Course Reflection - Adrian Kuzniarowicz

Prior to entering the Intelligent Buildings course, I did not have much knowledge about the capabilities of BIM programs or how databases worked at all. During my time in the course, I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge on the possible applications in which BIM software could be utilized. I found that Professor Mitchell's guest speakers were all very passionate about the BIM software which they use on a daily basis and really did an overall good job on explaining the benefits and downfalls to using BIM technology to model various systems within a building.

Throughout the term, I found Professor Mitchell’s weekly lectures to be very informative. The various examples which he presented, in both presentations and videos, to be highly interesting and informative. I also found the group discussions and activities that were held weekly during lecture to be very collaborative and intriguing. Having the opportunity in class to break into smaller groups and brainstorm creative ideas amongst other classmates was also very beneficial. The classes in which Professor Mitchell provided how-to tutorials were, in my opinion, the most beneficial, especially during the database portion of the class.

Between the in-class information and online video tutorials provided by Professor Mitchell, the assignments related to the course became much easier. The goal of the class was for students to understand the importance of BIM and databases and how they work. The class provided a good analysis of how each of these technologies work and how they can be integrated with one another.

Since starting this course in January, the best aspect I found in the class was having industry professionals come in to class to speak to us about how the engineering field is changing to incorporate Building Integration Modeling software into the design process at a very early stage. Given that I am planning on working as a transportation engineer in the rail discipline, I will most likely not be using Revit to assist in my designs. Although my goal is to become a rail engineer, the ability to understand the way Revit works may serve me in the future if the opportunity to change disciplines presents itself. 

Comments:

Samuel,

I completely agree that after taking the course, I feel as I can actually hold a conversation about intelligent buildings and have meaningful input. Unfortunately, I did not have as much ease as you with the database assignment. Although the class helped me understand how they work, I still don't know if I'd trust myself creating one in a professional setting. 

Karan,

Before coming into the course at the start of the term, I had also imagined it being similar to AE 390 and AE 391. I found the way that this course is taught to be much more open ended and I feel like that is why it was much easier to learn. I also agree that the Revit assignment was definitely a good refresher in demonstrating the power of this BIM program as well as other related ones.