When lecturer Alexander Schreyer learned about Google’s “Build Your Campus in 3-D Contest,” he decided it was a good fit for a class project. “In my Advanced Topics in Computer Aided Design (CAD) class, I always assign one big project. This fit the bill.”
Schreyer, a faculty member in the Building Materials and Wood Technology and Architecture and Design programs, had his students create three-dimensional computer models of the buildings on campus for Google Earth. The computer terrain viewer provides users with a virtual view of the earth compiled from satellite images, aerial photography, and global information systems data.

The students modeled approximately 100 buildings in Google SketchUp, a program that allows users to create the 3-D shape of a building. The contest was designed to promote the creation of new and innovative 3-D content using SketchUp. Digital photographs of the real structures were taken and applied to the visible faces of the buildings as textures. The final step was to “georeference” the buildings by positioning them according to latitude, longitude, and altitude before exporting the models to Google Earth.

“My class consisted of 20 students, each choosing any three buildings on campus to model.” Schreyer explained. “Approximately 60 buildings were done during the semester with an additional 40 completed later by students Guy R. O’Donnell, Jason P. Miller, and Diane M. Verdi.

“Not only did this project help the students learn CAD, but the 3-D models are currently being used for landscape design studios and in the development of a walking tour of the Amherst campus,” said Schreyer. “There are so many applications for the data, such as incoming students choosing a dorm to live in before they arrive, campus planning to see how a proposed building will fit into the campus landscape, and probably things we’ve yet to think of.”