BIM’s new generation

Hiring a BIM Lead is a new concept. Traditionally, companies expanded the title (and responsibilities) of their CAD Manager to include Revit support. Unfortunately, this resulted can lead to some misconceptions about BIM, I touched on this in my post Stop the BIM madness. Now that many companies have successfully transitioned to BIM from CAD, specialized knowledge of the possibilities of integrated software design is necessary.

This is where most companies run into a serious problem: people with my experience are rare. I started my career as a CAD Manager and transitioned to a BIM Manager. I started at the beginning of 3D modeling and battled through the adoption of BIM. There certainly aren’t enough people like me to act as BIM leads for a the firms that need them. What has started to happen leads us down the road of Danger of BIM Theory.

Since there are so few old timers like me available, I think it is time to harness the abilities of our new generation of eager kids who were born with technology in hand. These youngsters can’t imagine any other way of collecting and displaying data then with technology. Having a fresh perspective can give them an incredible idea to problem solve and innovate that is unhampered by knowledge of how things used to work.

Ever-changing: as the world changes so do human interactions and societal demands  Photo: Getty

A year ago I wrote about sharing what I have learned to help guide the younger generation into the field of BIM in Caring is Sharing. I collaborated on a BIM curriculum with the CAD and BIM Technology Department at VCC. During this collaboration I visited the students to see their progress. I was amazed at how quickly these kids picked up Revit and the understanding of BIM. It was very exciting, and made me feel very old.

Last week I went to the department head of CAD and BIM technologies and pitched him my idea.  I believe that a newly graduated student could work as a BIM Lead. I explained the main focus in most Architecture firms at this time is making the use of Revit profitable and keeping technology out of the designers way. I believe graduates of this program would help move design past the struggles with technology and help architects focus on design. This got him very excited and I started talking to the graduating students to see if they were interested. After meeting with a couple of these kids I realized they have the ability to inject new ideas and bring new views on how we use technology in BIM.

It’s time to let the new generation become BIM leads, you could find someone who can bring the next big idea down the BIM road.