Douglas Troy

Enhancing community-based disaster preparedness with information technology

A critical component of community-based disaster preparedness (CBDP) is a local resource database of suppliers providing physical, information and human resources for use in disaster response. Maintenance of such a database can become a collaborative responsibility among community-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and public and private community organisations. In addition to mobilising resources, this process raises awareness within the community and aids in assessing local knowledge and resources. This paper presents the results of a pilot study on implementing a community-based resource database through collaboration with local American Red Cross chapters and public and private community organisations. The design of the resource database is described. The resource database is accessible via the internet and offline using laptops and handheld Personal Digital Assistants. The study concludes that CBDP is strengthened through a combination of appropriate information technology and collaborative relationships between NGOs and community-based organisations.

An approach to develop component-based control software for flexible manufacturing systems

In recent years, component-based software engineering has emerged as an approach for creating control software for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). This paper presents a state-based approach to model software components as building blocks for flexible manufacturing control software. A general framework for modeling object-oriented manufacturing software is extended to component-oriented modeling. General approaches in developing state models, control logic, and interface components are presented. Software components that simulate sensors and control activities of the work cell were also created. The simulated components can interact with or replace real system components for planning, debugging, and testing purposes. Great emphasis has been placed on the generic features, reusability, ease of use, and ease of maintenance in the design of the software components. We implemented our software components in Java and tested our design and implementation using the Miami University Computer Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory FMS work cell. The benefits of the design were fully demonstrated through experiments at Miami.

Perspectives on assessment through teaching portfolios in computer science

How good is your teaching of Computer Science (CS)? If you asked this question of your Computer Science colleagues in an anonymous questionnaire. it would be quite common for most. if not all. to answer “average’”, “above average” or “excellent.” In questionnaires of this sort, it is typical for no one to identify themselves as “below average.”’ This cannot. of course, be true. So the question remains: How good is your teaching of Computer Science? A common answer to this question is obtained through student course evaluations The average response to a question like “HOW do you rate this professor’s teaching as compared to all others that you have had at this university?” is taken as the ultimate answer to this question. Student course evaluations do provide one perspective on our teaching abilities. The astute teacher realizes that this is just one perspective and that these numbers can be manipulated. Students frequently rate professors higher If they present “entertaining” lectures without regard to the amount of learning that may have occurred, Factors like the number of tests per semester can inordinately affect these judgments. There are other assessment techniques that provide different perspectives: peer evaluations, surveys of alumni satisfaction. questionnaires assessing employers’ satisfactions, etc Each of these has its own limitations: peer evaluations generally are the result of a few class visits, alumni satisfaction levels are difficult to ascribe to a particular faculty member, etc. The search for a more comprehensive, and hopefully more accurate, assessment methods has led us to an investigation and application ofteachinz v ortfolios. In this report we describe this effort that M now m Its third year. We will examine it from the perspective of five faculty members teaching computer science: a first year teacher. a teacher nearing tenure, two tenured faculty at the main campus. and a tenured teacher at a regional (two year) campus.

A development environment for batch process control

Abstract A development environment and control modeling language is described which is designed to support the life-cycle of software development for programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in batch process manufacturing. The environment supports process design, logic specification and analysis, simulation, and automatic generation of PLC code from a high level control specification. The environment includes a set of dictionaries and rules, with associated editors, that permit specialization of the environment to particular manufacturing sites. It aims to standardize control code specifications, support reuse of specifications, allow inspection of specifications through simulation and reports, automatically translate the specification to code, and facilitate the long term maintenance of specifications. Its contributions are that it presents a control specification language for batch process control, a set of software tools to support PLC software development, and application of the environment to dairy processing.

First year engineering: Exploring engineering through the engineering design loop

Over the past few years, the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) at Miami University has moved toward the principle of a common first year curriculum for all of our nine majors. A significant component of this common first year is a one hour course entitled computing, engineering, and society that all engineering and computing students take in the first semester of their freshman year. Herein, we describe a recent revision to this course that allows our students to experience the entire design loop that is fundamental to engineering design. The specific project that we used was the design and construction of a HO-scale model train layout. The key to success, we believe, was not the particular project but the fact that it was sufficiently complex that it required a team of students to work for several weeks using each step of the engineering design loop.

A state-based modelling approach to develop component-based control software for flexible manufacturing systems

In recent years, component-based software engineering has emerged as an approach to create control software for flexible and adaptive manufacturing systems. This paper presents a state-based approach to model and design software components that can be used as building blocks for flexible manufacturing control software. Adiga and Cogezs (1993) framework for modelling object-oriented manufacturing software is extended to component-based modelling and work cell control programming. The benefits of using component-based software were fully demonstrated during configuration, integration and execution of Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS) work cell operation in the Miami University Computer Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory (CIMS Lab) by using the control software described in this paper. The software was developed using the Java Programming language and the JavaBeans component model. We emphasized generic features, reusability, ease of use, and ease of maintenance in the design of these software components. We also created simulated software components that can interact with, or replace, real system components for planning, debugging and testing purposes. Once generic software components are developed and stored in a library, users with little or no programming background can rapidly integrate them into control software by using visual design tools.

Agile way of educating

We have investigated whether Agile practices can be applied as a pedagogical approach to derive benefit in the areas of encouraging students to take responsibility for their learning (self managed learning), continuous improvement through reflection, alternative approaches for grading, increased engagement by learners, and more effective data collection and assessment of outcomes. Agile is an umbrella term for values, principles and practices applied to the process of software development. The Agile movement has aimed to develop a new and better culture within the software development community and has seen an increased rate of adoption within corporate settings. The goal of this workshop is to help participants explore how Agile development, a management technique borne out of the software industry, can not only change the way that students engage in project-based and team-based course projects, but also transform the way that we educate our students.

Evolution of a collaborative model between nursing and computer science faculty and a community service organization to develop an information system.

Nursing and computer science students and faculty worked with the American Red Cross to investigate the potential for information technology to provide Red Cross disaster services nurses with improved access to accurate community resources in times of disaster. Funded by a national 3-year grant, this interdisciplinary partnership led to field testing of an information system to support local community disaster preparedness at seven Red Cross chapters across the United States. The field test results demonstrate the benefits of the technology and the value of interdisciplinary research. The work also created a sustainable learning and research model for the future. This article describes the collaborative model used in this interdisciplinary research and exemplifies the benefits to faculty and students of well-timed interdisciplinary and community collaboration.

An approach for developing domain specific CASE tools and its application to manufacturing process control

An investigation into the development and evaluation of a domain specific computer aided software engineering (CASE) tool, known as a methodology companion, is described. A development methodology for designing domain specific CASE tools supporting model-based analysis and automatic code generation is described. These ideas are used to produce a prototype methodology companion designed to assist the task of developing control software for programmable logic controllers (PLCs) in batch process manufacturing. The CASE tool is domain specific to the industry and organization described, and supports specification, analysis, simulation, report generation, and code generation of the manufacturing control steps. The tool is then evaluated in an industrial setting to determine its overall potential and limitations and the impact it will have on the domain.

Inservice education of high school computer science teachers

This paper describes an inservice retraining program for high school computer science teachers Since computer science teacher certification is a recent development, most of these teachers were trained in another field. This project consisted of a sequence of courses which taught the core principles of computer science to these teachers.