4.0 building design expert 

Having joined Netherlands-based Bosman Bedrijven, part of VINCI Energies, in 2021, Tjerk Alewijn created his own role as R&D coordinator BIM. His work involves using several available tools and standards, and in the near future artificial intelligence to develop an intelligent, autonomous building modelling system.

Tjerk Alewijn is responsible for maintaining and designing the building modelling system within Bosman Bedrijven, which will be managed entirely by artificial intelligence (AI) in the future. R&D coordinator BIM at Bosman Bedrijven, a Dutch VINCI Energies business unit breaking new ground in Building Information Modelling (BIM), the 33-year-old engineer has been working on this ambitious project which seeks to take the way of working adopted by the company back in 2015 to a new level. 

“The BIM way of working, which is using Autodesk Revitas a tool, was originally launched to upgrade the method for managing and developing building construction projects.” explains Tjerk. “Now, with data and AI, the aim is to make the model more intelligent and effective. By minimising human intervention, we can optimise workflow management in building design and thus considerably reduce turnaround times, costs and the environmental impact of projects.”  

The sustainable development dimension of his job is a recurring theme for the engineer. “AI will eventually help save energy by reducing the time spent on the computer design of a BIM model to a few hours or even minutes. The process currently mobilises several people at their computers sometimes for more than three years, depending on the size of the project.” he points out. “It will eventually also help save raw materials by quickly being able to optimise the design and use of materials within the BIM models.”