Other Engineering Commons^™

Interpreting Multi-Stage Teaching And Learning Initiatives For Mechanical Engineering Students - A Knowledge Management Perspective For Students, Kevin Delaney, Ger Nagle, Mingzhu Chen

Conference papers

Encouraging students to “think differently”, to “think like an engineer”, to “just solve the problem” is challenging and depends upon many factors such as the prior learning and experiences of the particular students involved. Sometimes it is difficult to convince students to really engage with activities outside their own comfort zones if they cannot see the potential benefits that might accrue through such engagement.

This paper describes a paradigm, inspired by knowledge management, which the authors have used to explain the importance of engaging with teaching and learning activities to undergraduate students. More importantly it helps these students to understand …

Arise (Certcoin)- Inspiring Demand For Sustainable Energy Skills, Barry Mcauley, Paul Mccormack, Andrew Hamilton, Eduardo Rebelo

Conference papers

The European AEC Sector now faces impending challenges over the next decade concerning escalating climate targets. To reach these targets, it vital that the green economy deliver a better-skilled workforce and develops new competencies and methods of working. Training in the domain of digital construction technologies and processes, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), are now seen as essential upskilling vehicles that must be embraced if the sector is to transition towards a greener agenda. To assist in meeting these training needs a selection of partners from the BIM EPA will partake in the Horizon 2020 ARISE project, aiming to …

An Exploration Of Lean And Bim Synergies With A Focus On Smes In Construction, Barry Mcauley, Marina Andreou, Alan V. Hore, Avril Behan

Conference papers

Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) account for 99.7% of the Irish Construction Industry and contribute to 68% of all employment in the sector. These organisations now find themselves facing the challenge of returning to productive business post the Covid 19 shutdown. More than ever, SMEs must modernise and adapt their business models to embrace new ways of working, such as Lean Construction and Building Information Modelling (BIM), in the absence of clear business incentives. It has proved difficult to persuade SMEs to change their ways of working due to limited finances, internal resources and above all, the cultural shift required …

A Proposal To Harmonize Bim And Iot Data Silos Using Blockchain Application, Zulkefly Abu Bakar, Malachy Mathews Dr

Conference papers

The integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Internet of Things (IoT) provide significant end-to-end benefits for the architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AECO) industry. Example applications include on-site assembly services, data localization for built environment, occupancy performance measures and many other analyses that can be used to improve the built environment. However, silos in the BIM and IoT data exchange have impacted the digital process adoption in AECO industry, which aims to change the dynamics and behaviors of the current working process. Penzes, (2018) in his report, acknowledges the AECO industry as one of the most fragmented sectors with …

Digital Construction And Bim Research In Ireland 2016-2020, Barry Mcauley, Roger P. West, Alan V. Hore

Conference papers

As the construction industry opens up post pandemic, new and significant challenges will demand considerable expertise, not least in financial viability, solving the housing crisis and facing the very significant climate change pressures to make the industry less wasteful and less carbon intensive. This presents an excellent opportunity to further inculcate aspects of lean construction, particularly BIM into many aspects of construction not traditionally associated with digital construction, provided the necessary expertise is available and known to exist. Following a well-received recent conference paper summarising BIM-related research published by academics in Ireland’s higher education institutions in 2020, this paper will …

Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In Engineering Education: An Exploration Of European Higher Education Institutions’ Strategic Frameworks, Resources, And Initiatives, I. Direto, Shannon Chance, L. Clemmensen, S. Craps, S.B. Economides, S.R. Isaac, A.M. Jolly, F.R. Truscott, N. Wint

Conference papers

Significant efforts have been made to promote gender equality in higher education (HE) in Europe. Examples include the establishment of the Athena Swan Charter in the UK in 2005 and the 2019 launch of the Irène Curie Fellowship scheme by Eindhoven University of Technology. But which initiatives address broader diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) challenges in HE? And which are specifically focused on engineering education? This exploratory study aims to improve our understanding of the ways in which a set of European HE Institutions engaged in engineering education address DEI at an organisation level, and how this is communicated within …

Gamification Of Icebreaking Activities For Mechanical Engineering Students Embarking On A Problem Based Learning Module, Kevin Delaney, Gerard Nagle, Mingzhu Chen

Conference papers

When they enter the workforce engineering graduates must be able to engage collaboratively with others to find solutions to complex engineering challenges. This involves a great deal more than simply solving technical problems traditionally taught in engineering school. The Mechanical Engineering Discipline in Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) has helped students develop real-world engineering skills through a team based Problem Based Learning (PBL) module since 2005. This module, involving third year students, can be particularly challenging since participants can join the third year of the program from other programs or universities and many will not have known each other prior …

Momentum Towards Incorporating Global Responsibility In Engineering Education And Accreditation In The Uk, Jonathan Truslove, Emma Crichton, Shannon Chance, Katie Cresswell-Maynard

Conference papers

CONTEXT Engineering is uniquely placed to help address global challenges such as those surrounding the climate crisis, and the sustainable use and management of resources. However, studies have found UK engineering companies that have adopted sustainability strategies do not have enough staff with the skills to achieve them. There is an urgent need to upskill the current workforce and prepare future generations to operate in a responsible and ethical manner in tackling today's challenges. Recent updates to the standard of engineering accreditation in the UK provide notable opportunities to transform university curricula to create globally responsible engineers.

PURPOSE This preliminary …

Women Studying Engineering Abroad: Intersectionality And Student Support, Shannon Chance, Bill Williams, Inês Direito

Conference papers

What is it like to study engineering in Ireland when you are female and you come from somewhere far away, in the Middle East, which has different social customs and norms? What is your lived experience? What aspects of the experience are common to Middle Eastern women across your course? As education researchers, we aim to understand the essence of the experience these foreign women have had studying engineering in Ireland-what life has been like for them and what unique challenges they have faced that may be invisible to us as instructors. This article reports preliminary analysis of 13 interviews …

The Irish Construction Industry’S State Of Readiness For A Bim Mandate In 2020, Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger P. West

Conference papers

It was recently announced that a BIM mandate for the Irish public sector is not imminent, suggesting that the sector is not yet ready for what such a mandate implies. Following on from a forward-looking BIM Roadmap for Ireland in 2017 and the publication by the authors of a detailed BIM in Ireland study in 2017 and 2019, what is the actual state of readiness for a more general BIM mandate in Ireland? This paper will review recent publications, seminars and industry initiatives on this topic of interest supported by an online survey to assess the current state of readiness …

Bim Research In Irish Academic Institutions 2015-19, Barry Mcauley, Alan V. Hore, Roger P. West

Conference papers

The use of BIM in the Irish construction industry has become pervasive in the last decade and it is an essential element in improving productivity in the market. The developments in BIM education and training in supporting the increase in Ireland’s BIM maturity has been well documented in recent years, principally through the proceedings of the BIM Gatherings and the BIM in Ireland 2017 and 2019 reviews. Similarly, the public and private sectors have been surveyed to establish their readiness for digital transformation on their BIM journey. However, BIM research undertaken by Irish academics, while individually strong, has not been …

Millimetre-Wave Planar Bruce Array Antenna, Zeeshan Ahmed, Manh Ha Hoang, Patrick Mcevoy, Max Ammann

Conference papers

A tri-band mm-wave planar Bruce array antenna for fifth generation communications (5G) is presented. The 16-element planar Bruce array antenna is simulated and fabricated on Rogers RT/Duroid 5880 substrate with thickness of 0.254 mm. For a compact and simple structure, the antenna has a highly directional fan-beam radiation pattern at broadside and peak realized gain of 14.0 dBi.

Exploring The Curricular Content Of Engineering Ethics Education In Ireland, Diana Adela Martin, Eddie Conlon, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

Our contribution aims to determine the main curricular themes employed in engineering ethics instruction. In the use of the term `curricular content", the study is guided by an understanding of curriculum in terms of the syllabus content of a specific discipline or set of units taught to students. The research study has been conducted in cooperation with the national accrediting body Engineers Ireland and includes 23 Engineering programmes from 6 institutions in Ireland that underwent accreditation between 2017-2019. The research method employed is a documentary analysis of the materials prepared by the programmes for accreditation or made available on the …

Improving The Sustainability Of The Built Environment By Training Its Workforce In More Efficient And Greener Ways Of Designing And Constructing Through The Horizon2020 Bimcert Project, Barry Mcauley, Avril Behan

Conference papers

The construction industry consumes up to 50% of mineral resources excavated from nature, generates about 33% of CO2 present in the atmosphere and is responsible for 40% of total global energy through both construction and operation of buildings. The realisation that current pervasive construction practices now face globalization, sustainability, and environmental concerns, as well as ever-changing legislation requirements and new skills needed for the information age has resulted in technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) becoming a key enabler in navigating these barriers. To assist in overcoming these barriers, a number of funding initiatives have been put in place …

Centres Of Excellence And Roadmaps For Digital Transition: Lessons For Ireland’S Construction Industry, Barry Mcauley, Alan Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

Like most sectors in today’s working world, construction businesses are challenged to work in an increasingly digitised world with sophisticated demands from intelligent clients. So much has been written about the inefficiencies of the construction industry, its fragmentation, lack of collaboration, low margins, adversarial pricing, poor productivity, financial fragility, lack of research and development, poor industry image and relatively weak use of digital solutions. The Irish government recognises the importance of digital innovation to address many of the challenges the construction industry faces. With recent high profile reports of escalating spend on signature public sector projects and weak productivity performance …

Bim In Ireland 2019: A Study Of Bim Maturity And Diffusion In Ireland, Barry Mcauley, Alan Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

In 2017, the BIM Innovation Capability Programme team applied five macro BIM maturity conceptual models to capture the capability of the Irish construction industry and assess its BIM maturity. The results found that while Ireland is mature for modelling processes, it is less developed with regards to collaboration processes and policies. Ireland also ranked poorly when it came to regulatory frameworks, measurements and benchmarks compared to a number of countries which also applied the same conceptual models. At the time, the findings highlighted that Ireland’s diffusion dynamic was middle out, meaning that larger organisations or industry associations were pushing the …

An Investigation Into Current Procurement Strategies That Promote Collaboration Through Early Contractor Involvement With Regards To Their Suitability For Irish Public Work Projects, Barry Mcauley, Frederic Lefebvre

Conference papers

Previous research has established that multi-disciplinary collaboration will benefit a construction project throughout its lifecycle. While Lean Construction, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) can all be viewed as separate processes which add independent value to a project, they are more effective when used in partnership with each other. In order to ensure the high levels of collaboration expected for these processes to work in unison, the early involvement of the Contractor is paramount. Early contractor involvement within the design process can ensure a more focused integrated project team, improvement of both constructability and cost certainty, as …

From Roadmap To Implementation: Lessons For Ireland’S Digital Construction Programme, Barry Mcauley, Alan Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

As part of their Future of Construction initiative in 2018 the World Economic Forum published an action plan to accelerate Building Information Modelling adoption. The WEF report highlighted actions that companies, industry organisations and governments are advised to implement to accelerate BIM adoption and better capitalise on delivering better project outcomes. According the authors of the report BIM is seen as the centrepiece of the construction industry’s digital transformation, however they acknowledged that BIM adoption globally remain slow. Anecdotal experience would suggest that BIM usage in Ireland is also very low and that a similar initiative or an adaptation of …

Delivering Energy Savings For The Supply Chain Through Building Information Modelling As A Result Of The Horizon 2020 Energy Bimcert Project, Barry Mcauley, Avril Behan

Conference papers

The global buildings sector is now responsible for 40% of final energy consumption as well as accounting for 33% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. This has resulted in a growing urgency to address energy and emissions from buildings and construction, to meet restrictive 2020 targets as specified by the European Union (EU). To achieve these targets a number of funding initiatives have been put in place through Horizon 2020 with a focus on BIM, due to it having the potential to rapidly produce energy outputs that enable design teams to analyse and compare the most cost-effective, energy-efficient options. However, despite …

Development Of A Framework To Support The Effective Adoption Of Bim In The Public Sector: Lessons For Ireland, Shiyao Kuang, Alan Hore, Barry Mcauley, Roger West

Conference papers

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been formally adopted by many countries with the promise of creating greater economic, social and sustainability benefits. Several authors and institutions have presented alternative BIM policies and tactics which have been adopted by developed countries. However, there is evidence to indicate that BIM adoption theories are not well established and, in particular, the linkage between BIM public sector adoption strategy outcomes and their contribution to achieving Government policy objectives are underdeveloped. This paper will present the outcome of the first phase of a systematic literature review of published studies (including journal papers and noteworthy international …

The Development Of A Psychometric Test Aimed At Aligning Students To A Range Of Professional Roles, Darren Brian Carthy, Brian Bowe, Kevin Gaughan

Conference papers

Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), working as part of the PREFER project, a European commission funded project, have developed a psychometric test in order to better align engineering students to three distinct professional roles within industry. This paper reports on the development process of the test, which took place between February and August of 2018.

Nádúr Daonna (Natureza Humana): An Intervention To Work With Nature In The Intellectual Development Of First Year Engineering Students, Domhnall Sheridan, Michael Carr

Conference papers

For most of the 20th Century there has been a debate among psychologists, educationalists and others as to whether nature or nurture determined the personality and capabilities of the adult person. Only in the last decade has an answer been found for that perennial question: the adult is the product of both nature and nurture. The genotype, the genetic inheritance from parents provides a template, but the expression of the genotype, the phenotype, depends on the interaction between the individual and their environment. Nothing is written in stone: the young child beginning education has almost infinite possibilities. In order for …

Mens Sana: An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Psychological Traits And Academic Success Of First Year Engineering Students, Domhnall Sheridan, Michael Carr

Conference papers

In 1904, the French government asked the psychologist Alfred Binet to devise a general test of intelligence that could be used to identify pupils who were behind their age cohort, in order to give them extra help to bring their level up to that of their peers. For most of the 20th century, intelligence testing has played a major role in education, unfortunately to categorize pupils at an early stage in the life, rather than to help them. In the last two decades, much work has been done in broadening the testing of students, especially in examining the relationship between …

The Link Between Spatial Skills And Engineering Problem-Solving, Gavin Duffy, Sheryl Sorby, Presentacion Rivera Reyes, Tom Delahunty, Lance Perez, Jayashri Ravishankar

Conference papers

Well-developed 3-D spatial skills are correlated with engineering success. However, most studies examining the link between spatial skills and engineering success have been conducted at the macro level, i.e., the link between spatial skills and course grades or between spatial skills and graduation rates. In this research, a more refined approach has been taken. Relationships between spatial skills and success in solving certain types of problems that engineering students commonly encounter are examined. It was found that high levels of spatial skills predict success in solving certain types of engineering problems but not in all types of problems. Data gathered …

Level 1 Before Level 2 – The Irish Bim Mandate, Robert Moore

Conference papers

Government Contracts Committee for Construction (GCCC) has prepared a position paper titled ‘A Public Sector BIM Adoption Strategy’, which outlines the context and rationale for the adoption of BIM and puts forward a proposed timeline for adoption, the purpose of this position paper is to invite a response from industry [1]. This paper analyses the position paper on the subject of the implementation of the proposed mandate. The author defines what is implied by UK BIM Levels 0, 1, 2 and 3, and collates the responses from industry to the position paper regarding the implementation plan. This position paper is …

What Lessons Can Be Learned From The Delivery Of The First Building On The Grangegorman Campus Using Building Information Management (Bim)?, Pat O'Sullivan, Avril Behan

Conference papers

There is an acceptance that BIM, via data management, can be integrated with FM to reduce costs during the Operations and Maintenance stage of a project. However, what has not been documented is the ‘on the ground’ reality which can be reviewed as a lessons learnt exercise to improve the implementation of BIM FM for future projects. This case study sets out to explore the realities of a client’s adoption of BIM based upon the actual experience of the Greenway Hub. Rather than relying on anecdotal evidence the research was based upon the real practices and experiences of the Dublin …

Linking Geospatial Engineering Into Collaborative Multidisciplinary Bim Projects - An Educational Perspective, Avril Behan, Helen Murray, Jonathan Argue, Ronan Hogan, Audrey Martin, Pat O'Sullivan, Robert Moore, Malachy Mathews

Conference papers

This paper describes the background to and execution of a postgraduate project undertaken by students on DIT's MSc in Geospatial Engineering (GeoEng) in support of a project on level 2 BIM being undertaken by students on the MSc in applied Building Information Modelling & Management (aBIMM) around the retrofit of and new build extension to the Grangegorman Clock Tower Building. In support of this requirement, an external and internal survey of the existing structure and its surrounding topography was required. The aBIMM students and staff acted as the Design Team who subcontracted the Geo Eng group who were organised into …

A Review Of Approaches To Solving The Problem Of Bim Search: Towards Intelligence-Assisted Design, Hamed Khademi, Avril Behan

Conference papers

Due to the growing adoption of BIM and the rising popularity of cloud computing, BIM models are increasingly stored in central cloud repositories or Common Data Environments. Effective management and exploitation of these models creates the requirement for BIM retrieval systems. Thus far, the BIM industry has utilized general-purpose, text-based search techniques that operate on BIM metadata. This paper highlights the need for a domain-specific BIM search engine and reviews various approaches to address the problem of BIM search. Three main approaches were identified as context-, geometry-, and content-based BIM retrieval. For a comprehensive BIM retrieval system, all three approaches …

Simulation And Analysis Of Switched Reluctance Generator For Renewable Energy Applications, Simone Sartori, Malabika Basu, Michael Farrell, Andrea Tortella

Conference papers

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the application of a Switched Reluctance Generator (SRG) for future wave energy converters. This machine presents some favourable features as compared to others. The machine optimal operation can be obtained after a detailed assessment of the control strategy. For this purpose, a SRG model is implemented in Matlab® Simulink® environment to find out the values of the switching angles which maximize the converted power and to set up an appropriate control of the power exchange with the grid to which the machine is connected. The simulation results provide evidence that a proper …

Construction Professional Service Firm Management: A Longitudinal Study Of Strategic Planning In Irish Quantity Surveying Practices, Roisin Murphy

Conference papers

This paper reports on the ongoing investigation of strategic planning in Irish Quantity Surveying practices. The construction industry in Ireland has undergone a period of significant change in the last five years fuelling a shift in focus from tactical to strategic planning in professional service firms operating within the sector. A previous paper identified the type, scope and extent of strategic planning within Quantity Surveying (QS) practices in Ireland in the years up to and during the economic downturn. The current paper expands on the previous research by identifying changes in approach to strategic management within these professional service firms …