Hasan Kalyoncu University (HKU) and BIM4TURKEY, a platform affiliated with the Building Information Modelling and Management Association, jointly organised the Digital Construction Summit to draw attention to the importance of digitalisation in the construction sector and to raise awareness of it. Representatives of leading international companies operating in the sector shared their experiences with students at the summit.
The Digital Construction Summit, held at the Hasan Kalyoncu University Congress and Culture Centre and attracting great interest, was attended as speakers and panellists by Dr. Mehmet Sakin, Faculty Member of the HKU Department of Civil Engineering and Chair of the Board of BIM4TURKEY; Hanifi Baran, Business Development Manager at BSI; Barış Canpolat, BIM Manager at Tekfen Engineering; Yalçın Arslan, Engineering Manager at HILTI; Hamit Uğraş, Country Manager of FND; Ertuğrul Aksoy, Member of the Board of BIM4TURKEY; Mert Öğüt, BIM Manager at IGA; Belgin Kafalı Çalışkan, BIM Manager at Kalyon Holding; Gamze Çiçekoğlu, BIM Manager at Gülermak Nurol Makyol Metro Construction Joint Venture; Ahmet Kutalmış Koçoğlu, BIM Manager at the Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality Department of Transportation; and Bora Sayın, CEO of Solvotek.
THE INTEGRATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES IS IMPORTANT
Emphasising that it is very important for students to meet frequently with experts in the sector, both for effective transfer of experience and for their own development, HKU Rector Prof. Dr. Türkay Dereli said in his opening speech at the programme: “Today, the construction sector is also taking its share of the concept of digital transformation in the global arena. The need to integrate new technologies into the construction sector grows with each passing day. Appropriate approaches must be used to increase the productivity and efficiency of construction projects, which involve increasingly complex systems and management structures. Building Information Modelling, known more widely in Türkiye by its English abbreviation BIM, comes first among them. We are a university that took the lead by establishing Türkiye’s first Built Environment Application and Research Centre, and with this programme that we are organising with our stakeholders, we aim to contribute to the construction sector as well.” he said.
BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING IS THE KEY TO DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
At the opening of the Digital Construction Summit, information about BIM was given by Dr. Mehmet Sakin, Chair of the Board of BIM4TURKEY (https://bim4turkey.com/tr), who said: “We are together at the Gaziantep Digital Construction Summit. ‘Building Information Modelling’ (BIM), rendered in Turkish as Yapı Bilgi Modelleme, is known and actively used as the most important key to digital transformation in the construction sector. BIM is a digital life cycle process for a built or to-be-built asset, spanning the creation, transfer, archiving and reuse of information and even its demolition. While the BIM concept aims to enable information transfer among professionals in the sector and to create an efficient working environment throughout this life cycle, it makes information accessible through technology in the office, on the construction site and in all business processes. At the same time, it is a common language for stakeholders in the digital transformation of the construction sector and the leading concept of the construction sector in a developing world.”
Within the scope of the Digital Construction Summit, current issues in the sector were addressed under the main headings ‘Design Processes with BIM’ and ‘Digital Technologies and Field Applications’. The event, which began with promotional films and opening speeches, continued throughout the day in different sessions with the presentations of the panellists.
