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Overview

Distributed Research and Education Platforms in Engineering - Experience from Hydroengineering Examples. Overview. introduction joint education experiment: “WWW-based Collaborative Engineering in Hydroscience” research projects from Hydroengineering

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Overview

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  1. Distributed Research and Education Platforms in Engineering -Experience from Hydroengineering Examples

  2. Overview • introduction • joint education experiment:“WWW-based Collaborative Engineering in Hydroscience” • research projects from Hydroengineering • net-based collaborative working environments • WWW-based document management system “DCMS”

  3. Introduction • modern engineering projects: • in cooperation • different disciplines • distributed • ICT as base-technologies for “any time / any place” solutions • support from distributed computer- and network based project platforms • traditional course programs do not cover introduction and application of corresponding working processes • acquisition of experience • development of a "technical culture“ • practical experiments and exercises

  4. IAHR-EGW course: “WWW-based Collaborative Engineering in Hydroscience” 5 European Universities • yearly arrangement since 1999 • adapted to the progress in ICT and in working processes in engineering • course participants in 2000: 52 students from 15 different nations

  5. Course Idea • students from different locations • cooperately solution of a hydroengineering task • in small, distributed teams • in one week • using Web based tools and techniques • teams as independent units • free to choose their way of collaboration • acquisition of knowledge and experience in Web based collaborative engineering

  6. Course Organisation • parallel solving of the engineering task by the teams • international and interdisciplinary team composition • definition of organisation structure, work plan, work distribution and coordination by the team members • all collaboration (communication, coordination and documentation) over the Web environment • supervisors at each location provides consultancy on demand

  7. Prerequisites • participants: • new field of engineering • studying different disciplines • on different level • in different countries • with different mentalities • course success demands basic skills: • communication and documentation in a Web environment • basic knowledge in hydroengineering • basics in project management and team working • willingness for cooperation • selected lectures to ensure the equal level of the participants

  8. Engineering Task • design of a flood protection system for the river Vida in Denmark • discharges into the North Sea • controlled by weirs and gates • floods from upstream after long rainfall • navigationable • exercise objective: • introduction controlling structures • performing of dredging • river network, cross section, boundary conditions and hydraulic parameter was provided for a specified time period • MIKE11by DHI Water & Environment

  9. Reporting • course progress and engineering task results: • daily reports: • current engineering task state • performed work steps • problems, difficulties and exceptions • collaboration methods and team decisions • daily supervisor assessments: • comments • administration information and hints • final report: • engineering task solution • collaboration experience • preparation and publishing of all reports over the course platform

  10. Course Platform • local facilities (individual work environment) • standard PC with unlimited Internet access • standard Web browser, office package • personal email account and homepage • communication tools (telefon, telefax, email, chat, ftp, telnet) • Web documentation tools (e.g. HTML-, picture editor) • audio/video facilities for conferencing • shared facilities (team collaboration, course organisation and observation, consulting) • file service • document service • application service • mailing service • license service

  11. Central Course Server

  12. General Results • all seven groups developed a suitable engineering solution in time • engineering alternatives • not economical optimised • Web as a collaboration platform • main course target:acquisition of knowledge and experience • team work • collaboration method • communication rules • coordination methods • specification of responsibilities • different compentence and combination of individual abilities • acquisition of ’social competence’ and ’soft skills’ inside the teams

  13. MS NetMeeting • general tool for conferencing and discussion • audio/video communication only as 1 to 1 connection • chat modul as n to n connection • application sharing • general chat sessions with 12 participants • information sharing instead of information exchange

  14. Conclusions • extension of the normal course programme • large effort in preparation and implementation • results demonstrates the potential and importance • improvement: face-to-face meeting • standard part of academic education to reflect the progress of the ongoing ICT revolution • no alternatives to the acquisition of competence http://hydroweb.bauinf.tu-cottbus.de

  15. Information Management in modern Engineering Projects • engineers require support in • cooperation, communication, coordination and documentation • access & exchange of project information • net-based platform for “any time / any place” information management • advantages • efficient information acquisition • better decisions • documents as carrier of information • document management, lookup and retrieval mechanisms

  16. Document Repository • stores, controls, and manages documents • library services • database or separate application • information about the document (metadata) • link to the document

  17. Metadata • meta: underlying definition or description • metadata: data about data • indexing of Web-pages: author, language and content • no mandatory standard for the practical use of metadata • W3C standard: Resource Description Framework • Dublin Core: simple, but flexible • several XML-applications and industry initiatives

  18. DCMS DocumentManagement document management over the Web by referring and semantic markup

  19. DCMS SystemArchitecture • based on the meta-informationsystem architecture • utilises Java inter-process-communication • administrator services for managing document repositories • user services for searching, browsing, editing, visualisation & communication

  20. DCMS Administrator Services • document type and media independent • document entries: • semantic markup • URL • database • markup: • standard semantic criteria • specific semantic criteria • easy adaption • tree structure • import, validation, CSS • visualisation

  21. DCMS User Services • document browsing • document selection • document classification • document upload • document sharing • user communication

  22. Document Browsing & Visualisation generation of a tree structure of HTML pages from the document entries in the document repository • information to each document (standard and project specific semantic markup) • access to the document • integrated document visualisation

  23. Document Selection • searching for relevant information concerning specific engineering problems • problem specification by semantic criteria used for the document classification

  24. Adding Entries to the Repository document auhtor: • new or registered document location: • URL from a user‘s Web-server • upload on DCMS server document classification: • standard semantic criteria • project specific semantic criteria document entry placement: • global DCMS inbox • personal myDCMS area

  25. Personal myDCMS Areas • personal work-desk within the document repository • information sharing for collaborative work • adding new entries on personal area via classification/upload • replacing documents with new versions on own Web-servers

  26. Bulletin Board • client communication • document sharing • document exchange

  27. Design and Implementation • 100% Java:platform independent • server objects • XML database • integrated helptool • session management • performance, advantages

  28. ELTRAMOS: ELectronic market and TRAding of MOdelling Services and assets for engineering SMEs and institutes MorWin: Morphodynamische Modellierung von Windwatten (morphodynamics of wind wadden areas) OSIRIS: Operational Solutions for the Management of Inundation Risks in the Information Society WebRiver: Web-based River Modelling Platform HydroWeb: IAHR-EGW Course ”WWW-based Collaborative Engineering in Hydrosience” ETNET21: European Thematic Network for Education and Training - Environment-Water Selected Applications of the DCMS http://dcms.bauinf.tu-cottbus.de

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