DKS Information Consulting, LLC / Dana K. Smith

AiC History (2006 - 2024)

The AiC was closed down in December 2024 after 18 years of service to the BIM education community. 


While we were functioning, the following existed:


Vision:  Creating a collaborative educational environment that integrates all aspects of the facility life cycle so that graduates have a comprehensive, broad-based understanding of the facilities industry while identifying a narrow focus area within which to specialize.


Mission: To identify and act upon issues related to transforming facilities education to meet the needs of a collaborative life cycle-focused facilities industry in the information age.


Strategy: The initial strategy will focus on six areas:

1.       Establish a steering group of knowledgeable educators to coordinate the coalition's efforts.

2.       Expand the academic coalition to include multiple disciplines from various educational institutions that are engaged in educating future facility practitioners.

3.       Organize and manage the publication of articles to educate the facilities industry in multiple venues. Develop a juried online journal by invitation based on submissions from the annual meeting.

4.       Coordinate an academic symposium once a year to present the most notable academic approaches to transforming the facilities industry.

5.       Develop a compendium of research being conducted at colleges and universities and publish references. 

6.       Be the primary source identifying the common Knowledge, Skills, and Personal Attributes/Abilities for BIM based on ISO 17024 and be recognized as the basis for future typical coursework worldwide for providing BIM education and the foundation of certification.


Cost: There is currently no cost to join the AIC, although a fee will be charged to attend the annual conference to cover the event's expenses.


Affiliations: We have links with buildingSMART International and the BIM Forum, but we are not directly associated with either at this time. We are an independent organization of educators, subject matter experts, and industry partners dedicated to advancing teaching methods related to BIM. We offer no certificates or credentialing, although we are creating the foundations for both. 


Symposium: We hold an annual symposium in the March-April timeframe. The 2018 event was scheduled to take place in Orlando during the last week of March. The symposium will be our 12th such event. The two-day event dedicates its first day to juried papers delivered by educators from around the world. The second day focused on current projects, such as the development of a Body of Knowledge (BOK) for collaborative education, specifically in the area of Building Information Modeling.


Participation: Please get in touch with Deke Smith at deke@dksic.net if you wish to be kept informed of the monthly meetings and receive additional information about the symposium.


The Following United States Universities were represented:
Arizona State University                                                                     Brigham Young University
Carnegie Mellon University                                                               Colorado State University
East Carolina University                                                                      Fresno State University                                     
Georgia Southern University                                                             Georgia Tech
Illinois Institute of Technology                                                          Illinois State University
John Brown University                                                                        Louisiana State University
McHenry County College                                                                   New York University
North Carolina A&T University                                                          Northern Kentucky University
Penn State University                                                                         Philadelphia University      
Shoreline Community College                                                           Stanford University
University of Alaska                                                                             University of Arkansas
University of Buffalo                                                                           University of Cincinnati                     
University of  Houston                                                                        University of Florida
University of Nevada - Las Vegas                                                      University of New Mexico
University of North Carolina - Charlotte                                         University of Oklahoma     
University of Pittsburg                                                                        University of Southern California
University of Southern Mississippi                                                   University of Texas – Austin
University of Texas - San Antonio                                                     University of Washington
Virginia Tech                                                                                         Washington State University
Weber State University                                                                      Wentworth Institute of Technology
Western Kentucky University                                                            Western Michigan University
Woodbury University                                                                          Worcester Polytechnic Institute                                      

The following International Institutions Currently Involved:
Dublin City University                                                                         Dublin Institute of Technology
École de technologie supérieure                                                     Harbin Institute of Technology
Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia                                 Loughborough University
Norwegian University of Life Sciences                                            Poznan University of Technology
Queensland University of Technology                                             Sungkyunkwan University
Trinity College                                                                                      University of Salford
United Arab Emirates University                                                      Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)                                               University of Huddersfield
University of Indonesia                                                                       University of Liverpool      
University of Maribor, Slovenia

Representatives from the following companies have participated:
Caddell Construction                                          JE Dunn Construction Company                       Design BIM Group
United Mechanical, Inc.                                     Eurosia™                                                                Austin Commercial
University of Colorado Health                           DPR Construction                                                Morris Architects
Clark Construction Group                                  Jacobs                                                                    Stanford Healthcare
O'Neil & Manion Architects P.A.                       PenBay Solutions                                                 Alvine and Associates
Intemation                                                            Southland Industries                                           HOK
The Whiting-Turner Contracting                      Dvirka & Bartilucci Engineers                            The BIM Factory
Company                                                               and Architects
Washington State University -                          ProdigyAE Inc. Philippines |                              Autodesk
Facilities Services, Administration                    3DProdigy Singapore | 5DProdigy Philippines