B9 - Eduardo Borja - Group E - Reflection

             From the beginning, even before starting to attend class I was interested in Intelligent Buildings, but I had a different idea of what intelligent buildings meant. Before I believed Intelligent Buildings were characterized as smart automated buildings. Through this course I understood that intelligent buildings are much more involved than the technological aspects of the final structure. Intelligent buildings take into consideration the design and the time efficiency of building a certain structure.

            I can definitely state that this class has had a great effect on my profession because it has fed my interest in aspects such as the creation of databases and BIM, which are becoming more and more important in the construction industry. Through AE 510 specifically, I have been introduced the creation of databases, as well as further deepening my knowledge about Revit. Through our assignment on databases I learned that planning before executing is quite essential in any aspect of design. If you didn’t plan the database before creating it, then this could have created a lot of problems once you tried to execute it. Also, databases prove to be quite effective once you want to find a specific set of points within a large amount of data. In regards to Revit, I have only scratched to surface on the program capabilities but from what I have learned in this class and from different tutorial videos, I have seen that Revit can become quite powerful. I can say that this class has affected my profession because it has showed me that the industry is changing and that this new technology regarding BIM will certainly be something I will need to fully understand.

            Regarding my future, this class has provided an introduction to an industry that is going to continue to grow and offer a lot of job opportunities. Understanding even a broad aspect of intelligent buildings and be able to discuss different aspects of intelligent buildings can certainly help me in my future job searches.

            Regarding actual class time, I personally would have enjoyed more small projects in order to learn a greater variety of BIM software. On the other hand, the lecture speakers in class gave an interesting perspective on how intelligent building techniques are applied and used outside the classroom. Similarly, the lectures provided by Dr. Mitchell were certainly useful and gave us as well a professional perspective on intelligent buildings and their applications.

Comments:

Alqallaf: From the beginning of your post I could identify with you. I joined this class even though I was taking another professional elective because the name caught my attention. Also, I can relate to the fact that the database project was quite instructive. I enjoyed how you related the project you did for your concentration.

Laura Hill: I enjoyed your post because it made me think of something really important in this class that i took for granted. The blog posts as you stated were quite helpful because it was an opportunity to reflect upon different new topics. The posts actually helped me understand and actually focus on the reading which ultimately helped me fully understand the different topics at hand.

  

B7: Group C - Mridul

As a civil engineering student with concentration towards structural engineering, I was never familiar with the topics covered in AE-510. I found the course really informative which covered a range of interesting topics such as AI, BIM, robotics, databases management, 3-D printing, different types of sensors which can be used in the construction process and in green buildings. It gave me an insight in future for the aforementioned fields and how they will improve the construction and the engineering industry in the coming years.

One of aspects I liked the most about the course were the guest lecturers. Every week when the guest lecturers discussed about there work from different industries, it gave me more insight on how the technology is been used today and how important can it be in the future. It was also a good networking opportunity as the presentations helped me learn about their company and the work they do which helped me assess my goals after college. The class mainly consisted of blog posts, guest’s lecturers, lectures and assignments. Blog posts helped me learn more about the technologies in depth through the research and give my opinions about them. Replying to blog posts of my peers also helped me learn more about the topic and their opinions. I liked how Professor Mitchell showed us different videos and presentations which helped us learn more about the topic. The various assignments we did in the class gave us an opportunity to plunge to different topics discussed in class. I had never worked on Revit and MS Access before. Through the assignments I was able to learn the software’s and their importance in the engineering industry. Overall, the blog posts and the assignments gave me a better understanding about the course i.e. intelligent buildings.

I really enjoyed this class as my professional elective credit because it is one of few courses which discussed about intelligent buildings. Through the course I learned that how building information models (BIM) is an integral part of the buildings. Few of the advantages of BIM I came across the course and through guest lectures is that it helps capture reality, maintain & control efficiently through digital model based workflow, help the architects and the engineers visualize easily and present better 3-D views.

Comments:

Hamad Al-Hajri,

I really enjoyed reading your blogpost. I completely agree with you that the class helped us increase our knowledge of number of software’s in the class and the weekly blog post helped us gain more in-depth knowledge about the concepts discussed related to intelligent buildings. Also, I agree that the overall syllabus and the workload in class was very reasonable. In conclusion, the class definitely helped me get an insight about the technologies in the coming future.

Kate Flint,

Good job. Your blogpost was really informative. I agree that BIM plays a very important role in the construction industry for buildings. Through the course I learned that how building information models (BIM) is an integral part of the buildings. Through your post I enjoyed learning more about BIM. Few of the BIM advantages I came across in the course are that it helps the architects and the engineers visualize easily with better 3-D views and use the digital model based workflow more efficiently.  

B7 (or B6?), Group B - Cummings

This class was very much one where you get out what you put in.  It provided us with ample tools to investigate all the topics that were presented in class, but it was up to us to take advantage of them to really learn some things from the course and do above average, instead of just drifting through to the end of the term—which is how I think a graduate-level course should be.  

Speaking from my personal perspective, I always expected this course, “intelligent buildings,” to be quite literally about smart, automated, buildings with sensors and such.  This was definitely touched upon in several ways, with the discussion on sensors, and mention of the internet of things.  I was impressed with the scope beyond this that the course was able to reach, and in my opinion it did so in a very creative way.  I overall gained insight into more things and developed a different perspective than I would have if this were just another technical class on building automation systems, so I am grateful that my initial interpretation of the course description showed to be in some ways wrong.   Some of these include the potential applications of 3D printing and robotics in the building industry.  I value learning these more abstract concepts—not as much in the sense that it may give me a competitive edge in industry—but more so because these concepts have the potential to break the rut of business as usual design-bid-build engineering.  So much of our education as engineers is about a training us to do a job, which is absolutely necessary.  But at least for me, this class was about more.  I believe these types of classes should be considered equally as important as the aforementioned, although I get the sense that they are not considered to be so.  This class was about the improvement of the industry: in what directions it may be improved, the technological, environmental, and also social implications of these improvements, and also the limitations of how far an emerging technology can go.

The class wasn’t only about the abstract.  I thought the BIM, database, and sensor topics had their own benefits too.  I think learning the background operations of how these technologies work instead of simply learning how to operate them is what distinguishes the engineers from other professions.  We should have the critical thinking necessary to know the limitations of the technology we use.  We should know how to proceed when technologies don’t work exactly how they should.  For my term project, I investigated the internal operations of an aerosol sensor.  I realized how crazy of a level of detail the study of these things can go, and how complex of a process is it is to convert individual aerosol particles into meaningful and accurate data.  And I definitely know to what extent to trust certain types of particle sensors after this project.  From the BIM portion of the class, it was obvious that people can (and probably have) gotten PhD’s in the field.  So AE510 certainly did not comprehensively teach us how to understand all of these systems—although it did give us a reasonable amount of background knowledge on technologies relevant to us.  But it did teach us how we should treat the technologies we use, rather than blindly using them.  This was reinforced when—I believe it was the guest lecturer week 6 or 7, but I’m forgetting his name—gave us practical first-hand experience about how the inaccuracies of humidity sensors can affect his practice.  But of course the critical thinking this teaches us, in the context of BIM or databases or sensors, is only useful if we know how to operate the respective technologies, but that can be done over CoOp, in other classes, or on our own time.  

In terms of the academics of this course, I enjoyed the blog post assignments and thought they were an efficient way of making what was lectured in class stick, as well as put importance on paying attention and attending the lecture periods.  One change I would definitely make is trying to turn the single blog post and one-way comment into more of a conversation.  I read a lot of blog posts with very engaging comments that would have led to a very thought provoking conversation, but those good comments were never replied to because after the students (myself included) finished their two comments, they’d cross it off their to-do list and not return to it until next week.  With respect to the term project, its constraints being so flexible was another example of how we only got what we put in.  This was definitely a good thing.  It enabled us to delve into a topic that resonates with us, allowing us to want to put in a lot of work on it to learn more about our chosen topic.  This is compared to most traditional projects where we mindlessly complete a set number of tasks to fulfill requirements without really learning anything valuable, like most undergraduate term projects.



Comments:
Alexis Aikins
Allison Lock

B7, Redus (Group D)

I really enjoyed this survey of trending technology for the built environment. From robots to BIM, we certainly covered a lot. Co-ops and classes have done an excellent job showing us the industry standards, how things are done now. It is easy to get stuck doing what you are taught: it works, why change? One of the responsibilities of “young people,” in my opinion, is to change things. When you’re too young to now that something will fail it may just succeed. This class introduced us to the cutting edge technology, allowing us to better understand current technology and hopefully anticipate future advances and making us aware of how we can improve design and construction technologies. I am particularly interested in watching how robotics changes the construction industry, and what the possibilities will be for 3D printed concrete.

The class mainly consisted of blog posts, lecture periods, and assignments. The blog posts were a great way to get us to understand the details of the different technologies, be they databases, BIM, or general groundbreaking stuff. It was good to research a particular topic and then have to form ideas regarding it. Commenting on other similar posts is interesting and allows us to learn more about our topic. There was so much that the other groups reported on that we did not learn about however. It might be worthwhile to have students comment on other group’s posts so they learn about a different subject. Students would not be getting as in-depth in their assigned subject, but this course does not strive for in-depth understanding. Students also would have trouble having productive conversations in the comments, since they were just learning about the topic. I did not see conversations happening often in the comments section however, so this should not be an issue. The class time was split between lecture and group activities. While some lectures features guests sharing their real world experience others covered broad topics that would be time consuming to research. By themselves, the lectures were not terribly helpful. One could easily not pay attention or leave and forget whatever they had just “learned.” The group activities were a good way to mitigate this. They forced us to think about what we had just learned and apply it to what we had experienced in Co-op. I think the activity week 9 was especially good at this. The various assignments were good opportunities to dive into a particular topic. The final project allowed us to learn about a topic that we found particularly interesting. Assignments and blog posts gave students a deeper understanding of an area of intelligent buildings, lectures gave us a broader understanding, and group discussion forced us to apply the information.

The concept of building information models, or BIM, was integral to the course. The assignment had us create a parametric family, which was interesting and will no doubt be very useful in practice. It also got us to think about BIM in general. While cumbersome and novice hostile, it is a very useful design tool. Programs such as AECOsim allow the designer to see how everything interacts. Is there a duct running through my beam? BIM knows. How much less energy will the building use if I specify triple layer windows? How much more energy does it take to make the extra layer of glass? BIM knows. We talked a lot about BIM, but we didn’t get into BMS much. I wonder, are their decisions we can be making as designers to make operation easier. How might BMSs affect our designs?

 The database assignment was also useful. We thought about how a database is structured, how the information interacts to allow easy entry, processing, and export. More importantly, it forced us to think about what kinds of information can be contained in a database. Computers have the power make our lives easier, but we rarely use them to their full potential. In a few years someone from this class will probably be sorting through spreadsheets (or worse, paper files stored in various parts of the building) and think, “hey, this could be better!”

Comment to Farnelli & Palma

Course Reflection - Samuel Boyce

I think this course achieved what it set out to do, which is commendable as with the tight schedule that Drexel has it does not take much to throw a course off and cause topics to be dropped. I feel confident now that I would be able to partake in a discussion about Intelligent Buildings (IB), and even bring some of the technologies into the conversation at work. Although it was a broad course, the assignments, blog posts and final paper have helped me drill down into particular areas that I wanted. I think the course is set up well to achieve this.

Assignments

These two assignments were well utilised in order to demonstrate the power of the programs used, as well as how they interplay with IB. The Revit exercise actually inspired me to take a run at modelling my senior design project, and although I did not use it for the final project in this class, it has come out quite well. By demonstrating the principles of Revit, a good basis of knowledge was formed, where I can now watch YouTube videos of Revit tutorials and make use of them.

In terms of the database assignment, although I had created one before using Access, I was not aware of their wide ranging uses. Although some of the definitions and terminology held me up, I was able to create the database with ease once I had leaned the basic components.

Lectures

The lectures were all very useful, and I think the usage of class time to  collaborate amongst group members was well placed. The outside lecturers were great and even better was the one by someone who does not have the same pro-view of Intelligent Buildings. I was not too familiar with BIM before this course, and therefore by having industry professionals come in to discuss their usage of it was a great opportunity to see the benefits. The other lectures given were well organised, and I think the organisation of them was well set.

I have definitely learned a lot on this class, and I feel it will serve me well in the upcoming years as this technology becomes more prevalent. Although I will be working for a geotechnical contractor, I still believe there will be ample chances for the involvement of technology described in this class, especially after researching my final paper topic, wearable technology.


Comments

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/03/course-reflection-yuyang-shi.html?showComment=1456859388845#c6565232343337264444

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b7-group-b-schroeder.html?showComment=1456859600427#c3119662865375305394

B7: Group B - Schroeder

Based off of the course description, “An overview of the present and future role of Information Technology in the construction industry with emphasis on the computer tools used throughout the building life cycle by all stakeholders, primarily Building Information Modeling (BIM) and the role of networked-linked sensors and actuators” this class was not what I originally expected. I thought that AE 510 would only cover buildings that have integrated technologies such as autonomous lighting or the various sensors needed for IT.  Looking back, it is refreshing to see the variety of material covered that extends the broad range of IB in eight short weeks. The first half of AE510 was much more relevant to my intended profession, but I did appreciate learning about other aspects in related fields. Specifically, after learning about databases I now have a new respect for people in the field of Big Data and the reach of their profession. In addition, I was able to relate and leverage our discussions on AI/Robots in my Honors Class this term about how MIT is building robots that are able to mimic the human physiology of proprioception.

Like others in the class, one of my favorite parts of AE 510 were the guest lecturers. Although I don’t intend to become a BIM Manager or anything specifically in the building industry,  it was pleasant to hear from professionals in their field and what they are passionate about. Furthermore, it speaks measures about Dr.Mitchell to be able to get past students to take time out of their busy schedules to return to their roots to present at Drexel.

Of all the topics covered in class, the network section of last week's class was one of my favorites. Learning about the development of IPv6 which lacks backwards compatibility with the original internet communications protocol (IPv4) was interesting to me as I know the same frustration in terms of gaming consoles. I held out on buying a PlayStation 3 for so long because of the lack of backwards compatibility for most PS2 games. I can't imagine how providers dealt with IPv6 lacking the backwards compatibility of IPv4 as some devices were not able to be upgraded to IPv6.  Without this bridge between the two, it was not an easy transition for communications.

As a future transportation engineer that focuses on bridge rehabilitation and design, I will most likely not use Revit in my future profession but this class has exposed me to plenty of other topics that I will be using in my future career. In addition, I really enjoyed the topic of my group’s final project. As this is going to be our Senior Design project next year, I liked being able to see the current technologies in autonomous housing to based our initial design on.

Overall, as one of my only AE classes I’ve taken during my collegiate career, it has definitely been a worthwhile experience.

EDIT:
Comments
1. http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/03/course-reflection-yuyang-shi.html
2. http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/course-reflection-farnelli.html

Course Reflection - Farnelli

When I first registered for the class I had assumed that the class was going to be about responsive HVAC systems and BIM. Though we did spend quite a bit of time on BIM, a lot more of the class focused on construction than I had expected, which was a pleasant surprise. There were three main aspects of the class: blog posts, lectures and a project. Each gave different experiences and benefits, and as a whole I think that I gained quite a bit from the class.

Blog Posts

The blog posts have required us to research various topics in some detail and be able to explain concepts so that others. Some topics had provided reading, such as the Interoperability chapter in the BIM Handbook available online. Others required a bit of outside research, such as investigating what SQL is and how it works. I did learn quite a bit by reading other blog posts, as well. Reading the impressions and responses from the others in my groups gave me some extra perspective on the topics.

Lectures

The lectures, both those run by Professor Mitchell and those which were presented by outside experts, have given us an opportunity to learn more about the topics in application. For example, the videos showing robotic applications were very interesting. The talks by outside speakers were very interesting as well, as they were able to give examples of when the different programs and equipment worked and what needed work for each. In addition, the guest lectures allowed for at least a small bit of networking, and some also very helpful gave career advice.

Project

The project, in my case on 3D concrete printing, gave me the option to look into a specific topic in depth which interested me. I learned quite a bit about the way that the 3D concrete is produced and about the properties of the material. This may not be particularly helpful immediately, but if 3D printing gains as much ground as it is expected to this knowledge could be very helpful in the future.  

Comments:
Bryan Cummings, James Redus, Mark Lodato

B2 - Dianna Vogel: Reflection Post

Overall I believe AE510 was a useful and interesting course to take. Obviously, as a structural engineering major I got more out of the first half of the class compared to the second half. This was due to the prevalence of Revit in the workforce and my desire to learn more in order to enhance my future. This class did indeed help me learn more about Revit. This was accomplished through the Revit family project, and my group project. For my group project we are creating the Farnsworth House in Revit, with all the components. This includes the architectural side, structural, and MEP. The Revit family assignment even assisted with the group project by opening a door I did not know existed. Prior to this class I did not realize that families could be created from scratch in Revit. This is a very beneficial tool in case a certain family object already existing in Revit cannot be altered to fit the projects purpose. While this information was helpful for our project, I thoroughly believe it will come in handy in the future. There may be a building in my future job that has to be created in Revit, and families need to be designed due to the objects being unique in some way.

Another important and helpful part of this class were the guest speakers. They gave insight into the different parts of the current workforce and how they have handled the problems presented to them. Furthermore, the most interesting topic I learned from multiple of the presenters was the job of seeing what clashes exist between different portions of a job, and how to deal with them. I did not realize this was a technique that is currently used by firms, even though it makes a lot of sense. The program that most of the used was Navisworks by Autodesk. I am hoping that my group has time to use this program to see what clashes may exist between our structural and MEP model, but that is dependent on how fast the MEP model is completed.

One effect of the course was forcing me to learn the basics of databases. This was a skill I would have never done willingly, but I do believe it is useful. I now know the basics of how to use access to create tables, queries, and forms. Therefore, if in the future it would be beneficial for a database to be created at my job, or in my school career, I at least know how to get started. Thus, I have gained many different types of useful information from AE510 and would highly suggest it to anyone in the future.

Comments:

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b6-group-b-alex-palma.html
Alex,
I definitely agree with what you said about learning from the speakers what you do not want to do in life. Sometimes this is more helpful than hearing someone speak on a topic you are interested in, depending on the length of time. With this extra knowledge, if down the road you are offered a job performing a task that you know you DON’T like then the job can be altered. However, if you have never heard of a specific job, or task, then it won’t be clear if you like or dislike it and may be stuck doing something unpleasant. Likewise, I fully agree that AE510 was one of the most helpful and stimulating graduate classes to take. Generally graduate classes are based on learning some intricate portion of one subject, such as advanced mechanics of materials. However, AE510 gave us a broad over view of multiple helpful concepts and helped prepare us for the industry once we graduate.

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b6-ae-510-reflection-danielle-beynon.html
Danielle,
I like how you touched upon how far technology has come, and the appreciation that is developed by looking into the details of the programs we use every day. I have also developed a deeper appreciation for programs like REVIT, AutoCAD, and Bentley products as we have learned about how the programs have grown. We are lucky to be in a generation that using these programs is second nature; however, it is important to not get stuck in our time and always push towards the next innovation. We heard about many exciting products this term that are currently not used in industry, such as concrete 3D printing and BIM programs with more depth. Hopefully we will see these items used in industry in the near future and have some interaction with them.