Links with the USA

Travelling straight from the BISRIA event on Building Information Modelling on 2nd November, I will be attending the Engineering Project Organization Conference next week. This conference, co-organized by Profs Paul Chinowsky and Ray Levitt, brings together researchers interested in a range of management, leadership and organizational issues relating to engineering projects. It also provides an opportunity to catch up with members of the international advisory board for the Design Innovation Research Centre and to visit the R&D laboratories of one of our collaborators, Bentley Systems. I will be visiting both the Collaboratory for Research on Global Projects and the Center for Integrated Facilities Management at Stanford as part of the visit, and Prof Martin Fischer will be speaking at the event on Engineering Management in the Digital Economy at the Institution of Civil Engineers and visiting the Centre in Reading in December.

Management Practices and 'BIM'

The increasing use of integrated software solutions, such as Building Information Models (BIM), on large projects has significant implications for management practices in project-based design environments. It is the focus of industry and policy-making attention, with a number of events this autumn.

On 3rd December 2010, I am hosting an event on Engineering Management in the Digital Economy: Research and Practice at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), which is co-sponsored by AIM and the ICE. This will bring together senior practitioners and leading academics to consider how the issues encountered in leading practice can help shape research agendas; and how the outcomes of research can help inform industry and policy in this area. While the full event is invitation only, the talks will be broadcast.
The increased interest in BIM is demonstrated by increased attendance at a recent event hosted by Autodesk. Other UK events this autumn include a CPIC workshop on 2nd November (see http://www.bsria.co.uk/training-and-events/details/building-information-model-2010/#content) and CIBSE training day on BIM in building services on 2nd December (see http://www.cibsetraining.co.uk/conferences/single/1975). I am engaged in research to inform the evolving debate, working with colleagues to examine the handover of digital data to construction clients in particular.