Project Lab and Project Work Issues and Experiences at the Eszterházy Károly College dr. Emőd Kovács, dr. Gergő Kovásznai, dr. Gábor Kusper,

Outline n Project Labs n Project Work n Project Seminar n Summary

Project Labs

Project Lab Course, the Austrian Example n Fachhochschule Hagenberg n All informatics BSc students have to learn this course, 2 semesters, 5-5 credits n Groups of 3-4 members with own project lab n They work on industrial projects. They develop software prototypes and work on feasibility studies. n Industrial partners usually ask them to develop the prototypes into market software, but this is done by a spin-off company owned by them.

Projekt Lab Course n In Computer Science BSc: –Not mandatory, it is open for talented students –The project are: n Preparation for Young Researcher Forum n Innovation projects founded by industrial partners n Web programmer higher educational vocational training: –0 hours, 5 credits, in the 3. or 4. semester –Groups of 4-5 members with own project lab –Projects: n software prototypes and feasibility studies

Projekt Labs n Microsoft Lab (5 PCs, 5 MCP books) n Robotics Lab (2 PCs, 2 Lego robot kit) n Competition ”Gym” (4 PCs) n Software Test Lab (1 Sun server, 3 PCs) n Java Lab (8 thin clients)

Project Work n Aim: – deepening theoretical knowledge by using it in practice – gain experience on team work – earn reputation of our college

Project Work n The problem: –In computer science BSc students learn lot of useful knowledge and techniques, but their practical experience is not sufficient! n Possible solutions: –Practical semester (BSc is only 6 semester  ) –Cooperative study (only a few IT company are around in Eger  ) –Project Work –Project Work

Software Test Lab 1. n An office on 6m*6m n Hardware: –1 blackboard, 6 tables + chairs, 1 bookself –1 Sun server, 3 PCs n People-ware: –6 students + 1 teacher

Software Test Lab 2. n Project: –Find deadlock in.NET byte code –Industrial partner: evoSoft Hungary Kft. –Resource: Innovational Tax n Success story: –2. place on IBM 48 hours competition –1. place on the local Young Researcher Forum –1 conference talk (IF 2008) –1 technical report

Experiences n Students gain new skills: –Teamwork –communication with the client –critical thinking: choice from many alternatives n Students learns techniques, which they know only in theory before: –Version management (subversion) –Graphics libraries (GraphViz, Glee)

Project seminar

n The problem: –Bad results on the National Young Researcher Forum -> low ranking among universities –Unharmonized projects –Separated research activities n The solution, two folds: –Communication, Communication, Communication –Communication among n Teachers and Students n Teachers and Teachers –Applying for tenders like EU7

Teachers and Teachers n Mat. – Inf. Institution Seminar: n The faculty members introduce their research topics to the faculty. n Started in 2007 n Results: 11 joint publications with 2 or more faculty member. n Applying for EU7 tender with the title: “NURTURE: New European researcher generations: turning facilities accessible for IBLS across borders”.

Teachers and Students n Preparation for Young Researcher Forum (YRF) Course n Teachers introduce their research to students and try to attract them to join his or her research. n Students introduce their projects and teachers give them feedback how to proceed. n 8 courses, 1-2 lectures by each course. n Aim: 2-3 successful YRF applications.

Summary

Summary n Students like to be involved in project works. n The most successful projects are ordered by industrial partners. This project are software prototypes and feasibility studies. n Students can be motivated not only by money or credit points. n We need more communication!

Thank you for your attention!