Insights into Modern Construction Management

Smart Building Technologies Students discover modern VR, AR, and CDE applications at the iBT department of the University of Innsbruck

This year, students enrolled in the dual degree program Smart Building Technologies are once again delighted to receive an invitation to visit the Department of Construction Management, Construction Engineering, and Tunneling (iBT) at the University of Innsbruck. As part of the “Structural Design” course, the 2025 cohort were once again able to gain practical insights into current developments in construction management with VR and AR technologies.

Lecturers Markus Gantner and Felix Gostner introduced the group to the department. The visit began with a general discussion on the topic of digital building models and how they can be used in practice. The students then had the opportunity to test the technical equipment of the BIM (Building Information Modeling) laboratory at iBT in detail. In addition to exploring digital building models in virtual and augmented reality, another station was set up in the BIM lab.

In addition to exploring digital building models in virtual and augmented reality, another station was set up in the BIM lab. There, students had the opportunity to explore a CDE (Common Data Environment), a shared project platform that enables integrated, model-based information and project management. Here, they were able to click through the various phases and processes of a construction project and experience first-hand how collaborative work with digital building models works in practice.

In the VR area, students immersed themselves in digital building worlds with VR glasses and were able to virtually accompany a tunnel boring machine, for example. Augmented reality was used to link real and digital worlds via their avatars. With the help of VR technology, the students were able to virtually walk through a school, a monastery, and a student residence in Innsbruck and experience how the design behaves at different times of the day.

The VR tools were used specifically to support them in placing and editing building elements in the design process. Thanks to the comprehensive introduction to CDE and the in-depth insights into BIM (Building Information Modeling) and TIM (Tunnel Information Modeling), the students are now well prepared for the upcoming tasks of their final projects.

BIM is used as an integral method to promote interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches in construction. This allows optimization potential for the life cycle of buildings to be identified early on in the project phases.

The Smart Building Technologies degree program would like to express its sincere thanks for the renewed invitation and the interesting insights into the advanced working methods of the iBT. The excursion was once again a valuable contribution to the practice-oriented education of the students, and we look forward to further cooperation in the coming years.