Source: FH Aachen
Finally the software technology fair could take place again in presence in the rooms of the IT Center. The prospective mathematical-technical software developers (MATSE) of the dual course of studies “Applied Mathematics and Computer Science” of the University of Applied Sciences Aachen presented their project work in the SWT fair on the premises of the IT Center of the RWTH Aachen University on February 22, 2023. In the 3rd semester of the course, the fair and the presentation of the projects form the conclusion of the software engineering module for the dual trainees. Which projects were presented this year and what the MATSE trainees learned, you can read in this after report.
The projects
Once again this year, the topics of the projects were provided by the training companies as well as higher education institutions. Participating companies this year included CAE, CANCOM, ConSense, INFORM, M3Connect, Modell Aachen, Potschernik Architekten, Rohde, SOPTIM, VEDA and VIA. In addition to the companies, RWTH institutions such as the IT Center, the Institute of Transmission Technology, the Chair of Medical Technology and the WZL were also project sponsors.
A total of 82 MATSE participated in the fair, presenting a total of 19 practical projects in small groups. The software products were developed as part of the practical course of the Software Engineering course in the period from December 1, 2022 to February 22, 2023.
The MATSE of the IT Center dealt with a total of three different projects: They worked in groups, on a MATSE organization page, on a monitoring as well as reporting for a NRW-wide backup project and on a synchronization of data.
MATSE Organization Page
The project “MATSE Organization Page” is a web application that facilitates the exchange between supervisors and trainees. After logging in, users are assigned one of three roles (admin, trainee or supervisor). The start page, which contains information about the study program, can be accessed without logging in. Admins have the ability to customize this information on the home page and create new user accounts. Users who log in as a supervisor or trainee will see the navigation points “Uni” and “Education” in the next step. On the “Uni” page, trainees can enter their achievements, which the assigned supervisors can then view or comment on. On the “Training” page, new tasks can be created that the trainees are to complete in the company. Both trainees and supervisors can create new tasks, comment on them, or mark them as completed, which moves the tasks to either the “completed tasks” or the “open tasks”. This gives supervisors and trainees a better overview of current activities and allows them to identify and resolve problems more quickly, if necessary. The application runs only locally. Tools used were Apache Wicket, Mysql database and Java.
Monitoring and reporting for NRW-wide backup project
Another group of five MATSE created a web GUI for datensicherung.nrw during the period of the SWT project. Their task was to display data from the operation of the cross-university backup system in the form of a map. The group members decided to display the participating sites on a map limited to NRW and to provide the associated data in a right-hand modal. The data is presented on a website set up for this purpose. In terms of design, the blue tones of datensicherung.nrw were used as a reference.
In the course of the project, the group members got to know many new tools and gained deep insights into the planning, organization and implementation of projects. The group members found the final presentation of the result as an exhibition stand particularly exciting: there was a lively exchange with many visitors at the stand.
Synchronization of Files between HPC Cluster and S3 Storage
A project by the IT Center’s MATSEs was to enable researchers to transfer data from the High Performance Computing Cluster to Coscine in RDS-S3 and back. The software product was implemented as a Python console application. Users can authenticate via a token using Coscine to execute various actions between the HPC cluster and RDS-S3 through the console. Download, upload, and uni- and bidirectional synchronization of orders with an RDS-S3 from Coscine were implemented as executable actions. The software product can be extended to other resource types. During a transfer action, users are shown two progress bars for the overall progress and the progress of individual files with the current transfer speed and the expected duration. The collaboration in the project group was based on the agile development method SCRUM presented in the lecture. At the beginning of the project, the MATSE defined the user stories in planning, which were implemented in the three subsequent sprints. Based on the user stories, issues were defined, which were added to a GitLab backlog board.
Source: Own illustration
A successful fair
The SWT fair was a complete success! With exciting projects, all participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas with each other and report on their experiences in a good mood and positive atmosphere. The hands-on projects not only served to learn skills such as handling the version management Git or gaining experience in code conventions and refactoring, but also soft skills such as teamwork, self- and team organization as well as motivation, persistence, and communication.
We wish the MATSE trainees continued good experiences in practice and theory and look forward to the projects next year.
Are you interested in a MATSE training? Then take a look at our MATSE website!
Responsible for the content of this article is Arlinda Ujkani.
