Strategy to incorporate BIM curriculum in planning and scheduling classes

Architect-Engineer-Construction (AEC) employers have begun expecting that construction program graduates have a working knowledge of Building Information Modeling (BIM). This paper is an attempt to adopt this new skill-set in educational institutions along with the fundamental techniques of Planning and Scheduling already being taught. To incorporate the BIM curriculum pertaining to the class topics, it was determined essential to introduce students to project scheduling and simulation software. Though a wide variety of tools are now available and used in the industry, P6 scheduling software and Synchro simulation tools were opted based on user conform level, easy access and availability for education institutions. A 3D model scenario along with a schedule from a project was used to create a simpler scenario for academic purpose. The project was introduced to the students and the task of creating a meaningful schedule in P6 was assigned. The students were provided with specific assignments and tutorials to help them navigate through P6 and aide in creating their schedules during the lab sessions. To continue the implementation, students have guest speakers from industry who discussed and showed them the real time implementation of schedules and how they should manage schedule changes, updates and other important considerations to address. The strategy to incorporate BIM curriculum into this important topic for Project Managers is finalized with a 3D Synchro model and students are asked to go through a tutorial that would make them to better understand the link of a previously generated P6 schedule to the model and to develop a 4D simulation.