Today, Day 5 of  Building Innovation 2014—The National Institute of Building Sciences Annual Conference and Expo, the conference wrapped up with a look at how academia is teaching building information modeling (BIM) to the next generation of building industry professionals. The BIM Academic Symposium: Advancing BIM in the Curriculum featured four panels totaling 12 speakers who presented papers on the various approaches educational institutions are taking to incorporate BIM into their programs.

At lunch, Brion Callori, Senior Vice President of Engineering and Research at FM Global, presented Building Innovation = Insurance Evolved, a discussion on how the insurance industry is incorporating BIM, codes and the latest technologies to reduce risk.

“It doesn’t matter the expected frequency of events; you just need one. How we help our clients understand those hazards has changed and a lot of that is technology,” said Callori. “Once you understand you’re in a hazard area, the focus should be on building resilience.”

Other scheduled activities during the day included the Council on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (CFIRE) Meeting, National Council of Governments on Building Codes and Standards (NCGBCS) Meeting, the ProjNet™ User Group Meeting and Government to Business (G2B) Meeting.

Though weather delays  and a slew of flight cancelations impeded arrivals at the beginning of the week, the Institute’s second annual conference was a success overall, with a final registration tally of more than 700 attendees.

The National Institute of Building Sciences will hold its third annual conference, Building Innovation 2015: Creating High-Performing Resilient Communities, January 12-16, 2015. Plan to be there where Science meets Design. To find out more and sign up for updates, visit www.nibs.org/conference2015. To learn about sponsorship, exhibitor and advertising opportunities, email nibs@nibs.org.