Building Competency in the Construction Industry: A Seminar on BIM

Engr. Jason Ongpeng presents a certificate of appreciation to the resource speaker

Last March 11, 2015, the Civil Engineering Department and Civil Engineering Society (CES) in partnership with ProjectPro Inc., held a seminar entitled “Building Competency in the Construction Industry.”  The seminar aims to increase among students and faculty about the latest tools in Project Management and Cost Estimation.  The seminar was attended mostly by CTM major students. DLSU BS CE alumni who are taking their Masteral degrees in Chulalongkorn University in Thailand were also present. There were also CE faculty present during the seminar, among of which are Engr. Jason Ongpeng (CE Faculty Chairman), Engr. Cheryl Lyne Roxas (CE Faculty Vice Chairman), Dr. Renan Tanhueco, Engr. Irene Ubay-Anongphouth, Engr. Erica Uy and Engr. Joenel Galupino.

The main speaker of the seminar is ProjectPro’s brand manager Leonard Esber. He said that the construction industry today is currently at its peak and is one of the largest contributors in the country’s Gross Domestic Product. Therefore, competition among construction firms and property owners becomes tight in order to increase their chances of getting the most out of the high demand for developed properties for all different kinds of occupancies. New technologies that are ventured upon nowadays take advantage on the dawn of construction intelligence through advanced computer systems, programs and machines such as automated structural member models, paperless and digital transactions.

One of the technologies that ProjectPro promotes has something to do with Building Information Modelling (BIM) which is also one of the trends in the industry today. BIM is a concept or an idea and not a product. It is a new way of conceptualizing and designing a building along with its other parametric properties.  ProjectPro can perform up to 7D analysis. The 3D is the three dimensional image representation of the building. The 4^th dimension, or 4D, represents the time aspect. Usability and positioning of the equipment and accessories of the building during construction depends on time. Through 5D, money or cost is involved. The program could show the Bill of Quantities automatically alongside with the building components. This referred to as Digitized Costing. The concept of Digitized Costing is that the computer will configure the scale and quantify construction materials through shape recognition.  6D is the dimension wherein the building life cycle and facilities management is involved. Life cycle maintenance is important to determine if a building can perform through its design life. In this dimension, the technology of mobile access to Defect Liability Period (DLP) is explored. Lastly the 7D is the dimension where the local permits and certifications needed for the different aspects of engineering plans and drawings such as structural, architectural, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, fire protection and auxillary.  With all of the remarkable features this software program provides, it does not come cheap.  However, investing in ProjectPro or similar software may produce significant benefits to a construction company.

Article submitted by Rachelle Rabino