B7 - Connolly - Course Reflection

When signing up for Intelligent Buildings, my first thought was that I would learn more about BIM and sensors and how they interact. I thought we would talk about databases and how they can vastly improve how a business stores their data. As a Digital Building major I had hoped that this course was one in which I would learn a lot more about how to use each of them effectively in the real world. At that point in time, I had taken 2 database courses and hardly worked with actual database software, I had taken a few courses that touch on BIM but they were mostly the other courses in the AE department that just have one assignment in Revit. I had learned how to use BIM and setup databases mostly in my co-ops and not in classes.

After taking the course, I feel a bit let down by the lack of meaningful use of BIM and databases. I learned a lot about how they are used and the potential uses of them in the future. I learned a lot from the guest speakers who taught about the real world and how systems are used today. I also learned a good amount of the futurology of the construction industry and it could become much more efficient if basic AI or robotics were incorporated. However, I feel like the blog posts were somewhat tedious and the term project was essentially a longer blog post. I did like the two assignments that dealt with BIM and databases, if the term were split between learning more about those two subjects I feel that it would have been more effective. Professor Mitchell often wondered why the class seemed less than interested in the subject that he was teaching. An honest answer to that would probably be that it was due to a mix of the class being 3 hours at dinner time and also that a lot of the subjects were not directly relevant to what we will be working on in our careers. In my opinion, this course would be best taken either earlier in an AE major’s curriculum so that databases and BIM can be introduced from the start, or if the course curriculum focuses more on BIM and databases in the workplace.