Makhmalbaf Receives UTA CARES Innovation Grant

Dr. Atefe Makhmalbaf was awarded a UTA CARES Innovation Grant for her project, “Development, Adoption, and Assessment of OER to Enhance Building Information Modeling Courses.” Makhmalbaf, Assistant Professor in UTA’s School of Architecture, received the grant to develop open educational resources (OER) for building information modeling courses offered by the School of Architecture and the Department of Civil Engineering.

"Building Information Modeling (BIM) is one of the most recent developments influencing the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry," Makhmalbaf said. "BIM provides the opportunity to improve poor communication and information sharing among different stakeholders such as building owners, architects, engineers, builders, and public authorities. By developing and adopting an open education platform for Architecture and Civil Engineering students, I plan to provide students with adequate, coherent, consistent, and cost-saving educational resources."

The UTA CARES Grant Program, managed by UTA Libraries, helps educators adopt and create OER, which are free course materials that are licensed so others can revise and reuse the content. When it is piloted in Fall 2020, the OER will save UTA students enrolled in architecture, civil engineering, and construction management courses approximately $5,800.