UA Little Rock dedicates building modeling lab in honor of AGC Arkansas

The Associated General Contractors (AGC) of Arkansas has donated $30,000 to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to establish a fund to support the Building Information Modeling (BIM) Lab for construction management and engineering students.

The BIM Lab is located in the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering in the Donaghey College of Engineering and Information Technology. The fund will be used to provide new technology and equipment for the lab and to prepare students for careers in the high-tech construction industry.

“In the 21st century design workplace, contractors, architects, and engineers increasingly use building information modeling to collaborate over distances using virtual collaboration technology,” said UA Little Rock Chancellor Christina Drale.

“With generous support from the Associated General Contractors of Arkansas, UA Little Rock now has a state-of-the-art BIM laboratory that will let students experience a global working environment on campus and gain access to a facility that reflects current industry technology,” she said.

Renovating the BIM Lab has become a community project for the construction industry in central Arkansas. Several businesses and UA Little Rock alumni have donated materials to renovate the lab. The donors include CertaPro Painters of Central Arkansas, Moix Carpets, and Platinum Drywall.

“AGC has a longtime history with UA Little Rock in many different facets,” said Roger Marlin, immediate past president of AGC Arkansas and CEO of Hydco, Inc. “Last year, going into my presidency, I wanted to make sure we did something that was monumental in the BIM Lab. I really thought this was an area where we could help the university.”