B7 Reflection - Amiji

The course “Intelligent Buildings” provided us a great service in both educating us about the emerging technologies and how it will transform the construction industry in the future. The emerging technology was helpful in giving us the exposure to the current progress of advancements in this field. That is what will allow us to make intelligent decisions in what directions our careers should take. By understanding the direction of current innovations and the field, we [students] have a much better basis for making important career choices. What was particularly helpful here was the introduction into these topics followed up by presentations by actual practitioners working in the industry. This insight into the current, actual practices and precedents is imperative presently as well -- at this time in our lives we still have ample chances to return to school and continue our education. This class was excellent at exposing us to the specific disciplines that will become prevalent in our fields (CAEE) by the time we start our careers.

The second aspect of the course I mentioned -- the ability to reeducate oneself or essentially update your knowledge of the field -- will become invaluable at allowing us options as the industry changes. By continuing to update one's outlooks on the field, the ability to make informed career decisions will be preserved. All of the research we had individually completed is a strong lesson in where and how to look for professional technical information on emerging technologies. This is one of the most important aspects of the course as it begins to instill the idea of learning how to learn -- or acquiring skills necessary to teach oneself. It is extremely important we continue to learn after we leave school and as we progress in our careers. It is unlikely any of us can be effective engineers without this ability to reeducate ourselves when evolution or advances occur in our fields.

The guest lectures were insightful and motivational. These professionals with vast amount of experience and knowledge as well as having worked for multinational companies provided in depth understanding of the actual collaboration of engineers, architects and construction managers in the implementation of the BIM technology such as REVIT. They also talked about the changes that are ongoing in the industry in terms of technology and gave a glimpse of the future of this industry. These lectures also provided excellent networking opportunity for possible co-op and full time opportunities. 

I also feel that the different exercises with BIM (REVIT) and databases also was extremely important for us as CAE engineers as this is how the industry will be developing in the next few years. For us to have a basic understanding before entering the workplace will help for future learning processes involving these types of work. Also by cultivating an early understanding we can better understand what our careers will involve in terms of work. These types of programs will be the standard for our industry and as such we will be spending a tremendous amount of time using them.

Comments:

Jon Swartz

Totally agree with you, the best part of the class I liked was the guest lectures, they provided their real world experience on the use of BIM technology such as REVIT and its practicality in terms of usage in the construction industry, how it is changing the construction process as well as the future of this technology. These lectures also provided excellent networking opportunity for co-op jobs and full time positions.

Hamad Al-Hajri

The database assignment was the most interesting part of the course since it was my first time to ever use Microsoft Access, it was a challenge initially since the actual requirement of the project was not understood as such. However, with the help of Professor Mitchell's tutorials it became easier to finish the task. Also the REVIT creating families assignment was another new feature which I got to learn.