Course Reflections–Themes and Comments

Overview

Most of you were quite pleased with AE-510, liked the variety of topics and our focus more into the future than the present.  A number said it made a noticeable difference to their understanding of the profession and their career.  I couldn’t be more pleased at that outcome.

What follows are my comments on some topics that recurred in your posts.

More BIM

Seven of the twenty seven of you commented that you’d like more BIM, with a number of those saying that less focus on databases would be desirable to achieve that change.  In future versions of this course that may happen once we have the Digital Building concentration in place – that concentration will have a whole course on databases required.  Even then, though, I’ll probably retain some discussion of databases because they are such an essential tool in contemporary engineering.

Databases

As noted above, a number of you would prefer to have less emphasis on databases, with the reason being that you don’t see them as being relevant to your professional life.  Others appreciated the introduction to databases.  To the doubters I’d argue that you are going to be interacting with them throughout your career, and that therefore a working understanding of them is worthwhile.

Even the Workload

Several of you would prefer to even the workload in the courses by not having several assignments due in a week while other weeks have little or no work due.

My logic for this current arrangement is that having a week with little due allows you to look ahead and prepare future work.  Some liked that.  I’ll continue to ponder it.

Staying Aware of Technology

A number of you commented that staying aware of technology, an aspect of life-long learning, was important and that you appreciated the course for that reason.  I certainly believe that’s the case and am happy that some of you agree.

Final Class Meeting - Plan

In the final class you’ll work with the presentation groups assigned here.

Here’s the outline for the class including a link to the class survey I’d like you to take before the end of the class

A2b–Database–Grading Comments

Overall Comment

This assignment went quite well overall, with most of you understanding and appreciating the purpose.  Below I’ve addressed several issues that came up repeatedly

Planning

• Many of you realized the value of what Dr. Song emphasized, the importance of planning your database design in advance.  It’s just like a building – adding an elevator after the fact is MUCH harder than in the design stage.

Using Record ID Fields

• In my comments I referred a number of you to a post I thought I’d made (but now cannot find) about common problems with the first database assignment.  This had to do with the frustration that Access automatically assigns a number to a field that is identified as a “primary key”.  Using a primary key value for a particular record can thus be a problem if you delete it and think you’re recreating it – there’s a new primary key number which is NOT what you had before.  The trick is to not delete and recreate the same record OR do not use primary keys in “drop downs”, but instead use a descriptive field.

How To Enter Records Without Having to Look Up their key field.

• Access provides a method, one of number of “controls”, to produce a dropdown box in a form.  You can then see the value of a descriptive field in the dropdown menu, but Access actually puts the value of its primary key in the field.
• One or two of you experimented with this successfully.

Other Databases

• As I’d hoped, a number of you claimed to be quite interested in using Access further.  You should be aware that “serious” database people tend to sneer at Access (unjustly I’d say).  The fundamental problem is that large databases need to be used by many people simultaneously.  Access is not good at this.  If that’s what you need then you’re into the world of either a web-based database (probably PHP and SQL)  or a commercial product like those from Oracle.  These get more complex than Access quite quickly.
• Several saving graces are:
• the principles you’ve learned using Access still apply
• The SQL language that underlies Access is used throughout the relational database world.
• You can actually connect to large SQL databases using Access.

Term Project Comments

Overall Opinion

With some happy exceptions your work in these term projects did not represent the best of what I think the class is capable. In too many there were a variety of structural problems or a lack of focus on an “intelligent building” issue in any depth.  There was one unfortunate instance of plagiarism and several in which what was submitted bore only a tangential relationship to the topics of the course.  Below are my comments that address some of these issues.

Good

There were several papers that II read with great pleasure because the authors had either addressed the topic of which I was ignorant and related it clearly to the intelligent building concepts, or had taken some aspect of the intelligent building concepts and considered it in detail adding their own experience or projections.

Sad

Too many of you produced reports that had long introductions that outweighed the major substance up the topic. Others put together a number of different topics but in no greater depth than we had considered in class and without any significant additions.

Report Structure

One of the greatest disappointments was that many of you don't seem to fully grasp the ingredients of a good technical paper. Besides the obvious need to use appropriate language and to include citations for any assertions or quotations used there is a fundamental structure that is commonly expected. That structure is, to oversimplify for the sake of exposition:

• Introduction – Usually states the main idea of the paper to prepare the reader for what follows – 10% of length
• Main Body – Background, discussion of the elements of the main idea, description of how the main elements interact, consideration of difficulties with the main idea and possibly future work. – 80% of length
• Conclusion – Restatement of main idea and how it has been “proven” in the main body – 10% of length.

Intelligence and Green

A number of you addressed the topic of Intelligence vs. Green in one form or another.  I would argue that these two concepts are not inherently similar, although intelligence can often be used in service of developing a green building.  As I said to one group (edited):

You have written a paper which certainly meets the expectations of the assignment. What follows is an opinion that I hope you will consider as you move forward.

I would argue that by accepting the definitions of intelligence and green that you use in this paper you have automatically produced more of an overlap than is necessary. In particular there is no inherent reason why intelligence has to be used to produce environmentally friendly results. It can equally well be used to produce drama or luxury or general excess as opposed to environmentally friendly and indeed is used that way today. In that sense it's rather like the computer, a tool that can be used for multiple purposes ranging from enhancing a green lifestyle to killing people using autonomous drones.

Week-9–Plan for Class This Week

We’ll be using the entire class for an exercise to try and bring together everything we’ve studied this term.  Each grooup (A-E) will pick a building consider the appropriate technologies to use at each stage of the life cycle of the building.  You’ll develop and give a presentation about that “story” to the whole class.

Here’s the presentation that gives the organization for the class.

• It may develop some up to the start of class.

Groups for Week-10 Presentations

Here are the groups for the presentations in Week-10. 

I suspect that some project titles will have changed so don’t be worried if that’s the case.  I attempted to put teams with related topics together, but had to balance that with roughly equal numbers.

Group	Projects
M	#1 - integration of Revit and a structural analysis program - Krall #10 - Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis - EPA SWMM Comparison - Alvarado Bastidas #7 - BIM Model of Elementary School of the Future - Houde #8 - Revit project - Wang, Li
N	#13 - Green vs. Intelligent Buildings - Mantua SD - Butler, Haddad, Ng #15 - Green Roofs - Bregande #16 - Green Roofs - Vazquez #2 - Intelligent and/or Green - Carpenter, Gulbenkian
O	#14 - Robotics in Construction - Hindes #3 - Robotics in Construction - Gonzalez, Cifligu, Gonzalez #5 - socio economic impact of the future use of robotics in construction - Meraz
P	#11 - sensor databases in a Building Management System - James #4 - sensors as a progressive way of building interaction with its surroundings  - Lancellotti, Martines, Pauliushchyk #6 - How do sensors availability can affect energy consumption in HVAC systems in buildings? - Ben-David, Morrison
Q	#12 - Equipment for energy efficiency of residences - Barry, Patel, Sawin #18 - Tedesco #9 - Philadelphia Row Home Efficiency Renovations (Green Vs. Intelligent) – Scanlon

Each team should bring paper copies of their presentation in sufficient quantity so that each person in your group can have a copy to follow along.  I suggest printing them out four slides to a page to save paper.

The plan in class is the following:

1. Each group will present to each other – using either a laptop you bring or the paper copies
2. Each group will choose one project to present to the entire class, with the other group members being prepared to explain why it was selected.
3. The selected Team will present to the entire class using their PowerPoint – 8 minutes max
4. The class will vote for extra credit for the “best” project in the following categories
   1. Most intriguing presentation
   2. Most technically competent
   3. Best use of “intelligent” technology

More BIM–Revit Seminars from AutoDesk

Here’s a flier and sign-up for a series that may be of interest for those of you who want to investigate BIM more intensively.  It’s obviously focused on Revit.

Virtual Design and Construction with BIM Is Becoming Industry Standard

As construction picks up around the country, BIM use is increasing for many reasons, from winning new business to making budgets go further.

Construction firms are using BIM to:

•Pursue new business

•Experience better project outcomes

•Maintain repeat business

•Reduce rework

Sign up for the BIM information series, which provides access to short videos, reports, interviews and more. You'll quickly see why BIM use is up and how you can use BIM to:

•Extend the design intent models for constructability

•Efficiently plan and schedule

•Uncover and fix conflicts before breaking ground

As an example of what you'll get in this series, watch the screencast "Prepping Your BIM Model for Construction Scheduling and Logistics." Anthony Governanti from Autodesk explains how to set up and modify your BIM model for construction, as well as how to get the most value from your data.

The volume of construction projects is increasing, and more and more owners are making BIM a requirement to bid on their projects. Don't miss this opportunity to learn how BIM can increase the competitiveness of your firm.

Note:  I copied the sign-up link from an email.  It may think that you are James.Mitchell if you use it.  If so, I apologize.

Rapid Construction–30 Story Hotel in 15 Days

I’m not sure exactly how this building relates to “Intelligence”, although I suspect there may have been some robotics in the factory.  Nonetheless its indicative of some of the changes and possibilities that are coming – and it’s amazing.

Final Database Assignment - Variety

Question:

The grading criteria for the final database assignment says we must address at least two building systems with comments on similarities and differences between them. My database is currently of all the green buildings in Philadelphia, with keys to the manufacturers and architects. I am a bit confused on what this requirement is asking for and how to incorporate it into my database, could you please clarify?

Response

Anyone in a similar situation should interpret this requirement as requiring variety in the entries in their database.  In this case that might mean both institutional, commercial, industrial building types.

FYI – the grading criteria stem from when I required sensor types.  I hadn’t thought through this issue.

Skip Week-8 Blog

Last Tuesday we were going to start a topic that was to become the subject for the Week-8 blogs.  Because the lecture ran long we didn’t have time to start that discussion.  For that reason:

No Blog due Week-8.  Use the time to advance your Term Project.

Note that there is no blog in week-9 either, BUT there IS a blog due in Week-10.

Sensors Blog–Grading Comments

This week was a particularly successful one.  You covered a wide range of sensors and addressed the physical principles behind most of them quite well. What follows are some specific comments:

• A few of you recognized explicitly that what is actually measured in most cases is NOT the variable of interest, instead it typically an effect of that variable that lends itself to measurement – typically electrical, but not always.
• One aspect that almost no one addressed was the response time of the various sensors.  Some of them (e.g. many humidity sensors) can take many seconds or even minutes to generate a reading, whereas other can have response times of milliseconds or even less.
• Accuracy and repeatability were important aspects that appeared in a few of your posts, as was the longevity.  Associated with longevity is the idea of sensor “drift” over time, requiring recalibration of instruments that must be precise.

Term Project Drafts–Comments

I’ve just completed reading the drafts of the term projects/papers that you submitted.  There was a great range of length from two who turned in nothing to a lengthy document with full citations in many areas.  Some were still outlines in format and others were nearly finished documents.  As such there is nothing to say that applies to everyone.  Here are some comments that apply to at least several of the projects.

Numbers

Engineers love numbers because they quantify and make it easy to compare things as well as judge capacity, cost, consistency, strength etc.  Far too many of you left your numbers on the computer and not in what you wrote.  An engineering topic deserves engineering support.

Citations

If you make an assertion that something is true that isn’t common sense or textbook material in a required course then you’re expected to cite the source so the reader can check it for themselves and make their own judgment of its validity.  Too many of you ignored this requirement.

Overly Long Introductions

A number of you wrote long introductions that were out of proportion to the main topic of the paper, several times causing truncation of the most important part.  Watch for balance in the paper.  I’d argue the introduction should be no more than 10-20% of the total.

Cohesiveness

Several of the papers were clearly composed by group members who hadn’t agreed on an effective division of labor.  The papers read as though they were by different authors on different topics.  The paper should read like the work of one person pursing a logic progression through their material.

A Seminar that Might Interest You–Friday 2/22/13–University Crossings-153

The technical details of this may be over the heads of many of us (myself included), but the topic is clearly relevant to the general focus of this course.

---

Dr. Rahul Mangharam “Closing the loop with Cyber-Physical System Modeling”

Cyber-Physical Systems are the next generation of embedded systems with the tight integration of computing, communication and control of "messy" plants. I will describe our recent efforts in modeling for scheduling and control of closed-loop Cyber-Physical Systems across the domains of medical devices, energy-efficient buildings and programmable automotive systems. The design of bug-free and safe medical device software is challenging, especially in complex implantable devices that control and actuate organs whose response is not fully understood. Safety recalls of pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators between 1990 and 2000 affected over 600,000 devices. Of these, 200,000 or 41%, were due to firmware issues (i.e. software) that continue to increase in frequency. There is currently no formal methodology or open experimental platform to test and verify the correct operation of medical device software within the closed-loop context of the patient. I will describe our efforts to develop the foundations of modeling, synthesis and development of verified medical device software and systems from verified closed-loop models of the pacemaker and the heart. With the goal to develop a tool-chain for certifiable software for medical devices, I will walk through (a) formal modeling of the heart and pacemaker in timed automata, (b) verification of the closed-loop system, (c) automatic model translation from UPPAAL to Stateflow for simulation-based testing, and (d) automatic code generation for platform-level testing of the heart and real pacemakers. More details here. As time permits, I will describe our investigations in energy-efficient building automation in which we coordinate scheduling of controllers for peak power minimization across multiple plants. We will also briefly discuss in-vehicle and networked vehicle-to- vehicle programmable automotive architectures for the future.

Speaker Bio:

Rahul Mangharam is the Stephen J Angello Chair and Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Electrical & Systems Engineering and Dept. of Computer & Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He directs the Real-Time and Embedded Systems Lab at Penn. His interests are in real-time scheduling algorithms for networked embedded systems with applications in automotive systems, medical devices and industrial control networks. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University where he also received his MS and BS in 2007, 2002 and 2000 respectively. In 2002, he was a member of technical staff in the Ultra-Wide Band Wireless Group at Intel Labs. He was an international scholar in the Wireless Systems Group at IMEC, Belgium in 2003. He has worked on ASIC chip design at Marconi Communications (1999) and Gigabit Ethernet at Apple Computer Inc. (2000). Rahul received the 2012 Intel Early Faculty Career Award and was selected by the National Academy of Engineering for the 2012 US Frontiers of Engineering.

Travis Peyton–Week-8 Guest Speaker

Our speaker next week has much experience “in the trenches” dealing with networked sensors in the service of increasing building efficiency.  Here’s his bio from LinkedIn.

As the Owner of a consulting MEP/FP engineering firm and also an Energy Efficiency focused firm I spend my time solving design problems as well as operational problems. The dirty truth of buildings is that they are far more complex to build and manage than most people realize. My 20 years of experience allows me to help people untangle the complexity. My objective is to figure out a way to simplify how people build and run building energy systems.
Specialties:

• HVAC Engineering
• Energy Efficiency
• LEED Certifications
• Energy Star Certifications
• Computational Fluid Dynamics

Drexel Degrees

• BSAE
• BSCE (structural)
• MSCE (special topic - CFD)
• MSEngmt

www.hpegroup.com

Week-7 Class Structure

• Part-1 – Talk by Dr. Song on Relational Databases

• Part-2 – Databases – Some More Practical Material

Another View on the Social Implications of Technology

Here’s the beginning of an article from Tech Crunch arguing that we are going to see employment implications of technology.

Get Ready To Lose Your Job

Jon Evans

Saturday, February 16th, 2013

163 Comments

“Technological revolutions happen in two main phases: the installation phase and the deployment phase,” observes Angel of the Year and new Andreessen Horowitz GP Chris Dixon, who says that the turning point between those phases for the Age of Information is…now.

Meanwhile, “profits have surged as a share of national income, while wages and other labor compensation are down,” notes Paul Krugman. Walter Russell Mead agrees: “The old industrial middle class…has been hollowed out, and no comparable source of stable high income employment has emerged.” Recent data supports that: “Incomes rose more than 11 percent for the top 1 percent of (American) earners during the economic recovery, but barely at all for everybody else … Median household income is about 9 percent lower than it was in 1999.”

Coincidence? Nope. The great tech revolution of the last 30 years is finally beginning to metastasize into every other human domain–in other words, software is eating the world, endangering almost every job there is. I argued a few weeks ago that this means America has now hit peak jobs. Let me now unpack that a bit.

The Advance of AI & Neural Networks

Here’s an article from Wired today

How Google Retooled Android With Help From Your Brain

By Robert McMillan

02.18.13

6:30 AM

A picture of the human voice, courtesy the AndroSpectro app. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

When Google built the latest version of its Android mobile operating system, the web giant made some big changes to the way the OS interprets your voice commands. It installed a voice recognition system based on what’s called a neural network — a computerized learning system that behaves much like the human brain.

For many users, says Vincent Vanhoucke, a Google research scientist who helped steer the effort, the results were dramatic. “It kind of came as a surprise that we could do so much better by just changing the model,” he says.

Downloading Revit Families

Question

Do you know where can i get high quality free Revit MEP family? Please give me some suggestion. Thanks for your time.

Response

• Autodesk provides its “Seek” site to download families.
• You can find many others with this Google Search.

Once you’ve downloaded the file you need to “load” them into your project. To do that one way is:

• Choose “Component” in the Architecture menu (it’s the icon in the upper right in the image below

Then choose “load” in the “Type Properties” dialog box that opens”

Week-6 Blog Posts–Grading Comments

The level of posts this week was high, making them generally a pleasure to read.  Thanks.  Here are some specific comments.

• Object Oriented Databases (OODBS) was the toughest category this week.  Wkipedia has a pretty good description of them.  What makes them unique and important is probably best understood in the section of that article headed ODBMS Characteristics and also in the section Comparison with RDBMSs
• Several of you came ups with interesting applications of DBs including one for integrating Geotech data from multiple firms (this should sound quite similar to COBie)
• Several of you forgot to turn in the URL to BbLearn.  I found them and gave only a 5-point deduction, but make no promises to do so in future.
• Many of you only cited one other student’s work.  I was lenient this week because of the generally high quality, but will not be so lenient in future.

CAT-061–Meeting Place on Tuesday 2/19 for Dr. Song’s Talk

As I announced in class, we’ll be meeting this week in a regular lecture hall, CAT-061, for our guest lecture by Dr. Il-Yeol Song.

Here’s a brief excerpt from Dr. Song’s biography.

Il-Yeol Song is a professor in the College of Information Science and Technology at Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA. He is also an affiliated professor of Computer Science Division of KAIST, Korea . He has been on the faculty since 1988, achieving Full Professor rank in 2000. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from Louisiana State University in 1984 and 1988, respectively. His research focuses on the practical application of modeling & design theory to real-world problems.

His current research areas include conceptual modeling, design & performance optimization of data warehouses, OLAP, CRM, object-oriented analysis & design with UML, modeling & integration of medical & bioinformatic database, and digital forensics. He has won four teaching awards from Drexel University: Exemplary Teaching Awardin 1992, Senior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award in 2000, the 2001 Christian R. and Mary Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award in 2001, and Outstanding Instructor Award in 2011.

Database Assignment–Document Requirement

Question:

“I was confused by the grading rubric.

For the first week it says to submit a document along with the database but on the assignment page it just says to turn in a document for week 8.

Do you want a document for both weeks or just week 8?”

 

Response:

Thanks for catching the error.  Only one document with the Week-8 assignment is required.

Databases–Starting–Class Exercises

Here are the links we’ll use in class tonight.

• Presentation – Outline of exercises
• Spreadsheet – In-Class work on exercises

Blog as Term Project Documentation

Question:

“I was wondering for the writing component of my term project if I could create a blog which outlines different stages of my BIM project development. I think this would be the best way for me to show the different stages of project development.”

 

Response:

Yes. You may do so. It should be interesting.

The last entry should be summative, looking over the whole experience and citing any relevant sources all in one place.

B4–Blog Posts on Term Projects

I was very impressed with the quality overall of this week’s blog posts.  In many cases I learned more about your term projects from the posts than I did from reading the outlines.

Intelligent Building Definition

A number of you commented on the confusing array of definitions of an “Intelligent Building” in the literature and industry more generally.  While I have no problem with your disputing what follows I suggest that you consider how I defined it during the first week of class.

¨Intelligence requires the use of adaptive computer technology.

¨“Intelligence” may exist in any system or phase of the building process.

¨We may thus talk of

• Intelligent Building Industry
• Intelligent Building Design
• Intelligent Building Construction (including renovation)
• Intelligent Building Operation
• We may also subdivide by systems – structure, HVAC etc.”

 

Sensors

A number of you are working with sensors in one manner or another. 

• I suggest, as I did in class, that it’s important to distinguish between the sensors and the software/hardware that makes use of the sensor data. 
• It is particularly useful to understand what the sensor is actually measuring (e.g. change in resistance for a strain gauge) to understand its properties and limitations.

 

Sources

Even when describing your term projects there are almost certainly outside sources that you have (or will) investigated that are relevant to your project.  It’s important to identify them.

A1 Grading–Revit–Comments

Here are my comments on the Revit assignment, A1.

• Overall people did a good job. 
• Some were cautious and only undertook the “novice” assignment even though they’ve worked on the same assignment before.  I’d say they didn’t get the full benefit of the effort.
• A number were quite short and sloppy in the writing - a

 

Difference between Revit and AutoCad

I commented to several students undertaking the “novice” version of the assignment:

I'm not sure that you fully understand the difference between Autocad. a drafting program that fundamentally just makes lines, and Revit, a program that truly models the building as an object that has properties that one can work with (e.g. engineering analysis, schedules, etc).

OR

It's not clear to me that you comprehend how fundamentally different the two programs are.  Revit creates a model that can stand in for the real building in simulations.  Autocad is just a creator of drawings, with no "knowledge" of the object it's creating.

Creating the Bookcase Family

• Many of you appropriately noted the differences in the tutorial instructions from today’s reality.  Authodesk should have done better.
• Understanding the importance of the reference planes (they’re normally used for defining dimension parameters) was a key learning issue for most of you.

P2 - Project Outlines–Grading Comments

I was glad to see that most of you have put serious thought into your projects.  What follows are some comments that I made to individuals that may be relevant to many of you.

Research and Citations

Almost all of your projects are ones that others have attempted/addressed in some manner.  Be sure to perform a reasonable literature search so that you can cite their experience and then compare it to your own.  I suggest that you use, as a minimum:

• Google Search – the obvious starting point for most people
• Google Scholar – it searches the scholarly literature, including patents

 

BIM Projects for Senior Design

Several of you are undertaking projects that enhance your senior design project.  It’s extremely important to be clear how what you’re doing goes beyond what you would have done for Senior Design normally.  By doing so you will be able to compare the results of using these techniques to what you would have achieved without them.

I’d note that these days AE students are using Revit by default in Senior Design.  It’s no longer sufficient to compare a Revit model to what you would have produced with a 2D Autocad or similar program.

 

INTELLIGENT vs. GREEN

Comparing Intelligent Buildings to Green buildings is worthwhile.  It’s important, though, to be sure that you fully explain what you mean by “intelligent” and how it’s used.  One of the best, but not required, ways is to focus on a particular building example and perform the necessary calculations/simulations in order to have meaningful results.

 

BEWARE VAGUE GENERALITIES

As I said in class, I’m looking for projects that use the engineering tools that you’ve learned in your university education.  If the document could equally well have been written by a high school senior after reading a Wikipedia article it won’t do well.  This means thinking critically about the components, operating criteria, realistic costs, boundary conditions, energy requirements etc.

Often a good way to ensure you’ve worked at the necessary level is to apply your general thesis to a particular example, performing necessary calculations and simulations to draw conclusions.

Use of Sensors and Computer Models –A Bridge Application

Matthew Yarnold of our department is defending his PhD thesis this morning (2/6/2013) at 10:00 in Hill Conference room,  There’s reason to believe that the techniques described here might be extended to buildings, though undoubtedly in a more complex manner because the structure isn’t exposed to the elements as is the case for bridges.

TEMPERATURE-BASED STRUCTURAL IDENTIFICATION AND HEALTH MONITORING FOR LONG-SPAN BRIDGES

Temperature-based methods for the structural evaluation and monitoring of long-span bridges were investigated. The motivation for the work stemmed from the critical need for further assessment and preservation techniques for long-span bridges, which represent the most critical (and in many cases irreplaceable) nodes within the transportation network. Through this work, several methods were developed which utilize temperature as the forcing function to experimentally characterize the structure. This approach is novel and represents a potential improvement over current methods (e.g. ambient vibration monitoring) which do not allow the full transfer function of the bridge to be obtained.

In particular, this research developed and investigated three temperature-based evaluation methods. The first, termed Temperature-Based Structural Identification (TBSI), follows from the traditional structural identification framework. This approach is used for direct correlation of the input (temperature) and output responses (strains and displacements) for finite element (FE) model calibration and parameter identification. The second method, termed Temperature-Based Structural Health Monitoring (TBSHM), utilizes a streamlined approach to continually track and identify variations in key temperature-based response patterns. An interpretation framework using changes in these patterns to guide proactive maintenance and preservation practices was also developed. The last method, termed Periodic Temperature-Based Assessment (PTBA), aims to directly (i.e. without the use of an FE model or baseline information) characterize the performance of key mechanisms of a bridge by measuring physically meaningful and easily interpreted response metrics.

The research concluded temperature-based experimentation provides valuable insight into the performance of long-span bridges. TBSI exhibits accurate and reliable identification of FE model boundary and continuity conditions with clear advantages over ambient vibration model updating. The use of TBSHM has also indicated encouraging contributions to conventional SHM approaches. A distinct baseline was identified as the relationship between local strains, global displacements, and temperature variation which produces unique planes in 3D space. These 3D planes have greater sensitivity to parameter modification when compared to ambient vibration methods and show promise for identification of outliers. Additionally, quantitative performance measures were developed for PTBA of long-span bridges. This approach can improve current evaluate methods of movement mechanisms and assess long-term durability of a structure. Overall, TBSI, TBSHM, and PTBA have shown substantial benefits for advancing our understanding of constructed long-span bridge behavior.

Greener via Sensors, Networking and Algorithms

“Novel Designs Are Taking Wind Power to the Next Level

“New technology, including better control algorithms and communications, is improving the performance of wind turbines.

“Superficially, wind turbines haven’t changed much for decades. But they’ve gotten much smarter, and considerably bigger, and that’s helped increase the amount of electricity they can generate and lower the cost of wind power.

“GE’s new 2.5-120 wind turbine, announced last week, is a case in point. Its maximum power output, 2.5 megawatts, is lower than that of the 2.85 megawatt turbine it’s superseding. But over the course of a year it can generate 15 percent more kilowatt hours. Arrays of sensors paired with better algorithms for operating and monitoring the turbine let it keep spinning when earlier generations of wind turbines would have had to shut down.”

This article form MIT”s – Technology review gives an overview.

Week-5 Class Outline

We’ll use this outline for the class tonight.

• Part-1 – Projects
• Part-2 – Data Representation and IFC
• Part-3 – BIM Wrapus

An Example of Green/Intelligent Tools in Use

Liam Hendricken, an AE graduate and now PhD student at Drexel, sent me the following link to the results of a competition in which simulation and analysis of designs was critical in the judging.  I’d expect that you’ll see more and more of this kind of evaluation of designs in future, with the analysis made possible by increasingly capable BIM software.

Design Optimisation Competition

The purpose of the Design Optimisation Competition was to promote awareness of a new breed of optimisation tools which can help with decision making at any stage of the design process. These tools provide powerful techniques for identifying optimal designs that meet potentially conflicting design requirements such as minimising environmental impact while also minimising development costs and at the same time satisfying constraints such as providing minimum levels of occupant comfort and daylighting.

The competition is organsed by the ADOPT research group:

More details on the competition, how it was organised, the rules etc can be found further down the page, but first here are the results.

Huw Roberts’ Presentation

Mr. Roberts sent me the link below to his presentation.

Click below to view this presentation:

If you can't view the image above, copy and paste this URL into your browser:
https://www.slideshark.com/Landing.aspx?pi=zGgzu7DwDz85Ksz0&re=1&r=aHV3LnJvYmVydHNAYmVudGxleS5jb20=&intk=562381874

3D Manufacturing + Robotics

Here’s an article from Kurzweilai.net that describes a new patent from iRobot to combine 3D manufacturing and robotics.

Huw Robert–Speaker 1/29/2013

Our speaker tonight, Mr. Huw Roberts, has been involved in all aspects of the built environment for many years.  In fact he and I worked together for a short time in my pre-Drexel life.

Here’s what his Linked-In Bio says:

Currently Bentley’s VP Marketing for our ‘Core’ products and offerings which span the markets we serve. Bentley is the global leader dedicated to providing architects, engineers, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. Bentley’s mission is to empower its users to leverage information modeling through integrated projects for high-performing intelligent infrastructure. Founded in 1984, Bentley has grown to 3,000 colleagues in 50 countries and over $520 million in annual revenues.

My responsibilities include the marketing of Bentley's flagship MicroStation information modeling environment and ProjectWise family of servers and services for collaboration and work sharing - as well as Bentley Navigator for dynamic feedback and review - our world leading Structural design, analysis & documentation product families, including RAM, STAAD, AutoPIPE, ProStructures, & SACS - products and services for Building Design, Construction and Operations, including our new AECOsim family of products, and our unrivaled SELECT subscription programs.

AI–Long Range Possibilities

For those interested in the longer range issues of Artificial Intelligence you’ll find there are greatly different views held by knowledgeable observers.  At one pole is Ray Kurzweil, recently hired by Google as it’s new “Director of Engineering.”   He believes in the “singularity” and in infinite life for humans.  He has a long history of producing extraordinary devices.

Here’s a short excerpt from an article from  about those who have doubts about Kurzweil’s vision.

“After writing about Ray Kurzweil’s ambitious plan to create a super-intelligent personal assistant in his new job at Google (see “Ray Kurzweil Plans to Create a Mind at Google—and Have it Serve You”), I sent a note to Boris Katz, a researcher in MIT’s Computer Scientist and Artificial Intelligence Lab who’s spent decades trying to give machines the ability to parse the information conveyed through language, to ask him what he makes of the endeavor.

Here’s what Katz has to say about Kurzweil’s new project:

“I certainly agree with Ray that understanding intelligence is a very important project, but I don’t believe that at this point we know enough about how the brain works to be able to build the kind of understanding he says he is interested in into a product.”

Useful BIM Sources

Here are several resources that may be useful when thinking about BIM.  I’d note that the major vendors (Autodesk, Bentley, Graphisoft and others) all host active discussion forums and also extensive resources about their software.

AIA Technology in Architectural Practice Knowledge Community

• They sponsor events and webinars and publish documents.

AECbytes Newsletter

• A one-person newsletter by a Lachmi Khemlani.  She has “a Ph.D. in Architecture from UC Berkeley, specializing in intelligent building modeling.”  I’ve found her articles to be thoughtful and detailed.  Some are available without pay on her site.

Cadalyst – Magazine

• They tend to have broader coverage than AECbytes, ranging in quality, but pretty worthwhile overall from my (spotty) experience.

Green and Intelligent Building

Here’s an article about a building in which the desigers attempt to renovate using both green and intelligent technology.  It might provide some leads for those of you working on this topic for your term project.

“Fraunhofer’s new Boston headquarters will be a deep energy retrofit able to measure the performance of the latest building technologies.

“A 100-year-old building will soon become a proving ground for cutting-edge building technologies.”

Databases–Relational vs. “NoSQL”

In a couple of weeks we’ll be looking at relational databases using the SQL language as the method of interacting with the database, pretty much the standard for small to big business at the moment.  In the last few years several very big internet companies have developed NoSQL alternatives that are faster with monster amounts of data.  This article, an interview with a partisan, gives you some idea of the issues. 

Note that MySQL was purchased by Oracle so the MariaDB mentioned is an effort to keep an opensource large-scale relational database available.

“Big Data may be the poster child for NoSQL databases and date warehouses, but one industry veteran isn't giving up on SQL databases for Big Data just yet.

As most IT watchers know, Big Data is perceived as so large that it's difficult to process using relational databases and software techniques. Of course, the relational model and SQL dominate today's database landscape. But on the other side there are databases built without relations, made for higher scalability. We asked the expert in the database area, Monty Widenius, about the current and future state of SQL, NoSQL and Big Data. As the author of the original version of the open-source MySQL database, and one of the founders of the community-developed branch of the MySQL database, MariaDB, his take on Big Data bucks the conventional wisdom that large-scale data must abandon SQL databases.”

Sociology of Robotics

Here’s an article by John Markoff  from the New York Times this week about the fear that robots will affect jobs. 

It cites a recent book “Race Against the Machine,” by McAfee and Brynjolfsson of MIT. “They argue that the pace of automation is accelerating and that robotics is pushing into new areas of the work force like white-collar jobs that were previously believed to be beyond the scope of computers.”

The bulk of the article is about the robotics Tradeshow currently under way in which, of course, this view was vehemently disputed.

Term Project Topics & Teams/Individuals

Below are the topics that you submitted for P1, with the team members listed at the end.  It’s an interesting list.  I’m looking forward to seeing the results.

• In most cases I made essentially the same observation about the project, that it was a good idea, but it would almost certainly be necessary to narrow the topic in order to have any real substance for the project
• In several cases students wanted to do projects that seemed much more focused on “green” than on “intelligent”.  I urged them to be very clear how it was “intelligent”.

 

#1 - integration of Revit and a structural analysis program - Krall

#2 - Intelligent and/or Green - Carpenter, Gulbenkian

#3 - Robotics in Construction - Gonzalez, Cifligu, Gonzalez

#4 – Sensors as a progressive way of building interaction with its surroundings  - Lancellotti, Martines, Pauliushchyk

#5 – Socio economic impact of the future use of robotics in construction - Meraz

#6 - How do sensors availability can affect energy consumption in HVAC systems in buildings? - Ben-David, Morrison

#7 - BIM Model of Elementary School of the Future - Houde

#8 - Revit project - Wang, Li

#9 - Philadelphia Row Home Efficiency Renovations (Green Vs. Intelligent) - Scanlon

#10 - Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis - EPA SWMM Comparison - Alvarado Bastidas

#11 – Sensor databases in a Building Management System - James

#12 - Equipment for energy efficiency of residences - Barry, Patel, Sawin

#13 - Green vs. Intelligent Buildings - Mantua SD - Butler, Haddad, Ng

#14 - Robotics in Construction - Hindes

#15 - Green Roofs - Bregande

#16 - Green Roofs - Vazquez

Week-3 Blog Grading Comments

Reading your posts this week was enjoyable and informative.  Almost all of you were thoughtful and appropriately incorporated (and learned from, I believe) the work of your classmates.

As might be expected there were several themes that stood out to this reader:

• The issue of interoperability is clearly one that is far from solved – and is important
• The interaction between all the stakeholders in the building process is increasing and coming earlier in the design process thanks to the tool.
• Question:  Are there stakeholders not yet regularly included?  Code Officials; Users; Maintenance People; Tenants; Fire Safety; Insurance?
• The use of BIM is now concentrated in the design and construction phase, but will probably have major benefits throughout the life of a building.
• Cost, capitalization, investment and other financial measures are extremely important.
• Legal issues haven’t yet become prominent, but may well in future.
• There was only one indirect comment on the age of this edition of BIM Handbook.  Six years is a long time in the BIM world.  Some of what was appropriate in 2007 is no longer true in 2013.

 

Grading Mechanics

• Three of you still did not submit to BbLearn and thus lost 5 points this time (I searched them out despite my threat not to do so).
• Don’t forget to cite your sources, including the assigned book.
• A few people were either rushed or careless and lost points on grammar and/or length.

Commenting on Other People’s Blog Posts

Question

“Do you want us to comment in our own about someone's else or as an actual comment on theirs?
I'm a little concern because yesterday when I did my blog at night only 3 people had submitted a post and non where of my group.
Please if you could clear this I would appreciate it.”

 

Response

What matters is that I have some evidence that you’ve looked at other people’s posts and thought about what they said.  Any of the following would do:

• Incorporate comments in your own blog – e.g. does someone else’s complement or contradict what you say.
• Add comments on their posts.  If you do this please say that you’ve done so in what you submit to BbLearn and include the URL of those posts.
• Come back to the blog nearer class time and write another post of your own commenting on what you’ve read of other’s work.  Be sure to add this URL to your BbLearn submission if you do so.

Class Follow-Up–Some recent articles

 

3D Building Planned

Here’s an article claiming that a first 3D-printed building will be put up in 2014.  It uses the solidified-sand technique we saw in class.  How practicle does it look to you, and why does he need that technique.

 

Thanks to Rita Pauliushchyk’s blog post here’s a company with a competing concrete technology.  Which look’s more promising to you?

 

Driverless Cars

This article from Rocky Mountain Institute discusses the variety of approaches to driverless cars currently being considered.  How many of these do you think would be applicable at a construction site?

Different Sensors

Here’s an article claiming that a “metamaterial” can fucntion as a camera – working at microwave frequencies.  It might help with collision avoidance.

And here’s an article on the sociological vector asking what will be the effect of all these sensors?

Robotics

Here’s an article about a possible early-adopter of the Baxter technology of readily-trained, safe robotics.

Eric Kuszewski–Speaker Week-3 1/22/2013

As we turn to the topic of BIM I’ve invited our first guest speaker for the first part of the class.  As his brief bio below indicates, he’s done most things that you might imagine related to BIM, with emphasis on Revit.

Eric Kuszewski joined KlingStubbins in 2008 after working for several years with an Autodesk reseller.  In this capacity he was responsible for implementation, training, and consulting services for architecture and MEP engineering firms utilizing AutoCAD Architecture, AutoCAD MEP, Revit Architecture, and Revit MEP. Prior to that he worked in HVAC design for a large A/E firm. In his current role, he is spearheading Building Information Modeling (BIM) efforts in architecture and MEP and structural engineering using Autodesk Revit.

First Graded Blog Post–Observations

Mechanics and Grading Issues

• I’ve set up BbLearn to drop the lowest graded post in calculating the term GPA so if you had a problem on this first post you should be OK for the rest of the term.
• Not everyone turned in the URL to BbLearn – I found only 15 to grade.  I searched in the blog for the others this week and deducted 3 points from each.  In future I will not search.  BE SURE TO SUBMIT TO BbLearn.
• Source Quality – Many of you used general web sources.  I reserved “High Quality'” for those that in some way addressed the technical literature in at least one source.
• For those of you who lost points on commenting on other posts I’d note that it’s important to make your efforts visible to the grader (me) when reading your post.  If you have used the “comment” capability of the blog please mention in you post the other posts (link them) where you have made comments so I can give you credit.  It’s also OK to look at the work of people in other groups – you may find some interesting cross-links even though their topic was different.
• Labels – Please be sure to include at least your group,name labels and week-due labels.  I didn’t deduct points this week, but will in future if they’re not included.

Content Comments

• Overall these were an interesting group of posts that I hope you enjoyed reading as I did.  I learned of several new developments that intrigued me and was pleased to see you all contemplating the many implications of this information technology.
• Sensors – As I attempted to say in class, it’s worth differentiating the sensor from the device it’s in.  As an example, I’d argue that the Nest thermostat is a “system” and that the sensors in it are what should be considered when addressing the topic “sensors”.  This logic is true generally.
• Hardware – A number of you took the attitude that the advances in hardware aren’t going to be very important, that they’re only background subjects.  I’d argue that hardware and software go hand-in-hand, with advances in hardware making possible software efforts that weren’t possible previously.
• Analysis – Most of those addressing this topic dealt with the results of analysis.  I’d argue that it’s also important to think about what analysis methods (e.g. Finite Element Analysis or neural network modeling) will be enhanced and perhaps changed in the future.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

 

We’re used to computers performing complex tasks.  Most of what we’re used to depends on the designers of the computer program having anticipated every possibility and defining precise ways for the device to perform.  The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), addresses the extension of these concepts to systems in which we cannot predict every situation that will be encountered.  A robot or autonomous vehicle would be a good example of such a system.

Wikipedia has a good introduction and overview of the field that is relatively up-to-date in this rapidly changing area.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines and robots and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents"^[1] where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success.^[2] John McCarthy, who coined the term in 1956,^[3] defines it as "the science and engineering of making intelligent machines."^[4]

A much more extensive discussion can be found in the article “What is Artificial Intelligence” by  the inventor of the term “Artificial Intelligence” John McCarthy - 2007

In the short time that we can spend in this class we’re not going to become truly knowledgeable about AI, but we can give some basic structure and address several of the major uses.  Hopefully the applicability to the Intelligent building concept will be plausible.

An Introduction to AI – KQED at Stamford 2008 – 10:10min

The headings that Wikipedia uses for the topic are:

• Deduction, reasoning, problem solving
• Knowledge representation
• Planning
• Learning
• Natural language processing
• Motion and manipulation
• Perception
• Social intelligence
• Creativity
• General intelligence
  

Major Sub Areas

• Expert Systems – Interview with one of the originators – Edward Feigenbaum – 16:30min
• Neural Networks – Intro by a student giving an overview – 2009 – 7:49min

Current State of the Art

• Scientists See Promise in Deep-Learning Programs – NYT – 11/23/2012 – (you may need to access through the library)
• Where Artificial Intelligence Went Wrong - Critique of AI – Noam Chomsky 11/1/2012
• A Look Back at Predictive Assistants and Lurching Giants – Tom Simonite 12/25/2012 – MIT Technology review –What happened in 2012 to advance usability using AI concepts.

Predictions for the Future

• Sentient machines: the next step in human evolution – Dick Pelletier 1/8/2013 – brief look at current projects working towards that end.
• Better Than Human: Why Robots Will — And Must — Take Our Jobs – Kevin Kelly 12/24/2012 – Wired.com – A very optimistic view of what will happen as AI/Robots develop.

Contemporary Manufacturing

 

Most of the components in a building are manufactured in an off-site plant.  The impact of the information technology that makes possible the Intelligent Building concept is probably felt in those plants first. This post provides some illustrations of contemporary techniques, some of which may well extend to the on-site construction of a building or into  its later operation, particularly as BIM model use extends to manufacturing and assembly.

There is clearly a considerable overlap between what we see here and the topics of robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

Numerically Controlled Machines

These machines are not generally adaptive and require extensive planning to make the parts, but they are nonetheless important.

• Making a V8 Engine Block – 10:58 min 2007 – What’s important here is that it’s working with steel.  Some of the newer techniques below don’t (yet) have that ability.
• Step-NC Machining – 8:38min 2008 – While this is aimed at the automotive industry, it’s plausible to extrapolate that a similar approach can be used within the construction industry, either for parts or for on-site construction.

3D Printing – The Hot Topic

• The 3D Printing Revolution – 2012 - 6:11min – An overview looking towards the future of personal printing.  It’s somewhat simplistic, but nonetheless gives a good overview of that level.
• The Future of 3D Printing – 2012 CES – 17:43min – This shows two CEO’s from companies making 3D printers for the consumer market, talking about and displaying their products,
• Cubex 3D Printer – 2013 CES – 1:14min – Shows what has developed in a year for the desktop printer market.
• EOS 3D Printer 2012 – 2:08 min - The two prior videos use only plastics.  This machine uses sintered metal to produce its parts.
• Discovery Channel Covers DShape 3D Printing – 6m x 6m – 6:03 concrete printer – it solidifies sand to make a special form of concrete.
• Printing Titanium bicycle parts – 2012 – 4:07 – Highly complex shape in titanium.  There’s actually a totally (almost) 3d-Fabricated bike (2011)

Updated Groups

I’ve updated the groups in both the blog and BbLearn to reflect the current class membership.  If you started with another group and wish to stay with it, feel free to do so – just let me know.

Robotics–Preparation for Class Discussion–videos & Articles

We’re going to consider Robotics as a technology will affect our discussion of Intelligent Buildings.  Currently there are few (though some) direct applications of robots in buildings.  I would argue that there will be increasing use in the future.

Below are some videos (indicated by timing) and articles that should provide a background.

Academic Approach

• The article in AccessScience is a good overview of the field of robotics, though the articles used as sources are mostly from the 1990’s. I’d welcome a more current
• Wkipedia has a good overview as well that is much more current and has images.
• They both agree that the elements one must address in robotics are:
  • Components
    • Power source
    • Sensing
    • Manipulation
    • Locomotion
    • Environmental Interaction and navigation
    • Human-robot interaction
    • Control

Examples

Motion

• Google Autonomous car – Blind person using it - 3min
  • 2005 – Darpa Challenge – Shows has fast we’ve advanced – 11min
• LS3 Marine Corps Pack robot – Will carry 400 lb payload – 4:04 min
• Wave-Powered boat – 4:59min
• Autonomous Indoor Plane -  In a parking garage – 2:48
• Hobbyist Quadrocopter as video platform – from CES 2013

Industrial

• Six-Axis Robot – 2.25min
• Kia Sportage Factory Production Line – 1.75min
• Baxter – 2012 –Rethink Robotics – Safer industrial robot 4:15

Education

• Robots in Korean Elementary School Classroom – 51sec – 2009

Construction

• Precision Layout Robot – Only a design, but… – 1:05m
• Robotic Steel Beam Assembly – In factory, not on site, but…. – 9:40
• Concrete Floor Finishing – prototype in 2009 – 1:39

Analysis

• Better Than Human: Why Robots Will — And Must — Take Our Jobs – Very positive article about the effects of robots – Kevin Kelly
• Review of: Robot Ethics: The Ethical and Social Implications of Robotics – Gives a sense of the issues.

Class Survey Results

Here’s the promised summary of the class survey showing who you are, your experience and your interests.

Status

Concentration

BIM & Database Experience

Why You’re Taking the Course

Your Comments – Only two

I would have also picked the option that "Intelligent Building" sparks my curiosity
I need the professional elective but also taking the course because I thought it would be interesting.

During my first and second Co-op I worked for a company that dealt heavily with corporate energy management.  This lead to work with automated building systems and different controls used to help manage energy.  I found this very interesting and relevant to today's society.

Blog Entries for Week-2 – How To Approach Them

As you’ll have discovered by looking at the description for Week-2, your topic is to look into the future and address what you expect to find, with each group assigned a different technical area.  I suggest that you keep at least the following in mind when performing your research and preparing your blog post.

• Define what you mean by “future” – I suggest 3-10 years, but will accept other periods if you are clear in your definition.
• Be explicit in what implications you think that future will have for the building industry.
• Be sure to include your sources so others can follow what you’ve found.
• Indicate your evaluation of the credibility of the source(s) and thus the prediction.
• BTW – I’m perhaps in a minority in finding Wikipedia often a good starting point for explorations of this sort.  The credibility of the articles there varies greatly, but often they’re quite plausible.

 

Flight Assembled Architecture/Architectures volantes

I’ll show in class the 2012 video of quadrocopter assembly of a structure.  The image below is linked to the video.

Here are some (of many) questions to ask about this video

• Does this video have any relevance to “Intelligent Buildings”
• If not – why not?
• If so – what relationship does it have?

Following up on this project to understand it in full detail might be a worthwhile term project for someone.

• If you’re ambitious you might try to replicate some aspect of it as a team project.

Blog Use and Tools

In AE-510 this year we’re going to make extensive use of blogs.  I’ll demonstrate their use in class so this post will serve as notes to which you can later refer.

Entering blog Posts

If you’re working with a blog created by someone else (as in this course), entering a blog post is essentially just a matter of typing in a heading and then the text of the post as in any word processor.  I will make you all co-editors of the blog once I have your gmail addresses from the survey.

The only thing that I request/require for this course is that you make extensive use of “Labels” (sometimes called “tags”).  That way it’s easy to find all the posts on a given topic, by a given person or a in a given week.  I’ll be searching for your work using those labels, which I’ve established already – you can see them in the upper right of the blog screen.  For each required post in the blog please apply at least the following labels:

• Week ### of the term
• Your Last Name
• The general topic of your post
• Any other labels you think are descriptive, including ones that you create yourself.

 

How you can enter blog Posts

The most straightforward way is directly in your web browser for the blog. You can do this from any computer or mobile device that has web access. 

• I suggest that you create your post in a word processor and then paste it in to the text format
  • Remember to apply the labels.

 

Following Blog Posts

The easiest way to keep up on what’s been posted in a blog is to use a “Blog Reader”, a tool devoted to providing you with the latest posts in whatever blog interests you.  The most common, and very easy to use is Google Reader.  There are many others for different devices.  I use gReader on my andorid phone and Feedler on my iPad.

 

Creating your Own Blog

If you decide to create your own blog you can do so directly on the web (Google’s Blogger is my choice, but there are many others). 

If you’re going to write many posts there are dedicated programs/apps that can ease the experience.  I use Microsoft’s “Live Writer”.  it’s a part of Windows Live Essentials.  There’s a mac version as well.

Class Survey

In our first class I’m going to ask you to complete a survey about your experience and interests.  You’re welcome to complete it beforehand.

I’ll share the results in class and probably via blog post here.

Welcome to AE-510

We'll use this blog to post announcements and answer questions that are raised throughout this term related to AE-510.  We advise you to subscribe to it via an RSS reader such as Google Reader.  That way you won't have to go into BbLearn to see any changes.  There are many many blogs available on interesting topics.  A good place to search for others that may interest you is Technorati.

We’ll be using blogs quite a lot in AE-510 this term.  You’ll be posting to the Student Blog.  In the BbLearn instructions you’ll find specific requirements.

• Notes on weekly readings
• Progress on your term project
• Results of in-class exercises