1. New Mexico State University Erin Kelly, Computer Engineering
Tracking Maker Space
Utilization using
a Mobile App
Rolfe Sassenfeld, PhD,
New Mexico State University
Patricia Sullivan, PhD,
Erin Kelly, Computer Engineering
Technology Senior
Welcome and thank you for coming today
This presentation is based on work done by Dr. Sullivan and myself
Also our student Erin Kelly provided app development help

2. The Aggie Innovation Space started in 2013 to serve the needs of E and I on the campus.
The Maker space is available to all majors and disciplines at New Mexico State University

3. The AIS serves many different clients
Student, faculty and staff innovators and entrepreneurs
Engineering capstone courses
High school middle school and elementary school outreach

4. In addition to just knowing which projects that the student coops are working on
we wanted to know more about who was utilizing the space
Who was coming in?
How long were they staying?
What were they doing?
Who were the clients?

5. We decided to design a custom app to track and log key data with respect to the efforts of the AIS students
We wanted a simple and non-intrusive way of gathering data
We didn’t want to burden the students with a sign in/sign out sheet

6. We used a free and simple application development tool
AppInventor was developed by MIT to help teach a new generation of programmers how to make Android Apps
The AppInventor Android development environment has resulted in
Over one hundred thousands apps created so far

7. AppInventor is simple to use
App layouts can be created easily and dynamically
AppInventor offers most of the design functionality of more complex development environments
However it is easy to use and a quick tool for app creation

8. AppInventor uses ‘block programming’ to create the functional code that executes behind the design screens.
Very complicated code can be created by starting with simple programming blocks and building out the logic
Block programming allows only logically functional blocks to connect which helps novices avoid coding errors.

9. AppInventor also allows live testing of the app
Changes made through AppInventor of the code blocks and design immediately refresh on the mobile device
This allowed for quick and thorough design testing

10. The app was wire framed and initially designed by Erin Kelly
Erin met with the student workers of the AIS to get their ideas for the app
She also consulted fellow students and faculty for additional input

11. The results was a highly functional app to be used by workers and students in the AIS to record and track the utilization of the maker space

12. The students of the AIS use the app to log events and workshop attendance as well as the time team members spend in the AIS working on ongoing projects

13. The AIS App can be customized by the users to add additional projects and reasons for visiting the Aggie Innovation space
These are some of the events that are currently being logged by the AIS App
Each of these new event types is added into the App’s related database

14. The AIS App integrates with google docs
The data logged by the app is seamlessly uploaded into google docs.
The central data repository provided by google docs provides stability and accessibility
From google docs the data can be shared, retrieved, and researched.

15. AppInventor easily integrates with the google doc website to provide access to the stored data.
Shown is an sample of the raw data collected by the AIS App and loaded into google docs

16. The demographic information of the students is not collected directly
The student’s ID number is cross-referenced with an institutional database to incorporate the student demographic information.
Final reports do not use student names only the AIS visit metadata cross referenced with demographic information

17. An NFC enabled poster can be used at the entrance to the maker space to remind students to check in.
These can be custom made and are simple to implement
Place an NFC reader behind a custom made poster

18. Future improvements will include
The app also integrates the NFC capabilities of student’ mobile devices
The app sends the data to an NFC reader that is connected to a computer that is also integrated into google docs database

19. A card reader or swiper can also be integrated into the system
This allows students to swipe their ID cards
The visit is timestamped and the ID number recorded

20. The app is being updated and retested as the additional features ae being added.
Look for the AIS App soon to be published in Google Play.
We will continue to customize the app to better suit the needs of constituents.
Thank you!
New Mexico State University is all about discovery