“BIM is a critical stepping stone that moves architecture, engineering and construction towards exciting technological developments,” said award-winning Iraqi BIM specialist Hadeel Safaa Saadoon. “These developments include generative design based on computational or parametric design… Other advances in BIM, like augmented reality and virtual reality, have allowed us to actually put clients and end-users into the virtual building as part of the design process.”
Based in Coventry, England, Saadoon has rightfully enjoyed countless opportunities that have taken her across the world. Having graduated from the architecture department at the University of Technology in Baghdad in 2013 and later completing her Master’s Degree in construction management and BIM from Coventry University in 2016, Saadoon’s impressive educational background nearly pales in comparison to her rapid career progression, which has been largely acknowledged by various awards programmes, like Tamayouz Excellence Award, Irish BIM Innovation Awards, and most recently, the Inspire Awards.
After her studies, she worked in the UK as a research intern of BIM, and in 2016, she worked as a KTP Associate of BIM at Queen’s University Belfast and the McAvoy Group. Currently at Coventry University Estates Department – a department concerned with the campus’s buildings development and maintenance programme – Saadoon now works on implementing BIM protocols to facilitate the estates department services.
“Building information modelling is essential in managing information from inception throughout the life-cycle of projects and onto facilities management,” she said. “I am involved in two of the core functions of the estates development and O&M, and helping our teams follow the protocols of the UK Government BIM Level 2 Mandate, which helps ensure the graphical and information output is consistently structured.”
She added, “This type of work is different than architectural design, and I enjoy it very much because I have the ability to work with new technologies and apply new processes that make buildings smarter and more efficient.”
Recently joining the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technology in the UK, Saadoon is now a fully-qualified chartered architectural technologist – as well as a chartered manager with CMI.
So what’s next? Saadoon sees herself working in the construction industry, while still engaging in research and teaching. Looking to learn more about sustainable design and construction, she would like to see herself progress into a senior management position and “keep leading the implementation of new technologies in construction and facilities management.”
“I think BIM technology will progress even further to offer more possibilities to help us design more efficient buildings,” she said, “and create unique structural and architectural solutions.”