A Syllabus for Introducing MBA Students to Procedural and Object-oriented Programming (Object Rexx)

MBA students are exposed to information systems which can be controlled by the means of macro-languages and are faced with a new type of information systems which employ the object-oriented paradigm (e.g. SAP, 1999). With no idea about (procedural and) especially object-oriented concepts, it is impossible for such students to comprehend and evaluate the new breed of ERP sys- tems with OO-interfaces and the ongoing developments in the realm of „business objects“ (e.g. OMG BODTF, 1999). Therefore, in the summer-semester 1999 an ex- perimental lecture was introduced, which teaches MBA students the fundamental concpets of procedural and ob- ject-oriented concepts. To allow them to experiment and build hand-on experience a language was chosen that is known for its simple and easy syntax, yet powerful object model: Object Rexx. The devised syllabus, which teaches the fundamental concepts of procedural and object- oriented programming is layed out and explained in this article.

Anatomy of a Peace Educator: Her Work and Workplace

This article reports a case study that examined the peace education practice of a 5th and 6th grade teacher at an independent, non-profit school in the Mid-western United States. The study used Paulo Freire’s (1970) conception of dialogue as its conceptual framework. After describing the study’s context and methods, we present data focusing on the teacher’s background and development as a peace educator, her teaching practices, and her relationships with her students, school and local community. We discuss Michelle’s interdisciplinary approach to peace education linked with her personal background and her use of dialogue as dynamic, fluid, and relational. Our analyses also prompted emergent themes for which we used curriculum theory to capture forms of integration between the personal and political dimensions of peace education, based on which, we propose an “integrated peace education.

CFD Modeling of Dynamic Inlet Flow Distortion Generation

Integrating a jet engine into an airframe involves many design and testing steps. The development of high performance fighter aircraft has added new requirements to this process. Ground test facilities are used to simulate the effect of inlet shape on the performance of an engine for cruise flight or other fixed conditions. While a static simulation of the inlet shape is adequate for most circumstance, military fighter craft are highly maneuverable, altering the inlet airflow intensely and briefly. These transient distortions can have a significant impact on performance as well as having the potential of causing structural problems. In addition to airflow changes caused by flight maneuvers, the release of weapons stores into the airstream can introduce transient turbulence and add exhaust gas contaminants. Currently, none of these transient effects are evaluated in wind tunnel ground tests. One solution that has been proposed to address this issue is an array of individually controlled wedges placed in the wind tunnel ahead of the test engine. The wedges could be opened and closed, not only to simulate the given inlet shape, but also transient distortions. Coupled with a system to introduce contaminants into the flow, all manner of transient and static inlet flow distortions could be simulated in a controlled environment. Some investigations have already developed mathematical models of variable angle wedges in a free stream and validated those models with experimental data. If these real world experimental results can be duplicated in a CFD model then ultimately the entire wedge array can be developed virtually to arrive at an optimum design with a relatively small investment. To that end, this study focused on developing a two dimensional CFD model to provide solution data to compare with experimental results in order to determine the feasibility of a more elaborate CFD model as a development tool for the wedge array distortion generator

DESIGN OF AVIONICS AND CONTROLLERS FOR AUTONOMOUS TAKEOFF, HOVER AND LANDING OF A MINI-TANDEM HELICOPTER

Robotics autonomy is an active research area these days and promises very useful applications. A lot of research has been carried out on Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) vehicles especially single rotor small scale helicopters. This thesis focuses on a small scale twin rotor helicopter. These helicopters are more useful because of their power efficiency, scalability, long range of center of gravity, shorter blades and most importantly their "all lift" feature. By "all lift" we mean that unlike single rotor helicopters where tail rotor's power is wasted just to cancel the torque of the main rotor both of its rotors are used for generating lift. This makes twin rotors ideal for lifting heavy weights. This thesis considers avionics systems and the controllers development for a twin rotor. It involves electronic component selection and integration, software development, system identification and design of zero rate compensators. The compensators designed are responsible for autonomous take-off, hover and landing of this unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Both time and frequency domain system identification approaches were evaluated and a selection was made based on hardware limitations. A systematic approach is developed to demonstrate that a rapid prototyping UAV can be designed from cheap off-the-shelf components that are readily available and functionally compatible. At the end some modifications to existing mechanical structure are proposed for more robust outdoor hovering

Computer Center Bulletin / July 5, 1990

This publication is published as required and is written by members of the staff, W. R. Church Computer Cente