Dr Kay Rogage shares her views on Smart Connected Buildings

Dr Kay Rogage is the Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellow in Digital Living for the BIM Academy at Northumbria University. We spoke with Kay about her role within the Academy, as well as her passion for new thinking and innovation within the digital build environment.

 

What is your current role?

Applied Computer Scientist in the department of Computer Information Sciences where I develop research and deliver teaching around machine learning, IoT, 3D Visualisations, Smart Cities, VR, AR and data augmentation as applied to the built environment.

What does BIM mean to you and how do you use/implement digital construction methodology on your projects?

Predominantly I work with BIM as a technical platform to enable interoperability between software and data throughout the supply chain from design through to operation. For example, the project I will be presenting at BIM Show Live, introduces the work we did on linking real-time sensor data to building models, to better understand the way tenants use buildings in a social housing context, to enable landlords to better manage their building performance and reduce maintenance costs.

When did you first start working with BIM?

I started out developing building specification software for NBS in 2001.

Why should BIM Show Live visitors attend your talk?

Smart Connected Buildings is a perfect demonstration on how BIM can be utilised to enhance the performance of a building in operation. It provides a practical approach to understanding the information requirements of IoT sensor infrastructures that can work with BIM models to better understand buildings in use.

What technologies in the AEC industry currently impress you the most?

I’m all over machine learning at the moment for supporting decision making and data augmentation throughout the building lifecycle. I’m really excited to be working on a new Innovate UK funded project looking at analysing real-time sensor data on plant machinery to better manage onsite equipment during the construction phase. We have so much data now it is time to start thinking about how we can use it more intelligently.

What do you think will be the next big thing in BIM and digital construction?

I have my eye on a couple of start-ups developing some exciting projects around block chain technology for smart contracts; I am super excited to see how that technology works out.

 

Kay’s seminar, ‘Smart Connected Buildings: A 3D data visualisation dashboard using BIM and IoT for monitoring building performance‘, is on Day 1 of BIM Show Live at 12:00noon, Wednesday 27 February.