Course Reflection

Like most of my fellow class mates, I have had James Mitchell many times as an instructor for various classes throughout my studies at Drexel. I have always enjoyed the way he teaches the classes, always integrated into current topics, trends and new technologies. I expected no less from AE-510 as it may have been my favorite class yet with Professor Mitchell. One thing I did not like however was the seemingly long lectures. Sometimes I felt that Professor Mitchell was having a difficult time finding enough lecture material to fill the void. I believe that it should be at most 2 hours, but since it is a 3 credit class, there should be class at least 3 hours a week. Other than that, I felt that this class gave me a new view into today’s technology and advances, trends and future ideas that are being developed.

                One of the things I liked best about this class is having guest speakers actually in the field come in and discuss what they do and how they feel about whatever topics James Mitchell asked them to talk about. I also enjoyed how Mitchell exposed us to both sides of the argument, from people loving Revit and that one guy (Travis? I believe) who hated Revit. It shows that he is not bias in his views and wants us to make our own decision.

                My least favorite was probably the database portion. I just didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have. I completely understand and accept the power that databases fulfill in our society, but for me to completely understand how to build one, I just didn’t go all out learning it. My favorite part was building the family in Revit, it allowed me to create something that can be used in real life (virtual life that is).

                I thought the open-topic term project was a good idea and allowed the students to explore whatever we like to do in our lives and whatever we find interesting.

                Being a BSMS student in Architectural engineering, I always enjoyed AE classes much more than Cive and Mem classes. So I feel that this class has helped me, as I said before, it helped give me another view on today’s world and for that I give this class at 5/5!

Comments:

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/03/b7-shields.html?showComment=1457475037198#c2482983721249907348

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/03/b7-course-reflection-hamad-al-hajri.html?showComment=1457475182349#c5465718917348124413

B5 - Group B - Zabiega

Structured Query Language (SQL) is one of the reasons we have the World Wide Web as it is responsible for querying and editing information that is stored on databases around the world that manage the system. SQL has been around since the 70’s but now is far more flexible to users  with its capability of supporting distributed databases, which means computers are networked and connected at all times. This greatly improves processes strength and allows for new functionality such as support for XML, triggers, regular expression matching, recursive queries and standardized sequences.

SQL is based on many different elements that can handle all necessary language commands; Clauses, expressions, predicates, queries and statements make up these elements. This enables SQL to retrieve data, update/insert/delete records from databases, create new databases and can set permissions in those databases. These commands can be summed up as: Select, Insert, Delete, Create and Drop. These commands can essentially enable the user to do anything to databases.

In the end, SQL is a very useful and helpful program to sort, find, view and edit information stored in databases all around the world.

Sources:

https://www.ntchosting.com/encyclopedia/databases/structured-query-language/

http://www.w3schools.com/sql/sql_intro.asp

http://www.sqlcourse.com/intro.html

Comments:

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b5-group-b-shields.html?showComment=1455054859938#c5669809592686519000

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/sql-what-is-it-and-why-important-as.html?showComment=1455054995412#c4910510389648974239

B4 - Group B - Zabiega

I became an Architectural Engineer because I like understanding how buildings with individual systems (HVAC, electrical, structural, etc) can work together to produce a better building. So for my project I chose to do an analysis of if a building is considered green, is it considered intelligent? And vise versa. How do we define a green building or an intelligent? 

An intelligent building can be defined as:

“Use of technology and process to create a building that is safer and more productive for its occupants and more operationally efficient for its owners.”[1]

and a green building can be defined as:

" A green building is one whose construction and lifetime of operation assure the healthiest possible environment while representing the most efficient and least disruptive use of land, water, energy and resources. The optimum design solution is one that effectively emulates all of the natural systems and conditions of the pre-developed site – after development is complete." [2]

As you can read, there is some overlapping qualities such as making the building safer/healthiest. However, an intelligent building serves to make the occupants and owners more efficient whereas a green building is about making the environment more efficient. 

Right now LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is the leading 'decider' on if a building is green and on what level is it green. Points can be awarded by numerous amount of criteria, such as reduced energy consumption of mechanical system, energy producing systems, water collection, use of reclaimed/recycled wood and even presence of bike racks. Not all of these criteria can be considered intelligent. 

During my paper, I will discuss what I believe, and what scholarly articles tell us what each building type is meant to be. In the conclusion I will decide if a building is green, does it mean it is intelligent? and vise versa.

Sources: 

1: http://automatedbuildings.com/news/aug05/articles/ibtpe/ibtpe.htm

2: http://www3.epa.gov/statelocalclimate/documents/pdf/12_8_what_is_green_GGGC.pdf

Comments:

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/02/b4-group-b-schroeder_2.html?showComment=1454453598118#c435394374103359061

http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b4-group-b-cummings.html?showComment=1454454047091#c7953705749025343908

Group B: Question 2

BIM Improve Buildings vs. It will make no difference or degrade them

Possible degradation?

If people begin to rely on programs, such as Revit, for structural design or analysis without completing the necessary thought and hand calculations supporting the model. The resulting building could degrade or not have the structural strength necessary to withstand day-to-day use.

No Improvement?

The modeling process will be streamlined; however, it may not add any features to the building itself.

Improvement?

BIM could potentially improve the building if it is connected with 3D printing, thus more complex shapes could be created. Furthermore, BIM software could be used for energy analysis and the design improved.

B3 - (GROUP B) - Matthew Zabiega

                BIM software is almost essential to any design firm as it allows for easily visualization, editing, collaboration and planning of the project. REVIT is arguably at the forefront of the BIM software. “Revit has now and will become more deeply integrated with the core of planning, conceptual design, detailed design, fabrication, and operation of our built environment” [2].  However like all things, nothing is perfect and REVIT certainly is not perfect.  Probably one of the biggest problems REVIT faces, it probably its biggest key feature; it is so incredibly complex almost to the point that no one is an expert. A REVIT model can be designed with huge amounts of detail, features and families, but the problem is to teach a new employee or teach a student. The learning curve varies from person to person, it may take a few hours watching tutorials and taking it out for a test drive before you can start ‘designing’ something incredibly basic. Once you feel like you have the hang of it, you hit a wall and have to ask questions (if there is anyone to answer) or watch another tutorial/buy books.  This process is almost repeated infinitely.

                Another problem I personally experienced is also another big advantage of REVIT; multiple people working in the same model at the same time. A REVIT model, if located on a server, can be accessed by numerous amounts of people that can work on the project simultaneously. Every now and then (more now than then) you have to save and reload the project to make sure you are seeing the most up-to-date model. This can present a relative big problem is someone either: goes a long time without saving/reloading, or tries to edit the same structure/family someone else is trying to edit. For the first problem, the work that person has just done may be over-written and possibly lost if someone has edited the space around it. For the second problem, if you edit a something in the model that someone else has already edited, it could cause the model to glitch, blend the edits or even crash. This requires a lot of planning if multiple people are working in the model at the same time, one way around this is to divide the work up so that no two people are working on the same thing.

                Sometimes REVIT is stubborn, anyone who has used REVIT can more than likely agree. The task may be simple but REVIT will not allow you to create that pipe connection, or connect those walls. A funny personal example happened at my last co-op, I was given the job to update the edits in a REVIT model. One thing I had to do was replace a 60 degree pipe take-off with a 45 degree take-off and then reconnect the pipe. For whatever reason it was, REVIT would not allow it. Fast forward 2 hours later, with our departments 2 best REVIT designer and the actual head of the REVIT department (person who is really good at REVIT), crowded around my cubicle, trying to figure out why REVIT would not create that connection. No Clash-detection. Check. No interference. Check. No turned off layers clashing. Check. Elevation and view correct. Check. No one could figure out what the problem was. It was becoming more of a personal dilemma for the designers to figure out this ‘simple’ problem. They ended up finding similar objects around the model, copying and dragging them into the needed place.

                Something that seemed so simple just took four people three hours to accomplish. Sometimes REVIT does not budge and you have to improvise. The REVIT software is always being advanced, there is a huge difference between REVIT 2012 and REVIT 2016 and I am sure REVIT 2017 will be even more glorious than the previous.

Sources:

1: http://aecmag.com/technology-mainmenu-35/450-the-trouble-with-bim

2: http://www.seandburke.com/blog/2014/03/29/is-revit-dead/

Comments:
http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b3-group-b-kai-waechter.html?showComment=1453823169626#c7696118922486202263
http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b3-dianna-vogel-current-issues-with.html?showComment=1453823803472#c1641956809589075840

B2 - (Group B) Matthew Zabiega

                As defined by himms.org (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society), Interoperability is “the ability of health information systems to work together within and across organizational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities”. Interoperability, although typically for health information, can be used by other fields of expertise.  There are three levels of interoperability: Foundational, structural and semantic.

                Foundational interoperability allows one information technology system to exchange data to another information technology system which can receive but does not have to interpret it. Structural interoperability allows for uniform movement of data from one system to another such that the data is preserved, unaltered and can be interpreted at the data field level. Semantic interoperability allows two or more systems to exchange and use the information that has been exchanged.

                The use of electronically transmitting data has a very basic, yet valuable aspect. It eliminates the need to manually copy data which can be time consuming.  This ensures that the data that is transmitted is more exact and pure than anything that can be manually copied due to human error.  If copied wrong by human error, it can prove disastrous as it can lead to repeat previously wrong work or have multiple copies of the same work with minute changes.

                Moving on to the BIM world, Revit is what I believe to be the program that utilizes interoperability the most (from experience at my last co-op).  Revit can hold vast information and very detailed models that include every system of a building or structure. This information does not have to come from one source, multiples models can be opened on different computers and the model will update via information exchange. The new data is uploaded and transmitted to all other computers with that model opened. This greatly improves that speed at which projects can be completed because multiple people, from different fields, can work in the same model. The electrical engineer can work on his system in the model when the mechanical engineer is working on his system in the model and they can both see one another’s work (if they choose to). Unlike AutoCad, all of the systems of a building can be viewed in one coherent model that can be scanned to see of any probable errors that could arise when construction begins. This can save a huge cost percentage because plans would have to be redone much less because the error was caught early on.

                Although Revit uses interoperability in its infancy (it’s still one model uploaded on a server), the communication aspect is still present. Communication can be slowed by large models (typically over 300MB) and can present problems while sharing data. One personal story while using Revit at my last co-op was when a project was at its 90% completion and was on its way out of the door. Our company had just gotten the model back from a sister company in another country, so one of our lead designers was going through and reviewing the work. It turns out that the work was incomplete and over-all bad. In the following few days, we had over 20 engineers and designers in the live file at the same time. For a while it was working well, but as more and more people began saving and reloading the current model, the system lagged and some data was not uploaded to some computers which in turn caused clashes in the model which had to be fixed. This problem is belittled compared to the advantages that interoperability can give a program.

Sources:
1) http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM2NDIzOV9fQU41?sid=da4563e0-e15d-4cf3-8b8a-eee24671dc73@sessionmgr113&vid=0&format=EB&lpid=lp_99&rid=0
2) http://www.himss.org/library/interoperability-standards/what-is-interoperability

Comments:
http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-group-b-kai-waechter.html?showComment=1453231772828#c4535368355876116387
http://ae-510-ay15-16.blogspot.com/2016/01/b2-group-b-yasmina-shields.html?showComment=1453241697511#c1802465014986591942

B1 - Group B - Matthew Zabiega

                3D printing technologies have been around for decades, and at first were called Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies. As early as May 1980 we see the first patent application for this technology.  Advancements were slow at first, but throughout the 1990’s and early 2000’s several different technologies became available. However, the process was still focused solitarily only prototyping applications and R&D teams. After 2005, the technology was still extremely expensive but moved into different applications such as aerospace, automotive, medical and fine jewelry. Finally in 2007, the market was introduced to the first system, Desktop Factory, which was priced under $5,000 which was vastly cheaper than its predecessors.  This opened the door for other companies to invest and research using 3D printing. It wasn’t until 2009 that the first commercially available 3D printing was offered for sale. In 2012 we saw the rise of ‘social media awareness’ in the technology, this made the demand skyrocket, lowered unit price and allowed more development. “Heralded as the 2^nd, 3^rd and, sometimes even, 4^th Industrial Revolution by some, what cannot be denied is the impact that 3D printing is having on the industrial sector and the huge potential that 3D printing is demonstrating or the future of consumers.” (1)

                Now the next huge breakthrough in 3D printing is underway. In order to 3D print anything, it typically has to be of the same material; plastic, metal of glass. As it stood before this breakthrough, if you were able to spend a quarter of a million dollars you were able to extrude 3 materials at once. This is when a team at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) showcased a solution to this materials problem. They created a 3D printer that could extrude up to 10 different materials simultaneously at the fraction of time and cost of its predecessors. This is huge! Now more complex items can be fabricated efficiently and cost effectively. Called the MultiFab, the machine mixes microscopic droplets of photopolymers together and shoots them through inkjet-style printers. Although constructed from ‘off-the-shelf’ components, this machine is very complex. The machine uses a 40-micron (about twice the thickness of a human hair) resolution 3D scanner to know where it is shooting the materials by correcting and re-calibrating itself as the item is progressing. This amount of accuracy allows items to be printed around pre-existing objects. The CSAIL team show-cased this power by printing a phone case... directly onto the phone itself.

            

    This breakthrough can give researchers and hobbyists the chance to create their ideas which were previously impossible to print. This can allow companies and users to edit/finalize designs faster which could bring them to the market sooner. Ramos, a research engineering at CSAIL, envisions a future where large stores can ‘rent’ out this machine and allow people (who do not have $7,000 to purchase it) to print out their product at an reasonable price.  (2)

(1)   3D Printing History: The Free Beginner's Guide - 3D Printing Industry. (2014, May 1). Retrieved January 12, 2016, from http://3dprintingindustry.com/3d-printing-basics-free-beginners-guide/history/

(2)   Evernote shared notebook:. (2015, August 24). Retrieved January 12, 2016, from https://www.evernote.com/pub/aengineer/ae-510#st=p&x=Tags%3A%20Printing&n=6b08ede8-b997-4533-9cc7-d64649c17497 

Group B Discussion Post - Week 1

After watching the videos, we can see 3 main changes. The first is an increase in speed in the drone's movement, and a more fluid travel throughout it's path. The second was a better coordination between the drones, as often times, both drones were working to create the same section, and interacting with one another to create sections. Thirdly, the drones had the ability to work in a changing environment; unlike the first, where the structure is more stable, the drones were able to work with a swaying rope which did not always have a defined position.

These tools may be applied in the future in more unknown or unsafe environments, where human interaction is more difficult. The increase in speed makes the use of drones more applicable than before.

Zabiega's introduction

Hello, my name is Matthew Zabiega. I am a junior in the AE Mechanical BSMS program with a minor in sustainability in building environment. I am over half way done with my graduate course load and I am excited to graduate Drexel. I am excited to be apart of AE 510 because buildings are becoming less of a 'dumb' building and more of a intelligent building that can interact/respond to it's users. Integrated design processes with other building aspects as well as using innovated BIM programs can make a building more intelligent, this is why I want to learn more about this topic.

My definition of an Intelligent building is a building that can be designed, constructed, maintained and ultimately demolished efficiently and effectively as well as being easily modifiable and productive over it's lifespan.

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