Schreyer speaks at the 2011 Google Geo User Summit United States

Alexander Schreyer, lecturer in Building and Construction Technology, presented two of his recent UMass-related projects at the first Google Geo User Summit held in the United States where he was an invited speaker. The event took place at the Googleplex (Google's headquarters) in Mountain View, California. His presentations covered: The student-created 3D model of all UMass buildings, which is currently viewable in Google Earth (browse to the "01003" ZIP-code and turn on the "3D Buildings" layer). A crowdsourcing application that lets people submit their favorite places on the UMass campus using Google Maps: "My Favorite Places" (http://www.umass.edu/myfavoriteplaces) You can view his presentations and learn more about the event on his website....
Read More

New course in Fall 2010: NRC 597DA – Building Information Data and Analysis with the use of GIS

Students interested in Computer Aided Design (CAD), Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) should consider this 2-credit course to be offered on Tuesdays from 5:30-7:30. The instructor, Walt Jaslanek, is the GIS manager in a large engineering firm in Holyoke. This is a great opportunity to learn from a practitioner doing this kind of work for a living. NRC 597DA - Building Information Data and Analysis with the use of GIS Abstract: The integration of GIS with traditonal CAD and BIM (Building Information Modeling) comes from a need to use building-specific information in a bigger spatial context for queries and GIS analysis. Geospatial information can be used in future urban planning techniques when it comes to designing and planning new buildings and act as a management system for associated data. When used together effectively, computer-aided design (CAD) and geospatial information systems (GIS) can streamline decision making and reducing inefficiencies in the design, planning, and production of critical operations in the engineering workplace....
Read More

UMass in 3D on YouTube

Google just published a video on the topic "Why do people model for Google Earth?". UMass and Amherst are featured prominently in it. All of the three-dimensional models of the UMass campus buildings were made by students from BMATWT/BCT in NRC, LARP and Architecture at UMass. The models were created as part of Alexander Schreyer's course BMATWT 420 "Advanced topics in CAD". You can watch the video below: ...
Read More

BCT Students Model UMass for Google Earth

Students: Various from BMATWT 497C plus students from Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP) as well as Architecture+Design (A+D) Faculty Sponsor: Alexander Schreyer Project Type: Class & extracurricular Year: 2007-2010 A group of students from the UMass programs of Building Materials and Wood Technology (BMATWT), Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP) as well as Architecture+Design (A+D) under the supervision of Alexander Schreyer, Faculty member in Building Materials and Wood Technology and Architecture+Design, have created a 3-dimensional model of almost all buildings on the Amherst campus of the University of Massachusetts. In total, approximately 100 buildings were modeled in Google SketchUp, a freely available 3-dimensional CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software and then exported to Google Earth, a free GIS-based (Geographic Information System) terrain-viewer. The campus buildings will be available in Google Earth through the “3D Buildings” layer later this summer. This 3D-model can be used for visualization of new campus planning, visitor orientation, “dorm previews” for incoming students and much more.The process of creating the digital models involved first the drawing of...
Read More