Using the Internet of Things to Teach Good Software Engineering Practice to High School Students

This paper describes a course to introduce high school students to software engineering in practice using the Internet Of Things (IoT). IoT devices allow students to get quick, visible results without watering down technical aspects of programming and networking. The course has three broad goals: (1) to make software engineering fun and applicable, with the aim of recruiting traditionally underrepresented groups into computing; (2) to make young students begin to approach problems with a design mindset; and (3) to show students that computer science, generally, and software engineering, specifically, is about much more than programming. The course unfolds in three segments. The first is a whirlwind introduction to a subset of IoT technologies. Students complete a specific task (or set of tasks) using each technology. This segment culminates in a “do-it-yourself” project, in which the students implement a simple IoT application using their basic knowledge of the technologies. The course’s second segment introduces software engineering practices, again primarily via hands-on practical tutorials. In the third segment of the course, the students conceive of, design, and implement a project that uses the technologies introduced in the first segment, all while being attentive to the good software engineering practices acquired in the second segment. In addition to presenting the course curriculum, the paper also discusses a first offering of the course in a threeweek summer intensive program in 2017, including assessments done to evaluate the curriculum.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Climate change, contemporary society and engineering practice: a sustainability journey

[Abstract]: Climate change, Contemporary Society and engineers share an indivisible pathway towards sustainability through the means of technology. Climate change and sustainability are now new domains that require a better understanding by engineers. Ten years ago sustainability was a development for the future however the absence of climate certainty in contemporary society has raised sustainability awareness to the forefront of societal debate. While sustainability in theory is defined as the capacity to maintain a certain process or state indefinitely. However the literal meaning of “indefinitely” in sustainability definition poses a set of intriguing questions, is indefinite human survival a plausible proposition in a finite world. For this reason efforts in the fight against climate change are becoming a global effort, since it requires global cooperation and greater scientific consensus to reduce carbon emissions and consequently the planet’s energy footprint. We recognize that Sustainability ought to be economically viable, ecologically sound and sensitive; socially responsible and culturally appropriate. Surrounded by this realm of thinking all these mentioned definitions are equal measures that fail to address the importance of “technology” as a subject in the climate change and sustainability debate. Since this generation had inherited the historical legacy of nonrenewable energy technologies. The term “technology” in this context implies any technical system that can result in and/or be well described in terms of a process by which humans modify nature to meet their needs and wants. This paper seeks to investigate the underlying philosophical frames and the nature of the issues of sustainability present to engineers. It explores the notion of “Sustainability” and “technology “in engineering practice. Further, we argue that in order to establish a clear, measurable, actionable, and universally accessible working definition of sustainable engineering practices. climate change and technology life cycle need to be inclusive to sustainability

Wireless information and power transfer: from scientific hypothesis to engineering practice

Recently, there has been substantial research interest in the subject of Simultaneous Wireless Information andPower Transfer (SWIPT) owing to its cross-disciplinary appeal and its wide-ranging application potential, whichmotivates this overview. More explicitly, we provide a brief survey of the state-of-the-art and introduce severalpractical transceiver architectures that may facilitate its implementation. Moreover, the most important link-levelas well as system-level design aspects are elaborated on, along with a variety of potential solutions and researchideas. We envision that the dual interpretation of Radio Frequency (RF) signals creates new opportunities as wellas challenges requiring substantial research, innovation and engineering efforts

Software Development Standard and Software Engineering Practice: A Case Study of Bangladesh

Improving software process to achieve high quality in a software development organization is the key factor to success. Bangladeshi software firms have not experienced much in this particular area in comparison to other countries. The ISO 9001 and CMM standard has become a basic part of software development. The main objectives of our study are: 1) To understand the software development process uses by the software developer firms in Bangladesh 2) To identify the development practices based on established quality standard and 3) To establish a standardized and coherent process for the development of software for a specific project. It is revealed from this research that software industries of Bangladesh are lacking in target set for software process and improvement, involvement of quality control activities, and standardize business expertise practice. This paper investigates the Bangladeshi software industry in the light of the above challenges.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 11 table

Molecular modeling for physical property prediction

Multiscale modeling is becoming the standard approach for process study in a broader framework that promotes computer aided integrated product and process design. In addition to usual purity requirements, end products must meet new constraints in terms of environmental impact, safety of goods and people, specific properties. This chapter adresses the use of molecular modeling tools for the prediction of physical property usefull for chemical engineering practice

Building Reusable Software Component For Optimization Check in ABAP Coding

Software component reuse is the software engineering practice of developing new software products from existing components. A reuse library or component reuse repository organizes stores and manages reusable components. This paper describes how a reusable component is created, how it reuses the function and checking if optimized code is being used in building programs and applications. Finally providing coding guidelines, standards and best practices used for creating reusable components and guidelines and best practices for making configurable and easy to use.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Empirical Research Plan: Effects of Sketching on Program Comprehension

Sketching is an important means of communication in software engineering practice. Yet, there is little research investigating the use of sketches. We want to contribute a better understanding of sketching, in particular its use during program comprehension. We propose a controlled experiment to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of program comprehension with the support of sketches as well as what sketches are used in what way.Comment: 5 pages, 0 figures, Proc. International Conference on Agile Software Development (XP'16). Volume 251 of the book series Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing (LNBIP). Springer, 201

Professional Formation of Engineers: Enhancing the First Year Student Experience

This paper reports on a study investigating engineering students’ perceptions of engineering practice and whether engineering students’ cognitive engagement benefits from bridging the gap between the technical issues in their education and the practical realities of modern engineering practice