NBIMS-US Contributor Robert “Bob” Smith, PhD, Dies

Active member and committee participant Robert “Bob” Smith, PhD, passed away in his sleep on October 31. Bob was a member of the Institute’s buildingSMART alliance™ (bSa) and participated actively on the National BIM Standard-United States® (NBIMS-US™) Project Committee. As a volunteer, he freely contributed his knowledge and insights on the Implementation Subcommittee for NBIMS-US™ V2 and the Terminology Subcommittee for NBIMS-US™ V3. Bob co-authored and sponsored the Building-Life Cycle BIM Ontology Project, which was approved by the bSa Executive Committee.

“Bob was the consummate scholar as well as a gentle and accessible person. He was intellectually active and contributed to various knowledge communities and projects until the day that he passed. More importantly, as a giving and compassionate person, he mentored others as an educator—imparting research skills and project counseling. He enjoyed an intellectually rigorous dialog on many topics within his expertise as well as learning new bodies of knowledge. He, truly, was a trans-disciplinary scholar,” said Lamar Henderson, Chair, NBIMS-US Implementation Subcommittee.

Smith received his PhD at the Graduate School of Management at the University of California at Irvine in 1977. He taught and researched in the areas of Operations Management-Logistics, MIS-Expert Systems, Health-Care-Hazmat Rapid Response Management and Enterprise Strategy. Smith retired as Professor Emeritus from the California State University and continued his efforts to bridge the academic and enterprise gaps between knowledge-based systems and practical business solutions.

Passionate about the environment, Smith spent many years as the Chairman of the Environmental Sustainability Board for the city of Huntington Beach, California; where he and his colleagues advised the City Council on resiliency, environmental and sustainability threats as well as energy efficiency opportunities. He and his wife, Suzanne, were active members of Residents for Responsible Desalination (www.r4rd.org). Smith also had an interest in the evolving roles of ontology research and ontology tool builders as they address economic and organizational challenges.

“Those of us who were his colleagues and friends will miss his wise counsel, intellect and endless phone discussions. In the final analysis, Robert ‘Bob’ Smith was a gentleman,” said Henderson.