Ryan L. Solnosky

IPD and BIM-Focused Capstone Course Based on AEC Industry Needs and Involvement

AbstractAcademics, through industry demand and involvement, are beginning to realize that educating our future engineers in building information modeling (BIM) technology utilizing an integrated project delivery (IPD) collaboration and design approach needs to be a frontrunner of education. As a result, academia is now challenged with the task of determining how to develop these specialized skill sets in engineering students such that the professional demand and focus of incorporating the proper skills in educational practices are met to address the issues and limitations that incur in new practices. This paper outlines the development, implementation, and results of a 3-year multidisciplinary team pilot program within architectural engineering (AE) at Penn State University encompassing structural, mechanical, lighting/electrical, and construction engineering disciplines, focusing on the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry needs. Built into this pilot are strong connections to indust...

Delivery methods for a multi-disciplinary architectural engineering capstone design course

Changes in industry practices, as well as advancements in technologies have moved Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) to the forefront in our industry. Practitioners and educators alike see BIM-based technologies changing the fundamental way we design, construct and deliver buildings to the client. It is unreasonable to expect that we can completely duplicate industry practice in an educational setting. However, we can focus on developing specialized knowledge and skill sets in students by implementing a focused practice-based environment around these topics. In this case, the learning environment selected was a senior engineering capstone (senior/comprehensive) design course. This paper describes a comparison of offerings of such a course over four years by conducting a multidisciplinary team collaborative capstone design course using IPD/BIM in architectural engineering at Penn State. The pilot program developed, which includes extensive industry involvement, is centered on teams of engineering students comprised of the structural, mechanical, lighting/electrical and construction engineering disciplines. Also included in the discussion are lessons learned and course management techniques developed that the authors feel are of value to other academic programs involved in incorporating IPD/BIM into some aspect of their curriculums.

Results of a Pilot Multidisciplinary BIM-Enhanced integrated Project Delivery Capstone Engineering Design Course in Architectural Engineering

In August of 2009, the Department of Architectural Engineering (AE) at Penn State University launched a three-year multidisciplinary Building Information Modeling (BIM) enhanced Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Capstone Project Pilot Program under industry and institutional sponsorship. Consisting of a year-long two course sequence this capstone initiative was organized and managed around multidisciplinary teams of architectural engineering students incorporating IPD/BIM concepts as an alternative to the traditional (individual student projects) Penn State AE capstone program known as AE Senior Thesis.

A Curriculum Approach to Deploying BIM in Architectural Engineering

In recent years, rapidly advancing new technologies and project delivery methods, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), have had a significant impact on the building industry. As a result, practitioners and academia have realized that educating future engineers on these topics is a necessity. To adopt these, proper course and curriculum structures need to be developed and tested. The focus of many efforts to date have been on the first topic, courses. BIM in particular has proven to provide positive opportunities to advance education of buildings at the course level but when expanded upon to an entire curriculum; its effects have seen limited study and less commonly adopted throughout departmental programs. This paper will describe the efforts that the Department of Architectural Engineering (AE) at Penn State University has taken to implement different levels of BIM via collaboration, integration and technology in different courses throughout the program. The discussion will first focus on the overall structure of the program and how they interrelate to one another. Then the efforts within each of the four disciplines: Construction, Lighting/Electrical, Mechanical, and Structural Engineering will be examined more closely.

PROCESS MODELING FOCUSING ON BIM AND INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN RELATING TO STRUCTURAL PLANNING AND DESIGN

The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) Industry is finding that “silo” barriers promote limitations within the community, as a result inhibiting effective and efficient collaboration even with the advent of new ways of thinking. The current industry, including the structural discipline, is not realizing how everything should fit together as one cohesive entity. Due to the lack of integrated design processes throughout the community, an Integrated Structural Process Model (ISPM) was chosen as a research focus for development. ISPM has the potential to be a tool to educate the community on the critical tasks and information exchanges needed by the structural discipline to provide the best product. This paper discusses the ongoing development of the ISPM model based on the critical components of the structural discipline and its place within the broader spectrum of the lifecycle process. The resulting ISPM is overarching in nature in that it is not material or systems specific, yet its scope is comprehensive because it encompasses a project from planning through construction with provisions for future expansion into facility management. The broad AEC impact resulting from the ISPM is that it will prescribe what other disciplines need and gives (information) to be conscious of when designing, fabricating, and/or constructing during model and non-model based tasks. This impact helps to promote full collaboration amongst the various AEC teams. Through the ongoing development of this model, industry practitioners with structural focus feel that the identification of major tasks and information exchanges used to create the best resultant product has direct benefit to them for planning to give the owner the best project results.

Review of Design, Construction, and Capabilities of an Air Bladder Load Test Facility (ABLTF) at BCERL for Structural Experimental Enclosure Studies

Building enclosures are critical to a building and are truly a multidisciplinary system. From a structural perspective, they must resist many types of loadings, particularly as they are the first line of protection to the occupants against external and environmental loading. With the recent interest in designing systems to be multi-hazard resistant, new innovative systems need to be created, existing systems need to be studied for applicability, and underperforming systems need to be upgraded using some strengthening methods. In multi-hazard resistant design, it is critical that wall systems resist blast loading. Currently, a few established methods exist to test enclosure systems to resist blast loads. Here, a discussion on the testing protocols and different facility capabilities and differences are detailed. This paper discusses a case study of the creation and illustration of the capabilities of a versatile air bladder load test facility (ABLTF) for out-of-plane structural experimental enclosure studies to meet the needs of multi-hazard static and dynamic loading of wall specimens. The paper offers a review of different types of facilities that have been constructed in other laboratories for similar purposes and provides the necessary information and guidance for generating the type of facility presented here, with safety in mind, particularly when facility space is limited.

A comparative thermal properties evaluation for residential window retrofit solutions for U.S. markets

The most widely known method of reducing energy loss through windows is to replace inefficient single- pane window units with their newer, more energy efficient counterparts. However, there are als...

Experimental Flexural Behavior of a Panelized Reinforced Brick Veneer with FRP Reinforcing on Steel Stud Wall Systems

AbstractThis article presents a multihazard-resistant panelized brick veneer with steel stud backup (PBVSS) system capable of being developed off-site with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) enhancements. This study is a continuation of two previous studies of PBVSS systems developed at Pennsylvania State University in the Building Components and Envelopes Research Laboratory (BCERL). The specimens used in this study include one control specimen. Two types of composites were used, glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) and spray polyurea, with three composite configurations. Experimental data obtained from a uniformly applied pressure through an air bladder with expected boundary conditions were collected. The measured test data provided a basis for evaluating the performance and capacity of the PBVSS, particularly the veneer portion. A comparison of specimen test results shows that the FRP enhancements on the interior side of brick veneer provide additional veneer capacity. Beyond the performance of the venee...

Analytical, Communication, and Information Technology Directions in the Structural Industry

AbstractSince the advent of mainstream computer applications, the structural engineering community has strongly embraced technology. Furthermore, the structural community is a leader in the advancement of new software, hardware, and applications within the market. Developments over the last 10 years have greatly expanded structural engineering beyond the traditional analytical methods; essentially, information and communication technologies are changing the way people do business. To understand how these technologies are changing the design and construction of structural solutions to problems in building projects, a study was conducted to develop a deeper understanding into these areas. Industry experts across the United States were interviewed and surveyed on these directions to look at how structural engineering is changing and what to keep in mind when implementing technology on projects. The focus of this paper will be twofold. First, it will focus on information and communication technologies, in par...

Structural Practices within Integrated Building Design and Construction

AbstractBuilding-focused structural engineering has been an advanced user of computational technologies over the last 3 decades. During this time, there was still a lack of integration among the participants involved in the structural design, which obstructs advancements in the structural design process. To address this, the creation of an integrated structural process model (ISPM) was formulated to promote advances in the design of structural systems through collaboration and integration among participants. The resulting ISPM is overarching in nature in that it is not specific to a structural material or system, but its scope is comprehensive because it encompasses a project from planning through construction. Within the ISPM are tasks to complete the structural processes, data-driven information exchanges among participants, and holistic representations and descriptions for methods and tools to perform the processes. The broad architectural/engineering/construction (A/E/C) impact of the structural level...