Fundamentals of Building Information Modeling

This course is the first of a sequence of interrelated courses on the current computer applications in the construction industry. The emphasis of this course is building information modeling (BIM) fundamentals. BIM, which allows engineers, architects, and others to more efficiently plan, design, and construct buildings and infrastructure, is revolutionizing the practice in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.

The primary goal of this course is to:

• Cultivate students' knowledge on core BIM concepts, including object-oriented modeling, parametric modeling, and central databases.
• Train students to effectively use BIM tools for various construction project- management and research tasks.

A number of carefully crafted hands-on activities targeting construction problems will allow students to not only learn the fundamentals, but also master their applications in construction.

Additional tools required:

This course requires the use of a BIM authoring tool, such as Revit from Autodesk.

Note that Autodesk offers a Revit trial version that is free for 30 days. Autodesk also offers a free tool for viewing BIM models, the Autodesk Viewer.

As this is a 5-week course and the free Revit trial is 30 days, we suggest that you time the trial download correspondingly.