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.

Use of Databases in Design Offices

Databases are typically used within design software. Information in stored in programs such as AutoCAD and Revit to be used during design – material sizes, qualities, and others information that is used constantly in the programs and also stored for future use. While these databases are used within the programs, there’s also continuous growth past what information is currently stored. Work is being put towards creating a more integrated process overall within the design process and going into the manufacturing process. While it is known that CAD is used for the design process, CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) is used within the manufacturing process the same way CAD is used – CAD automates design, and CAM automates the manufacturing process. To create a more integrated process, databases are made between both CAD and CAM so that the planning and management of the operations can be done by a computer, and then the database utilizes the information from a CAD program to transfer it to CAM systems. This CAD/CAM database pulls together data from the design phase (dimensions, necessary parts, etc.) in combination with data needed for manufacturing (tools necessary, timing, quantity, etc.). (1) While databases are used on within a single program, it’s important to see how they can be used to overlap different steps of a project to create a smooth-running project overall.

Even on a smaller scale, databases will become more regularly used, specifically in the technology within an office. Amazon’s Alexa devices utilizes database information to give quick responses. Currently, Alexa devices are being introduced to some university students (Georgia Tech, Arizona State, etc.) to utilize during the academic year. Utilizing these devices on this level, students can ask exam grades, upcoming assignments, etc. While this is obviously relevant to students, the same technique could be implemented in other settings as well, including design offices – “Believers say that the use of the technology will only expand” (2) and while the article specifically talks about the expansion within a school setting, it can go much further than that. In a design office, the use of products like an Echo can pull together databases to relay the information (regarding previous projects, standards, etc.) faster than going through books and other methods.

References:

(1)    Khemani, Haresh. “CAD Applications: CAD/CAM Database” https://www.brighthubengineering.com/cad-autocad-reviews-tips/19615-applications-of-cad-software-cadcam-database/

(2)    Ellis, Lindsay. “Hey Alexa, Should We Bring Virtual Assistants to Campus? These Colleges Gave Them a Shot” (August 2, 2018) https://www.chronicle.com/article/Hey-Alexa-Should-We-Bring/244129?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=fca8c6a17b7943d696dd417c6c7d660f&elq=02622bf46f104a1d98af1a2355bb2f4b&elqaid=19988&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=9293

Responses:

To Alkiviadis Tsitsios, you bring up really good points about how important databases are. Like you said, databases are being used for more than just storing information, but as a way to share it with other parties. This creates a better communication within construction, which is something that is often difficult in the field.

To Hailey Ihlow, I’m also in the database class, and you bring up a great point about how difficult it can be to actually put together a database and manage it. Applying the knowledge is more of an advanced thing, I agree, because the effort “behind the scenes” is a lot more difficult when it’s not transferring information from tables.

To Aaron Goldberg, you explain the relational database theory well - databases in general is not something I know much about, and your post helped explain past how databases are used generally. I think it’s interesting how it looks towards the future and what can be expected and the idea that companies such as HP are potentially expanding technology even further is quite interesting.

B4 - Project Outline

              The topic my partner and I selected for our term project is comparing green energy in residential housing to AI within residential housing. While it is a topic commonly selected in past years with AE 410, I think it’s extremely interesting. In order to create more of a focus within the paper, we selected to compare the two in residential housing. Residential housing is something that effects the population every day and seeing where AI and green energy has been used in the past and where we are moving to in the future is an interesting concept. Within the outline, the part of the paper I’m most looking forward to is seeing where people think we’re going in the future- this was the topic of our first blog post and has been brought up many times in class, and I’m very interested in delving into the topic even more. One thing that my group mentioned during one of the discussion times in class was the classic Disney movie Smart House which is based around AI in residential housing. I think this is also one of the things I think has pulled me towards looking at residential instead of offices, city layout, etc. In terms of comparing the two, we plan on putting together a graphic, potentially a pros and cons table or a Venn diagram. This will add a visual aspect to comparing the two and will compile the information we gather to in an organized matter. It will also summarize most of our research as best as possible.

              While we haven’t been able to delve further into finding the sources yet, most of the ones we were able to look at from Professor Mitchell’s Evernotes were related to AI, so we have not looked further into the green energy. From our background knowledge, I think that this paper will focus more on AI due to most of our previous knowledge coming from green energy. I personally worked a lot with LEED procedures in previous co-ops, so I know a lot more with green buildings than I do AI, which I haven’t researched outside of this class. 

Responses

Alec Silverstone, I think your topic is extremely interesting! I have always felt like I missed out on learning about robots when I was younger, and I simply became interesting in other topics since. Since the first two classes when we were looking at videos of robots on construction sites, I think it’s an extremely fascinating idea to use them. One thing that Derek mentioned in last week’s presentation was how the construction industry is struggling due to a lack of qualified workers (most of the time, subcontractors)  and I think the addition of robots can at times, such as now, be seen as a benefit, but it would be interesting to hear about the drawbacks you see with robots – specifically, in a time when work is low and how robots will prevent humans from jobs and ways that can be prevented.

Yicheng Li, I think your project is very interesting! So far, I think the design of the building is well done and I’m excited to see what changes you plan on making in the future. You mention you’ve worked with Revit before – for this project, how do you plan on expanding your knowledge to a new level?

Richard Kimbell, I like how you plan on looking further into Dynamo and I’m excited to see the end result. Having not worked much with Revit and other software in general, hearing about Dynamo was interesting and I would like to see how you’re able to work through it and what the finished product will produce. Do you foresee any issues coming up having not used the program before and learning it in a relatively short period of time?

B3 - BIM and technology in the next 10 years

While the video we watched in class on Thursday showed where Revit and other programs can bring us in the near future, I think that a 10-year plan is a bit too fast paced. One of the main issues I see in this is the willingness of people (mainly the older generations) to utilize this technology. Technology changes every day, and as Professor Mitchell said towards the end of class, once you hit a certain point there doesn’t seem to be enough reason to learn something new and complex. A way of fixing this was making the program user friendly, but that along could take 10 years to master. With making the programs user friendly (easy enough to learn, etc.) you could realistically make these different programs accepted in the older generations still working or to those who were never introduced to the project from an early time.

Another doubt with such a short time frame is the fact that one particular program isn’t used universally and getting a program to be used throughout a profession could be extremely difficult. For example, using programs on Macs vs. PCs can make the experience difficult or easier because many of these design programs are built for just one. Past that, there are many different programs that are utilizes and convincing people to stick with one specific program might be difficult – and if there are multiple programs in use, finding ways to overlap them would become necessary if the technology is fully integrated.

While I don’t think it will be fully integrated within a decade, I think technology will be more integrated than now. I think with programs improving at the rate they currently are and other extensions coming out, more people will be pulled to using it and it will start to become an easier platform to work with as more people use it. Along with that, the younger generations are utilizing technology a lot more, and with time, those who are against using these different programs will retire or see the benefit in them are start using it. I think associating a timeline with when technology will be fully integrated is putting a date to something that doesn’t need it – I do believe these programs will be a large part in the future, but it’s impossible to know when as the rate that technology is improved, and programs are created are constantly changing.

Comments:

To Nick Maloney – I completely agree with where you’re coming from. Something you talked about that I did not mention is the costs associated with the programs. Often times, especially with it’s the “newest and greatest” thing, it’ll be extremely expensive and not realistic to purchase for smaller companies. That also creates a time delay of sorts for when technology will be integrated to the highest potential.

To Harvin Bhandal – I think you bring up some great points. The fact that what’s considered “old technology” or “old school” to many still functions for their purposed and many people prefer it. I think that will also limit people’s willingness to work with newer technology and make it even more difficult to integrate it across all platforms.

To Jackie Lord – I think you bring up great points, but I think there’s the separation between big companies and smaller ones. Big companies, like AECOM are able to spend the money on more expensive technology and have enough people where they can train everyone (and not take away from their projects), where smaller companies can’t do the same thing. That’s where I think the ten years is a bit fast, because I’m not sure it’s realistic across the board.

Blog 2 - BIM with Architects and Engineers

Chapter 5 of the reading talks about the advantages and disadvantages of BIM for architects an engineer. The authors break this topic into three impacts of BIM in design- conceptual design, engineering integration, and construction-level modeling. The conceptual design phase consists of the initial concepts being put into place and creating the basic framework for the completed project and where the architects are the key player. Regarding this aspect, BIM often falls short in the architect’s eyes because of the learning curve associated with it (page 205). The ability for an architect to free hand designs gives them artistic freedom, but also imagine past what is known. Past free hand, architects rely on programs such as SketchUp that are not completely integrated with BIM yet. While this freedom of expression is important, the architects mainly hold issue with the learning curve – projects in the conceptual design phase rely on the leaders, and if the leaders find difficulties in using BIM software, the phase overall can’t utilize it. As for the integration of engineering, BIM like many other programs can take an inflow of more information, such as engineering designs, and integrate them within the designs already utilized by one person. While there are many programs that can integrate, BIM integrates much easier and often better (i.e. not losing information) that what is currently used. In terms of the construction-level modeling, this phase includes detailing, specifications, and cost estimation. These parts are the key strengths of BIM and is why BIM is currently the most successful regarding this. The use of BIM is especially successful in the IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) method and the design-build method as the architects and the engineers work more closely than in the tradition (design-bid-build) method. “Building information models now have distinct objects that can be easily counted, and along with volumes and areas of materials, can be automatically computed, almost instantaneously” (page 229) This technology behind BIM allows more accurate estimations and is one of the reasons it is especially successful with cost estimation. While utilizing BIM is successful in construction-level modeling the best right now, I believe that until the architects and engineers utilize BIM more will then show the best effects BIM has.

References:

(1)   Eastman, Charles M. et al. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Desginers, Engineers and Contractors. Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011. http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.library.drexel.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2NDIzOV9fQU41?sid=b9142b55-46d8-4f4c-9144-9219418803f1@sdc-v-sessmgr06&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1

Responses:

Harvin Bhandal – your discussion of chapter 2 brings up many of the great qualities BIM has and how useful it can be. I think it’ll be very interesting in the future when another program (other than Revit) will be able to be more “powerful” and a lot user friendly – it will help expand the system overall as well as making it more user friendly for others. BIM may be used and successfully used now, but with the improvements in the coming years, it will be interesting to see what changes about the pros and cons list you provided.

Tyler Madden – you bring up great points about BIM from a contractor’s perspective, but I think some of the points you bring up at the end are the most important. BIM is a useful tool for everyone as the author points out, and while it does need a lot of improvements that are necessary before it can reach its full potential, there also needs to be improvements on the contractor side. As you said, many contractors use minimal technology and up to date software and working with contractors to improve this will not only allow them to have an easier time using BIM, but also help improve their efficiency overall.

Jenny Fretta – I haven’t thought about the benefits of BIM from an owner’s perspective before, but you bring up many interesting points. An owner’s two biggest needs are a short schedule and the cheapest option while still being reasonable – as you point out, BIM makes both of these more possible.

Blog 1 - HVAC, Sensors and the future

When I look at sensor technology and how it will progress into the future, I imagine how important it will be for HVAC. Nests, for example, utilizes phone apps to change the temperature within a house while you are not home, and also utilizes location abilities to sense when a person arrives home and to change the indoor temperature. Moving into the future, it would be no surprise to me at least if Nest continues with more sensor technology to improve their system overall. While Nest is just one example of the use of sensors and HVAC, another interesting source that one company has decided to pull from are the vents in a house with central air. Keen Home has created a smart vent that can be preprogrammed to be open or closed during certain hours of the day, similar to the Nest. (1). These smart vents also come preprogrammed, which shows a move that Nest could not do. When the vent is assigned a specific location, it comes programmed given the estimated time the space is used. For example, if there is a home office, the Keen program will automatically estimate the vent should be open during typical working hours when one would spend the most amount of time. As stated in The Brilliant Air Vents You Never Knew You Needed, “..rather than compete with the Nests and Winks and Honeywells of the market, Keen is more like a new member of a relay team, carrying the baton forward.” The idea of the smart vent moves HVAC designs into the future with different technologies, but there is still much more that can be done to improve the use of systems going forward. It’s not just in smaller systems, such as the thermostat or vent that technology is moving towards the future. There are also programs that improved HVAC design. OpenStudio, is used to “support whole building energy modeling using EnergyPlus and advanced daylight analysis using Radiance” (2). With programs like OpenStudio out there that work to improve the design process and products like Nest and Keen that improve the efficiency in use continuously make moves towards the future of a more overall efficient design.

One of the largest pushes forward is getting rid of batteries in sensors so that there is no need for replacing. One article that talks about this brings up the idea of thermoelectric technology in many products, such as refrigerators, headphones, watches, etc. (3) In doing this, “charging” or repowering an item only has to be done in bolts or rarely, as opposed to batteries continuously being in use. Doing this allows products to be much more efficient and shows the steps that are happening to create a better (in some cases future) – but technology is also a fear many have.

(1)    “The Brilliant Air Vents You Never Knew You Needed” (January 14, 2015) https://www.wired.com/2015/01/brilliant-air-vents-never-knew-needed/

(2)    OpenStudio (November 25, 2015) https://www.openstudio.net/

(3)    “Here Comes the Thermoelectric Future: We Tried Out the Next Generation of Self-Powered Sensors” (January 4, 2019) https://www.cnet.com/news/thermoelectric-future-we-tried-out-the-next-generation-of-self-powered-sensors/

RESPONSES:

To Maalik – I agree how crazy it is the spending that occurs in automation and development is continuing to grow. While I specifically focused on household HVAC systems and sensors, your research into AI use brings to light a whole new level of futuristic designs.

To Hailey - I also use small technology regularly, such as my headphones, and I think it's fascinating how the technology improves and continues to get small. I also looked at the thermoelectric technology moving to the future, and in moving towards using thermoelectricity, I see that technology will be able to be used more often, and improved as well. 

Introduction - Laney Fries

Introduction

I am a senior studying Civil and Architectural Engineering. I'm a commuter who is from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, where I've lived my entire life - as the map below shows with my home being pinned in the upper right corner of the image, it's right outside of northeast Philadelphia (my house is three blocks from the county line). Growing up near Philly and staying here for school has helped me realize how much I love the city and hopefully I'll be here for a couple of more years!

My first co-op was at the Philadelphia Streets Department with the Right of Way division, where I reviewed plans submitted for approval specifically focused on encroachments on the right of way. I also assisted with approving street closure permits, so if you're ever moving in the city, I can help make sure you get the approval if they give you grief at first. My second co-op was with Partner Engineering & Science, a small engineering consultant firm in Malvern, PA where I was supposed to work on cost analysis with different construction projects, but that never actually happened. My third co-op was with StructureTone, which is a construction management company based out of New York City (I worked in the Philadelphia office). At StructureTone, I acted as an assisted superintendent, project engineer, and other various tasks they gave me and worked on some pretty cool projects - they were finishing the Five Below Headquarters at the Lit Bros. building when I arrived, I helped with the Deloitte renovations in center city, and the Wells Fargo Center renovations that are going on. StructureTone was easily my favorite co-op and helped me with deciding I would like to go into the construction management field after graduation.

Intelligent Buildings

To me, I think intelligent buildings is utilizing technology to make a building function as efficiently as possible. I typically associate that with an environmental standpoint, such as improving the HVAC systems to be as efficient as possible. I also consider intelligent buildings as being able to function the best way possible. While using technology to improvement the green aspects of a building, I think it's important that it does not take away from the building's functions.

Dummy Post - Student Names

This is here to allow me to make your last names as labels.