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Two teams of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology computer science and software engineering seniors have helped develop technology to assist the U.S. Navy and Air Force
streamline operations at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Ind. The projects were displayed on during the college's recent Computer Science & Software Engineering’s Senior Project Expo.
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On Target: Helping to develop a small arms target analyzer for the U.S. Navy's Special Weapons Division at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Ind., were (from left) Drew
Houvener, Micah Weaver, Jeff Johnson and Charles Zeller of NSWC-Crane, and Matthew Jacobs.
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A Small Arms Naval Target Analyzer, developed for the Special Weapons Division, will improve the reliability, availability and maintainability of weapons testing. The project automates the
current practice of hand measurement of paper targets, a time-consuming process that is prone to human error. The process is especially challenging for testing at remote locations, according to
Charles Zeller, the Navy's technical warrant holder for small arms and weapons. The students' system utilizes digital images of targets that can be stored in a computer database. A software program
will later provide statistical analysis on the location of the bullet holes and provides NWSC-Crane staff with easy-to-comprehend reports.
"When you're analyzing as many as 1,000 targets during one weapons testing session, it can become quite a time-consuming process for our technical staff. This time and our employees'
expertise could be better utilized in other support operations," added Jeff Johnson, NSWC's engineering branch manager.
The project was especially important to Drew Houvener, a senior software engineering major from Winona Lake, Ind., whose father is currently serving a military assignment in Iraq.
"Because I'm really excited about helping the military, this is a tangible effort to do something to give back to the nation," he said.
Micah Weaver, a senior computer science major from Lebanon, Ind., added: “This was something that was very business applicable. It's going to save the Navy a lot of time and money."
Matthew Jacobs, a senior computer science and software engineering major from Louisville, Ky., also assisted in developing the project.
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Plotting A New Course: Working together to develop a technical plotter for the U.S. Air Force's National Air and Space Intelligence Center were (from left) Brant Gurganus, Will Atherton, Michael
Johnson of NASIC, Andy Spencer and Allie Terrell. |
Another team developed a technical plotter for the U.S. Air Force that will allow staff to plot weapons targets and other information on maps being used for combat and testing purposes. The
project provides a quick, user-friendly graphics user interface for gnuplot, a computer language that can generate two- and three-dimensional plots of functions and data for professional reports. The
computer system could become a valuable, timesaving tool for military operations, according to Michael Johnson, an engineer at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center's headquarters at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio.
Andy Spencer, a senior computer science major from St. Peters, Minn., admitted gnuplot is a complicated language that has been challenging for the students to modify for use on Microsoft
Windows and Unix computer programs.
However, Johnson has been most pleased with the team's results so far, stating: "I have been impressed with the students' work so far on this project. They have really become an extension of
our staff, working together to come up with the best solution that meets our expectations," Johnson said.
Joining Spencer on the student project development team are Will Atherton, a senior software engineering major from Kendall Park, N.J.; Brant Gurganus, a senior computer science major from
Indianapolis, Ind.; and Allie Terrell, a senior computer science and software engineering major from Burke, Va.
Other projects being completed this school year by senior computer science and software engineering students included:
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Helping The Mayo Clinic: Designing, developing, testing and deploying an engineering data analysis and plotting tool for the world famous Mayo Clinic were (from left) Stan Sievers, Nick Hudson and
Jarrod Stormo. |
* A web-based user portal is being developed meet provide researchers and physicians at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.) with an easily extensible analysis tool that will analyze and plot
data for a variety of applications. The second component of the project involves developing an interactive graphing and analysis software tool for Mayo's Department of Physiology and Biomedical
Engineering. The project was brought to Rose-Hulman by Robert Techentin, senior software engineer at the Mayo Clinic. Members of the team are Sam Green, a senior software engineering and mathematics
student from Park Rapids, Minn.; Nick Hudson, a senior software engineering major from Kalamazoo, Mich.; Stan Sievers, a senior software engineering and computer science major from Vincennes, Ind.;
and Jarrod Stormo, a senior software engineering and computer science major from Owatonna, Minn.
* Commodity traders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) may be able to keep better track of investment portfolios through a web-based user portal. The system would provide users with
real-time quotes and pricing information, and allow for researching of portfolio's performance. Several different modules may be tracked on the same computer screen, and system users will be able to
chart historical time-series data on a variety of instruments. Developing the system has been Jeremy Clarke, a senior software engineering major from Middlebury, Ind.; Alex Hanson, a senior computer
science major from Roscoe, Ill.; Nick Nicklyn, a senior computer science major from Tawas City, Mich.; and Anthony Wong, a senior software engineering student from Union, Ky. The idea for the project
came from Joel Tosi, the CME's lead architect of front end systems.
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Helping Business: Providing a web-based user portal that will provide people with real-time quotes and pricing information from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were (from left) Anthony Wong, Jeremy
Clarke, Nick Nicklyn and Alex Hanson. |
The projects provide the students with valuable real-world experience, according to Steve Chenoweth, associate professor of computer science and software engineering. He joined colleagues
Shawn Bohner, director of software engineering, and Sriram Mohan, assistant professor of computer science and software engineering, in being faculty mentors for this year's senior projects.
Jeff Johnson, a 1990 Rose-Hulman mechanical engineering alumnus, statd that the projects are a "win-win situation" for the clients and the students.
“This is probably one of the few times that the students had to deal with people outside of the student body," he stated. "They should be able to use the experiences they have in dealing
with the problems we've faced -- the trouble-shooting and constructive criticism -- and come away with a better program. They can use this learning experience in the future to design similar type
programs for other applications.”
View local television station's coverage of the Senior Project Expo at:
http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/news_wthi_terrehaute_rhit
_students_design_project_200902181745
http://mywabashvalley.com/content/fulltext/?cid=50512 |
