BIM-M Symposium announces opening speaker Words: David BiggsThe BIM-M Initiative announces that Mr. Will Ikerd PE, CM-BIM, LEED AP will be the opening speaker at the BIM-M 2015 Symposium on April 9, 2015. Mr. Ikerd is a principal at IKERD Consulting, Dallas TX, an internationally recognized consulting group specializing in using Building Information Modeling (BIM) enabled Virtual Design and Construction (VDC). He serves as an expert consultant in design and construction cases involving BIM and VDC processes. He currently chairs both the Designers Forum of the AGC’s national BIM Forum and the Structural Engineering Institute’s national BIM Committee. He has won the “Best Speaker” award twice from the International Structures conference, the 2010 Structural Engineering Magazine’s “Top 10 Leaders in Structural Engineering”, Glass Magazine’s 2009 “Top 30 under 40” , and Building Design & Construction’s in 2011 “Top 40 Under 40”. Mr. Ikerd’s presentation will address the 2014 Level of Development Specification. The future of masonry construction is being defined now with BIM and the work of the Masonry BIM initiative with important trends develop today that will be import for all stake holders in the masonry industry moving forward. This presentation will highlight level of development (LOD) of masonry models at the different stages in a building lifecycle: design, construction and ownership. The discussion will include the 2014 joint AIA & AGC BIM Forum Building Information Modeling (BIM) Level of Development (LOD) specification that defines models on a scale of 100 to 500. The presentation will cover how masonry models are used by architects, mechanical engineers, construction managers, sub-contractors, and fabricators. Most importantly, the presentation will discuss how each of these stakeholders uses masonry models differently and need different content. Practical examples of model development issues will be shown, along with effective approaches to resolve the challenges of using the BIM Forum LOD Specification as an early BIM planning tool for masonry construction. At the end of this session, you will be able to: Describe what LOD is. Identify who LOD should be used on your project. Describe good practices for BIM models when working with teams on collaborative projects. The BIM-M 2015 Symposium representing masonry within the A/E/C industry will be held in St. Louis, MO on April 9-10, 2015. The Symposium is open to architects, engineers, mason contractors, masonry manufacturers and suppliers, industry leaders as well software developers and vendors. All presentations will address the latest advances in Building Information Modeling for Masonry (BIM-M). For more information and registration, see masoncontractors.com.