Civil Engineering June 2022 | Vol 30 No 5

46 June 2022 Civil Engineering I n order to understand the applica- tions of BIM, digital twinning and smart cities in the civil infrastructure industry, we first need to understand them individually. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a concept that was envisaged by engi- neer and inventor Douglas C. Engelbart in 1962. It led to the development of the first and closest documented BIM working prototype, called “Building Description System”, by Prof. Charles M. Eastman (known as the father of BIM). Fast forward to today and BIM is described as an intelligent 3D model- based process that gives professionals the insight and tools to efficiently plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. BIM has become a pivotal bridging component in facilitating the convergence of manufacturing and construction, offering innovations such as prefabrication, or a term I like using, “Lego construction”, with BIM processes and technologies resulting in a BIM model that is a digital replica of an asset. Internationally, the BIM process and associated data structures are best defined in the ISO 19650 and 12006 series of standards. ENTER THE DIGITAL TWIN A common misconception is that BIM equals digital twins (DTs). This is due to the words “digital replica”. The concept of DTs was proposed by computer scientist David Gelernter in 1991 in his book Mirror Worlds . Just over a decade later, Dr Michael Grieves was credited with the first use of DTs in manu- facturing. His formal announcement of the DT software concept in 2002 at a Society of Manufacturing Engineers conference in Troy, Michigan, proposed the DT as the conceptual model underlying product lifecycle management. Thereafter, in 2010, the first practical definition of DT originated from NASA, endeavouring to improve the physical model simulation of their spacecraft, with NASA’s John Vickers coining the phrase “digital twin” in a 2010 Roadmap Report. The BIM model plays a foundational role in a DT, serving as a static digital rep- resentation of an asset, with the internet of things (IoT) needed to transform the static BIM model to a virtual, dynamic, real-time asset (i.e. a DT). A DT is not possible without the integration of IoT. An IoT ecosystem can consist of artificial intelligence, machine learning, software analytics with special network graphs, as well as web-enabled smart devices that use embedded systems, such as processors, sensors, and communication hardware, to collect, send and act on data they acquire from their environments (Industry 4.0). THE NEXT STEP: SMART CITIES With a DT now established, it can be utilised and applied in the pursuit of smart cities. I nformat i on technology BIM, digital twinning and smart cities – a quick rundown Shuaib Yunos BIM Technical Specialist: Civil Infrastructure Baker Baynes shuaib@bakerbaynes.com Over the past three years, professionals in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) and product design and manufacturing (PDM) industries have increasingly heard the words BIM, digital twinning and smart cities. But what do these words mean, what do they represent, and what do they have to do with civil engineering?