2003 Computer Science Senior Design Projects

Student Report Title Student Report Title


Daniel Agar and Stephen Guillerm

Medieval Migration Simulation

The Medieval Migration Simulation project is designed to be an experiment in modeling complex decentralized systems in a visual form. This project looks at the example of medieval pilgrimages as its specific model and shows how complex group actions can arise from individual agents (in this case medieval pilgrims) making simple decisions based on simple rules. Each of the agents makes its decisions (i.e. Do I visit a pilgrimage shrine or not?) based on its current state and the state of any neighbors, and each agent makes these decisions in parallel. The goal of this project is to demonstrate that simulating such decentralized systems can prove interesting and useful and perhaps even be applied to other fields.

Project link


Robert Frank

Redesign of IBM's FTP Panel

There existed an FTP application running on Unix System Services z/OS which was written in korn shell script. This paper presents a redesign of the application using PERL so that it can be transported to other platforms specifically to run on local Windows/NT servers and possibly on the z/OS system. Additionally, the input panel which eases the ability for IBM representatives to retrieve the customer data was redesigned to make it more usable and to better follow the IBM internal web standards.


Nicholas Jones

Interface Redesign of Flight Reservation Systems

Usability Engineering is a sub-field of Human Computer Interaction concerned with designing and testing interfaces for the user. In my project I have apply usability engineering methods towards flight reservation systems. Existing interfaces were problematic to users in terms of input methods, general confusion, frustration, and long time delays. I have investigated and tested several possibilities for redesign and have made recommendations for future implementations of flight reservation system interfaces.


Grant Lanterman and Peter Shoemaker

Online Course Scheduling For Union Graduate Students

The objective of the project was to produce a web based course scheduling and planning system for the Union College graduate programs. A student is able to create a plan of study online. The system handles all requirement and eligibility issues and checks for prerequisites. Faculty and system administrators can use the system to get information on the number of students enrolled in courses and can ensure the students they are advising have chosen an acceptable plan of study.

Project link


Chris Markowicz

Davis Vision Internship

An internship at Davis Vision in which my job was to set up a new database and write software to support the Credentialing Department of the company.


Andrew McCabe

BLINK! (book-link, a textbook marketplace)

"Suzie buys a book for $100. Suzie can sell the book to the bookstore for $30, and it gets re-sold for $75. If Suzie sells the book to Jill for $50, they both benefit. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

BLINK facilitates textbook exchange on a small campus. It is not intended to be used Internet-wide, nor does it provide for an exchange of money. Quite simply, people can list books (after having created an account), contact other users via email or phone, and set up a meeting to exchange money and textbooks.

Project link


Eric Ng

Customer Relations Management

Use Visual Basic .NET to redesign the database system application currently used by Hannay Reels to access and update customer information. The company, as part of their Customer Relations Management, used the current database system application. This application will help improve the company’s operations by making it easier to interact with its customers.


G. Michael Pinch

Virtual Olivier Models

The objective of this project was to accurately model in 3D the motion and movement of some of Union’s collection of Olivier models. The end result is an interactive 3D Nott Memorial building that houses 4 different adjustable Olivier Models. This project was completed using C++ with the OpenGL API.

Project Link


Bret Shaw

Linux Basics: Interactive Online Tutorial

With the help of psychologists specializing in human memory and understanding, as well as personal research on tutorial making, the end product of this project is a free online interactive Linux tutorial. The tutorial, while keeping concise and specific, is designed for optimal comprehension and retention of the information included. The target audience for the tutorial is students and professionals who wish to learn how to operate the Linux operating system at the basic level. The tutorial teaches 33 commands as well as supplies background information on Linux and its different parts. The overall goal of the tutorial is to prepare those individuals new to Linux to work on a school or business web-server.


John Thompson

Digital Ethnography of Fiji

The idea of digital ethnography is to study and record a culture through digital means.  During a three month field study in Rakiraki, Fiji this new form of ethnography was attempted.  The project goal was to create a cultural learning tool and establish a continual cross-cultural dialogue between Union students on a term abroad in Fiji and anthropology students here on campus as well as high school students in Fiji and in Niskayuna, NY.  An interactive web site, driven by a database, was designed and implemented to facilitate the distribution of information.

Project link


Mike Whalen

An Online Meeting Maker for Union College

Online scheduling systems help facilitate meetings between students and professors. Currently, Union is using a paper-based system that is very inefficient. I have designed and implemented a web-based scheduling system for the Union College community. My project is composed of two independent programs. First, the SCOUR engine parses Union's class roster pages, extracts the relevant data and compiles an organized database. Second, the USE graphical user interface system interacts with the database. By successfully intertwining these two programs, I have created an online meeting maker that allows users to see an optimal time to meet with an individual student or a group of students.