Educational process modelling with workflow and time Petri nets : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Computer Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

The research presented in this thesis describes how to use workflow management technology to model educational processes with a time axis. As workflow management technology has been widely used in modelling business processes, it has the potential to model educational processes. Based upon the components of workflow, educational processes and business processes have many common features such that educational processes can be modelled with workflow management technology. In addition, owing to the importance of the time component in processes, time Petri nets have been chosen as the design language for the modelling of the educational processes. The notation of time Petri nets has been illustrated in this thesis for the educational process. In this thesis, three different educational processes have been presented and modelled with workflow management technology as well as with time Petri nets individually. Furthermore, the architecture of the educational process management system has been constructed by adopting the reference model from the Workflow Management Coalition. To show the validity of using workflow management technology in the education domain, a sub-process of an educational process has been modelled and developed with certain developing techniques. It provides the potential research direction for further research on the modelling of educational process with workflow technology associated with a time component

The Use of ITIL for Process Optimisation in the IT Service Centre of Harz University, exemplified in the Release Management Process

This paper details the use of the IT Infrastructure Library Framework (ITIL) for optimising process workflows in the IT Service Centre of Harz University in Wernigerode, Germany, exemplified by the Release Management Process. It is described, how, during the course of a special ITIL project, the As-Is-Status of the various original processes was documented as part of the process life cycle and then transformed in the To-Be-Status, according to the ITIL Best Practice Framework. It is also shown, how the ITIL framework fits into the four-layered-process model, that could be derived from interviews with the universities IT support staff, and how the various modified processes interconnect with each other to form a value chain. The paper highlights the final results of the project and gives an outlook on the future use of ITIL as a business modelling tool in the IT Service Centre of Harz University. It is currently being considered, whether the process model developed during the project could be used as a reference model for other university IT centres.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Multifaceted Faculty Network Design and Management: Practice and Experience Report

We report on our experience on multidimensional aspects of our faculty's network design and management, including some unique aspects such as campus-wide VLANs and ghosting, security and monitoring, switching and routing, and others. We outline a historical perspective on certain research, design, and development decisions and discuss the network topology, its scalability, and management in detail; the services our network provides, and its evolution. We overview the security aspects of the management as well as data management and automation and the use of the data by other members of the IT group in the faculty.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, TOC and index; a short version presented at C3S2E'11; v6: more proofreading, index, TOC, reference

Product Focused Freeform Fabrication Education

Presented in this paper is our experience of teaching freeform fabrication to students at the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and to high school students and teachers. The emphasis of the curriculum is exposing students to rapid product development technologies with the goal of creating awareness to emerging career opportunities in CAD/CAM. Starting from solid modeling, principles of freeform fabrication, to applications of rapid prototyping and manufacturing in industry sponsored product development projects, students can learn in-depth freeform fabrication technologies. Interactive course content with hands-on experience for product development is the key towards the success of the program.Mechanical Engineerin