Design Schools Embracing BIM-Based Design Practice

Today's design practice is a digital design practice.

Credible design schools and their educational staff are ensuring that when students graduate with their BS in Engineering or MS in Architecture, they are well prepared and employable for their immediate roles in the "real design practice world".

I compiled this list of references for an educator on Revitcity.com. He wanted to show his peers the tangible need to update their design school's classes. Thereby improving the professional credibility of their professors, underscore the university's competitive-educational image and the value of their students' degree and employability.

Questioning the Role of BIM in Architectural Education: A Counter-Viewpoint
by Paul Seletsky, Associate AIA, the Director of Digital Design for Skidmore Owings and Merrill’s New York office. It was published in the AECbytes.com newsletter.

BIM Goes to School (PDF) Download Global perspective: This white paper focuses on how BIM is being leveraged within several universities around the world and how students who have access to this way of working are accelerating their design thinking and their studio work...and laying the foundation for dramatically advancing their industry in the future.

Autodesk Launches Academic Certification Program to Help Prepare the Next Generation of Professionals is a press release by Daratech (statistics crunchers) 9/2007

Autodesk Helps Bridge Gap Between Education and Industry press release from ThomasNet-Industrial Newsroom on connecting Nebraska schools to current and local industry required software.

1-2-3 Revit: BIM Goes to School By Bill Rundell, AIA.
This is a 2005 article when more than 80 colleges and universities were using Revit for their architect-engineering programs.

From an Educational Perspective: BIM in the Architectural Curriculum (PDF)
David R. Scheer, AIA, Associate Professor and Director
Center for Integrated Design and Construction
University of Utah College of Architecture + Planning

Abstract: As Building Information Modeling becomes the new standard for the AEC industry, the training of young professionals to work in this environment becomes a critical issue. Certain tendencies in current architectural education are clearly unsuited to BIM, whose value lies in its capacity to facilitate collaboration and accumulate information throughout the entire building lifecycle. An entirely new approach to architectural education is needed. This process has begun at the University of Utah's College of Architecture and Planning.

Curriculum changes are being tried, ranging from rethinking the design studio to the addition of new courses specifically addressing BIM. Greater involvement by industry in architectural education is needed to bring the collaboration-building aspects of BIM into the classroom and studio. Read on...

AECCafe: Autodesk Presents Revit BIM Experience Award to New Jersey Institute of Technology for Creation of Fully Digital Approach to Architectural Education

For those that feel that architecture is art, the [bim]x blog provides a quote from Frank Gehry on the business case of using digital design tools.

The employability news underscores the growing demand for BIM literacy and compentency. Take a quick look at the AIA job banks and engineering placement agencies. We can't find enough architects and engineers that know Revit to fill the waiting jobs for this BIM design process.

Design students are choosing degrees from institutions that have credible programs; that are relative to the current design business. Employers are hiring more graduates from these schools. Eventually the post graduation learning and financial costs fall back on the student (now employee) and the respective design firm that has hired him or her.

The message to design schools: A prestigious sheepskin that delivers unemployable skills, student loan debt and soaring employer training costs; is meaningless for tomorrow's designers and their respective employers to grow a successful design business.

Congratulations to those design schools and their staff that understand and teach the "real design practice methodology".

Download Autodesk University 2007 Class Handouts

Couldn't make it to AU 2007. Login to the Autodesk University website to download Autodesk University 2007 class handouts or view AU 2007 session screencasts.

Choose from hundreds of class handouts from a pool of training talent that scored a rating average of 8.85 by attendees for their presentations.

Chicago ALA-CSI BIM Accredited Educational Presentation

Association of Licensed Architects (ALA) and The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) of Chicago are hosting their 9th Annual Architecture Conference & Product Show on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at Drury Lane, Oak Brook Terrace, Illinois.

The 2007 Conference Schedule kicks off with "GREEN BUILDINGS AND THE BOTTOM LINE - THE 'NEW REALITY' OF GREEN BUILDING" Featuring Keynote Speaker, Editor-in-Chief Robert Cassidy "Building Design + Construction"

I will be presenting a BIM educational session (1.5 LU) in the early afternoon, 1:30-3:00pm.

L2 - LESSONS LEARNED: HARNESSING THE MOMENTUM FROM THE BIM PROCESS - Daniel Hughes, ICE, IMAGINiT Technologies

Today's progressive architects, engineers, contractors and building owners are harnessing the momentum of a wave; defined as Building Information Modeling (BIM). This presentation reviews the specifics of how several regional, national, and global design firms, contractors, and owners are harnessing the momentum of the BIM process. They are choosing specific projects and strategically applying the BIM process to the design, engineering, construction and building management tasks. 1.5 LU

You can still register online for the conference and educational events.

See you there!

BIM and Sustainable Design Require Value-Based Business Model (Part 1 of 2)

How will we pay for these value-add process changes to our design firm?

A client asked this question two years ago when we provided a 12 month BIM-Revit implementation plan.

As a company they had identified the BIM and sustainable design processes as long-term value propositions for their firm.

Then again, value for whom?

So, how do we market this value?

How do we get paid for this value?

What's in it for me (us)?

As this is a common concern/question, I referred them to this article, Redesign Your Profits: Value-Based Fee Structure which was posted on the DesignIntelligence website.

Redesign Your Profits: Value-Based Fee Structure (Excerpt)
by Kyle V. Davy, AIA, and Susan L. Harris, Ph.D.

A brutal fact of reality for architecture and engineering firms is that prevailing pricing and compensation methods—setting fees on the basis of direct labor cost (whether selling hours on a time-and-materials or lump-sum basis)—provide only minimal profits for most firms.

They also reinforce client perceptions that engineering, architecture, and design services are simply commodities to be purchased on the basis of lowest cost.

The insufficient returns generated by these pricing methods starve firms of the resources they need to grow and foster a survival mentality in which many professionals are unwilling or unable to apply their unique expertise, dedication, and vision to the complex challenges that confront clients, communities, and society.

Value Redesigned: New Models for Professional Practice (Book) is published by Greenway Communications and can be found in the Greenway Communications bookstore or I have found it available on several bookstore websites.

This book and others have provided instrumental road maps to this firm’s success. Their creative staff synthesized these contents and has continued to create hybrid value-based process changes; specific to their organization.

In the next and final installment, we'll outline a few of those business and design process changes. Processes they implemented to create a value-based business model. We'll also give you another book that also played into their success.

Free Workout With Revit Worksets - AUGI ATP Director

Eric Wing, AUGI ATP Director provides a 2-part series of free Workouts With Revit Worksets.

His first installment; Worksharing in Revit, Part 1 - September 2007 is now available.

Eric has also written (the first in a 2 part series) a Revit tutorial for AUGI's Magazine; AUGI World.

Eric's article; The Missing Link: How to Leverage Building Model Content Across Platforms is published on page 26 of September/October 2007 AUGI World. He outlines the process for linking and coordinating changes with Revit models from different disciplines.

Eric and I work together in the same company. Eric lives in New York. I first met him when we took/passed our Revit Implementation Expert (ICE) exams in Chicago earlier this year.

Eric’s activities within AUGI include: ATP Director, Survey Manager, ATP instructor, HotNews columnist and AUGIWorld columnist.

BIM and Beam - Revit Structure Blog

A Chicago architect asked for a couple alternative methods for creating non-planar roofs. While browsing, I found this short Revit Structure tutorial; "Structural Framing Underneath a Warped Slab" that I forwarded to him

Credit goes to the Revit Structure blogging team of Nicolas Mangon and Wai Chu authors of BIM and Beam.

I first came across their blog with a May article; "Amazing Structures from China". It was a photo journal of two of the most complex buildings under construction in the world. The "Twisted Donut" and "The Nest". Their construction photos and renderings define a level of engineering and design that raises the bar for future buildings.

You can feed your RSS reader with their subscription link; http://bimandbeam.typepad.com/bim_beam/index.rdf

Free Revit MEP Tutorials-Streaming Media Format

Free audio-video Revit MEP tutorials have been posted on this site. They are presented in a general overview format. Consider using them for your next company "lunch and learn", prepare for an instructor-led class or to provide users/management with an idea of Revit functionality.

The site includes a Revit MEP Tutorials RSS/XML feed if you want to plug this link into your RSS reader. Your reader can monitor the site and alert you when new tutorials become available.

Currently the site has posted archived Revit MEP demonstration webcasts and these short overview tutorials:

Electrical

• Electrical Lighting and Power Circuitry
• Electrical Lighting Calculations
• Electrical Power Load Balancing, Wire Sizing and Panel Schedules
• Electrical Wire Tags and Lighting Switch Topology

Fire Protection

• Fire Protection Sprinkler Placement

Heating and Cooling

• Heating and Cooling Load Analysis

Mechanical

• Mechanical Design Criteria
• Mechanical Duct Sizing and Inspection
• Mechanical System and Duct Layout

Plumbing

• Plumbing System Layout

Free Revit Structure Tutorials-Streaming Media Format

Free audio-video Revit Structure tutorials have been posted on this site. They are presented in a general overview format. Consider using them for your next company "lunch and learns" or to provide users/management with an idea of Revit functionality.

The site includes a Revit Structure Tutorials RSS/XML feed if you want to plug this link into your RSS reader. Your reader can monitor the site and alert you when new tutorials become available.

Currently the site has posted archived Revit Structure demonstration webcasts and these short overview tutorials:

Top Features

• Single Model for Both Structural Analysis and Documentation
• Bidirectional Associativity Between Model and Views
• Construction Documents Structural Details
• Import/Export in DWG/DXF/DGN/IFC and CIS/2 formats
• Bidirectional Links with Analysis Packages
• Multiple Materials
• Structural Parametric Components
• Multi-users Worksharing Interoperability with Revit Architecture

Free Revit Architecture Tutorials-Streaming Media Format

Free audio-video Revit Architecture tutorials have been posted on this site. They are presented in a general overview format. Consider using them for your next company "lunch and learns" or to provide users/management with an idea of Revit functionality.

The site includes a Revit Architecture Tutorials RSS/XML feed if you want to plug this link into your RSS reader. Your reader can monitor the site and alert you when new tutorials become available.

Currently the site has posted archived Revit Architecture demonstration webcasts and these short overview tutorials:

Building Information Modeling

• Creating Sheets and Changing Numbers
• Starting a Project Easily
• Generate Views

Documentation

• Creating Annotation and Changing Scale
• Simple North Arrow Creation
• Scheduling with Ease

Visualization

• Conceptual Massing Studies
• Exporting Models to 3ds Max
• Quickly Create Presentation Visuals

Revit Productivity Techniques: Assess Your Skillset

I'm publishing a productivity series titled; Revit Productivity Techniques. I have 6 techniques currently loaded into the blog auto-publisher; with several more almost complete. They'll be released every couple days.

As an instructor of 20+ years, I assess learners' skill levels prior to and during the course of every class. I have at least 15 base techniques-skills (outcomes) every Revit user should have when they leave my 3-day Revit Essentials class. These techniques will be published over the next few weeks. Consider using them for your own internal lunch and learns.

The first one will publish tomorrow, Friday, June 15th.

Until then, Happy Flag Day!

Feeddigest Links My Building Design Media Sources

I'm testing a web service called feeddigest to link the content I write for my company's
Architectural Solutions blog into this, my personal Revit JobCaptain blog.

My ASB blog content is posted on Revit JobCaptain main page, in the right margin of this screen; under Architectural Solutions Blog.

I posted a follow-up article to my original Our Home In Revit blog post; titled Designing A Greener Home With Revit on our company blog. I'll be taking this blog post's outline, photos, videos and Revit data I've created on the road soon as a "green educational" event.

A little about Feeddigest. If a web resource has syndication capabilities (xml/rss/rdf), take that link and enter it into Feeddigest. It creates javascript, vbscript or php source code that I can place into a webpage. As my syndication sources update, they update my html webpage.

I can blend several syndication sources into one feed. If I have two blogs, I enter both syndications URLs and Feeddigest creates a single feed from two blogs. I can also set key words/phrases and create a feed from multiple resources on a specific topic. So far, it's been pretty cool in my testing phase. It's free for 30 days and about $1 a month for an annual subscription.

I'm updating my Revit JobCaptain Lens and Home Planning and Design lens weekly with volumes of research and resources that eventually tie into my blogs. When I first started my 15 lenses, there were less than 5,000 lenses. At last count there are more than 100,000 Squidoo lenses.

A single page blog has limitations. Hopefully, my other web media sources will help you find content I've created or use that may be specific to your building design application.

Cheers!

Schools Leverage Alumni for Free Autodesk Software

This Autodesk promotion is limited to secondary schools; colleges, universities and technical colleges. Read the full story on my company blog and download the whitepaper for detailed information regarding the program. Schools Get Free Autodesk Software When You Purchase.

It's one of those Autodesk programs that was tough to find any detailed specifics on their website. A few calls and this is what I found. As an alumni, the best part is your purchase could place you as the hero to the school of your choice without any additional cost! Pretty easy.