Reflection of the Course and its impact to my Profession and Future
This is an extremely loaded question but one that we are always asked to answer.
This course was worthwhile to me because it opened my eyes to new things that I had never seen before. I understood the sensors and how we use them for temperature control and window blind rotations and I actually thought this class would be more about that aspect because my definition of intelligent buildings tends to fall under intelligent operation.
The other reason it was worthwhile to me is because I was able to speak with more sophistication on topics that I otherwise would have stammered about and not known anything about. I applied to a scholarship and they asked us to write a technical paper on an innovation in construction and honestly I was so ready to answer that question because of all the things that we were exposed to in this class! I typically am skeptical of the future but after seeing proof that this stuff works and then researching it for the paper was the most valuable part. The research portion allowed me to set aside time for this class and digging in more about what I was mostly interested in. I am glad that I chose to do a research topic as opposed to a project because I was getting frustrated with the different programs we were using at the end of their respective assignments. The paper almost felt like a creative outlet that was somewhere between opinion and research - taking the facts and formulating thoughts relevant to them. As someone who is both creative and technical, it was a nice part of my daily routine that was not of the ordinary math problem or computer project type.
The other aspect of this course was the hands-on projects with the database and the Revit model and while I really enjoyed working with both of those - it is hard to see those new tools particularly impact my career outlook. I understand the need for databases but it is not something that I believe will ever be asked of me and even if it were I would still choose Excel, even after this class introduction (although I am thankful for the introduction).
What I liked about this class is now I have the ability to talk the language of Revit and communicate to someone else what I would need in Revit if at all - based on the families and the models and the schedules and the database component, I now know what it is capable of. Communication is key in this industry as a professional and I think that is the best take-away form this course. The guest speakers only added to this benefit because hearing from a professional that is immersed in this technology gives us the empowerment of oh I can do this, too!
In general, I feel that although the details of this class will not help my future - the over arching themes and what we discussed will and has already helped my professional career and future. I see much research and development in the technologies discussed and I think I would be interested in becoming involved in that aspect!
Responses to Other Students:
Nick Pawlikowski: I think what we got out of this course was different because of personal preference and past experiences. I had dabbled in MS Access before and the material that was brought to this class was not new based on what I already knew and it still didn't fulfill my needs as a database program. I think your last summation sentence is valid in that it depends what the students brought to the table as existing knowledge to make the difference of if the value of the course expanded on that or did not.
Brandon Mengel: It is easy to see that most people's favorite part of the class was the personal project because afterall, we were the ones who set the scope and decided what would be in it based on our interests! I have to agree with you though, this class is such an overview that it is fulfilling to go deeper into one particular area. To me, BIM and 3D Printing stood out the most although we did discuss other technologies in this class. I think it had to do with the guest speakers and our ability to visualize how it actually works and makes a difference in the world.
Peter Dannemann: I love the great comments you have about Professor Mitchell's drive. I completely agree - some professors do not use any original material or offer any discussion and the fact that this class was more seminar based and discussion based with real world examples and content from Professor Mitchell's actual interests made it that much more impactful. I didn't realize you were an environmental engineering major but I think that while your points are valid about not actually using the database and Revit families, I think you will be able to better talk to people who do use them in the data collection processes which are all around us.
Responses to Other Students:
Nick Pawlikowski: I think what we got out of this course was different because of personal preference and past experiences. I had dabbled in MS Access before and the material that was brought to this class was not new based on what I already knew and it still didn't fulfill my needs as a database program. I think your last summation sentence is valid in that it depends what the students brought to the table as existing knowledge to make the difference of if the value of the course expanded on that or did not.
Brandon Mengel: It is easy to see that most people's favorite part of the class was the personal project because afterall, we were the ones who set the scope and decided what would be in it based on our interests! I have to agree with you though, this class is such an overview that it is fulfilling to go deeper into one particular area. To me, BIM and 3D Printing stood out the most although we did discuss other technologies in this class. I think it had to do with the guest speakers and our ability to visualize how it actually works and makes a difference in the world.
Peter Dannemann: I love the great comments you have about Professor Mitchell's drive. I completely agree - some professors do not use any original material or offer any discussion and the fact that this class was more seminar based and discussion based with real world examples and content from Professor Mitchell's actual interests made it that much more impactful. I didn't realize you were an environmental engineering major but I think that while your points are valid about not actually using the database and Revit families, I think you will be able to better talk to people who do use them in the data collection processes which are all around us.
I agree with you that this course was very different from our usual courses. It was a creative and discussion based course that really was a great change of pace. I also really agreed with you that we have learned how to communicate effectively about Revit. I agree with you that we are getting involved in a great time for this industry.
ReplyDelete