Harri Hämäläinen

Enhanced RFID Security Method with Ownership Transfer

The popularity of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) has raised the interest towards its security. Threat concerns towards individuals privacy slows down the adoption of the technology in the new innovative application areas. In this paper we will describe simple and efficient security method for lightweight RFID tags with support for ownership transfer. It based on solution described by Osaka et al, which had some security flaws. Our solution fixes the security flaws while maintaining the simplicity and efficiency of the original method.

Automating construction project quality assurance with RFID- and mobile technologies

The most critical part of a construction project is normally the construction elements that form the structure of the building. Concrete construction elements are often used as support structures and on the facade of the building, but they are vulnerable to manufacturing defects as well as being damaged on-site. Such defects can create a lot of additional costs to all parties involved in the project. Discovering and communicating about errors can be problematic as normally quality assurance is done manually and data is stored in paper format. Our research concentrated on automating the quality assurance of concrete elements. The task was approached by embedding RFID-tags in the elements enabling them to be identified wirelessly and associated with information in a data system. In field conditions users identify the construction elements with a mobile phone and interact electronically with the quality assurance system. As the information is created in digital form, the system can analyze it to detect errors and react automatically, notifying people responsible of faults. This paper presents the implementation of the system and discusses challenges and benefits.

Requirements for RFID tagging process of concrete elements in building project

Concrete elements can be divided into many different types (e.g. facade elements, pillars and hollow slabs) which all have their own characteristics. We have completed two pilots to collect experience of embedding RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags into concrete elements, its effects to the different phases of a building project and processes related to them. The requirements of identification may vary for each type of these elements. The tagging process and the needs may also be divergent. Our experience clearly shows that identification of elements using RFID in larger scale requires remarkable engagement from the parties involved in the supply chain. The assurement of the readability of RFID tags in a completed building requires elaboration and clearly defined processes already during the modeling of a building. In this research we have focused on the information related to the elements and identification at defined action points to provide useful status data. This status and information is produced through all the manufacturing chain from production post-control.

Use of Peer-Review System for Enhancing Learning of Programming

In this paper we present a study where a peer reviewing system targeted for conference paper evaluation has been used for enhancing the learning of programming though peer review. For peer reviewing purposes two open source systems were evaluated and MyReview was selected for evaluation. The peer review system was used in one programming focused course and the benefits of peer reviewing were analyzed from the reviewer and reviewee point of view. The results show that a peer review system targeted for conference paper evaluations is applicable for reviewing programs although the system should be much simpler. Students appreciated the documented comments from other students but were more interested in lecturer or other expert opinion.

From tacit to acknowledged knowledge

This paper presents a proposal to acknowledge the importance of tacit course knowledge to students and transform this knowledge into a valuable asset. When a student or an employer reads course descriptions they usually miss a lot of important information. Course descriptions and the transcript of records normally state only the professional goals. In this paper we show an analysis of courses delivered in Information Technology department and analyze the skills, which are acquired from tacit knowledge throughout the curricula. We propose that this tacit knowledge should be analyzed, published and advertised both to students and employers.

Developing Technical E-portfolio Construction Process

The role of portfolios has lately become more important in universities as a part of learning and professional growth. We believe that successful adoption of e-portfolios require two fundamental issues. Firstly, valuable information is created during the courses. Importing this information to the portfolio from various sources and describing it with metadata should also be made as simple as possible to ease the maintenance and motivating the students. Secondly, portfolio has to be well-organized. Organizing may be completed in various ways and for varying needs, but a good starting point during the creation is to follow students’ personal study plans and defined structure. Visible structure gives also better chances for successful representation or re-organizing of existing portfolio. In addition to this, bringing course pre-requisites and tacit information as a part of portfolios can deepen the presentation of provided information and description of personal knowledge.

Using Wiki for Collaborative Studying and Maintaining Personal Learning Diary in a Computer Science Course

In this paper we present a study where a Wiki platform has been used as a repository for public learning diaries, exercises and for creating a Wiki book about course-related information. The idea is to have a simple environment that could improve peer learning, collaboration and information sharing among the participants. Students could take advantage of the produced and collected information in their learning portfolios and lecturers might use some parts of the information to develop their teaching. The results show that Wiki platform is applicable to even less experienced students, but it requires guidance and effort to motivate the students to provide own content.

Radio identification in construction industry case: Tagging hollow steel beams

This paper covers the results of a practical study on applicability of passive UHF RFID tags for the needs of construction industry. This research is a response to a need to map and evaluate available solutions for RFID-based identification of particular construction elements, hollow welded steel beams. We present a comparison of performance of five different commercial RFID tags. The performance of each tag is evaluated based on the results of the tests and compared to the given specifications. The results indicate that there are significant differences on performance and read range between various tags. It is shown that the exterior dimensions of the tags do not always relate to the tag performance and read range. The performance is also dependent on the proper use case, which states that careful evaluation process is recommended to be performed for each application to achieve optimal performance. Since the optimal tag for each use case may vary, the compatibility between the tags and RFID-solutions is a highly important issue for the companies in supply chain and is to be considered to minimize the investments for the supporting infrastructure and equipment.

Implementation of an embedded mobile device based feedback system for real-time audience feedback

The article presents design and implementation of a mobile device based feedback system for lectures. The system permits participants to use mobile devices to post questions to the presenters screen without interrupting the spoken flow of the presentation. Tests in conferences showed that the system increases the amount of feedback.