Author: ac053

Interactive Digital History of Antigua

Background

There is a group that is seeking an interactive way to teach the history of Antigua to the world. They would like a group of students to gather information on the rich history of the Caribbean island of Antigua and present it in an interactive platform that involves an interactive map of Antigua. One important aspect of Antiguan history comes with its sugar mills, which went hand in hand with slavery and oppression of the Antiguan natives. With such rich history, the group would like a way to teach others about Antigua using a web platform. Students would produce a map of Antigua that detailed the sugar mills and any relevant information regarding their history, as well as be accessible by anyone who was interested in learning more about Antigua.

Executive Summary

The best way to solve this task would be to create an interactive map within a web application. This option was exemplified best by the interactive map of Mount Vernon that was included in the project’s goals. That gives a concrete starting point for what the students should try to accomplish and it also shows that a web application is a viable solution to this problem. From the first version of the map, we could get creative, allowing other reputable sources (historians, Antiguans, etc.) to suggest changes made to our map. This could include additions to it (we could continue updating the history of Antigua as time goes on) or corrections in the history presented to the user. Once we have completed the map with all of the sugar mills, we could then move on to add more about the history of Antigua, including famous landmarks and attractions. I think that the sky is the limit for this project and there is so many interesting additions that could be made to it.

Viability Analysis

One issue that I see is that there could be a time constraint involved with the information found and published on the map. In other words, it may be hard to research the specific histories of each sugar mill and its associated plantation, including familial etymologies, transfers of ownership, information about the lives and experiences of enslaved laborers, and a chronology of the plantations associated with each site. This could take more time than given for students, unless the existing database that the group offers to us would give substantial information. It is definitely a doable project and would be a great experience for senior design students to take on using their preexisting knowledge of Java and creating a GUI for the application.

Risks and Rewards

One risk that comes with this project could be that a group puts a lot of work into the interface and then it does not see a ton of use. I believe that it is fair to question the market for this interface, but the fact that Bucknell has a summer trip to Antigua and the Caribbean shows that it will be at least useful for Bucknell students. This project can be extremely rewarding in that we help to bring the history of Antigua to life, showing everything from the beauty of the island to the true history and dark past of this country. It can be a great teaching tool for others and could be found useful for students and historians. Further, it could be used by potential vacationers who use it to get a feel for what they might see and do if they visit, which could in turn help the economy of Antigua profit.

Closing

This is a very interesting project as it could help teach the history of Antigua to many people in a fun and interactive way. It could teach students more about writing web applications and working with web servers, which would be very valuable and marketable skills to have. There is a lot of potential for this project as there is a lot of customization to the map that could be added after the map is created (audio and video interaction, ability of users to add their own landmarks to the map, linking up with social media, etc.). The project sounds like a very enjoyable one to take on and would provide students with a great learning experience in many ways.

TopDoc

Background

Learning the “lingo” of the medical industry can be extremely tough. With so much information for medical professionals to know, the best way to learn is through a lot of studying. Throughout their careers, medical professionals are tested to make sure that they are still capable of doing their work. With new information coming out everyday, there is a group that is seeking an iOS app that makes learning easy and fun. It will be extremely beneficial to these professionals who seek to stay abreast with their knowledge of medicine and ensure that they have the knowledge to continue working. The application would be a proof of concept as the group would take it to physicians nationwide and try to pitch it to them. Students would work from the ground up to create this application.

Executive Summary

This project would result in the creation of a mobile application that is suitable for iOS. It would consist of a GUI that allows users to play games (puzzles, fill-in-the-blank with timer, etc.) and maintain their knowledge of medical terms and practices. A mobile application works best in this scenario as anyone could take the game on the go and use it to learn whenever they please. Also, the idea that physicians could use it to judge their knowledge versus others in their industry could lead to competition and would result in medical professionals who know a lot about their specialty. If there is time, a web application could also be written that would allow for use on the web, which would allow the game to be played even more.

Viability Analysis

At first, it seems that this is a huge task to take on, but with a team who works diligently, it can be done. It could be tough to assess the progress of a user and accurately rank them amongst their peers as there are many factors that go into progress and rank (field, frequency of use of the app, age of the user, etc). Also, It could be difficult to avoid legal complications (explained below in “Risks and Rewards”).

Risks and Rewards

Realistically, there would be a lot of work put into the game and it would be for a good cause. This application would help medical professionals find an easier method to study and would result in physicians with immense knowledge in their field. This benefits everyone as we rely on medical professionals to keep us healthy and happy. There is risk in taking on this project as legal complications may occur with creation of the app; computer science students are not studying medicine and can potentially make errors in the information shared with doctors. We would have to be careful as we would not want to be the reason that a doctor was sued for prescribing a patient with a drug that we (incorrectly) taught them about.

Closing

The group should invest resources into this endeavor because this would be the leading app in for this purpose. The vision for the application is great and the group needs help implementing it. It would be extremely useful and rewarding to create as it would help medical professionals engage more easily with their work and in turn keep patients healthier.

Project Graverobber

Background

This project comes to us from the staff of the parish cemeteries in Shamokin, PA who are seeking help with an existing software platform. It was originally created and maintained by the late John Haile to catalogue all of the graves and burials in the cemeteries. After his passing, the parish could not continue using the program and needs help to continue his work. They would like us to take his existing program and update and or use elements of it to create a program that will help the parish continue their work. There are many resources at hand including John’s old CD’s and the existing program that would help the team begin the continuation of his work.

Executive Summary

In this situation, we are lucky in that there is potential to use an existing solution that John had created. First, the team that takes on this challenge would have to look at the program that John created, and see if it is something worth building off of. If so, then studying the code and trying to fix and upgrade it would be a great solution to this problem. The first goal would be to fix the program and get it working again, then try to add functionality to the program and make it mobile so that gravesites could be updated as more burials occur. This project seems like a great option and would be put to good use by the parish staff.

Viability Analysis

The difficulties involved here include the fact that there is a lot of investigating to do here; first in meeting with John’s wife and examining his CDs and other documents so that the group is knowledgable about his work. Then, it would take some time to read his code and understand how the program works, in order to fix it up. There could be time constraints with all of this, but I think think that these challenges can be overcome.

Risks and Rewards

This project is risky in that the group might spend absorbent amounts of time looking through John’s work and less time working on the project, but it would be extremely rewarding to complete his work and help out the parish staff. It is very valuable in industry to be able to read source code (or someone’s code who came before you), understand it, and then work with it. This could be a great exercise for senior design students as it would prepare them for the real world. Also, the fact that we could help a group who needs it makes the work more meaningful and would reward the students even more.

Closing

Overall, I believe that this is a worthwhile project for students to take on. It involves updating and upgrading someone else’s work, which is a very valuable skill to develop. Also, it would be extremely meaningful as it would help out the parish staff who would not know how to complete the project otherwise, and would use the program frequently. There is potential room for growth because as soon as the group figures out how to get the program working, they can do all sorts of work in terms of upgrading the system (creating databases, making the program accessible on mobile devices, etc.). This would be a great project for students to work on.

Andrew Capuano Resume 2017