AE 510 or: How I Learned to Stop
Worrying and Love BIM
This course was very
interesting and one of my favorite courses that I have taken at Drexel. It
provided valuable insight on technological advances in the recent past and
suggested possible advances that could take place in the near future as they
relate to the construction and engineering industries. Examples of these
advances were increased BIM integration in the architectural and structural
design and construction processes, the increased roles of robotics in
manufacturing and construction, and the importance of sensors and their outputs
being stored in databases. The prevalence of guest speakers providing real
world examples and stories about technology also helped to cement these ideas
about technology. I also enjoyed the
emphasis of working in groups with my peers during class time. The ability to
collaborate and gain multiple perspectives and viewpoints on the class topics
was invaluable in regards to learning and fully digesting these topics.
The portion of the
course that I enjoyed the most was the guest lecturers. It is always beneficial
to learn about BIM and how other technologies impact the world during normal
class time, but actually hearing it first hand from engineers in the industry
working for larger companies reinforces the class topics greatly. Each of the guest
lectures was beneficial, worthwhile, and distinct enough so that each lecturer
was separate from one another while still providing valuable information about
the same topics. I also enjoyed how each of the lecturers had different
perspectives and attitudes regarding BIM and technology in general as it
relates to construction. I thought it was very important to look at the same
issues from all possible sides and reference points in order to critically
think about each topic effectively.
The topic that I
enjoyed the least was databases. This is not to say that the material was not
relevant or applicable to the course or to us as engineers, but rather it just
did not have the interest and wide appeal that the BIM discussions had. I think
it would be beneficial to have a guest lecture about databases for future
sections of the course to get another perspective and viewpoint about databases
in general and the specifics about how they are applied in the industry.
Overall, this course
was definitely my favorite of the quarter and one of my favorite courses that I
have taken at Drexel. I feel that it provided valuable information on the
trends that the industry is taking in the professional world as it relates to
technology and intelligent building. It definitely impacted me in terms of how
I feel about the role of BIM in my professional career and the impact that BIM
will have on me in the future. I definitely need to take a closer look at BIM
as the technology develops further and familiarize myself better with more BIM
software.
**Edit**
Comment 1: http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b6-group-b-alex-palma.html
Comment 2: http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b7-group-b-schroeder.html
**Edit**
Comment 1: http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b6-group-b-alex-palma.html
Comment 2: http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b7-group-b-schroeder.html
I liked your post. I also enjoyed this course and thought that the guest speakers were very interesting in obtaining different perspectives on the course topics. I like your idea of bringing in someone in the field that has a deep connection to databases, or just have the speakers who came in talk about them in their talks, as all of them likely work with databases on a daily basis.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the database topic was one which held less interest in general, and that most of the work and was done individually by watching videos and reading articles. A presenter who has experience using databases in architectural engineering would be very helpful, and I would also like one who perhaps works with interoperability.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the database topic was one which held less interest in general, and that most of the work and was done individually by watching videos and reading articles. A presenter who has experience using databases in architectural engineering would be very helpful, and I would also like one who perhaps works with interoperability.
ReplyDeleteMark,
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed the guest lecturers and learned a lot about the challenges they see in the field today. Their insights to BIM as an integral part of the design process helped to set up the next course topic each week. Like you mentioned in your post, this gave the course many different perspectives by approaching building information modeling from all phases of the design and construction process. I agree that this course was one of the few I have taken at Drexel that is focused on future innovations and developments of intelligent building instead of traditional methods.
Mark,
ReplyDeleteI agree that the guest lecturers were one of my favorite aspects of the class. They each brought there own voice and opinions on intelligent building which I found quite insightful. I think hearing about how BIM is both great and flawed gave us an important view on the technology that is shaping the industry.