracle in the information courses, and that was interesting as well, but the difference was that the MS Access was more intuitionistic and easy to be organized and edited.

I am always excited about learning new kinds of stuff. Now is the end of the term, I am still feeling interested in taking this course, but this course is not as simple as I thought. This does not mean that I do not like this course, but I do feel a little bit tired to do the projects and blogs. One thing cannot be denied is that those assignments and projects have helped me to learn more new stuff about intelligent buildings, such as the AI, the database, the BIM models and other interesting technologies. And to listen to the presentation from other professors and engineers were fun and expanded my mind. However, personally, some of the courses were too general to be followed, and there were too many pieces of information jumping up in each class, so it was hard for me to absorb those new bits of knowledge. In other words, I am not confident about this course. No detail was copied into my brain.

Besides those new technologies, I was expecting to hear something about how intelligent buildings would be improved, so that the negative effects from the building to the environment in the future would be decreased. But nothing was mentioned related to the future environment. This is a little bit different from what I thought about the intelligent building. Everything that I have learned from this course only benefits the people inside the building, but not outside of the building.

I am not a critic, and I do love this course, but, for personally, the course is a little bit hard to be patiently followed, and the project was too general to be focused. Hope these parts can be improved in future courses.

Comments:

Tsitsios: Yes, the BIM programs and the MS Access database were the most interesting and helpful things that we learned from this course. These can help us a lot for our future career.


Ren: You are right. The BIM model can simplify the engineers' lives, and there are many other BIM model programs in the business, which might be much more useful than the Revit in some specific categories. The database study will help us a lot for organizing. And, yes, to learn new knowledge from other professors is interesting and beneficial as well.

Laney Fries: Same, I am planning to study construction management in graduate school. The information from this course was a little be complex, but this should be similar to our future works, such as construction, operation, renovation, and demolition. I do agree that the BIM and the database study were the most important and interesting things we learned from this course. And, yes, to learn new knowledge from other professors is interesting and beneficial as well.

B6 - Course Reflection

Reflection on course AE 510.

From this course, I learned a lot about the most forefront technologies of the AEC industry. I learned the basic concepts and detailed information on BIM programs, AI applications, databases, sensors applications, etc. And learned the possibilities of these technologies in the future. With the help of Professor, I am able to predict a little bit of big direction of the future of the AEC industry.

As a novice of Revit, I learned how to use the basic function of Revit to build a simple house through the course practices. More important, it aroused my interest in learning BIM software again. As an architecture student before I came to Drexel, I always thought about learning Revit. But as it was not required by the studio and I did not have the wiser sight of the development of the architecture industry, I just delayed the learning again and again. But in this course, with the very detailed and interesting introduction of BIM as a whole system at the beginning of the course, I realized that I could not delay the learning anymore. And also, the instruction for Revit we used in this course is very clear and easy to follow. It removed the big pressure from learning new software by using plain explanation and simple project cases. Even though this course is just a start for me of learning Revit, it is an absolutely good start of learning new software.

I also enjoyed the database learning after the Revit section. Before, I thought Access is just similar to Excel and I have never used it. Through this course, I learned that the database is not only a form to store data but also a tool that can classify and analyze data. And thanks to the database project, I can use the basic function of Access now. I’m sure that with more practice and learning, databases including Access will help me a lot in data storage and analysis work in the future.

Besides learning new software, the biggest takeaway for me should be opening my eyes of the AEC industry and trigger my ambitions for the advanced technologies. I learned that the AEC industry is changing with technology development and all the practitioners need to keep up with the times to avoid being eliminated by their peers. With writing the blogs and reading other people’s blogs, I feel big peer pressure as most of our students are keeping up with the times and new technologies. At the same time, I also feel lucky that there are so many people whom I can learn from. In concluding, this course helps me a lot for my future learning and working.

B6 - Course Reflection

Throughout this course, there were very interesting topics brought up that, in some way, are relevant to either what many of us plan on doing or connected to what we’ve learned about so far at Drexel. I really enjoyed how many of these topics weren’t brought up or included in other classes but are still important to discuss as they are relevant to what we will be getting into with our careers. One thing about this class that I found to be the most useful was bringing in the guest lectures- I think this is something that’s often overlooked in many classes, but having people who do the things we talk about in the class for a living gives us the opportunity to see what they do (and what we can do) and ask questions if it’s something we also can see ourselves doing. I know we had quite a few guest lecturers come in, but I would have been happy to see more as well. I think they bring something unique and all have different points of view, and especially in a class where we have this floating idea of what the future of design/technology/etc. will bring, hearing other professional opinions on that topic was interesting.

One of the topics in this class that I found the most interesting was Revit and BIM. With his being the way most of the industry is moving, I think it’s very important that we get some sort of introduction to it. That being said, I wish there was a lot more time (in all honesty, a full course) that talks about Revit and adds in learning the idea of BIM even more. My co-ops have been a little bit different from most engineering co-ops as I have not had the opportunity to spend a lot of time in design programs like Revit or AutoCAD. I feel like this has held me at some sort of disadvantage when it comes to what many (and most) Civil Engineers are able to do. Having Professor Mitchell twice and him including the Revit introduction has helped me remember the program, but also continue to learn from it. I also think it was great to include the topic and an assignment on databases, because not everyone has the opportunity to learn about how useful they are. I’m currently taking a databases class because of my concentration, but because it is in the College of Computing and Informatics, it’s not geared as much towards engineering students and specifically how engineering students can utilize databases. Having this additional topic helped with my understanding of databases and how much they beneficial they are. I wasn’t expecting to get a lot out of the class, simply because it seemed like more of a “what could happen” continuous discussion, but the assignments, blog posts, and the guest lectures helped everything become more relevant and interesting. After graduation, I plan on working in construction management, which is another reason I wasn’t sure this class would help, but this class really tied in so many different subjects (including construction) and made me think just a little bit more about where the industry is going and how it will change going forward with all of this technology.

COMMENTS:

Maalik Kaptue – I totally agree that the sensors and robotics portion of the class was super interesting. That’s really what pulled together the topic of Intelligent Buildings with construction and engineering, which is one of the things that peaked my interest. I also had a co-op with the city, and after this class, I’m beginning to think a little bit more on how the future of technology will change how different sectors such as the Streets Department are run.

Hailey Ihlow – I also agree that the classroom setting was not conducive to how the course was set up to run. It’s unfortunate we ended up in the room, but I think the class was able to work the best it could given the environment. I also agree how this was a really nice change of pace from the other CIVE based classes – it’s nice to have it more discussion-based courses and especially for seniors, it provides more of an opportunity to consider everything that may happen in the future.

Jenny Fretta – I think it’s great that the different topics and assignments included in this class helped you in many ways, like senior design and your future career. The different subjects makes you think about how this fast-paced technology is changing our field so quickly and what’s the best job to get into that can still be around in a couple of years, as opposed to eventually being done through AI. This class also made it interesting to think more about what the future holds, which is fun.

B6 Course Reflection - Alkiviadis Tsitsios

AE 410, Intelligent buildings has been a very beneficial course to me. Because of technological advances, the building industry is changing. The purpose of the course was to help us understand how these technologies affect the future of our professional career. In terms of design, construction, operation, renovation, and demolition, AE 410 has helped teach the role of information technology in these aspects. Through the review and discussion of articles, many topics have been touched on. The class has reviewed how BIM affects all parties of a project, like owners, architects, engineers, and contractors. It allows you to communicate with all parties, and eases the access of shared information. Additionally, the class discussed BIM technology’s relation to other drafting programs, like AutoCAD. Not only did the class discuss BIM technology, it also discussed database software. In particular, its relation to BIM, and in design, was emphasized.

One of the goals of the course was to become proficient in Autodesk’s Revit. I believe that after this class, I am much more seasoned in the software. There were various assignments and tutorials that forced students to become accustomed to its uses. These tutorials and assignments allowed me to become more familiar with the software. Previously, I had glanced upon the software, and was slow at navigating it. Now I can make my way around, and I am aware of the locations and functions of many of the tools. Additionally, training was instilled for the Database software. Assignments regarding this were helpful. While the training in both softwares were helpful, I believe with slightly more tutorials, as well as some more tutorials on how to correlated BIM with Database software would have been helpful. Nevertheless, the knowledge that I have gained through the assignments and the class will be carried on with me through my career. My first real exposure to BIM and Database software has been through this class. As I progress in engineering, I can always come back to the information that I have gathered in this class for reference. The course has been helpful in understanding the conceptual reasoning behind the use of the software, as well as administering the software for technical use.

ROBERT BORRELLI
I agree that the course is not what I expected. I am glad that we discussed and trained in the softwares. Initially, I thought that it would be an informative course, littered with structural calculations and a buildings relation to technology. The class did emphasize a buildings relation to smart technology, but through demonstration, rather than lecture and speeches.

HANYAN CHEN
Before the course, I already understood that there existed “smart” technology. I did not understand that an entire building could actually be intelligent. Even through the final project, there have been many instances shown where a building could indeed be intelligent. Not only is there automation in manufacturing, and advancements in robotics, there are also advancements in building, and that is intelligent building.



MAALIK KAPTUE
I agree that this course is a lot different than most. Like you said, I am also used to courses which emphasize heavy calculations. It was refreshing to take a course where guest speakers were frequent, demonstrations were helpful, and the ability to be creative was emphasized

B6 Course Reflection

AE 410 is not quite what I expected when I signed up for it, but now that I have finished the course, I can say that I am happy I decided to take it. The main surprise is that I did not think that we would get into the technology that is used to design a building. As a computer engineering student, BIM and Revit were completely new to me. I was expecting the Revit assignment to take a long time, but professor Mitchell’s instructional videos made it very easy to learn the basics of Revit so that we could complete the assignment. Another thing that I was surprised to see in this course was the inclusion of databases. I have worked with databases in the past and have never thought about their importance in the design, construction and maintenance of a building. It was interesting to use Microsoft Access for the first time and see how different relationships between tables in a database could be helpful. I thought it was interesting how we spoke about how different technologies can be used in the architectural industry. Such as how sensors can be used to automate building processes, or how virtual and augmented reality can be used in the design and construction process to give a better visual representation of what the finished product can look like. Something I really enjoyed about this class is that we were able to choose the topic for a final project. I chose the dive into the use of AI in the architectural industry which is something that we barely touched on in class. This project gave me a glimpse of what the future holds for artificial intelligent’s role in the industry within the next 10 years. I also enjoyed getting a different perspective from all the guest speakers that we had. All of them worked in the AE industry but all played a different role which gave us a wide variety of perspectives to learn from. Overall, I thought going to class was an enjoyable experience and I have learned quite a bit considering I am not an AE major.

B6 Reflection

AE 410/510 is the rare type of college course that exists somewhere between core content and elective- a course that sets out to teach relevant information regarding an emerging and significant, but not (yet) ubiquitous, facet of a major's given industry. This course offers a knowledge pool which stands only to benefit those who would explore it, but yet may not even come up in conversation during a job interview. I digress, "relevance during job interviews" is hardly a valid quantifier of a course's value.
I think it goes without saying that humanity, at this point, will only ever become more deeply ingrained with and reliant upon the incredible technologies we have invented. This is as relevant in every day life as it is in any industry- creative, technical, or otherwise. It is human nature to invent new and iterative means of demonstrating some degree of understanding and control over the world around us. The wide umbrella of intelligent building systems is perhaps one of the better examples of this truth. The granularity of the data that the sensors discussed in this course are able to measure as well as the interoperability and synergy of the internet of things through which these sensors operate both embody the engineering spirit of hair-splitting efficiency and system optimization. Beyond simply being inevitable, I feel the pursuit of new technologies for the sake of improving the work we are able to do in our industry and the efficiency with which we are able to do it is both righteous and worthwhile. The advent of BIM in itself is a major game changer for the engineering industry that I greatly look forward to benefiting from and employing in my day to day life.
Even though it appears as though my career trajectory at this point is angled more towards the construction management facet of our industry, I plan to strive to incorporate as many intelligent building systems as possible to aid in my work. This includes BIM, database software, and certainly some subset of sensors relevant to the construction side of the industry.
I feel that my entered into this course with a vague idea of what "intelligent building systems" meant and the breadth of what the term encompassed, however it was quickly made apparent to me that I was much less savvy than I had assumed. That is to say, I learned a great deal from this class and i look forward to implementing it throughout my career.

B6-Reflection to course AE410/510 Intelligent Building

Reflection to course AE410/510 Intelligent Building

As an Architectural Engineering student, I was been wondering all the time what does intelligent or digital building means. As a senior at Drexel, I am anxious for the year about where I should go for graduate school or what kind of job I am looking for. This course actually gave a really great basic guidance for digital building students like me. It introduced BIM software, like Revit, and database, like MS Access. It is really helpful for students who does not have any experience about these software. It is a chance for them to get one step into the BIM field and it is also a good start for using Revit and Access with a detailed guidance. For students who have used Revit, it is not as effective as those novice students. Though we learned a bit deeper in these software, I still think these course should be recommended to take once the concentration has decided. It will be a great introduction course for those digital concentration student, rather than being an isolated course that has students from different levels.

About the course, the content is great about the future of BIM, robotics, sensors, etc. A lot of materials are not being touched in other courses for Architectural engineering students. Focusing on future gives this course a really deep impression that also encourage students working in this field. The presentations that guest speakers provided are impressive and insightful especially for senior students like me. It really helps me to understand the current situation of the field and what direction it could go. For me, as an international students, I also thought a lot about the BIM trends overseas. It is interesting when I compare the current situation of BIM technology between America and other countries, which also helps me to find the future career directions.

Comment:

Kaptue, I totally agree with you that it is important to see if the cultures in the firm is moving forward or not. Being a new vital force to this industry, it is also our responsibility to help companies move forward and catch the pace of the technology.

Jenny, you have mentioned that possibilities are endless. It is true that we are responsible to ensure the safety when we develop the technology. It is great to see that you can apply these concepts to your career in a close future.

Sean, I agree with you that intelligent building still has a long way to go that the cost, poor coordination and low desire will be the challenge for developing the technology for intelligent buildings.

AE 410 Reflection

Taking this course has been different and a little unexpected from what I've been used to as a Drexel student studying engineering. I'm used to more classes where we learn hard skills through calculations and working directly with computer programs design around BIM. Even though this class had focus on BIM and other online programs supporting databases and construction, the main focus in this class that I've seen has been the talk of a paradigm shift that is being spearheaded by advancements in technology and seeing how that is reshaping our future. We constantly hear how technology is changing our workforce and how it's going to change everything that we have in the future through AI. But seeing that firsthand and seeing how it affects our jobs as engineers is eye-opening and ensuring that we're able to cross with these coming changes, as this class work well to get us in the mindset innovation and technology. It is scary to see how AI technology can alter the way buildings are being designed and constructed, as this learned technology can design structures independently without human involvement. Two of my favorite topic in this class were building sensors and robotics in construction. We talked about sensors and saying how their role within buildings have redefined how buildings primarily function. Also talked about construction and how that process is being change through AI. The presentation from those two guest speakers were very informative and insightful on where the construction and engineering world is currently going and how it is making strides to move forward and stay in front of the curve through these advancements. I'm still fascinated and intrigued with how robotics is being used as superintendent using lasers and radar to scan and analyze progress and safety of construction.

For me moving forward, it has definitely changed the way that I'm looking at the job market. There are different types of engineering firms across the country, many of them have different cultures but there are cultures that are moving forward and cultures that are staying the same. from a past co-op experience I work for the city of Philadelphia and it was a culture that was stagnant and ran through bureaucracy. The chili learning progress as a engineer into the future, working within an organization where integration of technology and different software is paramount is the only way to stay that have the curve.

Nick Maloney: I completely agree with your initial impression. The extent of robotics integration was especially jarring to see, as was the complexity of databases that controlled advanced BIM software. Admittedly, some topics felt at first glance as if they were overly ambitious and perhaps impractical. I feel that we're at a stage where robotics are primitive and incomplete but they're bound to catch on and catch up quicker than we think.

Jenny Fretta: I agree with how this class can help us in the future architectural engineers, as you said you hope to apply these concepts to my career by being able to connect smart devices in a building to a network in order to make a cohesive controls system within a building to help regulate and monitor conditions from a phone. In the most basic form we want to be able to automated things open the house hole through sensors.

Sean Reifer: I agree with the point you made. Effective databases, sensors and automation system combinations improve system "monitor-ability" and allow building managers to prevent problems before in the system before the problems can occur. As engineers, this is the quickest way we can transform the way we look at construction from inspection perspective and see how we can have more accurate precise readings and analysis of our building's performance.

B6 - Course Reflection

Reflection on AE410. This was a required class for myself but knowing that I think I still got some useful information out of this class. I think I gained things in terms of group work and reinforced what type of environments I thrive in and what I am looking for in a job. While the premise of the class was not lost on us, I think it might have already caught up to test self and may need a revamp or a restructuring.

The guest speakers were very excellent and great. They helped me ask myself questions I need to ask for a job search. I was in gauged for most guest speakers and thought that this was a good use of time. Bring in people that are in the field currently should continue.  

While I still have not found out what exactly I want to do this class has encouraged me to consider what I currently do for work within Revit. As we have found that Revit is the "cutting edge" program today, I think moving forward with that was encouraged through this class.  I do not want to go backward with programs and use something inferior to Revit.

Other things that I want to reflect on in the class would be more prevalent, but the classroom setting was not conducive t an environment for this collaborative, interactive class. While this was not the choice of anyone that had classes held in that room this change of location and CO2 levels was prevalent. Hopefully, the problem has been fixed, this comment is con conducive to this class, but when we learn about indoor air quality and another advanced sensor, but we are not in one ourselves, it is concerning.

Splitting up the class into groups did have a purpose but since there were not a mandatory attendance policy groups tended to fall apart. Not that attendance is the only way to get people to come to class; it would help. In another case, this class was offered the same time another digital building required class was being offered this term, and maybe some students chose the other type over this one.

The pre-presentation were fantastic. It allowed for creativity and some laughs when we needed it in week 9. 

Overall the AE classes at Drexel have always been a good change of pace from the typical CIVIL levels we see in other cases. Being a senior with one quarter to go, this course gave me the foresight to ask myself the career questions I needed to move forward as graduation approaches. 

Comments:

[1] Matt Mullen - I agree with you that the Revit assignment was good and that maybe another step down that road would be better since that is where the industry is headed. Being able to use these programs I classes gives us (Drexel Students) a leg up in the job market.

[2] Jenny Fretta -  I think you got some good things out of this class. I think this class is good to see but should be restructured in the light of where the industry is going. 

[3] Sean Reifer - I agree that the guest speakers were refreshing. Having different topics for the guest speakers and not just about BIM or Revit was well done. 

B6 - Course Reflection

For this course AE510, it left me with a deep impression. I have learned a lot of new design techniques and architectural concepts. I think it will be very helpful for my future development in this industry.

Before this course, I only can use AutoCAD to design buildings or draw something. The professor taught us our new design software, Revit, and the new concept, BIM. This is a new tool for architecture, engineering and civil engineering. It is easier to design the building we want. When I saw this software first time, I was very interested in it. In the class, we simply learned the basic operations of Revit and designed a simple architectural model. For this software, I also learned more and used Revit to complete my final project: based on the existing building model,  re-optimize the building structure and reconstruct a new building model.

About BIM, I think the most important advantage of it is that it provides a visual idea for people to see a three-dimensional solid object. In the BIM building information model, the results of visualization are not only that it can be used to display the renderings and report generation, but also that the communication, discussion and decision making during project design, construction and operation are all under visual state.

In addition, one interesting part of this course is that sometime there are alumni or other scholars in our industry who would come to the course to share his or her thoughts with us. This gave me a lot of insights and deepened understanding of this industry. I remember the Sensors Introduction from. He used smartphone as an example to introduce a variety of sensors and their relationship.

In this course, I also learned a lot of new concepts, for example: BIM, 3D printing, sensors, SQL, etc. Although we have not specifically studied the technology, we have a basic understanding of these concepts. Every week we need to read a lot of papers, and then through the blog, we have published some understanding of these technical concepts, and communicated with the students.  For so many new concepts, I am still most impressed by the robots that the first class professors showed me. The human-like robots from Boston, like the actual human movements, are automatically adjusted to balance and calculate the motion path. This makes me wonder about the drawbacks of these technological developments: will it happen that in one day robots will replace humans? Will there be a lot of people who lose their jobs because of robots? How to prevent these technologies from being used in bad thing, such as terrorist attacks or even non-peace wars. I believe that while learning these knowledge, we also need to consider about humanity and morality.

Comment:

To  Harvin Bhandal:

I agree with you the last paragraph of the content. As you said, the development of the technology industry will absolutely benefit people. But I always believe that while developing new technologies, we must always be based on human beings themselves. For a simple example, weapons used to protect our personal safety are correct, 100% correct, but some lawbreaker will use it to hurt others. So we must prevent weapons from being gotten by these bad people. For this point, I just want to say that when we study new technologies, we must consider more comprehensive.

To Nick Maloney:

In your blog, you said that this lesson covers a lot of new concepts, which make us have more something to talk when we communicate with others. I think this is correct. After learning this lesson, what makes us different is that we have improved our knowledge and have different thinking about technology. There is no doubt that this will be very helpful for our future career prospects.

To  Matt Mullen:

That's right, I also agree with what you said: we can watch some instructional videos when we are doing Revit or database assignments. In the lecture, we always miss some knowledge, but if we have these videos, we can complete our work step by step according to the instructions of these videos. I think these video are very helpful for novices to learn.

B6: Course Reflection

One of the most important facets to remaining viable in a field driven by technology is the ability to react to changes in a dynamic field. Despite the fact that the AEC industry has typically been a slow-adopter of technology, it appears that these changes are coming and will drastically alter the way that design professionals approach their day to day work. Because of that, there is a pressing need for a prospective engineer to be aware of what could possibly be coming down the road in order to be well-equipped to take advantage of the opportunities that come with them.

This is where the AE 510 course stepped it. It had the ability of exposing me to new and old aspects of technology in the building industry, all the while projecting what the industry may look like in the future. Some of these technologies I was aware of, including BIM, the need interoperability in software and other aspects of design, and basic mechanism behind more novel methods of production such as 3D printing, sensor controls, and AI integration. Other aspects were new to me. The extent of robotics integration was especially jarring to see, as was the complexity of databases that controlled advanced BIM software. Admittedly, some topics felt at first glance as if they were overly ambitious and perhaps impractical. That said, knowing what research is currently focused on gives premontions for what may eventually become reality over the course of my career as cost and other hurdles are mitigated.

The benefit of this class was the variety that we saw, though there was a drawback in terms of the lack of depth in which we were able to explore certain topics. The variety was helpful in that it prepared us for the variety of careers that can come from an AE degree. Additionally, at this stage of my life I can not anticipate whether certain jobs or projects will require me to be conversational in some of these topics. It is useful to have a breadth of reference points for this purpose. The class also provided a springboard for looking at different research opportunities on your own. In my case, I was able to integrate faculty research into the topic of point cloud modeling to expedite modeling to structures using photogrammetry techniques. It fostered interest in different sensing technologies and the opportunities that exist with them. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it also reinforced the idea that each technology has with it limitations that must be accounted for in design and in the evaluation of any product. Such an idea will help to ground interactions with vendors and clients who may have separate agendas.

Sean,

I agree with your point about the guest lecturers. It was very enlightening to see how some of the concepts that we were learning about in class were actually being applied. I thought it was also interesting to note the pace of changes in certain areas, and how they differed across industries.

Christian,

I think your conclusion about the practicality of the course is a good one. I think the choice in not diving too deep into any subject left us in a spot where we knew enough to be aware of what was going on in terms of technology implementation in the construction industry, but not enough to apply it very well.

Matt,

Your mention of Kayleigh’s lecture was a common one throughout these blog responses. Her introduction to Dynamo was an eye opening one that left me thinking about how the traditional roles of engineers will be changing over the course of our careers. I think that equipping yourself with literacy in programming is a valuable tool that will help you be adaptable and able to take advantage of changes in the industry.