Virtual integration platform for computational fluid dynamics

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools used in shipbuilding industry involve multiple disciplines, such as resistance, manoeuvring, and cavitation. Traditionally, the analysis was performed separately and sequentially in each discipline, which often resulted in conflict and inconsistency of hydrodynamic prediction. In an effort to solve such problems for future CFD computations, a Virtual Integration Platform (VIP) has been developed in the University of Strathclyde within two EU FP6 projects - VIRTUE and SAFEDOR1. The VIP provides a holistic collaborative environment for designers with features such as Project/Process Management, Distributed Tools Integration, Global Optimisation, Version Management, and Knowledge Management. These features enhance collaboration among customers, ship design companies, shipyards, and consultancies not least because they bring together the best expertise and resources around the world. The platform has been tested in seven European ship design companies including consultancies. Its main functionalities along with advances are presented in this paper with two industrial applications

A study of BIM collaboration requirements and available features in existing model collaboration systems

Established collaboration practices in the construction industry are document centric and are challenged by the introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM). Document management collaboration systems (e.g. Extranets) have significantly improved the document collaboration in recent years; however their capabilities for model collaboration are limited and do not support the complex requirements of BIM collaboration. The construction industry is responding to this situation by adopting emerging model collaboration systems (MCS), such as model servers, with the ability to exploit and reuse information directly from the models to extend the current intra-disciplinary collaboration towards integrated multi-disciplinary collaboration on models. The functions of existing MCSs have evolved from the manufacturing industry and there is no concrete study on how these functions correspond to the requirements of the construction industry, especially with BIM requirements. This research has conducted focus group sessions with major industry disciplines to explore the user requirements for BIM collaboration. The research results have been used to categorise and express the features of existing MCS which are then analysed in selected MCS from a user’s perspective. The potential of MCS and the match or gap in user requirements and available model collaboration features is discussed. This study concludes that model collaborative solutions for construction industry users are available in different capacities; however a comprehensive custom built solution is yet to be realized. The research results are useful for construction industry professionals, software developers and researchers involved in exploring collaborative solutions for the construction industry

Staff and student perspectives on embedding sustainability into the engineering curriculum

Recognising that sustainability is an important concept within engineering this paper describes a project run by a team of academics which sought to investigate how engineering students viewed sustainability, what role they perceived it to hold in their work, and how they felt it should be incorporated into their education. Students and academics acted as equal stakeholders in the project with the students coming from a range of backgrounds including undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in Mechanical Engineering, Product Design, Electrical Power Engineering and Multidisciplinary Design Innovation. The investigation sought to understand student and staff perceptions of how the university approached the concept of engineering education for sustainable development into the curricula. An additional aim of the research and activities of the project was to contribute to influencing how sustainability may contribute to engineering curriculum change within UK higher education. The activities conducted by the project team demonstrated that students and staff currently have an awareness, yet a limited understanding, of sustainability. Students strongly felt that sustainability was a key part of an engineer’s role and responsibilities. The findings recognized scope for concepts of sustainability to be more effectively included it in the curriculum for engineers adding many opportunities for imaginative pedagogies. It is proposed that students should also be encouraged to generate their own conceptions of sustainability and globalization and participate in discussions around these to ensure personal engagement with them. The project outcome generated valuable material which could support communication and dialogue about sustainability to support the education of global engineers

Designing a novel virtual collaborative environment to support collaboration in design review meetings

Project review meetings are part of the project management process and are organised to assess progress and resolve any design conflicts to avoid delays in construction. One of the key challenges during a project review meeting is to bring the stakeholders together and use this time effectively to address design issues as quickly as possible. At present, current technology solutions based on BIM or CAD are information-centric and do not allow project teams to collectively explore the design from a range of perspectives and brainstorm ideas when design conflicts are encountered. This paper presents a system architecture that can be used to support multi-functional team collaboration more effectively during such design review meetings. The proposed architecture illustrates how information-centric BIM or CAD systems can be made human- and team-centric to enhance team communication and problem solving. An implementation of the proposed system architecture has been tested for its utility, likability and usefulness during design review meetings. The evaluation results suggest that the collaboration platform has the potential to enhance collaboration among multi-functional teams

An innovative mobile application for construction programme managers

Construction programme management is a complex and information-intensive environment. The construction programme management team requires access to construction information in real-time and when needed. The current increasing use of mobile devices offers an opportunity to meet this need. The efficient management of construction programmes is one of the major factors for improving stakeholders’ satisfaction. An innovative tool is needed in accessing the right information at the right time, especially when spontaneous and urgent decision-making is needed. To this end, the innovative use of a mobile device in delivering information and services to the management team in real-time and based on their current context offers significant benefits. This paper discusses context-aware computing, the enabling technologies for geolocation and the development of a prototype, mobile, context-aware application for construction programme management. The prototype system developed is based on the findings from an earlier study of user requirements which showed that the ability to provide relevant information and services at an appropriate time and at the most appropriate location has the potential to improve the monitoring and control of construction programmes. The prototype system demonstrates the provision of context-specific information and services to construction programme managers using a mobile device. The benefits and limitations of the proposed approach are discussed and conclusions drawn about the potential impact of enhanced information delivery for the efficiency of the construction programme managers

A changing world : the internationalisation experiences of staff and students, home and international, in UK higher education

This is a selection of internationalisation resources produced by ESCalate to support the project A Changing World: the internationalisation experiences of staff and students (home and international) in UK Higher Education. Fifteen focus groups were run with staff and with students, both home and international, to listen to their views on what internationalisation meant to them, how it had influenced teaching and learning, and what challenges and successes they had experienced. Participants came from a range of disciplines and from across the UK. Staff in particular showed great awareness of the issues surrounding internationalisation with an appreciation of some of the complexities. Topics raised by participants included recruitment strategies, entry requirements for non-native speakers, PMI, fees, the British degree, higher education institutions (HEIs) competition for students in the global marketplace, and internationalising the curriculum. Staff and students described various techniques and strategies for creating inclusive learning environments. Many said how students and staff from across the world had enriched their lives, both personally and professionally. Staff discussed the difficulties of meeting the needs of culturally diverse groups, and both students and staff talked about how far we still have to go in encouraging some students to break out of their familiar cultural groups to socialise cross-culturally. Home students were the hardest group to recruit for this project. Given that they have so much to gain from learning in a culturally diverse environment it is suggested that more work needs to be done in the research area of Internationalisation at Home (Teekens, 2006, Joris, van den Berg & van Ryssen, 2003), and within institutions, to engage not only staff but also home students so that all students and staff can gain maximum benefit from the changing higher education landscape. A Changing World: the internationalisation experiences of staff and students (home and international) in UK Higher Education is a report produced by ESCalate and LLAS, that is made available as a PDF file of some 40 page

Past, present and future of information and knowledge sharing in the construction industry: Towards semantic service-based e-construction

The paper reviews product data technology initiatives in the construction sector and provides a synthesis of related ICT industry needs. A comparison between (a) the data centric characteristics of Product Data Technology (PDT) and (b) ontology with a focus on semantics, is given, highlighting the pros and cons of each approach. The paper advocates the migration from data-centric application integration to ontology-based business process support, and proposes inter-enterprise collaboration architectures and frameworks based on semantic services, underpinned by ontology-based knowledge structures. The paper discusses the main reasons behind the low industry take up of product data technology, and proposes a preliminary roadmap for the wide industry diffusion of the proposed approach. In this respect, the paper stresses the value of adopting alliance-based modes of operation