Changing Roles from Student to Teacher: Eleanor Reynolds Helps Integrate BIM into the Classroom
Eleanor graduated with her B.S. in Architectural Engineering in May 2009.
Eleanor Reynolds made her mark as an outstanding undergraduate student in Architectural Engineering – always going the extra mile with a clear passion for what she was learning. Much to the department’s benefit, she has returned as a graduate student not only to further her education, but to work with other students as a teaching assistant in the architectural engineering design studio. Based on what she learned during an internship in the summer of 2009, she is helping to incorporate the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) into the classroom.
For her internship, Reynolds worked with structural and modeling teams at consulting engineering firm Buro Happold in Los Angeles and was mentored by CAEE External Advisory Committee Member and firm partner, Greg Otto. Educated as both an architect and engineer, Otto found his niche within the common ground of the two disciplines and focuses on digital modeling and collaboration technologies, and their application within the practice. His goal for Reynolds’ internship was for her to “learn the methodologies necessary to support a data centric process and how to port data between software, keeping it accurate and current.”
When she arrived in L.A., she worked on an early stage, performance-based design project, using parametric computer modeling to optimize the structure. She had the opportunity to work with the firm’s modeling team and witness the capabilities of working in a three-dimensional computer design environment. “The modeling team had vast experience in working with geometrically complex, three-dimensional models with parametric design,” says Reynolds. When that project was put on hold, she spent a significant portion of the summer working on several fast track developments that were under construction in the Middle East, also an invaluable experience.
Upon returning to the department as a graduate student and teacher, Reynolds jumped right into her new role. This academic year, the design studios at CAEE are integrating BIM into the classroom to ensure that students have hands-on experience with this dynamic modeling process before they even enter the workforce. During the first semester, Reynolds worked with faculty to help students become confident in the three-dimensional computer environment. They learned to use the Revit platform to create intelligent models that imbedded information with their building models for design class.
Reynolds has been instrumental in helping the design studios at CAEE integrate BIM into the classroom. Students are now more confident in the three-dimensional computer environment.
For the Spring 2009 semester, they began creating multiple computer models that link building systems to the architectural models. Consequently, students can see how firms utilize three dimensional computer models to check for compatibility and are learning how to create four-dimensional models by linking a schedule to their computer models. By the end of the semester, the students were able to produce preliminary design documents.
Another focus of the semester was incorporating the flow of information between software programs, just like Reynolds learned during her internship. Students utilized the energy analysis software Green Building Studio and Ecotech to inform their design decisions. “Although we are incorporating specific software into the course, our goal is not to simply train students in a specificplatform, “says Reynolds. “The hope is that we are giving them the tools to begin to appreciate all that the BIM environment is capable of. They will be able to understand the methodologies of how to work with advanced computer models.”