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Register Now for BCT’s Spring 2019 Continuing Education Courses at UMass’ Mount Ida Campus

December 19, 2018November 27, 2023 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

Starting with the Spring Semester 2019, BCT will be offering courses at the new Mount Ida Campus of UMass Amherst in Newton, MA. For this first semester, we provide two courses that target continuing education students and professionals that are interested in furthering their education in sustainable construction and building technology. The following 3-credit, semester-long courses are available for registration now. Start date for the semester is January 22, 2019. Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering, and the Construction Process (BCT 597N) Legal issues arising from design and construction services, with a practical focus on risk management and liability awareness. Topical areas include basic legal doctrines, contract documents, contract administration, liens & bonds, claims, professional liability, human resources, legal evidence & recordkeeping, and dispute resolution. The course will also touch on the special legal challenges presented by technological, scientific, and cultural developments including sustainability, BIM/VDC, mass timber, automation, and climate change. Instructor: Steven J. O’Neill, Esq. High Performance Building: Issues and Perspectives (BCT 597Q) This course examines...

Students in BCT’s 3D CAD & BIM course participate in library project on maker competencies

February 2, 2018February 3, 2018 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

As part of this spring's BCT 420 and ECO 620 courses (both taught by Alex Schreyer, BCT Program Director), students will explore making and digital fabrication, which will inform a curriculum pilot study by the University of Texas on this topic. The UMass library has been chosen as one of several collaborators nationwide and will guide the local implementation of this study. Press release below... Libraries Chosen as Partner in Maker Competencies, Curriculum Pilot Study February 1, 2018 The UMass Amherst Libraries has been chosen by the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) and the University of Nevada-Reno as one of four additional university partners to participate in a pilot study entitled Maker Competencies and the Undergraduate Curriculum. Funded by a $49,800 National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the study seeks to explore the impacts of academic library makerspaces–spaces with technological resources and equipment for project-based collaboration–on undergraduate student learning. Sarah Hutton, head of undergraduate teaching and learning services at the...

Summer 2017 BCT Continuing Education and Online Courses

May 18, 2017 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

This summer, BCT is offering two CPE courses. These courses are available to everyone, there is no need to be already enrolled at UMass to take them. Follow the links below to learn more and enroll. For general information about our CPE courses, follow this link. BCT 320 – Intro to CAD in Construction and Architecture (in-person, DB 260) BCT 597D ST – Sustainable Building and LEED Certification (online) Both are offered during Summer Session 2 (7/10-8/18) and the last day to register is 7/14, Here are some details about both courses and the instructors: BCT 320 - Intro to CAD in Construction and Architecture Session: CS2 - CPE Summer Session 2 (7/10-8/18) Meets: In-Person, TuTh 4-7 pm Location: DB rm 260 Fee: in-state: $1,446 ($482/credit), out-of-state: $2,073 ($691/credit) (3 credits) Out-of-state rates will only be charged to out-of-state students who are currently enrolled in a non-CPE degree program. If you are a non-degree student, only in-state rates apply. Instructor: Clark Piers-Gamble Email: This course provides an introduction into construction-related Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) tools. By using industry-standard software...

Can College Kids Help Mass. Towns Go Green?

February 17, 2017March 25, 2017 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

BCT's extension faculty member Ben Weil and his "Clean Energy Corps" students (from the BCT 597R course) were recently in the news with their efforts to make buildings more sustainable for Massachusetts' municipalities: Let Us Introduce the UMass Clean Energy Corps Ask town officials what they think in Ware. Ask them in Natick, and in Greenfield. Palmer too. These are some of the towns where the new UMass Clean Energy Corps has touched down in the few months since its founding. The Corps is a student-centered initiative focused on helping communities across the Commonwealth develop and meet their clean energy goals. It was created by UMass Clean Energy Extension, a research and outreach program that in its first two years of life has been helping transform communities and businesses into cleaner, more efficient places to live, work, and grow into the future. UMass Clean Energy Extension is a program of UMass Extension (or as it was once known, Cooperative Extension), which, for over a hundred...

New Trimble Technology Lab Gift to UMass Amherst Expands Training and Research for Building Design and Fabrication

January 26, 2017March 12, 2018 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and AMHERST, Mass., – A significant in-kind gift from Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) will expand the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s leadership in training and research in 3D building design, digital fabrication and the sustainable built environment. Partnering with Trimble allows UMass Amherst to more fully integrate across its curricula the technological tools that are rapidly transforming how building and living environments are designed and constructed. The gift will establish the 1,300-square-foot Trimble Technology Lab in the new Design Building at UMass Amherst. The lab will include equipment such as Trimble’s laser scanners, advanced robotic surveying systems, imaging rovers, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers and many of Trimble’s software packages including RealWorks® scanning software, Trimble Business Center, Vico Office Suite, GCEstimator™ Suite, Tekla® Structures, Sefaira Architecture and its popular 3D modeling software SketchUp Pro. Potential applications of these technologies range from the scanning of historic buildings to ensure their preservation, design and 3D printing of architectural building models, digital fabrication of...