7 Ways to Improve Your BIM Technology knowledge

7 ways to improve your BIM technology knowledge

Have you ever wondered what is one of the most fundamental questions while learning a new skill? We bet: Where to start? Where can I expand my BIM knowledge? Where to look for information? 

If you have no idea and you are just starting your adventure with BIM, this post is just for you! If you are already familiar with the basics… we recommend reading the article anyway. The places and ways to learn, we present here, will be useful for both beginners and practitioners of BIM technology.

Content

1. I want more BIM Knowledge! Where to start?

Start from… reading our previous articles. You will find out, for instance:

2. Interesting websites concerning BIM technology knowledge and learning materials

The Internet is the best place to learn new technologies. There is a lot of free online materials, program courses filled up with BIM knowledge and interesting facts from the AEC industry. Websites we visit and recommend: 

  • BIMCollab — a tool for cooperation between designers on a project. On their website they offer a sample project which you can download and check for collisions.
  • Statsbygg BIM ManualNorwegian government’s key advisor in construction and property affairs, building commissioner, property manager and property developer. They set the BIM statndards that are followed by most of the designers in Norway.
  • B1M YouTube channel – some time ago they switched from making materials only on BIM to general news and interesting facts in the construction industry, but their older videos provide a lot of valuable information

3. Conferences and workshops

konferencja-bilt-nauka-wiedza-bim
Our BIM Corner colleague, Krzysztof Wojsław, delivering his presentation at the BILT conference this year.

Along with the popularization of BIM technology, an increasing number of conferences and workshops on the subject are organized. Some of them take place annually, others are a one-time meeting. We present below the most popular ones in Europe, with particular attention to the events taking place in Norway and Poland:

  • BILT — one of the most significant conferences in the world of digital constructions. The global level of experts. The conferences are held annually in various cities in Europe, North America, Australia, and Asia. This year BILT Europe was organized in Edinburgh and one of the speakers was a member of BIM Corner – Krzysztof Wojsław
  • Autodesk University Conference – One of the biggest conferences, where you can meet mostly users of different Autodesk software. During several days of the event it is possible to participate in presentations, workshops, lectures and exchange experiences with both workers of Autodesk and users of its software.

    In 2019 conferences were organized in the USA, Great Britain, India, China, Russia, Japan, Germany and in the Middle East. The presentations are recorded during the event and are available on the conference’s site.

  • Bridge to BIM Trimble Digital Construction Summit — held this year in Copenhagen. The conference is intended primarily for users of Trimble software (Tekla, Novapoint, Trimble Connect, etc.). Many technological novelties, including this year’s release of Mixed Reality device – Hololens 2. Janusz Majcher and Marcin Pszczółka were there this year.
  • BIM World — major European conferences held in spring in Paris and autumn in Munich. Another member of BIM Corner, Konrad Fugas, will participate in the event this year and we are already waiting for his report and impressions from the presented level.
  • Den Kloke Teknologi — one of the most interesting conferences in Oslo, Norway. The threshold of BIM technology in Norway means that the topics discussed are inspiring and often innovative.
  • Projektowanie Przyszłości (Designing the Future) — a conference held every year in Cracow. High level of the speakers, a great number of speeches of international guests. The aforementioned member of BIM Corner, Krzysztof Wojsław, had his appearance at the conference this year.

4. BIM online communities and local BIM groups

There are varieties of BIM communities. Below we recommend only those we checked ourselves – whether by a membership or by using their resources. However, the list does not include all existing groups – we advise you to look for one that interests you and allows you to develop your knowledge.

  • BIM Community — an international social network, which associates employees of the AEC area. The website provides many case studies, tutorials, and tips.
  • BIMfagNorwegian association, which gathers engineers working daily with BIM technology in this country. They organize meetings with presentations on BIM and additional training courses in the field. Membership in the group costs 400 NOK per year, giving free participation in events and discounts on training.
  • The LinkedIn portal provides a wide range of BIM groups. One of the biggest is BIM Experts.
  • BIM in Practicewe are also working on creating a group under the patronage of BIM Corner. The group is only just beginning (as of 11.2019), therefore at the moment, there is not much information there. But since we are getting started, we invite you to join us!

For those interested — Norwegian groups on Facebook:

  • BIM-nettverkan informal group meeting from time to time for lectures related to BIM technology. Membership and participation in the meetings is completely free.

5. Literature

BIM is relatively new, rapidly changing and developing technology, thus it is difficult to recommend a book conveying practical information and at the same time being “on time”. An interesting position on the market is:

  • BIM manager, Mark Baldwin – published in 2019, therefore presents a very fresh look at the world of BIM technology. 
  • Integrating Project Delivery, Martin Fischer, Howard W. Ashcraft, Dean Reed and Atul Khanzode. – The book dedicated to IPD, which stands for Integrating Project Delivery. The idea of IPD is to include BIM and VDC (Virtual Design and Construction) in the process of project execution. This in order to integrate different stakeholders – so that the work can go in a more efficient way. In the book, apart from the theory, there are presented case studies of projects executed according to the IPD’s principle.

6. Sign up for our newsletter!

Every Thursday we send our subscribers a package with information and news from the world of BIM. If you want to be up to date and broaden your knowledge, sign up for our newsletter – Click the button JOIN NOW at the very bottom.

Guides made by BIM Corner ready to download for free:

7. Try…and make mistakes

The most effective way to learn something new is to practice! Don’t be afraid that you will make mistakes at the beginning or that working with a new program takes a lot more time than with the old one – we can assure you that we have made quite a lot of mistakes ourselves and also learned BIM from scratch. We encourage you to try it yourself and find what suits your needs and requirements!

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After reading this guide you will learn:

  • How BIM is used on the biggest projects in Norway
  • What were the challenges for the design team and how were they solved
  • What were the challenges on the construction site and what was our approach to them

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