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.

Final Blog Post - Phil Brubaker

                For this final blog post for AE-510 we were asked to reflect on the course as a whole and to discuss how the topics discussed throughout the entire course could one day prove to be useful or helpful in either our professional careers or simply in our futures.  This is a much broader approach to a blog post than the blog posts for the past weeks of this course and is a perfect way for us as students to summarize all of the ideas, concepts, and topics we’ve discovered or discussed throughout the course that we found to be, in our opinions, the best.  This open-ended blog post topic is also an excellent way for us as students to evaluate the course in general and to provide feedback on the aspects of the course that we liked or disliked and found either beneficial or disadvantageous to our ever-growing pool of collegiate level knowledge. 

                In the beginning of this course ten weeks ago I was very unsure of how this course was going to be structured, and quite frankly, I was unsure that I was going to actually learn anything that I would find either helpful to my professional career or simply enjoyable at all.  I was under the naïve assumption that this course was going to be a dig biscussion about what the fantasy buildings of the future may look like or be able to do.  That naïve assumption of mine was proven wrong week after week after week when we learned about the various technologies that design companies are incorporating into the buildings they envision and propose today, often told to us by members of those companies or members of companies who work with those companies. 

                Overall, after ten weeks of this course I can say that this course has been one of the most informative courses I’ve had the opportunity to take here at Drexel University in terms of the advanced technologies utilized in current buildings, and what advanced technologies may be utilized in buildings of the future.  Each week I learned something new and I know that some of the information I learned from this class will without a doubt prove to be useful throughout my professional career.

Comments:

Steve:                   Good post, although one of your comments (I won’t say which one) is a bit mean and unnecessary.  I personally disagree with your opinion and found [the person to which you were referring to]’s opinions to be quite excellent really!    It’s a good thing we all know you’re just joking around, but maybe you should take this person out for some coffee to cheer them up, perhaps with a gift card you might win in another course? Just a suggestion…

Andrew:              Good post! I’m glad to see you learned a lot in this course because I know that if anyone in this course will use the information discussed in this course throughout their professional career, it will be you!  In this course

Week 10 Blog Post

D. Barbalace

I like to think that this course was less about what I learned, and more about how I was able to develop a new method of thinking about buildings.  I've had experience with BIM, and I was already aware of many of the ways robotics, databases, and sensors are used in engineering design.  This class allowed me to take everything I already knew on these topics, broaden my existing knowledge, and then consider ways of combining them to create intelligent designs.

I've spent a lot of my time at Drexel being impressed with building's that have one or two "main attractions," meaning that the design or operation incorporates a few intelligent systems but is otherwise an average building.  While buildings like these are important stepping stones to the end goal of creating a truly intelligent building, we won't get there until all of a building's systems are capable of interacting with both one another and the humans that inhabit it.  Utilizing green infrastructure, computerized systems, mechanized systems, building information modeling, and efficient spacial design are, in my opinion, the most important aspects of the intelligent building.

When I start my career as an assistant project manager at LF Driscoll this June, I'm certain that I'll be able to use everything I learned in this class in my work.  As a building contractor, I'll be responsible for performing work in an safe, timely, and cost-effective manner every single day.  I hope to utilize database and sensor technologies to organize my work and check site conditions on a consistent basis.  I firmly believe that artificially intelligent robots will transform the construction industry during my career, and I can only hope to be on the forefront of using these machines.  Another responsibility of mine will be to oversee construction of intelligent systems within the buildings I am working on.  Having taken this class, picking up on conversations regarding these systems will likely be significantly easier.  Furthermore, I will be sure to solidify the contractor's part in the building's lifecycle as early as possible in order to reduce the amount of conflicts later on.

I really liked this class, and I would definitely recommend it to other students in the future.  It does a fantastic job touching on a subject that is otherwise nonexistent in our curriculum, which is of extreme importance due to the ever-increasing utilization of intelligent building design in the professional world. 10/10 would take again.

Comment's on other's posts:

Audrey:  I like that you touched on the guest-speakers, as I completely forgot to mention them in my post.  They really were great.  I learned a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of all the major BIM softwares, and got a glimpse into exactly how important they are becoming in the professional world.  Great post!

Ryan:  My favorite part about the "you get out what you put in" mentality was that it gave us a lot of freedom to write the posts how we wanted to write them.  We were able to research our topics and establish our own ideas instead of everyone reading the same source and summarizing it.  That mentality, in my opinion, made the class much more fun.

Week 10 Blog

This course was very interesting for a structural engineer such as myself. I feel that intelligent building design will be very important going forward, and will have a major impact on the careers of everyone in the class.

The various topics that Professor Mitchell presented in class, such as sensors, databases, networks, robots, BIM, etc. were all very intriguing. At first glance, many of these topics would seem to be only tangentially related to building design. However, Professor Mitchell was able to link all of these to Intelligent Building design in a logical way, and teach me many things that I previously had not even thought about. Overall, I think that this class helped to make students more well-rounded and challenge them with topics and ideas that they are not exposed to on a daily basis. This will make all of the students better engineers because they can better interact with people in other fields.

I thought that one of the most valuable parts of the class were the guest lecturers that were brought in to present. These people were able to bring a valuable perspective as those working in industries that all of us will be a part of soon. It was very interesting to hear about what these individuals thought was important, and to see what topics they did not cover or feel did not need as much attention. This will help me to focus my studies in the future, and will help me to learn the things that are important while not stressing about topics that aren't actually used in industry.

The two major assignments were also very helpful learning exercises. The Revit assignment helped me to discover aspects of Revit that I had not used before, which is valuable because Revit is such a prevalent program in industry. I was already fairly familiar with Revit, but that assignment was helpful in expanding my knowledge. In contrast, I knew nothing about Microsoft Access prior to the assignment in this class. The assignment was helpful because it forced me to learn a new program and how to use databases. While these may not be focal points of my engineering future, it is valuable to have added these skills to my experience.

Overall, this class was helpful in exposing students to new fields and ideas. It made students more aware of what the future of engineering may hold, and helped to prepare them for careers in the field. It was a valuable experience, and I feel more prepared as a future engineer because of it.

Comments:

Mike's blog: Your opinions are bad and you should feel bad. ;(

Audrey's blog: Very insightful. You inspire me to become a better engineer day after day. ;)

Week 10 - Michael Kilgallon - Course Reflection

When I came into this course ten weeks ago, I had a very vague definition of what an intelligent building was.  Originally, I just assumed it was a building that was able to monitor the activity that was going on inside and around it.  This assumption wasn't wrong, but the facts that I learned throughout the term regarding intelligent buildings were more complex than I could have imagined. 

It was really interesting to see how sensors, databases, networks, and even robots could come into play when discussing future buildings.  I had an idea regarding how sensors were used in buildings since they are relatively common currently, such as thermostats or pressure sensors for pipe networks.   However, I didn't realize how these sensors could be incorporated with networks and databases to create a “living” building.  The way these sensors could gather data, store it in a database, and have a network communicate that data to different areas of the building really is a revolutionary concept for building design.  This intercommunication between sensors and different parts of the building will allow for more LEED certifications as theses systems reduce emissions and make buildings much more energy efficient.

As these technologies begin to work with each other more and more in the future, the structures that they are incorporated with will start to simulate a “living, breathing” being.  This sounds very science fiction, but it isn't too far-fetched when you think about it.  The building would, in essence, emulate the way the human body maintains itself with the database being the brain, the sensors being the nerve endings, and the network being the whole nervous system that connects all parts of the “body” together. 

Regarding the effect this course will have on my future and my future profession, I would say this course has helped in introducing me to the whole concept of intelligent buildings.  As I stated before, I had an idea about how sensors were incorporated in to buildings, but I never knew the extent to which there were implemented.  After taking this course, I have learned that these improvements to existing buildings and to future building designs will be at the forefront of design once they become economically beneficial for owners and investors.  Additionally, learning about the benefits of these advancements is also very valuable to my future profession because it will allow me to see if any of these pieces of technology are useful and worthwhile to implement in building when going over the building design.  It will give me, and even my employer, a leg up over the competition when it comes to this type of advancement in intelligent buildings.  


Comments:

Phil: I do agree with you statement that you were afraid that this class would not be beneficial to you.  I was on the same boat at first because I was unsure what the whole outcome of the class would actually be.

Steve: Like you, that Revit project we had to do was very beneficial for me because I always wanted to use Revit again after the project way back in sophomore year.  This project was a great learning experience for me.

Week 10 - Course Reflection

Throughout this course, we covered a wide range of topics relating to intelligent buildings, including BIM, robotics, sensors, networks, and databases. The blog post assignments made me think about aspects of the building industry that I had not previously considered, such as the impact of BIM on building quality, potential issues with BIM implementation, the role of databases, and the functions of sensors and networks. Through researching and formulating posts on these subjects, I was able to develop a basis for understanding them in the context of intelligent buildings. Responding to others’ posts helped me learn about different aspects of the same topics and reading the comments helped me identify areas that I had missed in my own research.

The various projects also enhanced my understanding of the material being covered. The Revit assignment was my first attempt at creating and using families and through completing it, I was able to appreciate the importance of this feature and how it can eliminate repetitive tasks during the modelling process. Similarly, I had never created a database exceeding the complexity of something that could easily be entered in a spreadsheet prior to this class. I found correctly linking all of the tables slightly confusing and would probably struggle with setting up the structure were I to do it again, but the assignment was helpful as a basic introduction to databases.

Especially valuable was the opportunity to hear from a variety of guest speakers over the term. I appreciated being able to get perspectives on BIM and its implications for the industry from various professional sectors, including BIM software developers and construction engineers. The representatives from Autodesk, Bentley, and ArchiCAD discussed some of the challenges that developers face, such as interoperability, as well as how they envision the future of BIM. Having heard from them first, I found the Whiting-Turner presentation particularly meaningful, as Paul and Murray were able to demonstrate how their firm is currently implementing BIM technology in actual practice.

Overall, this course has pushed me to consider the future of the building industry and how the advancement of these various technologies will impact my career. I feel that I have benefited from the assignments and class discussions and gained a basis for further developing my understanding of intelligent buildings.

Esther - I agree that the project assignments were really helpful in developing skills applicable to an engineering career. I'm glad you were able to get a lot out of the Revit assignment and look forward to see how you applied that in your final project.

Teddy - I also think that 3D printing is a very interesting concept and look forward to seeing how that technology develops in the building industry. I'm glad you were able to find a topic in the class that could be turned into an exciting final project.

Esther Ninshuti: Course Reflection

When I started this class, I really was not sure what to expect. I had never taken an AE class and at the time, I did not know much about BIM or Intelligent Buildings. I believe I have learnt a lot from this class and I have been able to acquire skills that I did not have prior to this term. This term I was able to learn about a wide range of topics including sensors, 3D Printing, Databases, the effect of BIM, among others. This reflection will outline aspects of the class that I enjoyed, those I did not and how I will apply my new found knowledge in the future.

One of my favorite parts of the class was the guest speakers. It was great to see what Professor Mitchell had been discussing a week prior, and what we had researched on for the blogs, being discussed by people who apply the knowledge in the industry.

As Ryan mentioned, Professor Mitchel did say that you’ll get from this class what you put into it. This particularly applies to me when it comes to the final project. Even though the class was not specifically about Revit, one of my personal goals was to better understand what BIM programs like it can do. My project heavily relied on Revit and through that I was able to expand my skills and expose myself to the options that I have with Revit.

Another skill that I was able to develop is the use of Microsoft Access. Even though I would not call myself an expert, it is still good to understand how databases work and how they are created. Even though I may not have to make a database from scratch in the future, it is important to understand what goes into making one and the relationships between different entries.

When it comes to my future in the industry, what we learnt in this class got me excited about how BIM is changing the face of structural engineering. Overall, I truly enjoyed this class and have come out of it more knowledgeable about what is being done to make the whole life cycle of buildings more intelligent. 

Comments:

Ryan: I'm glad that you reminded us that Prof Mitchel said at the beginning of the term that you'll get out of this class what you put into it. Looking back, that has definitely been true. And I agree with you about the guest speakers. It was great to see the real world applications of what we are learning. 

Teddy: It's great that you were able to learn about 3D Printing and were able to pursue it for your project. I think in this class we were all able to find something to be excited about.