Tuesday, March 8, 2016

B7 (I guess) - Kai Waechter - Group B

I found AE 510 to be one of the most engaging and interesting courses I have taken since I’ve been at Drexel. Leaning about how certain technologies are being enhanced and developed in order to influence the engineering world was fascinating. What set this course apart from others was that we were encouraged to engage with one another in discussion and I learned just as much from listening to lectures as I did from talking with my fellow peers. Since starting the BS/MS program I’ve noticed that the grad courses offered allow for a more intimate learning experience. This class gave me that impression more so than the others as I felt more in touch with the rest of the class through discussions, and the group blog assignments. Seeing how my fellow students were approaching similar topics in completely different ways allowed me to view any given subject from a dozen different perspectives.
I wasn’t quite sure of what to expect when I initially heard the title of the course. “Intelligent Buildings” could have meant any number of things, but I was pleasantly surprised to see where the class went with it. I learned to appreciate certain technologies a lot more than I had before. For example, drones were a technology I initially thought had a few simple purposes; surveillance, entertainment, and crashing into unsuspecting newlyweds. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=def16khqPr4. However after the first few classes I learned that the practical applications were limitless for a technology such as this. It took a bit of engineering and some complex programming (I can only assume) but a team of students had a group of drones constructing a rope bridge on their own in a matter of minutes. Seeing the potential of even the simplest of technologies within the engineering world has opened my eyes. I can see potential for any number of advancements to be made, not just in the architectural field, but construction as well.
Another portion of the class I enjoyed tremendously was the guest lectures. Each speaker brought in a unique perspective on some aspect of intelligent building, whether it be how BIM is changing the industry, or how BIM sucks, but is necessary to learn because it is the direction that everything is going. It was enlightening to hear from so many different voices in the industry.

The only portion of the class I found myself disliking was when it shifted from advancements in technology, to the inner workings of databases. While I can appreciate the value of knowing such things, I simply found it less interesting than the previously covered topics. Otherwise I found this course to be an excellent learning experience into how dynamic the AE industry can be and what types of technologies I should be investing my time in, in order to get a leg up in this rapidly advancing environment.

Comments:

[1] http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/03/b7-or-b6-group-b-cummings.html?showComment=1457449524465#c8028564031862670525

[2] http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/03/b6-course-reflection-mark-lodato.html?showComment=1457450006484#c7875299693941164026

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