I enjoyed this class because it covered a wide variety of future technologies related to buildings. A lot of classes that cover one topic per week feel rushed and leave you with the feeling that you didn't really learn much of anything. This class was somehow different where it feels like we learned a lot about a wide variety of topics. For example, while my INFO 210 class has covered a lot about database theory, what I learned from this class was comparable to about the first three weeks of that class.
Also being able to choose your own research topic was a way we could tailor our learning towards our career path. As someone with experience in construction and owner's representation, I was able to learn more about those fields. Laser scanning being transferred to BIM as well as using photogrammetry on drones was what I've seen in those fields.
This class also helped open my mind towards the future of design, the industry, and the future of society as a whole. Robots and AI are truly where we are headed in every aspect of society, and being able to embrace them and learn to use them to stay ahead of the curve is a valuable skill. I also think it is highly valuable to learn this from Prof. Mitchell as well. He's someone who started out his career before Computer Aided Design was even a term. Now, he is the most up to date and knowledgeable person I know on BIM, AI, and the future of buildings. Learning about this new technology from a young professor would have been OK, but would not have had anywhere near the same impact. Professor Mitchell's life experiences and how he has seen the industry change was very entertaining and always grabbed my attention. I also appreciated how the class wasn't focused on unrealistic technologies. In some of my earlier classes, we'd learn about future building technologies (mainly based in Green Design) that just seem so futuristic and unrealistic where you'd almost have to roll your eyes. This class was more practical and had facts and data that backed up the information presented.
Overall, this class covered a wide variety of topics that were tied together nicely and taught me a lot about the industry and technology that will be used in the near future. I am sure that in the years to come I will be seeing more and more of the stuff I read about in this class.
1) Allison,
I thought the same thing when I read your section on INFO 210. This class really focused on how it is relevant to us as engineers, rather than treating us as database designers. By treating us as database designers who had to design databases with multiple topics, we sort of lost sight of how databases can apply specifically to engineers, so I'm glad 410 brought us back down to earth.
2) Thomas,
From your first paragraph, I think that this class should be mandatory for all AEs. Possibly at different years depending on your concentration to keep class sizes small, but it's importance spreads beyond just the digital building students. As you said, automation is taking over all aspects of the industry, including structural and BIM, so it really can't hurt any concentration to take this class.
3) Joshua,
Your paper topic seems very interesting. It is one of the reasons I'm glad we get to see other peoples presentations tomorrow, because there are so many great topics people chose and I'm curious to see them all. As I mentioned in my post, we covered so much in this class but there is only so much time Prof. Mitchell has. Being able to see what other students decided to write about will help expand my knowledge base and interest level even more.
Brad,
ReplyDeleteGenerally you are right, the class did not feel rushed at all. Some projects did come up fast, but all in all the material itself was always fresh and new, but never under-covered. I think this was possible for the class because rather than teach each topic, Professor Mitchell gave just enough to drive discussion and further research. I think this really allowed us to almost choose what we wanted to get out of the class and pursue further in our studies. I totally agree that this was the best way to take this class, and Professor Mitchell was the best person to teach it. The ability to have a better idea of how technology progresses by being there for its progression has given another level to the content of the course. I really hope his predictions are correct as far as BIM and AI taking over the industry, because they are topics that I would love to get more into and become more of an expert on.
Brad,
ReplyDeleteYour reflection is interesting. I agree with you that this class is slow path. It is more like a reading and thinking class. We had read a lot topic about the technologies and their application. Also, we had learned about the use of BIM tools and database. This class really provide us a basic understand of future technologies and their application in future industries.
I agree that the class schedule was nice—we were able to take a couple weeks to dive into each topic. Prof. Mitchell is very knowledgeable in these topics and did a great job of spreading that knowledge to us. I agree that the class did open our minds to the ever-changing technology of our society, though it worries me. We must embrace the changes or be left behind, but if technology goes too far, we could be in trouble.
ReplyDeleteBrad,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed you blog post, I think it was very insightful and you summarize the benefits of the class very well. I like how you were about to tie in your other classes into post. INFO 210 did teach us about the theory of database but it was helpful that this class had us actually create and edit our own database using something other than SQL.