Students Develop Real-World Web and Pervasive Computing Systems

Charles C. TappertSchool of Computer Science and Information

SystemsPace University

Real World Projects 2001-2

Total of 18 Projects with 64 Students Average of 3.6 students per project

Two courses in M.S. Computer Science Program Software Eng 2-Sem Capstone: 12 Projects/45

Students Pervasive Computing elective: 6 Projects/19 Students

Students Build Systems for Real Customers Within university – various departments Local community

Student Team Make-up Architect-Designer One or two Implementers Quality Officer Coordinator-Liaison (usually team

leader)

(Note: several team member functions can be combined for small teams )

Team Responsibilities Meet once a week in addition to

independent project work Work as a unit – for example,

communication (including e-mail) between team and customer, or team and instructor, should be done as a group or through the team leader

Team Member Changes Team members usually stay together

for the duration of the course Teams sometimes reconstituted due

to problems with student class schedules, personality conflicts, unforeseen changes in the needs of the project, etc.

We might experiment with planned team rotation on projects

Customer Affiliations 2001-2

Pace University School of Computer Science and Information

Systems Lubin School of Business Lienhard School of Nursing Department of Information Technology Doctor of Professional Studies in Computing

Program Office of Planning, Assessment, Research, and

Academic Support Outside Organizations

Northern Westchester Hospital Psychology Department at SUNY New Paltz IBM T.J. Watson Research Center

Types of Systems 2001-2

10 Web interface to backend database client/server systems

4 Medical application systems 3 VoiceXML and InkXML systems 1 Cluster/grid computing system

Web Interface to Backend DB Client/Server Systems

Online Course Survey System Project Group Assignment System Test Item Reliability Analyzer Genealogy Web Application Dean’s Communication System

Web Interface to Backend DB Client/Server Systems (cont)

PC Maintenance/Tracking System Doctor of Professional Studies

Website Handwriting Forgery Quiz System Rare Coin Grading System User Verification System

Medical Application Systems

Nurse Information System (NIS) A physical assessment application on a

proprietary device running an obsolete OS was ported to J2ME on the Palm OS handhelds

A C++ conduit allowed transfer of data to a PC

NIS Wireless Extension Allowed the handheld to wirelessly e-mail a

data attachment via Java servlets to a specified address

Medical Application Sys (cont) Emergency Pre-Hospital Care

Communication System Preliminary investigation of currently available

and on-the-horizon wireless technologies Recommended three alternative approaches to

Northern Westchester Hospital Medical Vital Sign Wearable Computer

Designed and built circuitry Monitors pulse, blood pressure, temperature,

oxygen saturation of blood Product – VivoMetrics LifeShirt

Cluster/Grid Computers Cluster computer first semester

1 master, 4 slave Pentium PCs running Linux Networked with a Linksys 10/100 switch Benchmarked on ray tracing graphics program

adapted for parallel execution Result – significant decrease in computation time

Grid computer second semester Tested on room of student computer lab PCs Compute intensive molecular simulation (NAMD) Result – the more nodes attached to the simulator,

the less intrusive was the job to the PC users

VoiceXML and InkXML Systems

VoiceXML Application Development Facility IBM WebSphere Voice server Web server, LAN, PSTN Cisco 2600 router

VoiceXML Applications Absentee system Other applications – e.g., student grade system

Multimodal Voice/InkXML System Created an architecture for developing

applications using the voice and ink modalities

Example Systems

Web Interface to Absentee System (voice enabled using VoiceXML)

Project Group Assignment System

Online Course Survey System Handwriting Forgery Quiz Syste

m Rare Coin Grading System Web-based Genealogy System

Benefits of Real World Projects

Stellar real-world learning experience for students

Customers receive valuable systems Promotes interdisciplinary collaboration

and Pace and local community involvement Furthers student and faculty research Enhances relationships between the

university and local technology companies Increases national recognition of the

university

Stellar Real-World Learning Experience for Students Develop individual technology skills

Web interface to backend database systems Client/server systems Cutting edge pervasive computing skills

Develop team skills Ability to work with others Intellectual integrity and humility Fair-mindedness

Learn to be computing professionals and provide real value to customers

Cost of Real-World Projects

Soliciting and setting up projects Forming teams and assigning

projects Managing systems development

process Project development infrastructure

Soliciting & Setting Up Projects

Instructor solicits projects from Contacts with CSIS faculty interested in

creating research-related systems, sometimes in collaboration with other universities or local research companies

E-mail to various university departments Non-profit organizations in the community

Instructor sets up projects Sizes and shapes projects to be appropriate

educational experience for students Posts project information on course Web

site

Forming Teams and Assigning Projects

Last year 2001-2 Students formed their own teams

(usually based solely on friendship) Each teams submitted 5 project preferences Instructor assigned teams to projects

(tedious, far from optimal, can be perceived as unfair)

This year 2002-3 Project group assignment system

automatically forms teams and assigns projects(automatic, close to optimal, unbiased and objective)

Managing Systems Development Process

Requirements analysis Through use cases and use scenarios

Analysis and design – tools/methodologies Depend highly on type of system being

developed – e.g., database requires database methodologies

Construction of the system Test system to ensure

It meets customer’s requirements All functions operate correctly

Project Development Infrastructure

Development servers Pentium II NT server (upgraded this year) Solaris Unix server (added this year)

Software Database software

MySQL, Microsoft Access, Oracle (added this year) Scripting software

Active Server Pages, Cold Fusion, PHP Hypertext Processor Tomcat for Java servlets, etc.

Software for Eleven 2001-2 Web Interface to DB Systems Database software

MySQL – 4 systems Microsoft Access – 7 systems Oracle (added this year)

Scripting software Active Server Pages (ASP) – 4 systems Cold Fusion – 4 systems PHP Hypertext Processor – 3 systems Perl & others (anticipated this year)

Pervasive Computing Areas

Pen Computing Handwriting Forgery Quiz System

Verification/Identification User Verification – Face, Voice, Handwriting, Fingerprint

Handheld/Wearable Computers Nurse Information System in Palm OS Handheld Medical Vital Sign Wearable Computer System

Wireless Technology Nurse Information System Wireless Extension Emergency Pre-Hospital Care Wireless Communication

Pervasive Computation Grid Computing System

Conclusions Anticipate increased level of professionalism

in project development this year Real-world projects are a stellar learning

experience for students Win-win situation for all

Students Customers Instructors and other involved faculty School of CSIS University