"We are planting a seed into the minds of young people that can be beneficial in the future," says Pawel Gorski, who usually drives the digitalization of the Polish construction industry as a BIM Manager for Xella Polska. But sometimes he makes an excellent guest speaker at Polish high schools and universities, demonstrating processes, technology and people related to digitalization. "The current educational system in Poland at university level doesn't always provide up-to-date information on new technologies. Digitalization is progressing rapidly, and it is not easy to keep track of everything that is new in this area," knows the BIM manager.
That is why he gives young people interesting insights into an area in which he is a professional: BIM stands for Building Information Modeling and is a working method for the networked and digital planning of buildings that digitally combines all relevant data in a 3D model. Over the past year, Pawel has conducted several training sessions in Poland on the use of BIM.

Changing the mindset of young people

"Although BIM is already an established technology, students in a typical engineering education do not get much exposure to it until they start their first job. Showing them the possibilities of what can be achieved and how it works in technologically advanced companies, such as Xella, can be an eye-opener", Gorski thinks. "It pushes them to explore it and, most importantly, change their mindset." This has been demonstrated, for example, by the series of innovative training courses "BIM in multidisciplinary coordination" held at the training center of the Silka plant in IŁawa.

“It is the first training of its kind in Poland aimed at technical universities, which combines digital design technologies, including BIM, with practical bricklaying”, explains Wojciech Łasut, Director of the Technical Sales Support Department of Xella Polska and the man behind the idea. It is a joint initiative of Xella Polska and the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. The University has received an EU grant for the education of students related to the construction industry. It was supported in the organization by Evol Training Centre from Olsztyn, a company selected in a tender.

BIM education could not be more practical

During the four-day course, students create a 3D model of a building, which is then transferred to virtual reality and viewed through HoloLens glasses. Once on the construction site, students can try their hand at building a pre-designed structure, using a mini-crane to assemble walls from large-format blocks. "We bring the design to life. The final step is to scan the existing demonstration building, process the point cloud and create a 3D model. This gives the participants a broad view of the entire lifecycle of a building in a digital context, using our materials," Paweł Górski, BIM Manager at Xella Poland, explains. He teaches BIM theory and design during the training sessions. Participants also visit the production line at the Iława plant to see how Silka and Silka Tempo blocks are produced.

The training courses are addressed to the senior years of technical universities – students of construction, surveying, environmental engineering, and related faculties. “These are the future structural designers or site managers. With this training they learn to design in our construction systems, get to know practical examples from real people who do this work every day - a welcome change from the theoretical approaches in the university lecture hall.”, Director Łasut is convinced. BIM manager Gorski adds: “That's why our training courses are so popular with students, because they get a first, detailed glimpse of what they are going to face in their professional lives.”