Short and brief
As part of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Institute of Numerical Methods and Informatics in Civil Engineering (IIB) is engaged in teaching and research for the study programs Civil Engineering, Geodesy and Geoinformation, Environmental Engineering, Computational Engineering,Business Administration / Industrial Engineering – specialising in Civil Engineering, Energy Science and Engineering, Computer Science and other interdisciplinary contents in the field of Informatics in Civil Engineering. With the increasing digitalization and the new methods, processes and technologies associated with it, we are engaged in topics from the fields of Building Information Modeling, energy and resource efficiency of the built environment as well as safety and security research.
An overview of current topics and offerings can be found on the teaching and research pages linked below.
History
The institute has its academic origins with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heinz Schwarz († 01.02.2020), who was head of the Department of Information Processing in Construction (German: “Informationsverarbeitung im Bauwesen”) at the former Institute for Construction Management from 1970 to 1990. In conjunction with the appointment of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr.-Ing. E.h. Udo F. Meißner as department head the present-day Institute of Numerical Methods and Informatics in Civil Engineering (IIB) was founded in 1990. Subsequently, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Rüppel was appointed to the Institute in 1998 and has been head of the institute since the retirement of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Udo Meißner in 2005.
From 1993 to 2005 Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Math. Ioan David represented the subject of Groundwater Modelling and Computational Fluid Dynamics at the Institute.
Extracurricular activities
The Institute also has a lot to offer besides the daily business. The supportive association ("Förderverein des Instituts für Numerische Methoden und Informatik im Bauwesen der Technischen Universität Darmstadt e.V. “) helps with events such as topical evenings, lectures and talks by representatives from the practice, offers support for publications and promotes scientific work and contacts in and around the Institute.
A highlight is the annual retreat (dt. ”Bergseminar"), where active, former and future members of the Institute strive for an intensive scientific discourse for a few days at ever changing locations. Here, too, we have always been able to count on the support of the Förderverein.
In addition, a regular get-together is held periodically, where former and active team members, students and friends of the Institute come together to exchange thoughts and ideas about the latest developments, reminisce about the old times and simply spend time together. From barbecues and bowling to visits to the climbing forest, there is plenty of variety. Newcomers are always welcome!
The Institute's Christmas party in December offers anther opportunity to chat with old and new friends and acquaintances and let the year come to an end together.
Featured memberships
We participate in numerous initiatives and associations related to our teaching and research content. As such the Institute, represented by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Rüppel, is a member of the German Association of Computing in Civil Engineering (GACCE). The aim of the working group is to define a common ideal design and representation of computing in civil engineering in consultation with all relevant fields of civil engineering, taking into account current developments and experiences from the building industry. The BIM-Cluster-Hessen e.V. concerns itself at state level with the digitization of the construction industry and Building Information Modeling as the currently dominating topic of the construction industry from an economic and political point of view. The association buildingSMART Deutschland e.V. (German chapter of buildingSMART International) is concerned with the further development and standardization of vendor-neutral, open information exchange in the field of Building Information Modeling and is driving numerous efforts towards Open BIM. The Profile Area Internet and Digitization at the TU Darmstadt researches the developments, influences and potentials of the Internet and digitization on industry and society and the new services, production and work forms associated with them.
