We are very happy to welcome Prof. Fernanda Leite from the University of Texas at Austin, who will be giving a talk on 'Modeling our Built Environment: Re-thinking how we design and build'. You can find the abstract and a short bio below. The talk will take place at our institute on 21 March at 4.30 pm.
Title: Modeling our Built Environment: Re-thinking how we design and build
Abstract: The architecture, engineering, construction, and facility management (AECFM) industry has been experiencing many changes since inexpensive networked, mobile computing devices have become ubiquitous. We have also significantly benefitted from learning and working across our traditional disciplinary boundaries. With the rising amount of information and data generated in the life cycle of capital projects, information modeling and data integration have become a critical element in design, engineering, construction, and maintenance of capital facilities. Recent advances in building information modeling (BIM) have the potential to address a number of these pressing challenges. The objective of this talk is to discuss challenges and ongoing research in BIM – more broadly information modeling – including: automated BIM upkeep (i.e., LivingBIM); virtual reality for design review; and data integration for climate and community resilience.
Short bio: Fernanda Leite is a Professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds the John A. Focht Centennial Teaching Fellowship in Civil Engineering. She combines expertise in architectural engineering and computing in her modeling and built environment research. She is an Associate Editor for the journal Automation in Construction and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Computing Division Executive Committee. Most of her work has been in building and infrastructure systems information modeling (BIM), Scan-to-BIM, visualization and collaboration technologies, and circular economy in the built environment. At UT-Austin, Dr. Leite teaches courses on Building Information Modeling, Project Management and Economics, Construction Safety, and Sustainable Systems Engineering.