Students of South China University of Technology learn Vertex BD from university alumnus

The South China University of Technology in Guangzhou has become the latest tertiary educator to host a Vertex Building Design (BD) product demonstration. With China manufacturing roll form machines for local and global markets, and Vertex BD being the program of choice for fabricators and roll form manufacturers, it stands to reason why universities are seeking to engage with Vertex to give their students the edge needed to get ahead in the industry. Late October, a former undergrad of the university and now employee of Vertex CAD/PDM Systems Pty Ltd, Dr Anshun He presented a two-and-a-half-hour seminar to two online classes.

In the seminar, Dr He introduced students to the idea of cold form light gauge steel (LGS) residential and commercial building. The advantages and challenges of using LGS were also listed. Dr He then expanded the topic to the history of LGS building systems and how they were developed in Australia, the US, Japan and China over the last few decades. This was then followed by a general comparison of detailing habits and innovations in Australia and China by showing typical case studies. Dr He also touched on the concept of building information modelling (BIM) and how Vertex BD can benefit the work flow of LGS building.

In the second half of the seminar, Dr He demonstrated in Vertex BD the whole process of designing a typical two-story LGS residential building. The students were particularly interested in the engineering aspect of the software, including truss engineering, finite element analysis (FEA) and wall bracing design against wind and earthquakes.

Professor Hongwei Ma, who helped organise the seminar, said students found the demonstrated modelling exercise in Vertex BD very intuitive and were pleasantly surprised that they could directly engineer the frames from the model they built. Some students, Professor Ma said, were planning to use Vertex BD for their course projects. Subsequently, the university and Vertex are planning a similar style seminar an annual event.