Pat Allen

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Rachel Barrow

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Alex Byard

The interdisciplinary collaborative BIM Thesis program was an integral part of my educational experience at The Pennsylvania State University.  I was able to apply the knowledge I had garnered from two other BIM-specific courses (BIM Studio and BIM Execution Planning) to our thesis team.  In addition, the way in which BIM is integrated into the other construction management courses at Penn State allowed me to apply BIM to a plethora of construction applications – cost estimating, scheduling, project planning, site logistics, and delivery method analysis.  Through the use of integrated design technologies – Google SketchUp and a Revit Central Model – my construction management partner, Brian LaChance, and I were able to translate information into Navisworks to create a 4D model.  Working through design solutions with our engineering design teammates helped us comprehend and evaluate the various construction implications and impacts on cost and schedule.

Participating in the AEI National Competition brought a unique perspective to the BIM Thesis program as compared to prior years.  We were given the framework of an elementary school project that tasked us with integrating our team’s various design disciplines into a construct able high-performance facility in an economically-disadvantaged urban setting.  Within the boundaries of the competition, our team was able to work collaboratively and support one another’s goals and the team goals as a whole while ultimately fulfilling the owner’s goals of the project.  Throughout this year-long process, the insight I gleaned into the iterative design and construction processes has helped reinforce the communication and integration skills I have learned throughout my years at Penn State – significantly benefitting me as a future construction manager.

Please click here for Alex's ABET Outcome Survey.

Melanie Fonner

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Brad Frederick

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Brian LaChance

The BIM/AEI Team Thesis was a unique experience.  This project approach forced all the discipline members of Nexus to work hand in hand to produce a common project.  The central idea that we all worked around was putting the team before the individual in order to produce the best possible result.  In many cases this meant compromising and doing extra work to explore all potential options.  The use of BIM helped to expedite the decision making process by allowing us to view design changes in 3D and fully comprehend the impacts of our decisions.  This course opened my eyes to the possible uses of BIM as well as the impacts of a more collaborative approach in the construction industry.

Please click here for Brian's ABET Outcome Survey.

Michael Palmer

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