BIM for students. Why and how to start?

 

What used to be a transition from 2D to 3D, BIM implementation has become a revolution in AEC building industry. Current trends in the industry should be an important part of any AEC student’s education, and it is crucial to become familiar with software and processes used in nowadays professional life. But how can one learn about BIM if it is not offered in most of the curriculums? This is a problem that we are trying to fix, so if you are a student who is eager to use the newest technology and BIM, continue following BILT Academy and our blog.

Why this topic?

In this blog series, I will try to cover advantages, workflows and implementation strategies that students should use in their school projects to get familiar with the BIM process. The information supplied in this blog is based on knowledge and experience from me, my colleagues, and will feature interviews and quotations from various professionals.

Why to worry about BIM while being a student? There are many advantages to that:

  • Higher chance of getting hired for internships/jobs
  • Helps you produce drawings more efficiently
  • Allows you to access various visualisation and analysis tools
  • Easy collaboration in group work
  • Clash detection
  • Less duplication of work

I have personally used Revit during my bachelor studies and it has helped me reduce drawing production time tremendously. Fast drawing production means more time for studying and… that so-long-needed nap.

What is ‘BIM’?

So now that we know the advantages of using BIM, let’s start with the main question- what is BIM?

Put simply, BIM- Building Information Modelling is a process, used in all AEC fields, starting from construction management spanning to visualisations and facility management. It’s a software application, which brings efficiency and better control of the project through 3D visualisation, data management, simulation and other tools. The National Building Specification released a great and fun visual representation of BIM elements:

BIM periodic table

You can read more about the Periodic Table of BIM elements here:

https://www.thenbs.com/knowledge/periodic-table-of-bimUsing

BIM means to not only input the information, but to also extract it later on, analyse it, use it during construction and after the handover. During these blog series, we will discuss and elaborate on various aspects and applications of BIM.

Where to start?

There are many ways to learn, however, practice shows to be highly efficient when it comes to software and BIM. First of all, I would highly suggest looking up various blogs, trainings and conference recordings, which are available online. Secondly, try a practical approach- working in groups, ideally multidisciplinary based on school assignments and projects.

Here are links to Autodesk University and Academy, where you can find many videos on BIM, depending on your field of expertise:

http://au.autodesk.com/au-online/classes-on-demand/bim

https://academy.autodesk.com/

You can also watch many videos posted on Youtube from various universities, seminars and conferences.

Check out the links to get familiar with main definition of BIM and terminology and see you soon! Stay updated on BIM and technology news on weekly BILT Academy blog!

Are you a student experiencing issues on understanding or implementing BIM? Write us an email via our blog and we will try to answer your questions in our next blog entries!