Students Develop Real-World Web
and Pervasive Computing Systems
Charles C. Tappert
School of Computer Science and Information Systems
Pace University
Real World Projects 2001-2
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Total of 18 Projects with 64 Students
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Two courses in M.S. Computer Science Program
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Average of 3.6 students per project
Software Eng 2-Sem Capstone: 12 Projects/45 Students
Pervasive Computing elective: 6 Projects/19 Students
Students Build Systems for Real Customers
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Within university – various departments
Local community
Student Team Make-up
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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
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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
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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
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Pace University
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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
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Northern Westchester Hospital
Psychology Department at SUNY New Paltz
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Types of Systems 2001-2
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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
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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)
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PC Maintenance/Tracking System
Doctor of Professional Studies Website
Handwriting Forgery Quiz System
Rare Coin Grading System
User Verification System
Medical Application Systems
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Nurse Information System (NIS)
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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
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Allowed the handheld to wirelessly e-mail a data
attachment via Java servlets to a specified address
Medical Application Sys (cont)
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Emergency Pre-Hospital Care
Communication System
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Preliminary investigation of currently available and
on-the-horizon wireless technologies
Recommended three alternative approaches to
Northern Westchester Hospital
Medical Vital Sign Wearable Computer
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Designed and built circuitry
Monitors pulse, blood pressure, temperature,
oxygen saturation of blood
Product – VivoMetrics LifeShirt
Cluster/Grid Computers
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Cluster computer first semester
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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
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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
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VoiceXML Application Development Facility
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VoiceXML Applications
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IBM WebSphere Voice server
Web server, LAN, PSTN
Cisco 2600 router
Absentee system
Other applications – e.g., student grade system
Multimodal Voice/InkXML System
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Created an architecture for developing applications
using the voice and ink modalities
Example Systems
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Web Interface to Absentee System
(voice enabled using VoiceXML)
Project Group Assignment System
Online Course Survey System
Handwriting Forgery Quiz System
Rare Coin Grading System
Web-based Genealogy System
Benefits of Real World Projects
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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
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Develop individual technology skills
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Develop team skills
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Web interface to backend database systems
Client/server systems
Cutting edge pervasive computing 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
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Soliciting and setting up projects
Forming teams and assigning projects
Managing systems development process
Project development infrastructure
Soliciting & Setting Up Projects
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Instructor solicits projects from
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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
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Sizes and shapes projects to be appropriate
educational experience for students
Posts project information on course Web site
Forming Teams and
Assigning Projects
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Last year 2001-2
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Students formed their own teams
(usually based solely on friendship)
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Each teams submitted 5 project preferences
Instructor assigned teams to projects
(tedious, far from optimal, can be perceived as unfair)
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This year 2002-3
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Project group assignment system automatically
forms teams and assigns projects
(automatic, close to optimal, unbiased and objective)
Managing Systems
Development Process
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Requirements analysis
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Analysis and design – tools/methodologies
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Through use cases and use scenarios
Depend highly on type of system being developed –
e.g., database requires database methodologies
Construction of the system
Test system to ensure
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It meets customer’s requirements
All functions operate correctly
Project Development Infrastructure
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Development servers
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Pentium II NT server (upgraded this year)
Solaris Unix server (added this year)
Software
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Database software
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Scripting software
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MySQL, Microsoft Access, Oracle (added this year)
Active Server Pages, Cold Fusion, PHP Hypertext Processor
Tomcat for Java servlets, etc.
Software for Eleven 2001-2
Web Interface to DB Systems
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Database software
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MySQL – 4 systems
Microsoft Access – 7 systems
Oracle (added this year)
Scripting software
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Active Server Pages (ASP) – 4 systems
Cold Fusion – 4 systems
PHP Hypertext Processor – 3 systems
Perl & others (anticipated this year)
Pervasive Computing Areas
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Pen Computing
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Verification/Identification
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Nurse Information System in Palm OS Handheld
Medical Vital Sign Wearable Computer System
Wireless Technology
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User Verification – Face, Voice, Handwriting, Fingerprint
Handheld/Wearable Computers
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Handwriting Forgery Quiz System
Nurse Information System Wireless Extension
Emergency Pre-Hospital Care Wireless Communication
Pervasive Computation
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Grid Computing System
Conclusions
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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
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Students
Customers
Instructors and other involved faculty
School of CSIS
University