Bell Blog 6

This course has opened my eyes to many thing that I have not previously encountered at Drexel or in the workplace. When I go to work it is often presented to me that no one wants to change the way things have been operated for the past thirty years. Because I work in an industry that specializes on roads and bridges, change is very frightening to most. There is currently a push within the company to use 3D design but it doesn’t have as much traction as one would hope. This class has shown me what the future can hold if effort is applied. I am hoping that my company will adopt 3D design and that I will be using it in the future. Another important thing that I learned was the commitment that construction workers have on creating buildings. It is very difficult to build anything and the contractor needs to make everything fit in the increasingly more complicated world that we live in. Also, I had never thought about sensors in the way that I think of them now and how if properly maintained, they can completely regulate all the things that function in a building. The database was another interesting tool that I am not sure how I can implement in my life but I do enjoy the ability to be able to make a database if I ever needed to. Overall this class was an enlightening experience starting with the innovative ways that construction is being carried out and interestingly enough I am currently doing graduate research with people who are 3D printing concrete. The usage of drones and robots were all eye opening to me but sadly I am a skeptic and believe that if everyone could sit around in their pajamas all day they would. Also, the latest presenter who explained the difficulty of keeping track of sensors and systems in large buildings with reference to building managers made good points about the willingness of people to change or even do things correctly. But although I am a hasty critic I think that most of the things shown in the class will be utilized in the future but not quickly. I believe that over time, like it will be more and more common to use only 3D design and it will be more and more common to 3D print concrete and use robots and databases until everyone will be doing it. The future will eventually get here and the upheaval is starting.

Reece,

I hope you have a meaningful time at your next co-op and learn more about additive manufacturing of concrete. I am also working on concrete for my masters research studies and am optimistic that the future will use concrete completely differently than it does currently. I also think that database usage is very important in society, I was unaware how many databases are necessary to run the world and it is hundreds of thousands, and the way to make them was foreign to me until this class

Douha,

I completely understand what you are saying because I have primarily used autocad and civil 3d without ever using revit. I was surprised how easy and clean it was. Many people in my office also use revit for architecture but because I am civil engineering, I barely get to use it. Hopefully I will be able to utilize my skills and be incorporated in multiple different fields.

Madeleine,

I agree with you when you say that you feel behind because I had also never learned about the topics covered in this class. Another thing is that I have close to no affiliation with building systems, this topic came up in my senior design in which I should have implemented more systems. It’s sufficient to say that I almost never think about the architectural side of engineering which appears to be the opposite problem that you have.