Course Reflection

I originally selected this course because I thought it would require minimal effort for a good grade but as the term progressed I found myself wanting to put more effort in to learn more about the topics. One of the most intriguing aspects of this course was the fact that we were looking to the future and what might be expected in our field. I have always enjoyed using BIM to design buildings so when we started to learn about how BIM is becoming more prevalent in construction and maintenance of buildings it led me to want to learn more.

            For my final project I was able to learn about software being used by residential designers in my area called softplan. Softplan is a BIM software that allows one to create photorealistic renderings of the home which proves to be invaluable for the future homeowner because many people cannot visualize what it will look like from blueprints. In addition to creating nice visuals it also meets the needs of the builders that will be using the plans by easily creating drawings in the same way that the builders are accustom to. Without having had this class I would have never been exposed to this software and never known about how smaller companies manage to design projects quickly and effectively while still maintaining that connection with the client and their design.

            Professor Mitchell did a great job at bringing in people from various parts of the industry and having them give their take on the how technology will advance the design, construction and maintenance of a building. Along with that came the inevitable pitch of each company that presented but it was nice to see what there company was doing with the topic of intelligent buildings and how we could get involved and learn more.

Comment’s on Posts:

Dave: Congratulations on securing a job at L.F. Driscoll as an assistant project manager! I too would agree with your comment on how many people tend to be satisfied with one or two aspects of a building being intelligent, but when you think about the future systems should be created to completely interact with each other.

Ted: Although I don’t have the same passion about 3D printing, I do share the curiosity of where 3D printing will take us and what affect it will have on the construction of buildings.