Online Session Locator

Session Description

Ticketed event: SUNDAY WORKSHOP: Introducing VADERs: Virtual reality-based discipline exploration rotations to Introduce Architectural Engineering Subdisciplines to first and second-year students - $5.00 advanced registration and $15.00 on site registration
Virtual/Augmented Reality-Based Discipline Exploration Rotations (VADERs) is a series of educational modules designed to provide engaging virtual explorations of the subdisciplines within Architectural Engineering/Construction Management (AE/CM) degrees. These degrees are offered in various arrangements across universities in the United States. This five-year, NSF-funded project aims to offer exploratory rotations, inspired by medical school rotations, to first- and second-year students. The goal is to help them make more informed decisions about their AE subdiscipline specializations in the later years of their degree program. The first-year module, VADER-1, also addresses AE integration by prompting students to make design choices while considering the impact of each decision on different subdiscipline outcomes.

The workshop will present the theoretical framework utilized to develop the modules and will include a hands-on experience portion for the participants to experience the modules. Participants must bring their own laptops and headphones to experience the browser-based VR modules. A few iPADs preloaded with the AR app will be used to experience the AR module.

Speakers

1. Ece Erdogmus

   Clemson University

   Ece Erdogmus is the Founding Dean of Clemson University’s College of Architecture, Art and Construction. Prior to Clemson, she served as Chair and Professor in Georgia Tech’s School of Building Construction and held faculty leadership roles at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Architectural Engineering from Penn State and a B.Arch. from Middle East Technical University, and is a licensed civil/structural engineer in Virginia. Her research spans masonry design, sustainable and resilient low-cement materials, historic masonry assessment using NDT and modeling, and AR/VR applications in STEM and AEC education. Erdogmus has published over 110 peer-reviewed works and led major projects funded by NSF, NCMA, NDOT, and NCPTT. She is an active leader in ASCE, TMS, AEI, and ULI—currently serving on TMS’s board of governors and chairing key masonry code committees. A Fellow of The Masonry Society, she has been recognized among Engineering Georgia’s “50 Notable Women in Engineering,” WLI’s “Change Makers,” Civil + Structural Engineer’s Rising Stars, and received AEI’s Outstanding Architectural Engineering Educator of the Year award.

2. Prof. Heidi A. Diefes-Dux

   University of Nebraska - Lincoln

   Heidi Diefes-Dux is a Professor of Engineering Education at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, specializing in engineering education research and the development of evidence-based instructional practices. A long-standing leader in the field, she focuses on problem-solving, modeling, and the design of learning environments that support diverse learners in engineering. Diefes-Dux has contributed extensively to national engineering education initiatives, authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, and helped shape curriculum and pedagogical innovation across undergraduate engineering programs. She is based in the College of Engineering in Lincoln, Nebraska.