The International Building Information Modeling Conference that currently is the largest gathering of experts, practitioners in the field of BIM in Iran, held its second conference on “Project, Organization and Industry BIM Development and Implementation Strategies” It was held on May 9th and 10th at the conference center of the Niroo Research Institute in Tehran and more than 850 interested from academic, industrial, executive organs, and other fields participated in this scientific gathering.
During the conference, programs including lectures and workshops (40 speakers from Iran, Norway, Hungary, Australia, the US and Germany), presented 11 research articles orally, 17 poster articles and The first OPEN BIM competition was held simultaneously in three halls. Furthermore a specialized exhibition were held, with about 20 companies and associations presenting their latest achievements in the field of BIM.
On the first day of the conference, the inaugural ceremony started with greeting and conference programs introduction by Dr. Mojtaba Azizi as the conference director, followed the speech about the necessity of BIM development by Dr. Iqbal Shakeri as the conference secretary and And with keynote speeches by Dr. Seyed Javad Ghanefar (Head of Technical and Executive of Plan and Budget Organization), Engineer Hamid Manifar (General Manager of the Office of National Regulations and Building Control), Engineer Basiri Tehrani (CEO of Radin colleagues Behta Company), Professor Mahmoud Golabchi (Faculty member at University of Tehran) and also Peter Reicher (Graphisoft’s senior manager of the international arena) at Persian Gulf Hall.
Dr. Shakeri while appreciating the wide acceptance of the experts in this field and by noting that there was a 300% delay in the scheduling of most projects, pointed that by using BIM technology, the project timeline can be followed. He concluded his speech by mentioning this subject that the technical and Executive system of the country, the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, the municipality and the construction engineering should work together to achieve exact principles of this technology.
Following the first day’s plans at Persian Gulf Hall, two key lectures were delivered by Dr. Bilal Succar (founder of BIMexcellence) and Mr. Amir Safiri as BIM expert in Germany. At the same period of time, a workshop and lecture program at Rudaki and Ferdowsi Hall. Mr. Saleh Dashti (CEO of Pishtazan Company for Arad Construction Management and PhD Researcher at the University of Science and Technology) and Torleiv Haugstaul (one of the directors of International field at dRofus company in Norway) presented their topics at Ferdowsi Hall.
Mr. Torleiv Haugstaul’s speech was held similar to Mr. Bilal Succar’s video conference, which fortunately was well received by the audience. All participants in the conference had lunch after the first part of the program, during this period and until the second part of the program, they could pray and visit the exhibition booths. After lunch, at the second part of the program at the Persian Gulf Hall, Mr. Parviz Ghavami Nejad, as the deputy of Tehran Province Management and Planning Organization regarding the legal requirements of technical and administrative system in the management of construction projects with BIM implementation approach. And also Dr.Mostafa Khanzadi and Dr. Amin Alvanchi, as academic activists, delivered a lecture on “The Process of Preparing BIM Implementation Guidelines in the National Technical and Executive System”.
At the same time, Mr. Tamas Eros (BIM Graphicsoft Senior Advisor from Hungary) delivered a video conference and lectures from Vista Faraz Bam at the Ferdowsi Hall, while a number of authors at the Rudaki Hall presented their articles for The audience. After the snack reception, the third part of the program resumed at three halls. Workshops and lectures were held in each hall. Mr. Livente Filetoth (Head of the Graphicsoft Technical Team in Hungary), and experts from industry and university fields, like engineer Afshin Asoli (manager of Engineering at Kyson Company), Dr. Vahid Faqihi (Faculty member at Texas A&M University of America), Engineer Qasem Ariani BIM expert and instructor), Akosh Karoczkai (BIM Consultant and Algorithmic Design Specialist at Graphicsoft Corporation), Dr. Vahid Shah Hosseini (Faculty Member at Amirkabir University of Technology), Dr. Amin Alvanchi and Engineer Vahid Khodabakhshi, introduced and explained their lecture topics. It is remarkable that Mr. Akosh Karoczkai, who delivered his lecture online, presented the ways to convert basic geometric shapes into complete BIM elements to the audience.
The second day of the program was implemented on the first day, except for research articles and presenting three of the Open BIM competition in Roudaki Hall, seven lecture intervals were carried out in three halls. Speakers of this day, Hossein Khorashadi Zadeh (Director of BIM Mashhad Mall Project), Ali Rostami (Professor of John Morris University of Liverpool), Dr. Mehdi Ravanshadnia (Faculty Member of University of Science and Research), Dr. Mojtaba Maghrebi (Faculty Member of the University of Ferdowsi and Visiting Professor at the UNSW University, Australia), Dr. Ehsan Asnaashari (Expert of Capacity Building and Behtab Resilience Training Project), Mr. Saeed Dehghani (CEO of Sunco Architects INC in Canada), Dr. Hossein Taghados (Faculty of Tehran University and CEO of SPS in Canada) and Amin Borzoueian in the main hall, presented their lectures. Dr. Mohammadreza Alavi pour (Lecturer and Consultant of Construction Management and Project in the United States), Dr. Ghazal Raheb (Director of Architecture and Urbanism Research Center of Road, Housing and Urban Development), Dr. Abbasian Jahromi (Faculty of Khajeh Nasir Toosi University) and representatives from Iranian structural companies, Radin Associates of Behta and Nevis Consultant Company were also two side hall speakers.
In explaining the OPEN BIM competition, this competition is founded by the Specialized Committee of BIM awards and with the graphic strategic partnership, the idea to eliminate the monopoly on BIM for software producers and to increase interdisciplinary collaboration for all members of the construction industry in the field of BIM, which this year is the first to be hold. At the beginning of the program, Mr. Farhad Saeedi explained the goals and plans of the competition, then Dr. Mohsen Shojaeifar (International Consultant of the Building SMART Professional Certification Committee) introduced the foundations, concepts, and requirements of the competition. At the end of the project, three projects from the participants of this period presented their projects.
Finally, the closing of the conference began with the exaltation of the authors of the top article and the winners of the OPEN BIM contest. Following the program, Mr. Basiri Tehrani, Managing Director of Radin Associates Behta, as the patron of the Conference, Mr. Reza Dejagah, CEO of Lotus, Mr. Roozbeh Zahir Hashemi, CEO of Housing Investment Group, Mehdi Kheyri, CEO of Vista Faraz Bam as sponsors of Simin and Mr. Hamed Vahidi, CEO of Paydar Pey Sazeh as a supporter of bronze, was honored and thanked.
At the closing ceremony, Dr. Nematollah Torki, Head of the Management and Planning Organization of Tehran Province, gave a speech. In this speech, he pointed out the courage of the conference organizer in entering the modern topics of the building industry in the world, noting that part of his memoirs of the implementation of new projects, thanks to the conference organizers, the need for the formation of a team to implement the required infrastructures Developing projects such as the global BIM technology implementation platform emphasized. After the speech of Dr. Torki, a specialized Panel lecture on the “Mechanisms of Partnership of Policy-making Institutions, Professional Associations and Universities in Preparing and Implementing of BIM Strategic Documents in the Country” with the presentation of Hamed Manifar (Director of National Affairs Office and Building Control), Dr. Majid Farahani (Member of the Council of Tehran), Dr. Eghbal Shakeri (Secretary of Conference), Dr. Mojtaba Azizi (Faculty Member of Tarbiat Modares University and Conference manager), Mr. Tootoonchi (Program and Budget Organization) and Mr. Abolfazl Navaei (Building Business Development Company) was held. The panel was initially initiated with Dr. Eqhbal shakeri’s talks and later asked Dr. Majid Farahani to speak as the first person around the subject. Pointing to the leading private sector in the implementation of BIM technology to government institutions, he mentioned the benefits of this technology and announced that in the third phase of development of Tehran city in different points, the necessity of using new technologies in urban management has been emphasized. After Dr. Farahani, Mr. Manifar also gave a quote. Pointing to his lectures at the conference opening ceremony, he dealt with additional topics in this regard, emphasizing the role of influential institutions in BIM technology, stating the actions taken in the Ministry of Roads and Urbanism to prepare a comprehensive document of BIM development with the help of the program and budget organization. Then, Mr. Tootoonchi, concerning the fact that the approved regulations of the institution, due to lack of training, said,” In case of approval of the criteria around the BIM subject, it should be carried out in universities and training courses.” After Mr. Tootoonchi’s speech, Dr. Eghbal Shakeri was asked to approve the approval of the BIM system in the country. In the following, referring to Dr. Abolfazl Navaei and his efforts in preparing the present document and reporting the current state of BIM in Iran, he had been asked to express his opinions. At the end of the Panel, Dr. Mojtaba Azizi had a summary of payment topics and important points. These include things such as the need to consider incentives in the development of BIM technology among the main pillars of construction, the need for simplification of BIM technology deployment by creating a workgroup of national documents, supporting fundamental research in industry and universities, database and financial support in this field. Supporting seminars and conferences, training and the correct culture of BIM, serious cooperation of executive devices such as Ministry of Road, Housing and Urban Development, National Regulations Office, Municipality, City Council, etc. In the implementation of BIM and the production of documents required and shaping the BIM society in the private sector.
Finally, the conference reached its ending point by holding a basic promotion test of the engineering system with the representative of the National Regulations Office and Building Control as well as the executive team of the Scientific Association of Tarbiat Modares University. With all said, the case of the second BIM Conference Course was closed.
Luckily, the conference survey, with the satisfaction of about 91% of the attendees, had a satisfactory level of the acquiescence. It is hoped that the Conference will be effective in advancing the state of construction in the future.