TU Dublin leading the way in BIM Collaboration

The change of pace caused by the pandemic has had some silver linings–I’ve gotten better connected with global communities discussing and influencing architecture and construction and how we teach it. In this blog post, I’ll share work by my colleagues at TU Dublin who strive to support the Irish Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector via research and educational programs.

Soon after our university buildings shut down on March 12th, all teaching went online. The transition was seamless for my BIM colleagues, and the tools that enabled this transition can be of great help to people working all across the AEC sector, in Ireland and beyond. On April 23, my BIM colleagues hosted a webinar to explain how they accomplished such a quick shift.

BIM stands for “Building Information Modelling” and the value of BIM is heightened coordination of construction projects across their life–from design to construction to operations and maintenance. Using BIM well can help diverse players share knowledge and check for conflicts as a design goes from concept into design development and then construction, and eventually handover to clients and use by the community.

In this April 23 event, Kevin Furlong explained how he and his colleagues Emma Hayes and Barry McAuley shifted their collaborative BIM modules online. With just two hours notice on March 12, they went from face-to-face delivery to delivery entirely online, using Autodesk 360 tools. They had set up the module using Autodesk 360 so the students could learn to use these tools to communicate efficiently and effectively while delivering integrated design proposals in teams. The set up helps people in industry collaborate across fields (architecture, multiple types of engineering, construction, and even building operations and facilities management) and phases of the design-and-construction process.

I found the slide below particularly useful. It shows a timeline of a student team’s overall project. Each student gets a separate line, and the dots show where each has uploaded content, such as a revised model, for the other students on the team to use. By sharing what they are doing, they have a system for coordinating various design aspects and testing for clashes and conflicts.

The webinar includes a presentation by Dr. Barry McAuley, who summarizes using Model Coordination within BIM 360 for clash detection, as well as BIM 360 Cost Management and BIM 360 Plan, and also provides an overview of how Field Management can be used to generate issues and checklists even via mobile apps.

Local practitioner Emma Hayes, along with experts from Autodesk, Daniel Wood and Stuart Tanfield, provided additional insight during the question and answer session.

The title of the webinar is “Moving design teams to remote working and online collaboration” and you can watch it online.

Attending this webinar reminded me of the crucial role TU Dublin is playing at a national scale–helping the Irish construction industry benefit from the efficiencies of BIM. Indeed, making this resource is a form of leadership beyond our country, since now anyone can view and benefit from it.

I was immensely proud of my colleagues Kevin and Barry for showing others how to use these resources. The tips and insights they shared can help others trying to become more effective at collaborating in the BIM space.

The BIM team at TU Dublin is also helping generate valuable new knowledge in the form of research and has been sharing their findings with others via conference and journal papers with a strong focus on BIM.

Dr. Barry McAuley recently identified 71 BIM-focused publications released over the last 5 years by folks at TU Dublin. I’ve provided an alphabetized list below, and you should be able to locate the full texts using TU Dublin’s Arrow repository: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/

Adesi, M, Murphy, R & Kehily, D (2018) The role of Digitisation in the Strategic Planning Process of Irish Quantity Surveying(QS) Practices In: Gorse, C and Neilson, CJ (Eds) Proceedings of the 34th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September, 2018, Belfast UK, 250-259.
Adesi, M, Murphy, R & Kehily, D (2018) The strategy process of irish quantity surveying firms operating within a turbulent business environment, Association of Researchers in Construction Management, ARCOM 2019 – Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference, Pages 791-799
Adesi, M., Murphy, R., and Kehily, D. (2018). Information Technology (IT) for Strategy Formulation in Irish Quantity surveying Firms: A Literature Review. Presented at RICS COBRA 2018 Conference, RICS HQ, London, UK 23-24 April 2018
Behan, A. et al (2015). Cultural Change through BIM: Driving Lean Transformation in Education. CITA BIM Gathering 2015, November 12th -13th.
Behan, A., Murray, H. & Argue, J. “Linking Geospatial Engineering into Collaborative Multidisciplinary BIM Projects – an Educational Perspective” Proceedings CitA BIM Gathering. 2017, Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, Nov 23rd – 24th. doi:10.21427/09j7-dr06
Carroll, P. and McAuley, B. (2017) Establishing the key pillars of innovation required to execute a successful BIM strategy within a Construction SME in Ireland, Proceedings of the 3rd CitA BIM Gathering, Dublin, 23rd – 24th November, 2017, pp 84-91
Carswell, J. et al. (2015) Design and Development of Personal GeoServices for Universities in PopovV. ich et al. (eds.), Information Fusion and Geographic Information Systems (IF&GIS’ 2015), Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography, Switzerland :Springer International Publishing . DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-16667-4_1
Chenaux, A., Murphy, M., Keenaghan, G., Jenkins, J., McGovern, E., Pavia, S.: Combining a Virtual Learning Tool and Onsite Study Visits of Four Conservation Sites in Europe. XXIII CIPA Symposium, 2011.
Conway, Colin j.; Keane, Colin; McCarthy, McCarthy; Ahern, Ciara; and Behan, Avril (2014) “Leveraging Lean in construction: A case study of a BIM-based HVAC manufacturing process,” SDAR* Journal of Sustainable Design & Applied Research: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 2.
Deegan, K. & Mathews, M. (2017)BIM: Building Information Management (not Modelling), CitA BIM Gathering 2017, Croke Park, November 23rd & 24th.
Dore , C., Murphy, M., McCarthy, S., Brechin, F., Casidy, C., & Dirix, E. (2015) Structural Simulations and Conservation Analysis -Historic Building Information Model (HBIM)The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W4, 2015 3D Virtual Reconstruction and Visualization of Complex Architectures, 25-27 February 2015, Avila, Spain
Dore, C. & Murphy, M. (2017). Current state of the art historic building information modelling. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XLII-2/W5, 2017, 26th International CIPA Symposium 2017, 28 August–01 September 2017, Ottawa, Canada. doi:10.5194/ispr-archives-XLII-2-W5-185-2017
Dore, C., Murphy, M. (2012) Integration of HBIM and 3D GIS for Digital Heritage Modelling, Digital Documentation, 22-23 October, 2012 Edinburgh, Scotland.
Dore, C., Murphy, M., (2012), Integration of Historic Building Information Modeling and 3D GIS for Recording and Managing Cultural Heritage Sites, 18th International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia: “Virtual Systems in the Information Society”, 2-5 September, 2012, Milan, Italy, pp. 369-376.
Dore, C.& Murphy, M. (2015) Historic building information modelling (HBIM), Handbook of Research on Emerging Digital Tools for Architectural Surveying, Modeling, and RepresentationJuly 13, 2015, Pages 233-273
Ellul, C., Stoter, J. & Harrie, L. (2018). Investigating the State of Play of Geobim across Europe. 13th 3D GeoInfo Conference 2018, Delft, Netherlands, 1 October 2018 – 2nd October. doi:10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-4-W10-19-2018
Fernández-Rodríguez, S. Cortés-Pérez, J.P., Muriel, P.P., Tormo-Molina, R., Maya-Manzano, J.M. (2019) Environmental impact assessment of Pinaceae airborne pollen and green infrastructure using BIM, Volume 96, December 2018, Pages 494-507
Flynn, M. and Brodie, S. (2019)A Critical review of the Requirements for a Quantity Surveyor’s Model View Definition for 5D Collaborative BIM Engagement, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 101-109
Harrell, R. & Mathews, M. (2018) Could Autodesk Revit Be Automated for Code Compliance Checking and Demonstration with A Focus on Fire Safety Regulations? Technical Report.
Hayden, R. and Kehily, D. (2019) Using asynchronous learning to enhance the pedagogical experience inteaching BIM technologies to construction students, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 9-17
Hore, A., McAuley, B. and West, R. (2019) Centres of Excellence and Roadmaps for Digital Transition: Lessons for Ireland’s Construction Industry, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 247 – 255
Hore, A., Kuang, S.,  McAuley, B. and West, R. and (2019) Development of a Framework to Support the Effective Adoption of BIM in the Public Sector: Lessons for Ireland, CIB World Building Congress: Constructing Smart Cities, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong China, 17-21 June, pp 1-10
Hore, A., McAuley, B. and West, R (2017) BIM Innovation Capability Programme 0f Ireland, Proceedings of the  Lean & Computing in Construction Congress (LC3), Crete, Greece, 4-12 July 2017
Hore, A., McAuley, B. and West, R. (2017) BIM in Ireland 2017, BIM Innovation Capability Programme, CitA Ltd.
Hore, A., McAuley, B. and West, R. (2018)  Establishing Lessons for Ireland’s BIM Policy Through a Systematic Review of International BIM Programmes, International Journal of 3-D, Information Modeling, Iss 6, Volume 4, pp 1-14
Hore, A., McAuley, B. and West, R. (2018)  National Children’s Hospital (NCH) Dublin, Chapter 10: BIM Case Studies, 3rd Edition of the BIM Handbook, pp 405-409
Hore, A., McAuley, B. and West, R. (2019) BIM in Ireland 2019, CitA Ltd.
Hore, A., McAuley, B. and West, R. (2019) From Roadmap to Implementation: Lessons for Ireland’s Digital Construction Programme, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 238-246
Hore, A., McAuley, B., and West, R. (2017) BIM Innovation Capability Programme Global BIM Study – Lessons for Ireland’s BIM Programme, Construction IT Alliance Limited,
Hore, A., McAuley, B., West, R., Kassem, M. and Kuang, S. (2017) Ireland’s BIM Macro Adoption Study: Establishing Irelands BIM Maturity, Proceedings of the 3rd CitA BIM Gathering, Dublin, 23rd – 24th November, 2017, pp 32-40
Kane,  R., McAuley, B., Hore, A. And Fraser, F. (2015) Collaborative Public Works contracts using BIM – An opportunity for the Irish construction industry? Proceedings of the 2nd CITA BIM Gathering, Dublin, Nov 12 – 13th, PP 118 – 125
Kehil, D. and Mitchell, C. (2017) Increasing efficiency in 5D BIM by Utilising ‘BIM Interoperability Tools –Classification Manager’ to append ICMS cost codes, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 101-108
Kehily, D. & Underwood, J. (2017). Embedding life cycle costing in 5D BIM. Journal of Information Technology in Construction (ITcon), Vol. 22, pg. 145-167, http://www.itcon.org/2017/8 DOI:10.21427/afdk-ky60
Kehily, D., Underwood, J. (2015) Design Science: Choosing an appropriate methodology for research in BIM. CITA BIM Gathering 2015, November 12th -13th 2015.doi:10.21427/fde9-tj97
Khademi, H. & Behan, A. 2017 “A review of approaches to solving the problem of BIM search: towards intelligence-assisted design”. Proceedings CitA BIM Gathering 2017, Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland,​ ​23rd-24th November 2017. doi:10.21427/sged-qg40
Kuang, S., Hore, A., McAuley, B. and West, R. (2017) A Study on Supporting the Deployment and Evaluation of Government Policy Objectives Through the Adoption of Building Information Modelling,  Proceedings of the 3rd CitA BIM Gathering, Dublin, 23rd – 24th November, 2017, pp 58-62
Lefebvre, F, and McAuley, B. (2019) An investigation into current procurement strategies that promote collaboration through early contractor involvement with regards to their suitability for Irish public work projects, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 209-221
MacLoughlin, S. and Hayes, E. (2019) Overcoming Resistance To BIM: Aligning A Change Management Method With A BIM Implementation Strategy, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 188 – 197
Maddy, J. (2017) The Life Cycle Engineer, Proceedings of the 3rd CitA BIM Gathering, Dublin, 23rd – 24th November, 2017, pp 234-243
Mathews, M. (2015) Defining Job Titles and Career Paths in BIM. ,CITA BIM Gathering 2015, November 12th -13th 2015
Mathews, M., Robles, D. & Bowe, B. (2017) BIM+Blockchain: A Solution to the Trust Problem in Collaboration? CITA BIM Gathering 2017, November 23rd-24th November 2017
Matthews, M. (2105) BIM and collabrative working and practices, BIM in Design, Consteuction and Operations,WIT Press, pp133-144
McAuley, B, Hore, A.V. and West, R. (2015) The Development of Key Performance Indicators to Monitor Early Facilities Management Performance Through the Use of BIM Technologies in Public Sector Projects. Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Civil and Building Engineering Informatics, Tokyo, 22 – 24th April. (Accepted for Publication)
McAuley, B., Behan, A., McCormack, P., Hamilton, A., Rebelo, E., Neilson, B., Beckett, G., Costa, A.A., Carreira, P., Likar, D., Taneva-Veshoska, A., Lynch, S., Hynes, W. and Borkovic, T. (2019) Improving the Sustainability of the Built Environment by Training its Workforce in More Efficient and Greener Ways of Designing and Constructing Through the Horizon2020 Energy BIMcert Project, Proceedings of the CitA BIM Gathering, Galway 26th September, pp 63-70
McAuley, B., Behan, A., McCormack, P., Hamilton, A., Rebelo, E., Neilson, B., Beckett, G., Costa, A.A., Carreira, P., Likar, D., Taneva-Veshoska,A., Lynch, S., Hynes, W. and Borkovic, T. (2019) Delivering Energy Savings for the Supply Chain Through Building Information Modelling as a Result of the Horizon2020 Energy BIMcert Project, Proceedings of the International SEEDS Conference 2019: Growing Sustainability – Natural Capital and Society in the Built Environment, Leeds, 11-12th September, pp 1-11.
McAuley, B., Gunnigan, L., Hore, A. And West, R. (2015c) Ensuring that the Needs of the End User are Effectively Communicated through BIM during the Building Design Stage, Proceedings of the 2nd CITA BIM Gathering, Dublin, Nov 12 – 13th, PP 207 – 216
McAuley, B., Hore, A. And West, R. (2015b) Developing Key Performance Indicators to Measure the Effectiveness of Early Facilities Management Performance on BIM Governed Public Sector Projects, Proceedings of the 2nd CITA BIM Gathering, Dublin, Nov 12 – 13th, PP 198 – 206
McAuley, B., Hore, A. and West, R. (2018) BIM Macro Adoption Study: Establishing Ireland’s BIM Maturity and Managing Complex Change, International Journal of 3-D, Information Modeling, Iss 7, Volume 1, pp 1-11
McAuley, B., Hore, A., and West, R. (2019) BIM in Ireland 2019: A Study of BIM Maturity and Diffusion in Ireland, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway 26th -27th September, pp 222-229
McAuley, B., Hore, A., West, R. and Kuang, S. (2017) Stewardship of International BIM Programmes: Lessons for Ireland, Proceedings of the 3rd CitA BIM Gathering, Dublin, 23rd – 24th November, 2017, pp 15-23
McDonald, M., Donohoe, S.,: How are the Educational Institutes of Ireland Embracing the Paradigm Shift towards BIM? CITA BIM Gathering 2013, November 14th -15th Dublin, Ireland
Mcdonnell, P. and West, R. (2019) Academia – Estates Management Synergies in HEIs – The Low Hanging Fruit, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 132-139
Moore, R. (2017) A Public Sector BIM Adoption Strategy, CITA BIM Gathering 2017, November 23th -24th 2017
Moore, R., McAuley, B. and Hore, A. (2015) Adopting of PAS 1192-2 by Irish AEC companies will better position them to win international work, Proceedings of the 2nd CITA BIM Gathering, Dublin, Nov 12 – 13th, PP 148-154
Moore, R., McAuley, B. and Hore, A. (2015) The application of industry standards as an alternative to in-house proprietary standards within the AEC industry , Proceedings of the 2nd CITA BIM Gathering, Dublin, Nov 12 – 13th, PP 86-93
Murphy, M. et al (2017). Armagh observatory:historic building information modelling for virtual learning in building conservation. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol.XLII-2/W5, 26 International CIPA Symposium, 28 August-01 September, Ottawa, Canada. doi:10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W5-531-2017
Murphy, M. et al (2017). Developing historic building information modelling guidelines and procedures for architectural heritage in Ireland. , XLII-2/W5, pp.539-546. doi:10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W5-539-2017
O’Reilly, A. & Mathews, M. (2019) Incentivising Multidisciplinary Teams with new methods of Procurement using BIM + Blockchain​, CITA BIM Gathering 2019, September 26th 2019. doi.org/10.21427/14aq-jn02
O’Sullivan, P. and Behan, A. 2017 What Lessons Can Be Learned From The Delivery Of The First Building On The Grangegorman Campus Using Building Information Management (BIM)? CitA BIM Gathering, Croke Park, Dublin, Ireland, Nov 23rd – 24th, 2017. doi:10.21427/96wa-yf18
Peters, J. & Mathews, M. (2019) What is a BIM design model? CITA BIM Gathering 2019, Galway, Ireland, September 26th.
Reilly, A. (2019) Incentivising multidisciplinary teams with new methods of procurement using BIM + Blockchain, Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 178-186
Reilly, Raymond (2019) “Digital Engineering: a Case Study in an Irish Consultancy Practice,” SDAR* Journal of Sustainable Design & Applied Research: Vol. 7: Iss. 1, Article 5.
Reinhardt, J & Matthews, M. (2017). The automation of BIM for compliance checking: a visual programming approach. CITA BIM Gathering, November 23rd-24th, Croke Park, Dublin 3.
Rodgers, J. and Kirwin, B. (2019) The Post-Occupancy Digital Twin: A Quantitative Report on Data Standardisation and Dynamic Building Performance EvaluationProceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 148-158
Scott, L. (2016) Proceedings of ARCOM Doctoral Workshop Sustainability and BIM. Technological University Dublin, 2016.
Scott, L. & Hore, A.  (2016) “Delivery of BIM education in Ireland: Reflections on an Irish Masters Program” (2016), Proceedings of the Academic Interoperability Coalition: 10th BIM Academic Symposium, 4-5 April 2016
Scott, L., Shelbourn, M. (2018) Learning Through Successful Digital Opportunities for Effective Competition Preparations – Reflections of students and coaches 54th Associated Schools of Construction Annual Conference Minneapolis, MN
Seriki, O & Murphy, R. (2018) ‘Social contagion and knowledge acquisition in construction professional service firms, RICS COBRA 2018, The Construction, Building and Real Estate Research Conference of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 23 – 24 April 2018, RICS HQ, London, UK.
Taylor, A. (2019) Assessing the viability of applying Lean, Green & BIM principles in Office Fit-out Projects,  Proceedings of the 4th CitA BIM Gathering, Galway, 26th September, pp 83-91
The Adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) to Improve Existing Teaching Methods and Support Services withina Higher Education Institution in Ireland
Thi, Thanh Thoa Pham, Andrea Ballatore, Junjun Yin, Linh Truong-Hong and James D. Carswell. “A Case Study for eCampus Spatial: Business Data Exploration.” Handbook of Research on Geospatial Science and Technologies. IGI Global, 2018. 240-270. doi:10.4018/978-1-5225-3440-2.ch016

Brand new Bachelors in BIM launched today at TU Dublin

It’s been a busy and exciting week here in Dublin. Monday at noon I was appointed as Programme Chair for the new BSc (Hon) in BIM (Digital Construction) at TU Dublin. We launched the programme at lunchtime today, Friday, just four days later. I had a lot of studying up to do to get up to speed to host the induction/orientation.

This course is for people who have a three-year Bachelors degree (called level 7 in Ireland–this is the standard Bachelors in Europe). They will have studied Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) for their first degree and want to learn about Building Information Modelling and upgrade to a four-year Honours level Bachelors (called level 8 in Ireland, and more like the Bachelors degrees offered in the USA). In the future, we will also accept people who have level 6 (apprentice) degrees and Recognition for Prior Learning (RPL).

This link provides info on Programme Outcomes, Awards & Graduate Attributes, for example. Take a look at the amazing resources and software packages available for students to use and learn. The program includes Work Place Learning (here’s the handbook for it) as well as a research Dissertation (handbook) supported by a Research Methods module that I’ll be teaching alongside Debbie Brennan.

So, today we held induction and welcomed 24 students into our first cohort!

This time next year, successful students will walk away with a BSc (Hons) and a host of new knowledge and skills related to digital construction.

My colleagues — Dr. Avril Behan, Mr. Kevin Furlong, Dr. Barry Mcauley, Ms. Deborah Brennan and others — were involved in designing this programme, and they even got a grant (Springboard+) to cover much of the cost for the 2020 cohort. They did all this work while I was away, working in London. What a truly lovely programme they have built!

It’s really needed here in Ireland — it’s great for the people taking the course who will gain valuable new skills — and it’s great for the Irish construction industry which desperately needs people skilled in BIM. I find this to be an extremely worthwhile project and I’m delighted to be part of it and to work with such a great team.

Here’s a press release from TU Dublin:

Technological University Dublin is delighted to announce the commencement of its level 8 BSc (Hons) in BIM (Digital Construction), designed and delivered by the same team who created TU Dublin’s award-winning MSc in aBIMM suite (ICE Postgraduate Course of the Year 2019). This programme is designed to meet the Lean Construction, BIM and digital transformation upskilling needs of holders of level 6 qualifications (including craft apprenticeship) plus industry experience, and of level 7 (ordinary degree) award holders in construction-related areas.  Focussing on discipline-specific BIM modelling (architecture, construction, MEP engineering & structural engineering) and multidisciplinary co-ordination, underpinned by a Lean Construction philosophy, this programme will equip graduates with the skills necessary to take up roles as BIM Modellers, Technicians, and Coordinators with consultants, contractors, clients, and public sector bodies.  The programme is delivered in blended format with attendance required on the Bolton Street Campus for one afternoon per week (typically Fridays from 12:30) from late January to late May with additional online delivery (one  evening per week – evening tbc and depending on discipline). From September to December the programme is delivered fully online with a number of support face-to-face workshops. 

The course handbook is available at: 

https://sites.google.com/a/dit.ie/handbook-of-the-bsc-hons-in-bim-at-tu-dublin-2020/ 

TU Dublin secured 90% of the funding for places in this year’s cohort from the Irish Higher Education Authority’s Springboard+ programme. Thus, the cost to selected participants in 2020 is only €220.

The application deadline for this year has passed (it was was Monday January 13th 2020 for commencement at end of January). This first cohort will commence their coursework in January 2020 and walk away with diplomas in a highly marketable field of expertise (BIM and digital construction) in February 2020.

If you would like more info on the programme, please register your interest by emailing the School of Multidisciplinary Technologies <smdt.adm@tudublin.ie>. Our school administrator can then send additional info as we prepare for upcoming cohorts. 

Life as a Roving Academic

Shannon teaching at HU Point

Flashback: Teaching architecture students about sun angles at Hampton University, circa 2007.

I keep shifting roles in higher education so I can learn new skills. I spent 15 years teaching in the USA (advancing my way up to Professor of Architecture in 2014) before coming to Ireland as an education researcher and now Lecturer.

Transitioning from teaching to researching was more difficult than I had anticipated, partly because the work is more sedentary, but mostly because I missed interacting with students every day. And while I do enjoy engineering, I also miss discussing architecture and urban design on a daily basis. Fortunately though, I also enjoy interviewing engineering students.

As part of my Marie Curie Individual Fellowship to Dublin Institute of Technology (2014-2016), I conducted 60-90 minute interviews with 47 women in Poland, Portugal, and Ireland. The interviews I conducted as a researcher allow me to connect with students in new ways.

 

IMG_7291 2

Flashback to Portugal, where my colleagues and I have interviewed 11 women studying engineering.

Since the end of that initial Marie Curie fellowship, I’ve continued this research project alongside new responsibilities. I’ve recently conducted follow-up interviews with 11 of the 47 women in my study, for instance.

After that Marie Curie fellowship ended, I also found work as a Lecturer on the teaching staff in DIT’s School of Multidisciplinary Technologies and found my way back into the classroom. Today, I get to work with wonderful teaching colleagues, and to teach undergraduate as well as Masters-level students. I’ve included a photo gallery at the end of this blog, showing a typical week of teaching.

So these days, I divide my time between teaching in-class 16 hours per week, learning new content for the classes I teach, advising thesis students, serving as a year tutor in our MSc program in BIM technologies, and doing research. (I’ve taken a break from grant-writing this semester and have enjoyed the respite.)

IMG_8374

Planning for future studies in London.

I enjoy exciting new adventures, though, and so I’m preparing to transition back into full-time research for a while, so I can develop new skills by working for two years at University College of London. UCL’s website provides more details  via a press release about the fellowship).

I’ll look for opportunities to teach informally while I’m at UCL, as well, and I’ll look forward to my return to DIT’s classroom in two year’s time to apply what I’ve learned through observation and research.

DIT has granted me a Career Break so that at the end of the fellowship I’ll be able to come back to my current lecturing post. I’m excited about this because I feel I’ve found my feet and my voice teaching here. Aongus (my partner) says it’s clear I selected the right profession since my passion for teaching and for students comes through in the stories I tell at the end of the day.

Now, in the month before I leave for London, I’m trying my best to track down the 10 students from my DIT cohort who I haven’t yet met for follow-up interviews and move to this research project ahead.