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:

B3 - Future of BIM

From personal experience, I think BIM will be made the priority for training in the upcoming 10 years. Right now, it seems like the majority of big firms are currently using some version of AutoCAD. I work at AECOM and we use CAD Civil3D every day and throughout all of our projects. Most of our clients still utilize CAD and require we work in it as well. While CAD is a great tool, it isn’t as intuitive as Revit or other software, which is why we are starting to see a push towards BIM.

Recently, our team has been required to go through Revit training for one of our clients. Through the training, the PM has been discussing the benefits and limitations of Revit. The main use we see for our team is the cohesion of all disciplines working in one document. This crucial change will allow companies to grow and complete projects more efficiently. Another aspect to BIM is how user-friendly and intuitive it is with users. The only drawback right now to Revit is the lack of compatibility in between versions. For example, I did my entire A.1 project at work on 2019. The school computers only had Revit 2018, so I had to redo the entire project because there was no way to save back or convert or open a later version of the software. Once this issue is taken care of, I feel that BIM will be prevalent in all offices with CAD only as a backup for companies that have not made the push to advancing technologies.

Aside from just Revit, BIM and robotics are making a push now to become more widely used. In 10 years, the benefits will outweigh the costs and limitations for companies and I feel like it will be the standard for firms.

Comments:

Hailey Ihlow – I agree with your post. I’m seeing more and more companies look into the benefits of using Revit vs. CAD. In later years, the companies that have already made the push into Revit will be pursuing other programs while the rest of the world plays catch up.

Hanyan Chen – I agree that the use of robotics in construction will be the future. Why would companies spend time and money on man power when the potential for robots to perform is there? Also the companies are liable for workers on a job, whereas should something fatal occur while the robot is working, it’s much less cause for lawsuits.

Nana Rasmussen – I’ve never worked with Rhino or Grasshopper, which is why I can see your point in companies spending time and energy to train employees. I think that when these programs are more widely accepted, universities will start spending time offering courses on these topics.

B2 - BIM for Architects and Engineers

Chapter 5 is dedicated to describing the ways BIM is beneficial to modern design.

A major takeaway from using BIM software as opposed to AutoCAD on projects is the collaboration aspect. Originally, clients would work with architects, engineers and contractors to produce multiple sets of drawings. In one project the sheet list would include the following sections: G- (general notes and details), ARCH- (architectural sheets), C- (civil engineering plans), E- (electrical plans), S- (structural engineering plans), and so on. Each of the disciplines would be in contact with one another to produce a final plan set that included everything and this would happen for 30% submission, 70% submission, and so on.

The disadvantage to working in separate teams in separate drawings like this is coordination and communication would have to run perfect to meet deadlines and avoid tension and stress. If one team did not relay its information to another, it could take weeks to get that information and then display it in another discipline. If the civil plans relied on the architectural plans but the architectural plans were not completed or had additional information added, this could set back the civil group. The BIM software allows perfect collaboration between teams. From my understanding, and what I’ve seen at coop and work, the teams have one basic model to work from. All disciplines can see each other’s information and everyone is held accountable. With BIM there is no need to wait a week to hear back from the structural group about the size of their columns, anyone a part of the team can go in and read the drawing information.

Another benefit to using BIM is its more intuitive than earlier software. BIM programs like Revit are programmed with rules and codes that fit the specifications and locations. BIM can “anticipate and consider the full range of expertise of the design team” [1]. In Revit it is possible to set the working parameters of the project from the beginning. The team can use the base model to derive certain designs based on these parameters.

Personally, I believe moving to BIM software is the next step for engineering and architecture firms. Our office is starting to have Revit training and lessons on how to properly utilize the software. As long as everyone uses the program correctly, it seems like a more cohesive way to work and make sure the entire team is on the same page. 

Sources:
[1] Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook: A Guide to Building Information Modeling for Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers and Contractors. Vol. 2nd ed, Wiley, 2011.

Comments:

Jenny Fretta
This chapter seems to tie in well with Chapter 5. A big note in Chapter 5 is that BIM allows for great collaboration between disciplines to avoid hiccups later on down the road. It's interesting to piece them together to note that avoiding these issues is also time saving and cost beneficial to the client and owners. It seems that both the owners and engineers can benefit from using BIM software.

Julie Handsted Andersen
This chapter is interesting for design. Too often do architects and engineers clash because of unused space or odd shapes that are not structurally beneficial. It's interesting that the BIM software can still use any modern or unique shapes in building design while optimizing the space available. It's also amazing that it can pull from past designs to automatically factor in what does and doesn't work in a space.

Nana Lin Rasmussen
This section seems to tie in well with Chapter 5 as well. The ability of IFC to create different plans in different disciplines benefits everyone when working on a major project. The ease of exchange and compatibility will be the driving force for moving all firms to BIM.

Intro and Definition - Jacklynn Lord

Hello, my name is Jackie Lord and I'm a fifth year senior studying Civil and Architectural Engineering with a concentration in Structures. I'm from Delaware County, which is a county right outside Philly and decided to stay close for college.

I originally came into Drexel as Engineering Undecided and applied to a wide variety of coops. I took the job at AECOM in the aviation civil department and felt like a dual major in the CAEE department was the right fit. Working at AECOM, I was exposed to AutoCAD Civil 3D and some minor Revit uses. My second coop was at CHOP and was more project management based. For my third coop, I returned to AECOM where I have accepted an offer to start full time in July.

The first definition I found for intelligent buildings states that they are designed to be green (energy efficient and friendly to the environment). I also believe, in addition to this definition, intelligent buildings could also include the use of new technology incorporated in the building. For example, when I worked at CHOP, the new Buerger building was up and in the testing phase. The Buerger Center utilized smart walls and interactive pieces throughout the building. It will be interesting to see what we will cover in this course.

Dummy Post - Student Names

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